What do you think?
Rate this book
Der Dolch mit den drei Klingen
Terra Fantasy 75 - Der Dolch mit den drei Klingen [El Borak 1] –
Original „Three-Bladed Doom (Long Version)“
Copyright © 1977 by Glenn Lord (Zebra Books 1977)
Übersetzung Rudolf Mühlstrasser, Erich Pabel Verlag, 1980
- Vorwort
(Hugh Walker)
- Der Dolch mit den drei Klingen
(„Three-Bladed Doom (Long Version)“ Howard)
Original „Three-Bladed Doom (Long Version)“
Copyright © 1977 by Glenn Lord (Zebra Books 1977)
Übersetzung Rudolf Mühlstrasser, Erich Pabel Verlag, 1980
- Vorwort
(Hugh Walker)
- Der Dolch mit den drei Klingen
(„Three-Bladed Doom (Long Version)“ Howard)
Paperback
First published July 1, 1977
74 people want to read
About the author
Robert E. Howard
2,984 books2,649 followersRobert Ervin Howard was an American pulp writer of fantasy, horror, historical adventure, boxing, western, and detective fiction. Howard wrote "over three-hundred stories and seven-hundred poems of raw power and unbridled emotion" and is especially noted for his memorable depictions of "a sombre universe of swashbuckling adventure and darkling horror."
He is well known for having created—in the pages of the legendary Depression-era pulp magazine Weird Tales—the character Conan the Cimmerian, a.k.a. Conan the Barbarian, a literary icon whose pop-culture imprint can only be compared to such icons as Tarzan of the Apes, Count Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, and James Bond.
—Wikipedia
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
He is well known for having created—in the pages of the legendary Depression-era pulp magazine Weird Tales—the character Conan the Cimmerian, a.k.a. Conan the Barbarian, a literary icon whose pop-culture imprint can only be compared to such icons as Tarzan of the Apes, Count Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, and James Bond.
—Wikipedia
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 30, 2018
Even those readers who have previously thrilled to the exploits of such Robert E. Howard characters as Conan the Barbarian, King Kull of Valusia, the Puritan fighter of evil Solomon Kane, the Pictish king Bran Mak Morn, the piratical Cormac Mac Art, and boxer Steve Costigan might still be unfamiliar with the author's El Borak. And, I suppose, there may be good reason for that. Howard only managed to sell five stories featuring the character before his suicide death, at age 30 in 1936, although 11 more would surface in later years. Of those 16 tales, only one was of a full novel length: "Three-Bladed Doom." Like many other fans, this decades-long Howard buff had never run across this character before, and so, when I spotted the 1979 Ace edition of the "Three-Bladed Doom" novel at the (sadly now-defunct) Brooklyn sci-fi bookstore Singularity, I scooped it up forthwith. Apparently, this El Borak tale was one of those that Howard never managed to sell during his lifetime. He'd written a short version of it (of 24,000 words) and the longer version (of 42,000), but it wasn't until 1976, a full 40 years after Howard's death, that the short version made its first appearance, in the pages of the fanzine called REH: Lone Star Fictioneer, with the story's beginning and ending rewritten by editor Byron Roark, if a certain Wiki site is to be trusted. From what I can gather, "Three-Bladed Doom" is the only El Borak tale to contain anything even remotely resembling a fantasy element, the others being straightforward adventure stories. (And indeed, the first three El Borak yarns--"The Daughter of Erlik Khan," "Hawk of the Hills" and "Blood of the Gods"--all appeared, from 12/34 to 7/35, in the pages of "Top-Notch Magazine," a 10-cent, twice-monthly pulp that catered to lovers of adventure fiction.)
