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Son of the White Wolf
Text from back cover:
DEEP IN THE COUNTRY OF THE KNIFE
Those who ruled the far, bloodstained city of Rub el Harami in the ancient name of Genghis Khan knew but one fear: the dread name El Borak. Few had seen his face. Fewer still had seen his naked blade and lived.
DEEP IN THE COUNTRY OF THE KNIFE
Those who ruled the far, bloodstained city of Rub el Harami in the ancient name of Genghis Khan knew but one fear: the dread name El Borak. Few had seen his face. Fewer still had seen his naked blade and lived.
184 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 1, 1977
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83 people want to read
About the author
Robert E. Howard
3,042Ìýbooks2,564ÌýfollowersRobert Ervin Howard was an American pulp writer of fantasy, horror, historical adventure, boxing, western, and detective fiction. Howard wrote "over three-hundred stories and seven-hundred poems of raw power and unbridled emotion" and is especially noted for his memorable depictions of "a sombre universe of swashbuckling adventure and darkling horror."
He is well known for having created—in the pages of the legendary Depression-era pulp magazine Weird Tales—the character Conan the Cimmerian, a.k.a. Conan the Barbarian, a literary icon whose pop-culture imprint can only be compared to such icons as Tarzan of the Apes, Count Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, and James Bond.
—W¾±°ì¾±±è±ð»å¾±²¹
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ database with this name.
He is well known for having created—in the pages of the legendary Depression-era pulp magazine Weird Tales—the character Conan the Cimmerian, a.k.a. Conan the Barbarian, a literary icon whose pop-culture imprint can only be compared to such icons as Tarzan of the Apes, Count Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, and James Bond.
—W¾±°ì¾±±è±ð»å¾±²¹
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
October 7, 2021
Francis Xavier Gordon, known as El Borak (The Swift), was one of Howard's best (if least known) protagonists. A contemporary hero, he ranged Afghanistan and surrounding territory, after having left behind his life as a Texan gunfighter and world-traveler, perhaps inspired by T.E. Lawrence and the works of writers like Talbot Mundy. The three stories in this volume were originally published in 1935-'36 in pulp magazines Top-Notch, Complete Stories, and Thrilling Adventures. They're straight adventure stories of right triumphing over evil with no fantasy element. They're quite interesting, and a cut above the other stories of the time. I was amused that my 1978 Berkley paperback collection has a big blurb on the cover that says "Illustrated- Full Color Fold-Out Poster Inside," but they never identified the artist. (It was Ken Kelly.)
November 13, 2024
[Short story read in The Best of Robert E. Howard Volume 2]
A story featuring El Borak that makes me interested in reading the full volume of his tales. It brings to mind a pulp version of Lawrence of Arabia, like imagine Lawrence was a bit more like Conan. It's pretty cool stuff and you can tell Howard enjoyed this time period.
A story featuring El Borak that makes me interested in reading the full volume of his tales. It brings to mind a pulp version of Lawrence of Arabia, like imagine Lawrence was a bit more like Conan. It's pretty cool stuff and you can tell Howard enjoyed this time period.
September 5, 2014
Howard went in different directions for his El Borak stories versus his Kirby O'Donnell ones, despite their surface similarities of both being rootin' tootin' sharpshootin' WASP adventurers in Afghanistan at about the same time period. El Borak is explicitly a political creature, becoming involved in the conflicts of the region, and having tribal allies and enemies, while Kirby O'Donnell is a treasure hunter and troublemaker. Of them I prefer El Borak, whose entanglements are more interesting.
It's a pity that Howard never saw fit for them to cross paths. But, given that they are both unmatched combatants and riflemen, all thews and spring steel and densely-packed musculature in the standard Howardian hero type, a conflict between them may have resulted in the sudden collapse of the universe.
El Borak, in "The Country of the Knife", finds himself in the outlaw city of Rub El Harami--ruled by strongmen, divided by factions, filled with bandits, a secret treasure within--which I couldn't help but compare to Shahrazar, from Kirby O'Donnell's "The Treasure of Tartary".
It's a pity that Howard never saw fit for them to cross paths. But, given that they are both unmatched combatants and riflemen, all thews and spring steel and densely-packed musculature in the standard Howardian hero type, a conflict between them may have resulted in the sudden collapse of the universe.
El Borak, in "The Country of the Knife", finds himself in the outlaw city of Rub El Harami--ruled by strongmen, divided by factions, filled with bandits, a secret treasure within--which I couldn't help but compare to Shahrazar, from Kirby O'Donnell's "The Treasure of Tartary".
