Robert E. Howard's Red Blades of Black Cathay channels the raw, unyielding spirit of medieval warfare. The story follows Godric de Villehard, a Norman knight forged by relentless crusading now stranded in the perilous realm of Cathay.

The tale opens with him knee-deep in carnage, later learning he'd saved Princess Yulita, a noblewoman ensnared in her uncle (and the Emperor) Chamu Khan’s schemes. Godric’s initial quest collapses into disillusionment while he navigates the court’s shadowed intrigues. As whispers of a Mongol horde draw near, Godric’s sense of honor drives him to rally the city’s defenses, despite its crumbling walls and faint-hearted soldiers. The Mongols, led by none other than Genghis Khan, threaten to overrun Black Cathay’s faltering resistance—but Godric emerges as a beacon for the city’s warriors, steeling them for a desperate stand.

Godric’s Norman fortitude recalls the Crusaders’ far-flung ambitions while Howard’s prose conjures battlefields choked with dust and blood, a clang of scimitars, and the fleeting glory of far-flung empires. Poetic reflections on fallen kingdoms ground this story in a rhapsody of power politics.

Red Blades of Black Cathay delivers a visceral dive into a world of knightly resolve and nomadic conquest. Godric’s arc from a battered wanderer to defender of a foreign land blends chivalric valor with the grim pragmatism of survival. Howard has again crafted a saga pulsing with action, making for a gripping listen.

Robert Ervin Howard, born January 22, 1906, was an American pulp fiction writer best known for his Conan the Barbarian series, as well as being the father of the Sword and Sorcery fiction subgenre. Despite writing about far-off, exotic lands, Howard spent most of his life in the town of Cross Plains, Texas. He died there in June 11, 1936, aged 30, leaving a body of work that would become one of the most significant in sci-fi and fantasy literature.