The Power of Archetypes: Angel of Vengeance

Angel of Vengeance

I just finished reading the Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, a gift I received this past Christmas. I'm still new to the various Appendix N authors and slowly branching out as I find things from used bookstores (I prefer paper to digital), and Kane is right up my alley.

For real, buy it.

 

You see, my favorite book to date is the Count of Monte Cristo; a classic about loss, tenacity, and vengeance. Edmond Dantes is crafty, and you follow him through the layers of intrigue, setups, and payoffs until his enemies have received their just desserts. Kane, however, is more direct, animilistic, and primal. Howard describes near everything about Kane as inhuman: steel, iron, or wolf-like. Everything, that is, except his righteousness.

In the story Wings in the Night, Kane is being hunted by sharp-toothed cannibals across the African wilds and stumbles across a dead village. Despite his need for rest, he explores the area and finds various oddities; the standout being a skeleton high in the branches of a tall tree. Soon after, Kane finds a tortured, broken man bound to a sacrificial pillar. Despite the urge to press on, Kane shows mercy and cuts the man down. He is rewarded another portent...

"The wings! The wings! They come again! Ahhh, mercy, the wings!"

As the night sets in, Kane finds himself set upon by one of the cannibals and fights desperately to free himself. He gains an advantage and leaves his wounded foe behind. This is the first glimpse we get of the "wings in the night" as Kane struggles to find a place to hide until morning. Kane ends up settling inside a crotch in some branches, but soon finds himself face to face with a shadow that stares him down. The following day, he is assaulted by the monstrosities in a brutal battle in the sky.

I won't recap the rest in detail, but the following chapters build into one hell of a finale, made all the more fun with this book's illustrations. Kane finds himself in a trapped village and nearly has an existential crisis as he realizes that all the stories of legend may well be true; the Wings matching the Sirens of Greek Epics. Events devolve, and Kane quickly finds himself engulfed by guilt and despair, enough to drive a man into mad frenzy and shake his faith.

Kane is a proper warrior, a proper hero, and will die trading his life for the highest price possible. Providence shines upon Kane in the finale, and he is given a chance to avenge generations of the fallen. The process is risky, time-consuming, and will leave him vulnerable to outside forces. Nonetheless, he fulfills his role; "Strange are Thy ways, oh God of my people, and who am I to question Thy wisdom? My feet have fallen in evil ways but Thou has brought me forth scatheless and hast made me a scourge for the Powers of Evil."