April 17, 2012
Visceral desert adventure with Francis Xavier Gordon in early 20th century Afghanistan, with a foray into Turkey.
Gordon is known as El Borak, "The Swift", amongst the desert tribes,due to his almost supernatural reflexes. He's an American gunfighter who's found his place among the tribal factions of the east and the spymasters of the western imperial powers.
Loved, feared or hated in equal measure by those who've crossed his path, depending upon whether they've earned his trust or enmity, Gordon is indomitably loyal, implacably vengeful.
Although, like all of Howard's heroes, Gordon is an unbeatable fighter, he's at his best in these stories when he's playing off the opposing sides vying for power at this crossroads of political intrigue.
Gordon is known as El Borak, "The Swift", amongst the desert tribes,due to his almost supernatural reflexes. He's an American gunfighter who's found his place among the tribal factions of the east and the spymasters of the western imperial powers.
Loved, feared or hated in equal measure by those who've crossed his path, depending upon whether they've earned his trust or enmity, Gordon is indomitably loyal, implacably vengeful.
Although, like all of Howard's heroes, Gordon is an unbeatable fighter, he's at his best in these stories when he's playing off the opposing sides vying for power at this crossroads of political intrigue.
July 8, 2019
El Borak!
Robert E. Howard's American character Gordon has high adventure among warring tribes in Afghanistan and does Afghanistan stuff better than Afghanistan people do (today the word for this type of adventure story is “mighty whitey�). It shows off the type of war-of-wills masculine posturing that gives Howard's works their dramatic edge, plus an extraordinary level of research which makes them immersive.
Previous to this I'd read the El Borak novella “Three Bladed Doom� which really pulled out all the stops, with warfare, history, fantasy elements, monsters. Edgar Rice Burroughs would have been proud of that one. The three stories here are slightly different.
The title story, which comes last, “Son of the White Wolf� involves the Turkish part of World War 1 and a mutinous faction that decides to start a new empire by renouncing Islam, slaughtering some villagers, and kidnapping a female German spy for some reason. Naturally El Borak becomes embroiled, rescues the lady, gets an enemy tribe on his side and arranges a nifty standoff at a well. This one is the shortest and weakest of the bunch, it came out in December of 1936 and Howard left us in June, so maybe he was a tad rushed? It was a little too cut and dry in the end, like one of the throwaway Conans.
“Blood of the Gods� is a giddy thing, with some Brit villains torturing information out of an Arab, only for the guy to be killed by a shot through a window. It's all about treasure hunters trying to get these much sought after rubies from a Russian guy who has gone into the desert to be a mystic and is El Borak's pal. This is one is primarily about El Borak and villainous Englishman, Hawkston, under siege in these caves from this band of cutthroats. The complication there being that everybody wants to torture Al Wazir, the Russian guy, for his rubies, but he has gone stark raving mad.
The longest, middlest, and probably best is “The Country of the Knife� which follows and American named Stuart Brent from San Francisco to the mysterious East where he is captured by agents of the evil and secret Black Tigers and taken to a secret city of thieves. Brent got a secret from a dying man and went in search of El Borak, and El Borak is around for most of the story, but he is cleverly in disguise, so don't ask me which one he is! This one also has a Russian dude who is head of The Black Tigers and wants the gold hidden in The Cave of Shaitan.
You've got adventure, treasures, political upheaval, full on war, secret societies, that secret city, a slave auction, sword fighting, tons of shooting, secret passages, hostages, disguises, a masked executioner, that spy lady, massacres, globe trotting, changing loyalties, double crossing, hopeless desert treks complete with pursuing cutthroats, men elevated to kings, sudden recognitions, the mysteries of “The Orient�, European interference, and general purpose Afghanistan.
Lucky for me there are more of these stories out there. This wasn't the delightful pressure cooker that “Three Bladed Doom� was, but there were lots of goodies here.
Robert E. Howard's American character Gordon has high adventure among warring tribes in Afghanistan and does Afghanistan stuff better than Afghanistan people do (today the word for this type of adventure story is “mighty whitey�). It shows off the type of war-of-wills masculine posturing that gives Howard's works their dramatic edge, plus an extraordinary level of research which makes them immersive.
Previous to this I'd read the El Borak novella “Three Bladed Doom� which really pulled out all the stops, with warfare, history, fantasy elements, monsters. Edgar Rice Burroughs would have been proud of that one. The three stories here are slightly different.