So just who, or what, you may be asking, is El Borak? To be succinct, El Borak is the modern-day Texan adventurer Francis Xavier Gordon, who, after cutting a path throughout Asia, now resides in Afghanistan; "El Borak," in Afghani, means "the swift," a reference to both the character's swiftness of thought and motion, and perhaps his ability with the gun, saber and knife. As Howard's novel begins, Gordon is mediating a dispute between the leader of Afghanistan, the Amir, and the chief of the nearby Ghilzai tribe, Baber Khan. It is a time of great unrest, as a secret society known as The Hidden Ones has recently slain the heads of Turkey, Persia and Hyderabad! When the Amir himself is attacked by one of these Assassins, using one of their telltale three-bladed knives, Gordon decides to investigate. With the aid of his cohorts--the Afridi cutthroat Yar Ali Khan, the Yusufzai Ahmed Shah, and the Sikh Lal Singh--El Borak discovers the secret hideout of the Assassins...an entire city, actually, called Shalizahr, which resides on top of a 500-foot-high plateau, itself hidden amongst the desolate Afghani mountains. Gordon decides to infiltrate the nest of vipers by himself, and so comes up against the Persian Shaykh Al Jerbal, a fanatic who claims to be the linear descendant of Hassan ibn Sabah, who had formed the original Assassins sect back in the 13th century. Ultimately, Gordon learns that the Shaykh, power hungry though he is, is not the actual person pulling the strings. And, before all is said and done, Gordon, his friends, and several hundred of Baber Khan's Ghilzai tribesmen engage in one remarkably bloody battle against the hashish-fueled fanatics of Shalizahr, in what Howard tells us is "the most bizarre situation [El Borak] had ever found himself in, in the course of a life packed with wild adventures and bloody episodes...."
Reading "Three-Bladed Doom" today, one can only wonder how in the world this novel failed to be sold during the Age of the Pulps. The book is tremendously tense and exciting, compact, action filled and, in all, quite gripping. And man, oh, man, is it ever violent; a red-blooded thrill ride if ever there was one, written by Howard a good five years before "Gunga Din," with its own violent battles against the murderous Thugee cult, ever hit the screens. As is the case with much of Howard's fiction, this is not a book for the lily-livered, the squeamish or the faint of heart. Just take a look at some of the author's choice descriptions of various carnage and mayhem:
"...There rose the ugly butcher-shop sound of keen blades cleaving flesh and bone, and men screamed or gasped death-gurgles from severed jugulars...." "...The Mongol dropped like an ox, his round skull split to the teeth...." "...the Arab was lying in his own blood, his head all but severed from his body...." "...The Kurd's head jumped from his shoulders on a spurt of crimson and thudded to the floor...." "...his voice was silenced forever by a bullet that crashed through his mouth and blasted his brains...." "...Gordon shot one and brained another with his gun butt an instant after the Arab had drilled one of the Kurds through the heart...." "...The butt of his clubbed rifle was clotted with blood and brains...."
I could go on, but I think you get the idea. No fantasy tale of Conan the Barbarian was ever more sanguinary than this El Borak novel, and thus, the reader readily believes the author when he refers to Gordon as "the most dangerous man with any sort of weapon between Cairo and Peking'!
But "Three-Bladed Doom" is hardly a novel of mindless and gratuitous violence. It is evident from page 1 that Howard did an inordinate amount of background research before he sat down to write his only El Borak novel, and the reader will come away from the book not only entertained, but made aware of any number of Asian tidbits that he/she never knew before. (You didn't really think I knew what an Afridi or Yusufzai was before I read this book, did you?) Actually, by my count, I needed to look up some 60+ foreign words, place names and historical references, using the Interwebs and my atlas, for a full appreciation of what Howard dishes out here. Do you need to know about the history of the Mongol victory in Persia in 1256? You'll learn all about it here. This is hardly an empty-headed book, although most readers will be so busy being thrilled that they may not even realize that they’re learning something at the same time. And as for those thrills, Howard supplies us with many, but two sequences stand out especially. In the first, Gordon is trapped in a maze of ravines outside Shalizahr, and must do battle with the monstrous creature that haunts the area. Revealing the nature of this creature would surely constitute a spoiler, so let's just say that Conan himself might have been seen combating such a thing back in the dim Hyborian Age; it is this "Haunter of the Gulches" chapter, by the way, that constitutes the novel's sole fantasy element. As for that other wonderful sequence, it makes up the entire final quarter of the book; namely, that remarkably exciting battle previously alluded to, on which Howard keeps a very firm hand, despite the complexity of the actions described. It is an absolutely bravura bit of writing from REH, in which pacing and suspense are masterfully handled, and all the villains and their henchmen get their just deserts.
Other than one or two instances of faulty grammar, actually (such as "...an arm whose force and accuracy was famed throughout the Hills...."), my only problem with "Three-Bladed Doom" was the fact that some of the geographical and palace descriptions are a bit difficult to follow. This is a novel, I feel, that might benefit from the inclusion of a good map. And you know what? To aid myself, particularly during that complex battle sequence, I did draw a rough map, and found that it helped immeasurably in following the complicated maneuvers as Gordon and his allies fight the Assassins of Shalizahr. In all, though, Howard's work here is simply dynamite; a real man's man's adventure (there is only one female character in the entire book, by the way...a slave girl whom Gordon rescues) that has left this reader wanting to learn more about Francis Xavier Gordon. Fortunately, there is now, from Del Rey books, the volume entitled "El Borak and Other Desert Adventures," a big fat collection with any number of El Borak tales in it, and it is a book that I hope to be acquiring soon....
