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The Complete Cossack Adventures #2
Warriors of the Steppes
Master of driving pace, exotic setting, and complex plotting, Harold Lamb was one of Robert E. Howard’s favorite writers. Here at last is every pulse-pounding, action-packed story of Lamb’s greatest hero, the wolf of the steppes, Khlit the Cossack. Journey now with the unsung grandfather of sword and sorcery in search of ancient tombs, gleaming treasure, and thrilling landscapes. Match wits with deadly swordsmen, scheming priests, and evil cults. Rescue lovely damsels, ride with bold comrades, and hazard everything on your brains and skill and a little luck. Warriors of the Steppes is the second in a four-volume set that collects, for the first time, the complete Cossack stories of Harold Lamb and presents them in every adventure of Khlit the Cossack and those of his friends, allies, and fellow Cossacks, many of which have never before appeared between book covers. Compiled and edited by the Harold Lamb scholar Howard Andrew Jones, each volume features never-before reprinted essays Lamb wrote about his stories, informative introductions by popular authors, and a wealth of rare, exciting, swashbuckling fiction. This second volume collects all five tales of Khlit’s greatest friend, the valorous Abdul Dost, and Dost’s comrade Sir Ralph Weyand. Life across the Roof of the World is more dangerous than ever as Khlit teams up with Abdul to thwart a gang of kidnappers, stamp out a cult of stranglers, save the dazzling Retha, and reluctantly lead an Afghani rebellion against the forces of the Mogul. Contained herein are the three never-before-collected stories of Khlit the Cossack, including the short novel The Curved Sword .
636 pages, Paperback
First published January 3, 2006
8 people are currently reading
185 people want to read
About the author
Harold Lamb
122 books159 followersHarold Albert Lamb was an American historian, screenwriter, short story writer, and novelist.
Born in Alpine, New Jersey, he attended Columbia University, where his interest in the peoples and history of Asia began. Lamb built a career with his writing from an early age. He got his start in the pulp magazines, quickly moving to the prestigious Adventure magazine, his primary fiction outlet for nineteen years. In 1927 he wrote a biography of Genghis Khan, and following on its success turned more and more to the writing of non-fiction, penning numerous biographies and popular history books until his death in 1962. The success of Lamb's two volume history of the Crusades led to his discovery by Cecil B. DeMille, who employed Lamb as a technical advisor on a related movie, The Crusades, and used him as a screenwriter on many other DeMille movies thereafter. Lamb spoke French, Latin, Persian, and Arabic, and, by his own account, a smattering of Manchu-Tartar.
From Wikipedia
Born in Alpine, New Jersey, he attended Columbia University, where his interest in the peoples and history of Asia began. Lamb built a career with his writing from an early age. He got his start in the pulp magazines, quickly moving to the prestigious Adventure magazine, his primary fiction outlet for nineteen years. In 1927 he wrote a biography of Genghis Khan, and following on its success turned more and more to the writing of non-fiction, penning numerous biographies and popular history books until his death in 1962. The success of Lamb's two volume history of the Crusades led to his discovery by Cecil B. DeMille, who employed Lamb as a technical advisor on a related movie, The Crusades, and used him as a screenwriter on many other DeMille movies thereafter. Lamb spoke French, Latin, Persian, and Arabic, and, by his own account, a smattering of Manchu-Tartar.
From Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 7, 2012
More adventures in 17th Century Asia, this time leaving the steppes for Afghanistan and India and such parts. Action, romance (well, only secondarily -- neither Khlit the Cossack nor Abdul Dost, the two protagonists of all the stories, seem to have much use for women themselves, but they often get entangled in others' predicaments), betrayal, war -- this is glorious stuff and it's hard to believe that most of it was unavailable for almost all of the 80 years after its initial publication. Lamb was a masterful writer, able to sketch a vivid scene in a handful of words, and his intimate familiarity with the places & peoples of whom he wrote shows through.
Closer to a 4.5 than a 4. The only reason I'm not going all the way to 5 stars is because the stories, if read in close succession, do have a bit of sameness from time to time. (Which, of course, would not have been an issue back in the days of their magazine publication.)
Highly, highly recommended.
Closer to a 4.5 than a 4. The only reason I'm not going all the way to 5 stars is because the stories, if read in close succession, do have a bit of sameness from time to time. (Which, of course, would not have been an issue back in the days of their magazine publication.)
Highly, highly recommended.
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August 9, 2008Warriors of the Steppes is volume two of Harold Lamb’s tales of Cossacks and other adventurers in 17th century Asia. Lamb was one of the top writers for Adventure, the premier pulp magazine for swashbuckling tales in the 1920s and ‘30s. Along with Talbot Mundy, Lamb was one of Robert E. Howard’s favorite authors and a major influence on the writer from Cross Plains.
Warriors picks up where Wolf of the Steppe leaves off. The central figure is Khlit the Cossack, a peripatetic and aging warrior possessed of a curved saber that represents the legacy of Ghengis Khan. Although he is a Christian Russian, Khlit has cast his lot among the wild tribes of Asia. He is more at home among Buddhist Mongols or Moslem Afghans than in any city, Russian, Chinese, or Turkish.
http://fireandsword.blogspot.com/2007...
Warriors picks up where Wolf of the Steppe leaves off. The central figure is Khlit the Cossack, a peripatetic and aging warrior possessed of a curved saber that represents the legacy of Ghengis Khan. Although he is a Christian Russian, Khlit has cast his lot among the wild tribes of Asia. He is more at home among Buddhist Mongols or Moslem Afghans than in any city, Russian, Chinese, or Turkish.
http://fireandsword.blogspot.com/2007...
August 1, 2011
Absolutely wonderful. As good as the stories in volume 1 were, these are better, culminating in the short novel, "The Curved Sword", which is one of the best stories--long or short--I have ever read. It's a crime that Lamb is not better known today. He is a fabulous writer, and these stories display not just Lamb's command of history and flare for action, but also a remarkable empathy that spans centuries. These characters inhabit a world that is alien to most readers, yet Lamb closes that distance without imbuing his characters with false modernity. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
July 12, 2021
Howard Lamb is still remembered for his non-fiction history, but his fiction is really the model of both action-oriented historical fiction and sword & sorcery (despite no fantastic elements in his work). The Cossack stories are his best, and this volume really shows how a writer like Robert E. Howard was inspired by him. The Curved Sword, which is the concluding novel, has lines about a waning warrior race against the decadence of empire that could come straight from Bran Mak Morn, and many of these stories, especially those featuring more obscure cults, could easily be tales of Conan. I will also note that Lamb was a deep student of Asian history and an admirer, and his writing does not have a lot of the casual racism of the era. Yes, he will refer to Mongols as having "slanted eyes", and use a few other racial descriptives that are *today* considered offensive, but they were NOT in the 1920s, and the important note is that his characters are fully drawn as PEOPLE regardless of if they are Cossacks, Indians, Afghanis, Monguls, etc. Some are admiral, some are awful, some are smart, some are fools -- like....people.
I am not sure if I like volume 1 or volume 2 better, but if you need to be eased over from fantasy to straight historical fiction, this is definitely the volume to do it.
I am not sure if I like volume 1 or volume 2 better, but if you need to be eased over from fantasy to straight historical fiction, this is definitely the volume to do it.
May 28, 2024
These are great stories steeped in Baltic and East Indian culture, but they aren't light reading. It takes some time to sort out who is allied to who and keep the double-crosses straight. Harold Lamb practically presumes that the reader is already familiar with all the various factions and liberally tosses out foreign terms. If the reader is tenacious, however, he is rewarded with some great adventure tales.
January 6, 2025
Other than the character Sir Ralph Weyand, who seemed to steal the show in the stories he was in and had some amazing plot armor, Warriors of the Steppes is an amazing collection of adventure pulp stories that feels consistently better than the first book. This is historical adventure fiction at its best.
August 22, 2021
I began to read this book a few years ago but had to put it down because…because…damn it, I really don’t know why I put it down. Two years—and six-hundred pages—later, I ask myself, “why did I not finish reading such an outstanding read?” I mean, “The Warrior of the Steppes” by Harold Lamb is a vessel that takes the reader to 1600’s Afghanistan/India. It is a collage featuring turbans, fire, elephants, temples, jungles, bows, arrows, beautiful princesses, rogues, battles, dessert plains, warriors, snakes, snake charmers, evil priests, gods, goddesses, heads on spikes, battles, nomads, swords, curved swords, ships, Portuguese cannons, booty, honor and friendships. It is quite a literary orgy. It is a masterpiece.
So I ask myself, “why didn’t I complete it?” again and again. The only conclusion that comes to my gobbledegook-reasoning and feeble brain is that…a few years ago, I simply wasn’t ready for it.
A Jewish proverb teaches that only a fool gives a gold ring to a swine. Two years ago, I was both, the fool and the swine. Today, contrary to the common opinions of my friends, family and neighbors, I’ve abandoned my swine-tendencies and left my foolishness behind—or so I want to believe.
As I type this review, however, I come closer and closer to the realization that I am indeed still the fool. This is not about me! This is about Harold Lamb’s “Warrior of the Steppes,” which is a fascinating collection of short stories, most-deserving of 5 stars.
Tho, in conc—in conclu—in concoosion, the fool rathes it (drumroll pleathe) 5 thars, heh-heh-heh.
So I ask myself, “why didn’t I complete it?” again and again. The only conclusion that comes to my gobbledegook-reasoning and feeble brain is that…a few years ago, I simply wasn’t ready for it.
A Jewish proverb teaches that only a fool gives a gold ring to a swine. Two years ago, I was both, the fool and the swine. Today, contrary to the common opinions of my friends, family and neighbors, I’ve abandoned my swine-tendencies and left my foolishness behind—or so I want to believe.
As I type this review, however, I come closer and closer to the realization that I am indeed still the fool. This is not about me! This is about Harold Lamb’s “Warrior of the Steppes,” which is a fascinating collection of short stories, most-deserving of 5 stars.
Tho, in conc—in conclu—in concoosion, the fool rathes it (drumroll pleathe) 5 thars, heh-heh-heh.
March 21, 2015
Las historias de cosacos de Lamb son divertidas e interesantes, aventuras como ya no se escriben.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews