Where to Start With Karl Edward Wagner’s Kane by Brian Murphy His visitor was not a reassuring figure. At rather more than twice the thin man’s bulk, he sprawled half out of the room’s single chair. His massive frame exuded an aura of almost bestial strength. The figure might have been that of some great ape, clad in black leather trousers and sleeveless vest. Ruthless intelligence showed in the brutal face, framed by nape-length red hair and a beard like rust. A red silk scarf encircled his thick neck, and belted across the barrel chest, the hilt of a Carsultyal sword protruded over his right shoulder. The savage blue eyes held a note in their stare that promised sudden carnage should that huge left hand reach for the hilt. –Description of Karl Edward Wagner’s Kane, Dark Crusade Sword-and-sorcery “heroes” are typically not that—not the two-dimensional protectors of freedom in colorful tights with which we associate the term “hero” today. The two best thieves in Lankhmar were not out to save the world, but to line their pockets and bed women. Conan ascended the throne of Aquilonia, but it was no coronation of the latest in the line of destined kings, but rather the arrival of a red-handed barbarian who spent most of his days as a rogue, a mercenary, a pirate, and a Cossack, carving a bloody swathe to a kingship with an ill-fitting crown. Dark of nature and enigmatic of motive, the red-headed, blue-eyed, immortal Kane, the creation of the pen of Karl Edward Wagner (1945-1994), is very much cut from this same cloth. Kane is the rumored Cain of the Hebrew bible, cursed by his creator for some ancient transgression. This aspect of his identity is hinted at in the stories rather than explicitly stated, which adds to his general coolness and mystery.  While Kane lacks a traditional morality, he’s not a serial killer or sadist, but a mercenary. Wagner does a skillful job rendering him identifiable and human, just sympathetic enough to earn our rooting interest (in most stories—in some he’s a real bastard). Just don’t call him an “anti-hero”—Wagner despised the term. Kane carries the curse of immortality, although he can be slain by violence. He wanders the earth seeking escape from his ennui and the inevitable separation from earthy relationships and loves, whom he...