(By the way, this review originally appeared on the FanLit website at http://www.fantasyliterature.com/ ... a most ideal destination for all fans of Robert E. Howard....)
So just who, or what, you may be asking, is El Borak? To be succinct, El Borak is the modern-day Texan adventurer Francis Xavier Gordon, who, after cutting a path throughout Asia, now resides in Afghanistan; "El Borak," in Afghani, means "the swift," a reference to both the character's swiftness of thought and motion, and perhaps his ability with the gun, saber and knife. As Howard's novel begins, Gordon is mediating a dispute between the leader of Afghanistan, the Amir, and the chief of the nearby Ghilzai tribe, Baber Khan. It is a time of great unrest, as a secret society known as The Hidden Ones has recently slain the heads of Turkey, Persia and Hyderabad! When the Amir himself is attacked by one of these Assassins, using one of their telltale three-bladed knives, Gordon decides to investigate. With the aid of his cohorts--the Afridi cutthroat Yar Ali Khan, the Yusufzai Ahmed Shah, and the Sikh Lal Singh--El Borak discovers the secret hideout of the Assassins...an entire city, actually, called Shalizahr, which resides on top of a 500-foot-high plateau, itself hidden amongst the desolate Afghani mountains. Gordon decides to infiltrate the nest of vipers by himself, and so comes up against the Persian Shaykh Al Jerbal, a fanatic who claims to be the linear descendant of Hassan ibn Sabah, who had formed the original Assassins sect back in the 13th century. Ultimately, Gordon learns that the Shaykh, power hungry though he is, is not the actual person pulling the strings. And, before all is said and done, Gordon, his friends, and several hundred of Baber Khan's Ghilzai tribesmen engage in one remarkably bloody battle against the hashish-fueled fanatics of Shalizahr, in what Howard tells us is "the most bizarre situation [El Borak] had ever found himself in, in the course of a life packed with wild adventures and bloody episodes...."
Reading "Three-Bladed Doom" today, one can only wonder how in the world this novel failed to be sold during the Age of the Pulps. The book is tremendously tense and exciting, compact, action filled and, in all, quite gripping. And man, oh, man, is it ever violent; a red-blooded thrill ride if ever there was one, written by Howard a good five years before "Gunga Din," with its own violent battles against the murderous Thugee cult, ever hit the screens. As is the case with much of Howard's fiction, this is not a book for the lily-livered, the squeamish or the faint of heart. Just take a look at some of the author's choice descriptions of various carnage and mayhem:
"...There rose the ugly butcher-shop sound of keen blades cleaving flesh and bone, and men screamed or gasped death-gurgles from severed jugulars...." "...The Mongol dropped like an ox, his round skull split to the teeth...." "...the Arab was lying in his own blood, his head all but severed from his body...." "...The Kurd's head jumped from his shoulders on a spurt of crimson and thudded to the floor...." "...his voice was silenced forever by a bullet that crashed through his mouth and blasted his brains...." "...Gordon shot one and brained another with his gun butt an instant after the Arab had drilled one of the Kurds through the heart...." "...The butt of his clubbed rifle was clotted with blood and brains...."
I could go on, but I think you get the idea. No fantasy tale of Conan the Barbarian was ever more sanguinary than this El Borak novel, and thus, the reader readily believes the author when he refers to Gordon as "the most dangerous man with any sort of weapon between Cairo and Peking'!
But "Three-Bladed Doom" is hardly a novel of mindless and gratuitous violence. It is evident from page 1 that Howard did an inordinate amount of background research before he sat down to write his only El Borak novel, and the reader will come away from the book not only entertained, but made aware of any number of Asian tidbits that he/she never knew before. (You didn't really think I knew what an Afridi or Yusufzai was before I read this book, did you?) Actually, by my count, I needed to look up some 60+ foreign words, place names and historical references, using the Interwebs and my atlas, for a full appreciation of what Howard dishes out here. Do you need to know about the history of the Mongol victory in Persia in 1256? You'll learn all about it here. This is hardly an empty-headed book, although most readers will be so busy being thrilled that they may not even realize that they’re learning something at the same time. And as for those thrills, Howard supplies us with many, but two sequences stand out especially. In the first, Gordon is trapped in a maze of ravines outside Shalizahr, and must do battle with the monstrous creature that haunts the area. Revealing the nature of this creature would surely constitute a spoiler, so let's just say that Conan himself might have been seen combating such a thing back in the dim Hyborian Age; it is this "Haunter of the Gulches" chapter, by the way, that constitutes the novel's sole fantasy element. As for that other wonderful sequence, it makes up the entire final quarter of the book; namely, that remarkably exciting battle previously alluded to, on which Howard keeps a very firm hand, despite the complexity of the actions described. It is an absolutely bravura bit of writing from REH, in which pacing and suspense are masterfully handled, and all the villains and their henchmen get their just deserts.
