‘Exile of Atlantis’ (or ‘Untitled Story’…) - Robert E. Howard

 

Page Count: 10 Pages

I had a great weekend, thanks, but I somehow didn’t get any time to make headway into what I’m reading right now. It happens :o) So, after my ‘Kull’ post from the other day, I thought I’d dig out my ‘Kull’ collection and read a little more about the man himself. Turns out that I actually have two ‘Kull’ anthologies, it’s an occupational hazard in my flat… Anyway, the best place to start is always at the beginning so last night, I ended up going back to the first recorded sighting of Kull, having a meal by a camp fire...

If you’re reading the ‘King Kull’ collection, from Lancer Books (1967), you’ll know this story as ‘Exile of Atlantis’. If you’re reading it in the more recent Del Rey collection (funnily enough, titled ‘Exile of Atlantis’…) you’ll know it as ‘Untitled Story’. For the sake of this post, I’ll be referring to this tale as ‘Exile of Atlantis’; it feels a bit weird to refer to it as ‘Untitled Story’ but maybe that’s just me… ;o)

Everyone’s story has to start somewhere but do we really need to be there, right from the start? OK, there’s presumably a lot more of Kull’s early life, that happens even earlier, but you know what I mean. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this tale at all but the way Howard ended it, and the fact that someone else supplied the title, suggests to me that perhaps Howard wrote it, took a quick look at it, and then decided to pick up Kull’s story again further down the line when it got a little more… interesting?

That sounds a little harsh, doesn’t it? Sorry :o) Like I said a few lines ago, there’s nothing wrong with this tale in itself. I’ve yet to find another writer (maybe Clark Ashton-Smith…?) who captures the feel of ‘the history that came before recorded history, like Howard and while you can’t go wrong if you’re talking about Atlantis, Howard still hits that target without even thinking about it. Not only that, I really enjoyed the sense that history stretches even further into the past and it is now lost to the likes of us.

And as for Kull himself… Whereas Conan is very much the barbarian on the fringes of civilization, Kull is even more isolated, being the last of his people and very much a man who will never quite fit in, not even amongst the other tribes. Part of that is down to Kull being a more thoughtful soul who is not afraid to share his thoughts with others, or act on them. With Kull says, and later does, in this tale, I can’t help but wonder if Howard is saying something here about the incompatibility between the barbarian and the civilized person. If he is, it makes Kull potentially even more interesting a character as he seems to sit right in the middle of the two states.

Is that enough for this story though? The ending packs a punch but I think I’m more used to being dropped straight into it with REH tales; an introductory tale feels a little out of place from where I’m sat. There’s enough about it though to make me want to keep going so… Job done :o)