Karl Edward Wagner

Karl Edward Wagner (4 December 1945 – 13 October 1994) was an American writer of horror, science fiction, and heroic fantasy, who was born in Knoxville, Tennessee and originally trained as a psychiatrist. His disillusionment with the medical profession can be seen in the stories "The Fourth Seal" and "Into Whose Hands". He described his world view as nihilistic, anarchistic and absurdist, and claimed, not entirely seriously, to be related to "an opera composer named Richard".

As author

 * Conan: The Road of Kings (novel) &bull; Bantam 1979

As editor

 * See Berkley.

Also of interest
Wagner wrote one other Howard pastiche:


 * Legion from the Shadows (novel) Zebra 1976 – Bran Mak Morn

Wagner also created his own mystical and pre-historical hero, Kane, whose name and background are based on traditional conceptions of the biblical Cain. A powerful, left-handed man with red hair and eyes which people find it difficult to meet (the Mark of Kane), the character was described by Wagner as one "who could master any situation intellectually, or rip heads off if push came to shove".


 * Darkness Weaves With Many Shades (novel; abridged) Powell 1970
 * Darkness Weaves (novel; restored text) Warner 1978
 * Death Angel's Shadow (collection) Warner 1973
 * Bloodstone (novel) Warner 1975
 * Dark Crusade (novel) Warner 1976
 * Nominated for World Fantasy Award, Best Novel, 1977
 * Night Winds (collection) Warner 1978
 * Nominated for World Fantasy Award, Best Anthology/Collection, 1979
 * The Book of Kane (collection) Donald M. Grant 1985