Other than one or two instances of faulty grammar, actually (such as "...an arm whose force and accuracy was famed throughout the Hills...."), my only problem with "Three-Bladed Doom" was the fact that some of the geographical and palace descriptions are a bit difficult to follow. This is a novel, I feel, that might benefit from the inclusion of a good map. And you know what? To aid myself, particularly during that complex battle sequence, I did draw a rough map, and found that it helped immeasurably in following the complicated maneuvers as Gordon and his allies fight the Assassins of Shalizahr. In all, though, Howard's work here is simply dynamite; a real man's man's adventure (there is only one female character in the entire book, by the way...a slave girl whom Gordon rescues) that has left this reader wanting to learn more about Francis Xavier Gordon. Fortunately, there is now, from Del Rey books, the volume entitled "El Borak and Other Desert Adventures," a big fat collection with any number of El Borak tales in it, and it is a book that I hope to be acquiring soon....
(By the way, this review originally appeared on the FanLit website at http://www.fantasyliterature.com/ ... a most ideal destination for all fans of Robert E. Howard....)
October 12, 2021
This is the only novel length story that Howard wrote featuring his character Francis Xavier Gordon, better known as El Borak. He was a two-fisted contemporary Texan adventurer who raised a ruckus in Howard's version of Afghanistan. This is also the only story in the series that had a supernatural element, perhaps the reason it's my favorite. Howard wrote a short version of the story as well as this novel length one, but neither was published in his lifetime, which seems quite odd to me... it's a good story, and would have been right at home in many of Howard's usual outlets. Years later, L. Sprague de Camp re-wrote this one as a Conan story, The Flame Knife, and that's how it best recognized.
October 4, 2024
This is an El Borak novella that Howard was not able to sell in his lifetime. It saw print in 1977 for the first time, over forty years after his death.
Francis Xavier Gordon, ’El Borak’, is visiting the Amir of Afghanistan in the hope of reaching peace between the Amir and Baber Khan, a man accused of sedition. Gordon leaves Kabul to seek out Khan. That evening, the Amir is attacked by a man with a three-bladed dagger. The assailant is one of the “Hidden Ones”, a cult based on the ancient cult of Assassins.
Gordon and his friend Lal Singh seek out the base of the Hidden Ones. Singh is captured. Gordon follows the trail which lead to a magnificent city in the mountains. He bluffs his way into the city.
After a meeting with their leader, Othman, he is held captive until the money behind Othman arrives, Bagheela. Bagheela is a Russian agent seeking to destabilize the area.
Gordon must rescue his friend and end Bagheela’s plans.
A good story although it is hampered by the many different sects and ethnic groups mentioned--Kurds, Afghans, Waziri, Ismailites, Ghilzais, Batinis, Sikhs, Arabs and Hindus—who make up El Borak’s friends and enemies.
Francis Xavier Gordon, ’El Borak’, is visiting the Amir of Afghanistan in the hope of reaching peace between the Amir and Baber Khan, a man accused of sedition. Gordon leaves Kabul to seek out Khan. That evening, the Amir is attacked by a man with a three-bladed dagger. The assailant is one of the “Hidden Ones”, a cult based on the ancient cult of Assassins.
Gordon and his friend Lal Singh seek out the base of the Hidden Ones. Singh is captured. Gordon follows the trail which lead to a magnificent city in the mountains. He bluffs his way into the city.
After a meeting with their leader, Othman, he is held captive until the money behind Othman arrives, Bagheela. Bagheela is a Russian agent seeking to destabilize the area.
Gordon must rescue his friend and end Bagheela’s plans.
A good story although it is hampered by the many different sects and ethnic groups mentioned--Kurds, Afghans, Waziri, Ismailites, Ghilzais, Batinis, Sikhs, Arabs and Hindus—who make up El Borak’s friends and enemies.
February 7, 2024
First printing, July 1977
"... the senses of any savage being naturally keener than the specially-trained faculties of a civilized man, however intensely cultivated."
