Darkness Weaves
core novel 1970 Kane
Record
| First published | 1970 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.06 (1,652 ratings, collected 2026-08-26) |
| Page count | 288 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780446895989 |
| Internal chronology | 1 |
Synopsis
The first novel to feature Karl Edward Wagner's immortal antihero Kane is set in the kingdom of Pellin, where the mad sorceress Efrel, its widowed empress, is consumed by hatred for her estranged husband, King Netisten Maril, who once cast her aside. Determined on revenge, Efrel enlists Kane, a sorcerer-swordsman who has walked the earth for millennia under a divine curse, to serve as the general of an army built from mercenaries and monstrous allies. As Efrel's forces move against Maril's kingdom, the story follows Kane's ruthless generalship and the uneasy, dangerous alliance between the vengeful empress and the ancient warrior she has bound to her cause, in a world of dark sword-and-sorcery conflict and shifting loyalties.
Where it sits
- Universe: Kane
- Series: Kane core; position 1 of 3 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Karl Edward Wagner
Notes
- From the series record (Kane): Core Canon here covers the three Kane novels; the author also wrote roughly twenty further Kane short stories and novellas across 1970-1985, catalogued separately as expanded material rather than Core Canon. Kane is an immortal, cursed anti-hero wandering a violent, Cain-inspired dark-fantasy world.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings, but they resolve to the exact same sequence for this book, so one combined line is shown instead of two identical ones.
- Reading order, within the series Kane: position 1 of 3: next Bloodstone (1975)
Sources
- Kane series bibliography (specialised series-tracking site)
- https://www.fantasticfiction.com/w/karl-edward-wagner/darkness-weaves.htm
← Kane dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.