The Mighty Sons of Hercules, Volume One
Edited
by
P. Alexander
(Cirsova Publishing, October 2023, pb, 202 pp.)
“Maxus and the Lake of Blood” by Abraham Strongjohn
“Summer of the Stranger” by Misha Burnett
“The Son of Herku Against the Beast of Gnak-Kor” by Nathan Dabney
“Battle of the Rages” by Michael Tierney
“Mighty Umaeo and the Tyrant’s Test” by Owen G. Tabard
“Ever the Blood Endures” by Adrian Cole
“Maciste in the Land of the Snakes” by J. Manfred Weichsel
“Melkart Unchained” by Mark Mellon
Reviewed by Victoria Silverwolf
The international success of the 1958 movie Hercules caused the Italian film industry to produce a large number of fantasy adventures set in the ancient world and featuring protagonists of immense strength. Known as sword-and-sandal or peplum films, several dubbed and edited versions of these movies were shown on American television as a series known as The Sons of Hercules, although none of the lead characters were actually children of the famous demigod. In the tradition of these films, the present anthology offers tales of mighty heroes in ages long past.
The title character of “Maxus and the Lake of Blood” by Abraham Strongjohn rescues a young man and his little sister from pursuing cultists eager to sacrifice the child to evil forces. He vows to end the reign of terror of the wicked queen of the fanatics.
The story follows the pattern of peplum films closely, with a wandering strongman out to do good, innocent villagers oppressed by the bad guys, weird monsters to fight, a beautiful, evil woman who tries to seduce the hero before she seeks to kill him, and an equally beautiful but good woman to help the hero. Those nostalgic for the Italian sword-and-sandal movies of the 1960’s will best appreciate this pastiche of the genre.
In “Summer of the Stranger” by Misha Burnett, the muscular hero wanders into a village of peaceful goat herders after barely surviving a long walk through the desert. The locals are forced to pay tribute to bandits. The narrator is a young man who is one of the few villagers willing to fight. The hero and a small number of others who defy the pacifism of their elders wage a seemingly hopeless battle against overwhelming odds.
Despite being set in the ancient Middle East, this story feels like a Western. There is no real fantasy content, unless the amazing strength of the hero is considered to be supernatural. The author deals with issues such as pacifism versus self-defense and what it means for a boy to become a man. More thoughtful than usual for a violent tale of adventure, the choice of narrator (and some hints that the villagers are ancient Jews) adds interest to the work.
The protagonist of “The Son of Herku Against the Beast of Gnak-Kor” by Nathan Dabney is an exile who is visited from time to time by a mysterious, beautiful woman. The king recalls him to his old homeland because his daughter is under a curse that turns her into a horrible monster under the full moon. (Although the term is never used, it seems clear that she is a werewolf.) With the advice of a sibyl, the hero seeks to save the princess from the curse and destroy the person who cast the evil spell.
It is quite obvious from the start who the mysterious woman is, and who is responsible for the curse, so there are no surprises in the plot. This predictable story is best appreciated for some vivid scenes of battle between the hero and the lycanthropic princess.
“Battle of the Rages” by Michael Tierney begins with the hero trapped by an evil sorceress and an equally sinister wizard. He escapes from a death trap, only to face angry dragons that threaten to destroy a village and all its inhabitants. To add to his worries, the two wicked magicians are still out to kill him.
Some of the dialogue is informal, in a way not entirely appropriate to this kind of story, as characters say things like “Okay” and “What gives?” It’s no surprise at all that the villains are defeated, but the way in which this happens is anticlimactic, hardly involving the hero at all.
The title character of “Mighty Umaeo and the Tyrant’s Test” by Owen G. Tabard demonstrates his superhuman strength early in the story, when he tows a damaged ship to shore singlehandedly. During the attack that nearly sunk the vessel, a princess was kidnapped by an evil monarch. The hero challenges the ruler, who offers to set his beautiful captive free if the strongman can defeat an enemy in the arena. The foe turns out to be a gigantic monster, offering little hope for the hero’s victory.
The above synopsis only describes about half of the story, which goes on to feature treachery and another huge monster. This latter section of the text is something of an anticlimax after the hero’s battle in the arena. The arrival of the second monster serves as a deus ex machina of sorts, rescuing the hero from what would otherwise be certain defeat.
“Ever the Blood Endures” by Adrian Cole takes place not in the ancient past, but many centuries after a technologically advanced society devolved into a more primitive one. The hero is recruited by rebels to overthrow an evil empress. He battles monsters as he makes his way into the ruler’s stronghold inside a mountain, where remnants of the vanished technology still exist.
The future setting is unusual and adds interest to an otherwise familiar plot. As in a few other stories in the book, the hero is rescued from a seemingly hopeless situation by outside forces. This tends to make him seem more of a passive observer, saved by plain luck.
“Maciste in the Land of the Snakes” by J. Manfred Weichsel is narrated by the hero. (It might be mentioned here that Maciste is a strongman character who has appeared in Italian movies since the silent era, including many of the films shown on American television as part of The Sons of Hercules. There is no consistency at all in where or when Maciste shows up, even appearing in Sixteenth Century Scotland in one movie, without explanation.)
The tale starts with Maciste rescuing villagers from mermen by releasing an underwater volcano. This dramatic scene has nothing at all to do with the rest of the plot, which involves Maciste battling giant, talking snakes who turn men into passive slaves and who devour women.
One aspect of the story that may raise a few eyebrows is that the male slaves are described as very effeminate, in addition to accepting slavery as their due. Combined with the way that they are depicted as holding hands and embracing, and the peculiar fact that their skin turns bright pink when they are enslaved, I have to wonder if the author is trying to say something about gay men. There is also a scene which implies that democracy and voting are not always the best ways of making decisions.
Be that as it may, the story otherwise captures the spirit of a typical Maciste adventure. Making him the narrator adds a touch of originality to a familiar tale. (The battle with the mermen, only briefly mentioned at the beginning, might have made for a more interesting plot.)
“Melkart Unchained” by Mark Mellon is, by far, the longest story in the book, taking up more than a third of the volume. The hero, a tin merchant, is enslaved by a treacherous king who wants the valuable metal without paying for it. He manages to escape from certain death in a silver mine by defeating the huge cyclops that guards the prisoners. With other escapees, he wages war against the tyrant and the ruler’s seductive, beautiful sister (who is also his wife.) Along the way he is captured again and forced to battle a manticore in the arena.
Although it contains a fair amount of fantasy content, the story is most notable for its convincing depiction of the remote past. The author obviously knows a great deal about the ancient world, particularly its military aspects. The work may appeal best to readers of historical fiction and war stories.
As a whole, the anthology is likely to please fans of sword-and-sorcery fiction, as well as those who are nostalgic for the peplum films of more than half a century ago. There is enough variety among the stories to allow readers to devour the book in a single session, but it might be better appreciated taken in small doses over the course of several days. The volume supplies plenty of muscular heroes, wicked villains, hideous monsters, and beautiful women (good or bad) to satisfy any viewer of The Sons of Hercules series.
Victoria Silverwolf has seen too many peplum films to count.