Shorter Review:
First, the cover is an interesting image but holds no relevance to the story in any way, none that I can see. El Borak is an island of his own, not quite a part of civilization, and sticking out like a sore thumb among the East, especially in a tale heavy on Shia Muslim sects and a well-read history coming from Howard that he weaves unto his own mythology and characters. Regardless of ethnicity, status, or atmospheric standards, El Borak is respected and feared by all. Robert E. Howard gives us an enthralling look at tribal prejudices as well as the slippery slope of diversity standards (). In addition, in true Howardesque fashion, he gives us natural diversity in a group of warriors () who still hold onto their heritage and garner camaraderie that would see them all die for each other. Even though the typical Howard reader won't see much new ground in this tale, I was never bored and found it a great escape as any other of his adventures. This one was grim and bloody, one of the more violent ones I've read by Howard, and once the climax took off, the rivers of blood flow effortlessly.
Longer Review:
Chapter Names:
Character Reference:
Quoted Text:
"... the senses of any savage being naturally keener than the specially-trained faculties of a civilized man, however intensely cultivated."
Shorter Review:
First, the cover is an interesting image but holds no relevance to the story in any way, none that I can see. El Borak is an island of his own, not quite a part of civilization, and sticking out like a sore thumb among the East, especially in a tale heavy on Shia Muslim sects and a well-read history coming from Howard that he weaves unto his own mythology and characters. Regardless of ethnicity, status, or atmospheric standards, El Borak is respected and feared by all. Robert E. Howard gives us an enthralling look at tribal prejudices as well as the slippery slope of diversity standards (). In addition, in true Howardesque fashion, he gives us natural diversity in a group of warriors () who still hold onto their heritage and garner camaraderie that would see them all die for each other. Even though the typical Howard reader won't see much new ground in this tale, I was never bored and found it a great escape as any other of his adventures. This one was grim and bloody, one of the more violent ones I've read by Howard, and once the climax took off, the rivers of blood flow effortlessly.
Longer Review:
Chapter Names:
Character Reference:
Quoted Text:
August 24, 2013
A full length story starring El Borak! What more can one say? Well plenty I guess, but I won't go to far in depth. We find El Borak in his usual haunts on a mission to help his friend during a fall from grace when all of a sudden a revived ancient threat is come back to life ..... the cult of Assassins. A whirlwind of action and intrigue carries one through to the explosive ending in this ultimate of El Borak tales.
January 3, 2009
More from Howard about Francis Xavier Gordon.
November 2, 2015
I needed some Robert E. Howard lately, and I decided to read an “El Borak” adventure. They aren’t always what the reader expects, and I love the idea of an American soldier-of-fortune fighting in Asia during the 1920s and 30s. Humorously, I picked “Three-Bladed Doom”, expecting a short and fun story. I was totally unaware that it is the longest El Borak tale Howard ever wrote.
SUMMARY
Francis X. Gordon, aka “El Borak”, is an American adventurer living in Afghanistan. The story begins as he tries to make peace between the Amir and a friend, a tribal warlord known as Baber Khan. Shortly after he sets out on his task, an assassin tries to murder the Amir, and Gordon decides to investigate, hoping to find a way to mend the breach between his two friends in the process.
He soon discovers a hidden city, where a brotherhood of assassins are carrying on the ancient traditions of the Nizari Ismailis (the Assassins), and are being guided by a foreign power to destabilize much of the Middle East. Gordon and his friends, Yar Ali Khan, Lal Singh, and Ahmed Shah, must survive all the murderers, traps, and superstitious dreads of the city if they are going to preserve the Amir’s life as well as global security.
OVERALL: 3.2 out of 5
“Three-Bladed Doom” is a solid Howard adventure story that has all the great elements that a fan of the author (or of historical adventure in general) should expect. Like a cake that’s been made with the right ingredients, that doesn’t mean it was cooked perfectly.
The star of the story is the main character. Gordon’s attitude in the face of adversity, particularly when his own plans have gone completely wrong, is wonderful to read. This isn’t a perfect character, but he’s still the kind of self-motivated individual that people like Nietzsche could only talk about in abstract terms.
The downfall of the story is that it all feels like old ground to a Howard fan. The fights have already been won, the lost city explored, and the villain overthrown.