The title story, which comes last, “Son of the White Wolf� involves the Turkish part of World War 1 and a mutinous faction that decides to start a new empire by renouncing Islam, slaughtering some villagers, and kidnapping a female German spy for some reason. Naturally El Borak becomes embroiled, rescues the lady, gets an enemy tribe on his side and arranges a nifty standoff at a well. This one is the shortest and weakest of the bunch, it came out in December of 1936 and Howard left us in June, so maybe he was a tad rushed? It was a little too cut and dry in the end, like one of the throwaway Conans.
“Blood of the Gods� is a giddy thing, with some Brit villains torturing information out of an Arab, only for the guy to be killed by a shot through a window. It's all about treasure hunters trying to get these much sought after rubies from a Russian guy who has gone into the desert to be a mystic and is El Borak's pal. This is one is primarily about El Borak and villainous Englishman, Hawkston, under siege in these caves from this band of cutthroats. The complication there being that everybody wants to torture Al Wazir, the Russian guy, for his rubies, but he has gone stark raving mad.
The longest, middlest, and probably best is “The Country of the Knife� which follows and American named Stuart Brent from San Francisco to the mysterious East where he is captured by agents of the evil and secret Black Tigers and taken to a secret city of thieves. Brent got a secret from a dying man and went in search of El Borak, and El Borak is around for most of the story, but he is cleverly in disguise, so don't ask me which one he is! This one also has a Russian dude who is head of The Black Tigers and wants the gold hidden in The Cave of Shaitan.
You've got adventure, treasures, political upheaval, full on war, secret societies, that secret city, a slave auction, sword fighting, tons of shooting, secret passages, hostages, disguises, a masked executioner, that spy lady, massacres, globe trotting, changing loyalties, double crossing, hopeless desert treks complete with pursuing cutthroats, men elevated to kings, sudden recognitions, the mysteries of “The Orient�, European interference, and general purpose Afghanistan.
Lucky for me there are more of these stories out there. This wasn't the delightful pressure cooker that “Three Bladed Doom� was, but there were lots of goodies here.
February 5, 2021
I hadn't heard of REH's El Borak (the swift) character before finding this paperback a few years back, but I found them light and easily digestible.
Francis Xavier Gordon (aka El Borak) is an American in the Middle East circa the same time as Larry of Arabia and likewise does nobel things in an "exotic" setting. These were printed at the same time REH was writing Conan stories, later in his career, and that very well might be why I enjoyed these stories much more than I have the stories of some of Howard's other lesser known characters such as Solomon Kane and Steve Costigan.
My copy has a nice fold-out poster inside by Ken Kelly (famous for doing a few KISS covers and nephew of Frank Frazetta).
Francis Xavier Gordon (aka El Borak) is an American in the Middle East circa the same time as Larry of Arabia and likewise does nobel things in an "exotic" setting. These were printed at the same time REH was writing Conan stories, later in his career, and that very well might be why I enjoyed these stories much more than I have the stories of some of Howard's other lesser known characters such as Solomon Kane and Steve Costigan.
My copy has a nice fold-out poster inside by Ken Kelly (famous for doing a few KISS covers and nephew of Frank Frazetta).
August 5, 2023
A very well told adventure story. WW1 is drawing to a close. The Ottoman Empire is collapsing, and Lawrence is leading the Arabs against the Turks. This involves a monomaniac who decides to start his own empire, shunning both the Ottomans and the Arabs. His leadership involves genocide, enslavement, and mass rape. Moreover, he poses a threat to the plans of the British.
El Borak, the American gunman, is working with the British. He decides to put an end to this troublesome uprising. With him, sort of as his prisoner, is a beautiful female spy who is on her way to deliver information to the enemy. With that set up, the story is pure adventure, and quite entertaining, but ultimately as slight as all of these El Borak stories.
El Borak, the American gunman, is working with the British. He decides to put an end to this troublesome uprising. With him, sort of as his prisoner, is a beautiful female spy who is on her way to deliver information to the enemy. With that set up, the story is pure adventure, and quite entertaining, but ultimately as slight as all of these El Borak stories.
January 11, 2025
Contains three novelets (I'm going by isfdb.org; these seem long enough to be called novellas, especially the first story, which is over 80 pages in my Ace edition). The first two--"Blood of the Gods" and "The Country of the Knife"--are excellent adventure stories taking place in Arabia and Afghanistan in the early 20th century (that is, the early 1910s). The titular third story is just OK, which makes me wonder why it was chosen to be the headliner? At any rate, if you like REH at all, you will surely like this collection.
