Red Shadows: A Savage Tale of Solomon Kane with Alberto Fernandez

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Ascend - The Great Books Podcast 59 min 1 speaker 8 chapters transcribed 9 days ago

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Who is Robert E. Howard and why is Solomon Kane important?

Harrison Garlick 0:00

Today on Ascend, the Great Books Podcast, we continue short story September by picking up uh something a little bit unique, something a little different than our normal platonic or homeric readings. We are reading the Savage Tale of Solomon Kane called Red Shadows by Robert E. Howard. If you don't know, Robert E. Howard created Conan the Barbarian and many other kind of early 1900s pulp fiction sword and sorcery characters. Is it kind of stupid? Yes. Is it a lot of fun to read? So, yes. And to join us through this conversation, uh, we welcome back to the podcast, Alberto Fernandez. Always enjoy having him on. He joined us uh to read The Tower of the Elephant, which is a fantastic kind of first read for Coney and the Barbarian.

Harrison Garlick 0:37

So if you're interested in that, go check it out. I always appreciate all of his comments and insights and observations. He has a wonderful working knowledge of Robert E. Howard and brings a lot of depth uh to these otherwise just kind of like fun and savage tales. And as an aside, uh don't forget that next week we continue Short Story September and we shift gears a lot uh to read Chivalry by Neil Gaiman with His Excellency Edward Habsburg, the Archduke of Austria. So we're kind of covering a pretty big gamut on Short Story September this year, but it's a lot of fun, and I've appreciated recording all these episodes. I'm very excited to share them all with you. And yes, uh, we have a few things still percolating, a few things I'm

Harrison Garlick 1:15

I'm excited to share with you that I think we're gonna push ascend the Ratebooks Podcast to the next level. Not quite ready to share them yet, but we'll get there soon. But today, uh join us for a wonderful conversation with Alberto Fernandez as we discuss Red Shadows by Robert E. Howard.

Harrison Garlick 1:45

Welcome to Ascend the Great Books Podcast. My name is Deacon Hirson Garlic, husband, father of five, and serve as deacon at Holy Family Cathedral and as Chancellor and General Counsel for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tulsa. In my free time, I like to help people read the great books. That's our goal here on Ascend. Uh, we're weekly podcasts that guide you through some of the most influential texts in Western civilization. So we can be like a small group to you. You can read along with us in a slow, attentive pace. We've read the Iliad, the Odyssey, many of the Greek plays, lots of Plato. Uh With Plato's Republic on the docket this fall. So go check us out on X, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. And we appreciate all of our supporters who have access to written guides, articles, all kinds of extra stuff and content that we publish.

Harrison Garlick 2:23

Go check that out. And visit thegreatbookspodcast.com for a reading schedule and more information. Okay. So yeah, typically we're reading, you know, Homer, Plato, things like that. But today uh we're doing something fun. We are reading and discussing. A short story by Robert E. Howard called Red Shadows. It is a Solomon Kane story. I'm a first-time reader of the story. And sometimes it's good to have these little uh palette cleansers. And so we're kind of continuing in our short story September. Last week we discussed Enduring Chill by Flair O'Connor, which was a fantastic read. But to guide us this week through this Robert E. Howard story, we have Alberto from Fernandez, uh, welcoming him back to the podcast.

Harrison Garlick 3:04

He's a former diplomat and journalist. He was the head of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks. Um, and also he's currently the vice president of the Middle East Media Research Institute. He's also a contributor to EWTN News, uh, and he's been on the podcast before to actually guide us through our first Robert E. Howard story, uh, The Tower of the Elephant. So welcome back to the podcast.

Alberto Fernandez 3:25

Thank you. It's a pleasure to be on with you, Deacon Garga.

Harrison Garlick 3:28

Yeah, no, this is fantastic. So we we connected on X, uh, I don't know, maybe a few years ago. I don't know, th time's flying by now. But I just like posted like, Oh, who likes Robertie Howard? 'Cause I had read some of his stories in college. They had been recommended to me. Um I really enjoyed them.