For those worried about the racism of the time, readers should note that Howard’s “typical racism” is on display, but as usual, Howard isn’t so much the bigot in his writing. The virtues, bravery, and capability of the white men aren’t focused on as much as the individual of Gordon (he being the only white man), while Howard describes or mentions both faults and credits of other peoples, including various Afghani tribes, Kurds, Arabs, Indians, and a Russian (in particular, a Cossack). However, many of these are still broad generalizations that some readers may find objectionable. Gordon could not survive without the assistance of loyal (and generally capable) friends, none of whom are white.
Of all the Howard stories, I think the El Borak ones would probably be the best to be translated to a TV show or movie. The character’s close-knit circle of friends, which includes Arabians, Afghans, and Indians, as well as the great 1920s vibe of the stories, would be a wonderful addition to the wasteland of modern television programming. In the Del Rey edition I have, there are great illustrations by Tim Bradstreet that put the actor Thomas Jane in the role of El Borak. It’s a bit of inspired casting.
RATINGS BY CATEGORY
CHARACTERS: 4 out of 5
I really like Gordon. Though he might seem a little empty to some readers, he is a kind of “ultimate man”; completely in control of himself, motivated by something deep within that others can’t understand, and absolutely loyal to friends and those he has given his word to. He is a man of action who needs no external stimulus to do things. He is driven.
The other characters all shine, though they mostly exist to frame the American and define him by being different. Yar Ali Khan is a big, powerful warrior, but also the comedy relief who is constantly grumbling or mourning; he is a passionate man, and a kind of poet among the company. Lal Singh is described as a cunning warrior and close friend of Gordon’s, though in the story he never has a true moment to shine (except in terms of his bravery). I liked to think of a bearded Shah Rukh Khan in this role.
The primary villain is an interesting creation in that he is not far removed from Howard’s other heroes. He is a free spirit, a skilled warrior, and a man who has dreams of empire. With only a few tweaks, his role might have been very different.
PACE: 2 out of 5
This story is long, and a lot of it is bogged down by detailed descriptions of terrain that I was as lost in as the protagonists. This action is frantic, and the scenes of exposition and dialogue are fitting, but there is just too much explanation of where canyons and mountains are, or how the city is laid out. It’s never bad, but it could have been better.
STORY: 4 out of 5
This is a story that I can really sink my teeth into. It has brave adventurers, great villains, exotic locations, sword and gun battles, bravery, death, sacrifice, camaraderie, conspiracies, a monster, and the rescuing of beautiful damsels in distress.
In the appendix of my Del Rey edition, there is a section called “Gunfighters of the Wild East”, where David A. Hardy remarks on the relevance the story has in an early 21st century context. Though it’s definitely a creation of its era, it’s true that the assassins outlined in “Three-Bladed Doom” seem to be near-kin to modern terrorist groups. In Howard’s tale, salvation comes from wild, untamed Afghani swordsmen and a lone American adventurer rather than the US Army.
DIALOGUE: 3 out of 5
The dialogue is mostly well-written. El Borak is difficult to write for, since he’s frequently speaking in Arabic or some other local dialect, and he has adapted some of the mannerisms of the people he is surrounded by. Readers hoping for a red-blooded American who beats up foreigners may be disappointed; Gordon is a man with his feet in two different worlds. Yar Ali’s dialogue is mostly fun stuff, and I liked the villain’s dialogue (even if a threatening speech he gives near the ending was a bit overblown and long-winded).
STYLE/TECHNICAL: 3 out of 5
Howard’s writing is clear, except for when he tries to describe the terrain more than it needs to be. Also, I think he wasn’t quite as sharp in his fight scenes as in other stories. It’s not that they aren’t well done, there’s just something special that was absent here. I am thinking of Conan’s battle with Thak in “Rogues in the House” or the mass combat of “Twilight of the Grey Gods” where the reader feels like they’re in the middle of things. Most of the fights here Howard had already fought before in other tales.
SUMMARY
Francis X. Gordon, aka “El Borak”, is an American adventurer living in Afghanistan. The story begins as he tries to make peace between the Amir and a friend, a tribal warlord known as Baber Khan. Shortly after he sets out on his task, an assassin tries to murder the Amir, and Gordon decides to investigate, hoping to find a way to mend the breach between his two friends in the process.
He soon discovers a hidden city, where a brotherhood of assassins are carrying on the ancient traditions of the Nizari Ismailis (the Assassins), and are being guided by a foreign power to destabilize much of the Middle East. Gordon and his friends, Yar Ali Khan, Lal Singh, and Ahmed Shah, must survive all the murderers, traps, and superstitious dreads of the city if they are going to preserve the Amir’s life as well as global security.
