Rating: 
Summary: Excellent fantasy, and possibly something more....
Review: Robert E. Howard's tales of Bran Mak Morn, last king of the Picts, have long been recognised as some of the first, and best, heroic fantasy ever written. That's certainly how I reguarded them, fantasy. Then I began to notice some curious parallels between current research into the the lost Atlantian civilization and Howard's stories.
First of all, there does indeed seem to have been a high stone age seafaring culture in the area we now call the Carribean approx. 10,000 years ago. This culture also seems to have had regular contact with both North and South America, as well as, the Mediterranian region. Now the ancestors of the Picts are thought to have come from the Mediterranian region during the high stone age. This small, dark race is thought to have spread over all of the British isles, as well as, a good part of Europe. They were only displaced by the coming of the Celts. Some experts believe that the Basques may be the only modern recognisable remnant of this people.
Now, the contact between the Carribean and Mediterranian, seems to have been suddenly disrupted a little over 8,000 years ago by a collossal comet shower over North America and the Carribean. It is documented that there was an abrupt climactic change and flooding at this time. There would almost certainly have been tidal waves in the Carribean region before this. In fact, it was only recently recognised that the "serpent" imagery found in much high stone age art probably represents "cosmic serpents"- or comets.
Now, Howard has his Bran Mak Morn making claims that his ancestors: 1.) were connected with Atlantis, 2.) knew of North and South America, 3.) ruled most of Europe, 4.) were driven out by the Celts, and 5.) have a strong religious connection with a destructive serpent cult. Not only that, but the physically degenerate stature of his Picts are what would be expected of a cut-off remnant of a race that was surrounded by nothing but enemies. Interbreeding, and lack of a sufficient gene-pool, would produce just the abnormalities and degeneracy that Howard attributes to his Picts.
To verify all this for yourselves, try reading _Gateway to Atlantis_ by Andrew Collins. You'll never see the fiction of Robert E. Howard in the same light again....
Rating: 
Summary: Not the best, but the best you'll get
Review: 'Bran Mak Morn' is rather typical of Robert E. Howard. In all of his stories there is the common theme of the barbarian against the world. He had a fascination with strong heroes. All of his characters are larger than life and here is more of the same. What makes this book so special is simply that it is one of the few of his works still in print. It is certainly a crime that it should be so hard to come by the stories of the father of sword and sorcery. Why this is I can't say. At any rate, this book is still a good volume to have. It is not his best work but it is a good representation of what Howard was all about. The characters in 'Bran Mak Morn' are all bold and unforgiving. They are tough. They are men! Real men. None are so tough and terrible as the title character himself. Bran may not be as big and hulking as Conan but he is made of the same iron and steel. I would urge every fantasy fan to buy this book at once. Just as archeologists dig through the bones of ages past to see why the people of today do the things they do, so should you spend a little time digging through the fiction of ages past to see why the writers of today write what they write. This is the bare bones of the fantasy genre. Without Robert E. Howard and a few of his lesser known contemporaries today's fantasy would be nothing more than silly little fairy tales with no depth, no meat, no excitement. Give this book a try, you'll be glad you did.
Rating: 
Summary: The weakest of Howards well-known characters.
Review: A long time fan of Conan and Kull, I enjoyed reading these seven anthologies. The way Howard mixes history with fiction in his depiction of the Picts is truly amazing, but the truth is he only wrote three Bran Mak Morn short stories. The rest of the book are stories about other characters, and one (by far the best story in the book) should really have been in the Kull anthology. It is a story Howard had a lot of fun with in which he brings many of his characters together. Nevertheless, I cannot bring myself to say it is a poor book, Howard would never let me forget it when we meet in Valhalla.
Rating:
Summary: what have the romans done for us?
Review: how can one man fight the roman empire? standing alongside are untrustworthy people, but good fighters. Bran must cling to leadership, outsmart the romans, gather allies, and lead his men in battle. people die like flies. there are no telling how far bran must go in his plotting to destroy the roman hold in and outside of battle.
Rating:
Summary: Howard's developmental years
Review: It is apparent when reading many of the stories in this bookthat Robert E. Howard was still a developing writer. Some of them lackthe depth and complexity of his greater Conan tales. However, stories like "Worms of the Earth," and "The Dark Man" make this book well worth the price of admission. I recommend it to any fan of Howard or of testosterone-infused fantasy stories.