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Chapters

8 chapters

1 Who is Robert E. Howard and why is Solomon Kane important? 0:00–6:41 2 How did Howard’s early life and pulp influences shape Solomon Kane? 6:41–13:43 3 What defines Solomon Kane’s moral code and “vessel of wrath” philosophy? 13:43–21:56 4 Why was “Red Shadows” chosen as the story for Short Story September? 21:56–30:07 5 How does the opening scene in France set up the stranger‑vigilante motif? 30:07–38:02 6 What drives Kane’s relentless pursuit of Le Loup across continents? 38:02–46:37 7 Why does the narrative shift to West Africa and what does it reveal about justice? 46:37–54:33 8 How does the double ending with the gorilla reinforce primal justice? 54:33–59:13

Speakers

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Harrison Garlick 21 min

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Topics in this episode

YouTube 1 X 1 Africa 2 Sir Francis Drake 1 Jack London 2 Alberto Fernández 4 Conan the Barbarian 2 Weird Tales 2 Robert E. Howard 5 Edgar Rice Burroughs 1 Del Rey 1 Moon of Skulls 1

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Recorded08 Sep 2026

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Show notes

Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, Dcn. Garlick is joined by the always wonderful Alberto Fernandez to discuss "Red Shadows," a salvage tale of Solomon Kane by Robert E. Howard.Check out our website for our reading schedule, articles, written guides, and more.Dcn. Garlick and Alberto discuss Robert E. Howard’s 1928 Solomon Kane tale “Red Shadows,” a pulp adventure chosen as a lively Short Story September “palette cleanser” after heavier classical reading. Howard (1906–1936), the Texas-born creator of Conan the Barbarian, produced hundreds of stories in a short life. Alberto first encountered him through the 1960s–70s Lancer paperbacks with Frank Frazetta covers. Kane, Howard’s only recurring explicitly Christian series character, is described as a grim Puritan-Cavalier mix with pagan and philosophical streaks—“God’s angry swordsman”—a remorseless wandering avenger who rights wrongs he encounters by chance.The story opens in the French countryside when Kane finds a dying young Catholic woman assaulted by bandits led by Le Loup (“the Wolf”). The stranger’s death prompts Kane’s vow that “Men shall die for this,” launching a relentless pursuit that takes him from France across Europe to the West African jungle. There the narrative juxtaposes Kane’s grim, driven sense of justice (he sees himself as a “vessel of wrath”) against Le Loup’s cynical evil, tribal politics, the witch-doctor N’Longa, voodoo, jungle drums, and “blood memory.” Unlike the mirthful, vitalistic Conan, Kane is cold and mysterious even to himself. The climax features a duel framed as cosmic justice versus injustice, followed by a second, primal coda in which a gorilla avenges his mate—showing that nature itself can enact justice and that Kane often needs allies to complete vengeance.Alberto highlights Howard’s youthful ambition (he wrote the story at 21), his debt to adventure writers like Edgar Rice Burroughs and H. Rider Haggard, and the way Africa becomes a recurring, almost inescapable landscape in later Kane tales. He recommends the Del Rey edition and especially the later novella “Wings in the Night” as Howard’s finest Kane story. Both hosts note the stories’ value as high-energy, well-crafted adventure that can later be shared with sons, and they close by pointing listeners toward the next Short Story September episode on Neil Gaiman’s “Chivalry.”Chapters00:00 Introduction to Robert E. Howard and Solomon Kane02:13 Howard's Background and Literary Influence04:37 The Character of Solomon Kane and His Morality08:36 Howard's Philosophy and Moral Duality11:02 Why Red Shadows Was Chosen for Discussion14:48 Beginning of the Story: France and the Dying Girl16:52 Stranger Motif and the Western Influence19:10 Cain's Vengeance and Inner Drive22:50 Primal Justice and the African Setting26:53 Howard's Use of Africa and Its Significance32:52 Howard's Publishing Journey and African Themes36:07 The Role of Ilonga and African Characters43:49 Eternal Forces: Justice and Injustice45:58 The Ending: Gorilla and Primal Justice50:49 Howard's Final Warning and Blood Memory54:41 Recommended Follow-up Stories and Howard's LegacyKeywordsSolomon Kane Red Shadows, Robert E. Howard Solomon Kane, Ascend Great Books Podcast, Deacon Harrison Garlick, Alberto Fernandez, Weird Tales 1928, pulp fiction, sword and sorcery, God’s angry swordsman, Conan the Barbarian comparison, Tower of the Elephant, Le Loup the Wolf, N’Longa witch doctor, G’loka the Gorilla Slayer, Short Story September, Del Rey Solomon Kane, Wings in the Night, Moon of Skulls, Hills of the Dead, Puritan avenger, vengeance for a stranger, West Africa jungle, blood memory, jungle drums, Howard pulp adventure, 16th century historical fantasy, Christian hero pulp fiction, Frank Frazetta, Centaur Press Solomon Kane, Lancer paperbacks, Argosy rejection, eighty dollars Weird Tales, grim Puritan Cavalier, vessel of wrath, justice versus injustice.NEXT WEEK we discuss Neil Gaiman's "Chivalry" with His Excellency Eduard Habsburg, the Archduke of Austria.

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