November 17, 2020
Just a good rollicking Sword & Sorcery adventure to pull you along at a fast clip after slogging thru a 900 pg novel before and another following. Robert E. Howard really could just write a constant fight scene. Conan, Kull and now Gordon. Surprised it took me 50 years to come across this guy.
April 11, 2024
Been diving into R.E.H.'s stories and have been so amazed!
August 5, 2023
Each of the three tales in this slim El Borak collection features the typical strengths of REH: bold and adventurous characters, hostile foes, and deadly peril within a dangerous environment. The longest and best story here, The Country of the Knife, exhibits all of the desired intrigue, intelligence and action as a crafty Gordon seeks to foil the plans of a secret society of Asiatic murderers located in Rub el Harami - the Abode of Thieves.
Howard’s use of dialogue, his descriptions of people and places, and his ability to efficiently set the scene continues to impress me with every new tale I read, masterfully manoeuvring his protagonist with charming skill and careful observation, crafting stories that are both brutal and beautiful, and always compelling.
Howard’s use of dialogue, his descriptions of people and places, and his ability to efficiently set the scene continues to impress me with every new tale I read, masterfully manoeuvring his protagonist with charming skill and careful observation, crafting stories that are both brutal and beautiful, and always compelling.
July 15, 2024
Three more Daniel Xavier Gordon “El Borak� stories.
“Blood of the Gods� finds Gordon racing across the Arabian desert to save an old friend, “El Wazir� from torture and death at the hands of some British adventurers led by a man named Hawkston. El Wazir is believed to be in possession of a collection of rubies known by the story title. Living alone in the desert has left El Wazir quite mad. Hawkston arrives at the cave, and another Gordon enemy, Shalan ibn Mansour, is not far behind Hawkston.
“The Country of the Knife� begins with a man named Stockton dying in the arms of Stuart Brent in San Francisco, after telling him to go the Afghanistan, find El Borak and inform him that a new threat, The Black Tigers, are actually led by a Russian in disguise. And he is only a treasure-seeker.
Brent is captured, but Gordon is not far behind.
“Son of the White Wolf� follows a German spy/diplomat named Olga after she is caught in an apostate rebellion by a man named Osman, who declares he is breaking with Islam. He takes Olga as a slave. Gordon rescues her and they try to flee Osman.
These are all bloody tales. Gordon has a habit of walking into the lair of his enemies and bluffing his way into a temporary alliance. I liked “Blood of the Gods� best.
“Blood of the Gods� finds Gordon racing across the Arabian desert to save an old friend, “El Wazir� from torture and death at the hands of some British adventurers led by a man named Hawkston. El Wazir is believed to be in possession of a collection of rubies known by the story title. Living alone in the desert has left El Wazir quite mad. Hawkston arrives at the cave, and another Gordon enemy, Shalan ibn Mansour, is not far behind Hawkston.
“The Country of the Knife� begins with a man named Stockton dying in the arms of Stuart Brent in San Francisco, after telling him to go the Afghanistan, find El Borak and inform him that a new threat, The Black Tigers, are actually led by a Russian in disguise. And he is only a treasure-seeker.
Brent is captured, but Gordon is not far behind.
“Son of the White Wolf� follows a German spy/diplomat named Olga after she is caught in an apostate rebellion by a man named Osman, who declares he is breaking with Islam. He takes Olga as a slave. Gordon rescues her and they try to flee Osman.
These are all bloody tales. Gordon has a habit of walking into the lair of his enemies and bluffing his way into a temporary alliance. I liked “Blood of the Gods� best.
May 16, 2016
Robert E. Howard is my all time favorite writer, but for many years much of his work was heavily edited. This is another of the heavily edited collections of Robert E. Howard's stories. I am a purist when it comes to a writers works. I know some of these stories are no longer PC but they should be read as Howard wrote them and understood that he wrote in another time period. Don't read this book unless you just can't find any others of Howard's unedited books to read. Message me if you need a list of what is good from this awesome fantasy and action writer.
June 13, 2015
First time reading Howard's "El Borak" desert swash-buckler and overall I enjoyed it. The first story in this collection, "Blood of the Gods," is fantastic, but the other two are simply average. However, I am looking forward to reading the rest of this character's adventures.
January 3, 2009
More El Borak stories.
May 6, 2016
read SOMETIME in 2001; I don't think I read this edition with this frontispiece
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