"The Sowers of the Thunder" is a historical fiction

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

by American writer Robert E. Howard, originally published in '' Oriental Stories'', Winter 1932. It takes place in

Outremer The Crusader States, also known as Outremer, were four Catholic realms in the Middle East that lasted from 1098 to 1291. These feudal polities were created by the Latin Catholic leaders of the First Crusade through conquest and political in ...

(the Crusader states) in the time of

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

Baibars and deals with the General's friendly/adversarial relationship with Cahal Ruadh O'Donnell, an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

Crusader with a troubled past cut in the Howardian mold. Both the

Siege of Jerusalem (1244) The 1244 siege of Jerusalem took place after the Sixth Crusade, when a Khwarazmian army conquered the city on July 15, 1244. Prelude Emperor Frederick II of the Holy Roman Empire led the Sixth Crusade from 1228 to 1229 and claimed the t ...

and the

Battle of La Forbie The Battle of La Forbie, also known as the Battle of Hiribya, was fought October 17, 1244 – October 18, 1244 between the allied armies (drawn from the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the crusading orders, the breakaway Ayyubids of Damascus, Homs, ...

feature in the plot. As is common for Howard's historical fiction, this tale is tragic as much as it is heroic, pitting the protagonist's superhuman strength and resolution against a world that is yet stronger, and too harsh to resist. Another trait of the story common to Howard's historical tales is the mix of historical figures and events (here Baibars, Walter of Brienne, Al-Mansur and others, and the prelude to Baibars'

Mamluk Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...

empire) with totally imaginary ones (such as deposed "King of Ireland" Cahal).

Reception

In an article on Howard's historical fiction,

Don D'Ammassa Donald Eugene D'Ammassa (born April 24, 1946) is an American fantasy, science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts ...

wrote that "The Sowers of the Thunder" "is perhaps Howard's most historically rich tale, filled with colorful images and descriptive passages that demonstrate the careful research that must have taken place before these stories were written." He also described "The Sowers of the Thunder" as "one of Howard's finest stories, despite an over reliance on coincidence."Don D'Ammassa, in

Darrell Schweitzer Darrell Charles Schweitzer (born August 27, 1952) is an American writer, editor, and critic in the field of speculative fiction. Much of his focus has been on dark fantasy and horror fiction, horror, although he does also work in science fictio ...

, "Howard's Oriental Stories", in ''The Robert E. Howard Reader''.

Wildside Press Wildside Press is an independent publishing company in Cabin John, Maryland, United States. It was founded in 1989 by John Betancourt and Kim Betancourt. While the press was originally conceived as a publisher of speculative fiction in both tra ...

, Rockville, Md., 2010. (p. 117).

External links

* • The Sowers of Thunder: Full text of the story at Wikisource
Works of Robert E. Howard
Publication history for ''The Sowers of Thunder''

References

Short stories by Robert E. Howard 1932 short stories Pulp stories Historical short stories Works originally published in Oriental Stories {{1930s-story-stub