OVERALL: 3.2 out of 5
“Three-Bladed Doom” is a solid Howard adventure story that has all the great elements that a fan of the author (or of historical adventure in general) should expect. Like a cake that’s been made with the right ingredients, that doesn’t mean it was cooked perfectly.
The star of the story is the main character. Gordon’s attitude in the face of adversity, particularly when his own plans have gone completely wrong, is wonderful to read. This isn’t a perfect character, but he’s still the kind of self-motivated individual that people like Nietzsche could only talk about in abstract terms.
The downfall of the story is that it all feels like old ground to a Howard fan. The fights have already been won, the lost city explored, and the villain overthrown.
For those worried about the racism of the time, readers should note that Howard’s “typical racism” is on display, but as usual, Howard isn’t so much the bigot in his writing. The virtues, bravery, and capability of the white men aren’t focused on as much as the individual of Gordon (he being the only white man), while Howard describes or mentions both faults and credits of other peoples, including various Afghani tribes, Kurds, Arabs, Indians, and a Russian (in particular, a Cossack). However, many of these are still broad generalizations that some readers may find objectionable. Gordon could not survive without the assistance of loyal (and generally capable) friends, none of whom are white.
Of all the Howard stories, I think the El Borak ones would probably be the best to be translated to a TV show or movie. The character’s close-knit circle of friends, which includes Arabians, Afghans, and Indians, as well as the great 1920s vibe of the stories, would be a wonderful addition to the wasteland of modern television programming. In the Del Rey edition I have, there are great illustrations by Tim Bradstreet that put the actor Thomas Jane in the role of El Borak. It’s a bit of inspired casting.
RATINGS BY CATEGORY
CHARACTERS: 4 out of 5
I really like Gordon. Though he might seem a little empty to some readers, he is a kind of “ultimate man”; completely in control of himself, motivated by something deep within that others can’t understand, and absolutely loyal to friends and those he has given his word to. He is a man of action who needs no external stimulus to do things. He is driven.
The other characters all shine, though they mostly exist to frame the American and define him by being different. Yar Ali Khan is a big, powerful warrior, but also the comedy relief who is constantly grumbling or mourning; he is a passionate man, and a kind of poet among the company. Lal Singh is described as a cunning warrior and close friend of Gordon’s, though in the story he never has a true moment to shine (except in terms of his bravery). I liked to think of a bearded Shah Rukh Khan in this role.
The primary villain is an interesting creation in that he is not far removed from Howard’s other heroes. He is a free spirit, a skilled warrior, and a man who has dreams of empire. With only a few tweaks, his role might have been very different.
PACE: 2 out of 5
This story is long, and a lot of it is bogged down by detailed descriptions of terrain that I was as lost in as the protagonists. This action is frantic, and the scenes of exposition and dialogue are fitting, but there is just too much explanation of where canyons and mountains are, or how the city is laid out. It’s never bad, but it could have been better.
STORY: 4 out of 5
This is a story that I can really sink my teeth into. It has brave adventurers, great villains, exotic locations, sword and gun battles, bravery, death, sacrifice, camaraderie, conspiracies, a monster, and the rescuing of beautiful damsels in distress.
In the appendix of my Del Rey edition, there is a section called “Gunfighters of the Wild East”, where David A. Hardy remarks on the relevance the story has in an early 21st century context. Though it’s definitely a creation of its era, it’s true that the assassins outlined in “Three-Bladed Doom” seem to be near-kin to modern terrorist groups. In Howard’s tale, salvation comes from wild, untamed Afghani swordsmen and a lone American adventurer rather than the US Army.
DIALOGUE: 3 out of 5
The dialogue is mostly well-written. El Borak is difficult to write for, since he’s frequently speaking in Arabic or some other local dialect, and he has adapted some of the mannerisms of the people he is surrounded by. Readers hoping for a red-blooded American who beats up foreigners may be disappointed; Gordon is a man with his feet in two different worlds. Yar Ali’s dialogue is mostly fun stuff, and I liked the villain’s dialogue (even if a threatening speech he gives near the ending was a bit overblown and long-winded).
STYLE/TECHNICAL: 3 out of 5
Howard’s writing is clear, except for when he tries to describe the terrain more than it needs to be. Also, I think he wasn’t quite as sharp in his fight scenes as in other stories. It’s not that they aren’t well done, there’s just something special that was absent here. I am thinking of Conan’s battle with Thak in “Rogues in the House” or the mass combat of “Twilight of the Grey Gods” where the reader feels like they’re in the middle of things. Most of the fights here Howard had already fought before in other tales.
