Swords of the Hills is the original title of this story, but it is better known as “The Lost Valley of Iskander”. It is an El Borak short story by Robert E. Howard. It was not published within Howard’s lifetime, the first publication was in the FAX Collector’s Editions hardback The Lost Valley of Iskander in 1974.
“The Lost Valley of Iskander” is an El Borak short story by Robert E. Howard. It was not published within Howard’s lifetime, the first publication was in the FAX Collector’s Editions hardback The Lost Valley of Iskander in 1974. Its original title was “Swords of the Hills”.
In this story, El Borak discovers a legendary valley in which live Greek descendants of Alexander the Great invading army. Meanwhile, the vital package he carries must be carried to British India before the Hungarian, Hunyadi, can stop him or thousands will die.
An article written by Rick Lai about the Legend of El Borak. Best known for his tales of heroic fantasy, Robert E. Howard (1906-36) also wrote contemporary tales of adventure for the pulps. Howard was influenced by Talbot Mundy, a major writer for Adventure in the 1920’s. Mundy’s heroes were American and British adventurers roving around India and the Middle East. Utilizing Mundy’s settings, Howard fashioned his own band of protagonists. Among Howard’s soldiers of fortune, the most famous is Francis Xavier Gordon.
Sailor Costigan and the Jade Monkey. Patrick Ervin was used as a pseudonym. Three drafts exist for this story; One early shorter untitled draft; A draft in final form told in the 3rd person; A draft in final form told in the 1st person.
The 3rd party draft was prepared a couple of years before the 1st. person version. The 1st. person version is the one sent to Otis Adelbert Kline, who proceeded to mark it up with changes to try to make it a Dennis Dorgan story. Kline then sold the story to THE MAGIC CARPET MAGAZINE and it was announced in the last issue (January 1934). THE MAGIC CARPET MAGAZINE then went under and it was never published. OAK listed the story in his records as “Sailor Costigan and the Jade Monkey.”
Featuring Dennis Dorgan. Written under the pseudonym, Patrick Ervin. Alternate title ‘The Mandarin Ruby’.
Glenn Lord (November 17, 1931 – December 31, 2011) was an American literary agent, editor, and publisher of the prose and poetry of fellow Texan Robert E. Howard (1906–1936), and the first and most important researcher and scholar of Howard’s life and writings.
Three colorful adventure stories. Kirby O’Donnell is a fictional character created by Robert E. Howard. He is an American treasure hunter in early-twentieth century Afghanistan disguised as a Kurdish merchant, “Ali el Ghazi”. Howard only wrote three stories about O’Donnell, one of which was not published within his lifetime.
Collects “Blood of the Gods,” “Country of the Knife” and “Son of the White Wolf,” three tales of Middle Eastern adventure featuring Francis Xavier Gordon (El Borak), published here for the first time in a book. Introduction by Fred Cook.
Three tales of El Borak collected with illustrations by Michael William Kaluta. First out is ‘The Daughter of Erlik Khan’ which was originally published in the December 1934 issue of the pulp magazine Top-Notch. The second story presented here is ‘The Lost Valley of Iskander’, and was not published within Howard’s lifetime, the first publication was in this Collector’s Editions hardcover book. Its original title was ‘Swords of the Hills’. The last story here is ‘Hawk of the Hills’. It was originally published in the June 1935 issue of the pulp magazine Top-Notch