Rating:
Summary: The Highland Picts push back the Romans
Review: Like myself, Robert E. Howard had an interest in old Scotland, back in the time of Hadrian's Wall when woad-decorated Pictish warriors held fast against the armor-covered legions of Rome. In a way, it is a historic demonstration of Howard's love of the clash of primitive and civilized. In Bran Mak Morn, he found a Scottish hero capable of rallying the primitive Picts and embodying his ideals.Expect no historical accuracy here. Howard admits openly that he took the idea of the Picts and created his own fantasy race around them. He changed the spelling from Mac to Mak to disguise the Gaelic roots of his hero. Howard's Picts are mediterranean in origin, brown-skinned and dark haired. They shun armor and carry flint and bronze weapons. The writing of Bran Mak Morn is not Howard's best. His best work was reserved for Conan, created later in his career. Still, I enjoyed every single story in this volume, with two or three stories sticking out as among the best of Howard's writing. The often singled-out "Worms of the Earth" is as good as you would think. Bran Mak Morn teams up with Kull the Conqueror in the excellent "Kings of the Night." "The Children of the Night" is inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's suggestion that Howard incorporate his Mythos elements into his primal yarns. All around a good, solid series from Robert E. Howard.
Rating:
Summary: The Highland Picts push back the Romans
Review: Like myself, Robert E. Howard had an interest in old Scotland, back in the time of Hadrian's Wall when woad-decorated Pictish warriors held fast against the armor-covered legions of Rome. In a way, it is a historic demonstration of Howard's love of the clash of primitive and civilized. In Bran Mak Morn, he found a Scottish hero capable of rallying the primitive Picts and embodying his ideals. Expect no historical accuracy here. Howard admits openly that he took the idea of the Picts and created his own fantasy race around them. He changed the spelling from Mac to Mak to disguise the Gaelic roots of his hero. Howard's Picts are mediterranean in origin, brown-skinned and dark haired. They shun armor and carry flint and bronze weapons. The writing of Bran Mak Morn is not Howard's best. His best work was reserved for Conan, created later in his career. Still, I enjoyed every single story in this volume, with two or three stories sticking out as among the best of Howard's writing. The often singled-out "Worms of the Earth" is as good as you would think. Bran Mak Morn teams up with Kull the Conqueror in the excellent "Kings of the Night." "The Children of the Night" is inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's suggestion that Howard incorporate his Mythos elements into his primal yarns. All around a good, solid series from Robert E. Howard.
Rating:
Summary: BEST AUTHOR IN THE UNIVERSE
Review: Not even the immortal J.R.R. Tolkien can stand up towards this unquestioned god of fantasy that is Robert Ervin Howard. So many modern day fools do not realize that this man CREATED the image of the tall, brawny, sword-weilding barbarian. The genre of fantasy belongs to this man, he is its creator and masturful writer. I own almost every book he has written (though they are extensively hard to come by) and his work has influenced me in all aspects of my life, even musically (look for my band "lowly worm", coming soon to a record shop near you). May the souls of the damned scream his name in mercy for eternity- -AMEN
Rating:
Summary: Excellent stuff!
Review: REH rules still and these tales prove it. WORMS OF THE EARTH is still one fo the best barbarian tales ever done.
Rating:
Summary: Some of Howard's formative work, some excellent
Review: Robert E. Howard is largely credited with having invented the "sword & sorcery" brand of fantasy literature. And deservedly so. His fantasy stories resonate with a stygian darkness and masculine energy that few have been able to duplicate since. Many of the Bran Mak Morn stories published in this edition are a bit in the formative stages of Howard's development as an author, or at least they seemed that way to me. Maybe he was just fighting a deadline on some of them. However, many of these stories are excellent, particularly "Worms of the Earth" and "The Dark Man." Bran is a different hero from most of Howard's barbarians. He's the evolved member of a dying race, the Picts. While the Picts are doomed to become extinct as a race and there's a sense they know it, they refuse to go down without a fight, doing battle with the Roman legions to the bitter end. Bran embodies this fighting spirit in all the tales contained within.
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