July 28, 2020
I haven’t read a lot of Howard other than Conan, but I have come to appreciate Howard’s sense of pacing. This book starts with an assassination attempt in the FIRST PARAGRAPH and the action does not let up from there.
Three criticisms:
First, this story reads like a fever dream - the great white American, the best knife fighter in all of Asia, the strongest man many have ever seen, whom his Arab followers would follow blindly, so great is there devotion.
Second, it took only until the second chapter to realize, I had read this story before. It has been reworked into the Conan novel, “The Flame Knife.” I rated “Flame Knife” four stars, easily the best de Camp Conan novel, probably because it so closely follows “Three-Bladed Doom.” “Flame Knife” works better as a period piece than does “Three-Bladed Doom” as a contemporary story.
Third, after setting up the three-bladed knife in the first chapter, it oddly doesn’t come back into play.
Three criticisms:
First, this story reads like a fever dream - the great white American, the best knife fighter in all of Asia, the strongest man many have ever seen, whom his Arab followers would follow blindly, so great is there devotion.
Second, it took only until the second chapter to realize, I had read this story before. It has been reworked into the Conan novel, “The Flame Knife.” I rated “Flame Knife” four stars, easily the best de Camp Conan novel, probably because it so closely follows “Three-Bladed Doom.” “Flame Knife” works better as a period piece than does “Three-Bladed Doom” as a contemporary story.
Third, after setting up the three-bladed knife in the first chapter, it oddly doesn’t come back into play.
October 7, 2025
Almost twenty years before the publication of "Casino Royale" Howard penned an adventure story where an unconventional and yet highly competent operative of British Intelligence infiltrates a secret lair where a ruthless schemer with his own private army plots global domination. Oh, and despite facing overwhelming odds our hero manages to save a beautiful prisoner as well.
There might not be enough of a plot here to properly propel a 40,000+ word novella but the action is both frequent and compelling, and there's no doubt this story would make an incredible movie.
4 stars
There might not be enough of a plot here to properly propel a 40,000+ word novella but the action is both frequent and compelling, and there's no doubt this story would make an incredible movie.
4 stars
April 13, 2025
Rip-snorting blood-and-thunder historical adventure by the dean of pulp fiction writers, Robert E. Howard. Tremendous swashbuckling action, wonderfully written with a breakneck pace, featuring Howard's character Francis Xavier Gordon, a.k.a. El Borak, "The Swfit," and American adventurer helping keep order and battling evil in the 1920s Middle East. Fabulous stuff, the only El Borak novel, unbeliebably never published during Howard's lifetime.
March 3, 2024
Pretty much all I could ask for of a Howard yarn.
January 12, 2025
Cover has nothing to do with the story. Great Howard writing. The body count is amazing. So it pretty much focuses on fighting and not as atmospheric as I like Howard to be though.
December 2, 2025
I would probably have enjoyed the full version more, but I didn’t know until after having read the novella that it had been shortened from the original novel.
September 24, 2025
Francis Xavier Gordon, otherwise known as El Borak, is an adventurer active in Afghanistan in the early 20th Century. In this story--his longest adventure--he infiltrates a city of assassins who have been attempting (and sometimes succeeding) to kill the rulers of nearby countries to destablize the entire region and make it ripe for taking over.
This short, fast-paced novel covers only about two days. And its an action-packed two days. Gordon gets into multiple fights with either guns or bladed weapons. There's a girl to rescue, a evil ruler who needs killing and--at one point--a very unusual and dangerous creature to slay. In the end, Gordon and a few allies are trapped in a tower while an even larger battle takes place nearby. But if Gordon can't fight his way out of trouble, he'll THINK his way out. And then jump back into trouble again. When Gordon joins that last battle, we are presented with a magnificently brutal and bloody combat scene.
There are a few too many coincidences used to move the plot along, but the adventure is so much fun overall that this really doesn't bother me.
This short, fast-paced novel covers only about two days. And its an action-packed two days. Gordon gets into multiple fights with either guns or bladed weapons. There's a girl to rescue, a evil ruler who needs killing and--at one point--a very unusual and dangerous creature to slay. In the end, Gordon and a few allies are trapped in a tower while an even larger battle takes place nearby. But if Gordon can't fight his way out of trouble, he'll THINK his way out. And then jump back into trouble again. When Gordon joins that last battle, we are presented with a magnificently brutal and bloody combat scene.
There are a few too many coincidences used to move the plot along, but the adventure is so much fun overall that this really doesn't bother me.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews