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Battle in the Dawn: The Complete Hok the Mighty (Trade Paperback)

4.00/5 (based on 3 ratings)
Battle in the Dawn: The Complete Hok the Mighty (Trade Paperback)

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By Manly Wade Wellman with an introduction by David Drake

In the 1930s, an unusual tale appeared in the influential Amazing Stories magazine. Unlike the usual yarns of robots and interstellar travel, “Battle in the Dawn” featured the brutal exploits of Hok, humanity’s first hero. Written by Pulitzer Prize-nominee Manly Wade Wellman (Who Fears the Devil?), who would later achieve fame for his American folktales of Silver John and beat out William Faulkner for a prestigious writing award, this hit story spawned several additional adventures, in which Hok battles unrelenting cavemen, explores lost Atlantis, discovers new technology, and charts a new destiny for humanity.

Now, for the first time ever, Planet Stories presents a complete authorized collection of all of Wellman’s rare Hok the Mighty tales, including an unfinished story fragment and a brand-new introduction by Wellman’s longtime friend, fantasy author David Drake.

    Full stories include:
  • Battle in the Dawn
  • Hok Goes to Atlantis
  • Hok Draws the Bow
  • Hok and the Gift of Heaven
  • Hok Visits the Land of Legends
  • Day of the Conquerors

272-page softcover trade paperback ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-289-0

About the Author

Winner of the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award, the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Locus Award for best novel and best compilation, Manly Wade Wellman is one of the best-regarded writers of the Pulp Age, and a foundational figure in the development of fantasy fiction.

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See Also:

<< Sojan the Swordsman & Under the Warrior Star
Hunt the Space-Witch! (Trade Paperback) >>

Average product rating:

4.00/5 (based on 3 ratings)

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Enjoyable, fast-paced read

4/5 —

Okay, so I'm a sucker for ERB's Tarzan series, and REH's Conan series, etc., and this book fits right in with those.

Even the extra material at the end is great; the non-Hok story of the attempted alien invasion was very enjoyable, though a tad unrealistic by the standards of today's technology. Not that it matters all that much - if you're reading a book like this you're not expecting Isaac Asimov (although it was interesting that throughout the Hok stories Wellman included little footnotes about the stone ages).

Battle in the Dawn is certainly not a contemporary book (i.e. 1500 pages, with 40 characters and a convoluted plot), but that's a large part of its charm - this is a very old-school, straightforward book of action set in the stone ages.

Writings of the birth of humanity

4/5 —

This is the work of a young Manly Wade Wellman, before he wrote his Silver John stories. Here, the hero is Hok, once of the first modern humans. Yes, he is a caveman, wearing furs and carrying a sharp stick at the beginning of his saga, but over time Hok becomes "humanity's first hero" driving out Neanderthals, learning archery, metalwork, and forging peace between tribes.

This is, actually, pretty good stuff, and containing hints at a broader mythos that explains Atlantis, an advanced civilisation swept away by the (meditterranean) sea. Hok is surprisingly engaging for a guy who wears animals pelts and initially thinks the way to a woman's heart is to steal her away from her family and friends, and Wellman hints that many of the labours of Hercules are much-garbled retellings of Hok's early exploits.

There is also a 50-page short story which is not of Hok, but of his tribe (presumably in post-Hok days) meeting a Martian exploratory force come to take over the Earth, and driving them off: shades of The High Crusade here, and its interesting to speculate if the story was inspiration for that, on some level.

A short introduction by David Drake is also included, telling us that Wellman in fact lived in tribal Africa until he was 7, so he probably had a good understanding of "primitive" tribal man, and lets us know a little about the man. This is interesting and welcome.
All in all, this is not as good as Silver John, but still a solid read.

An enjoyable Wellman offering

4/5 —

Thank you Paizo for returning to the roots of Planet Stories. The first story introduces us to Hok the Mighty is an enjoyable Wellman product. Although the introductory story was not as good as the rest of the stories, the latter stories make up for it. I actually think the first story has aged poorly due to different morals and ethics now. There are footnotes throughout the stories. They generally reflect the anthropology of the time including one commenting on Piltdown man before it was discovered to be a forgery.

The stories follow the Flint People in general (and Hok the Mighty) in particular. Reading through the stories have anachronistic aspects. He often uses metaphors and analogies that would be familiar to his audience, but look odd when compared to modern views.

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Hok the Mighty? You're actually reprinting Hok the Mighty??

BLESS YOU, PAIZO! All I ask is that you do Kardios the Minstrel next!
Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber
Eric Hinkle wrote:

Hok the Mighty? You're actually reprinting Hok the Mighty??

BLESS YOU, PAIZO! All I ask is that you do Kardios the Minstrel next!

Another Manly Wade Welleman offering. Great! And I am starting to really like the "Complete" collections that Paizo is offering of these great lost stories.

MORE Wellman!

Is the final cover available?
Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer
Mairkurion {tm} wrote:

MORE Wellman!

Is the final cover available?

Not yet. We're a bit behind schedule on the entire Planet Stories line right now...

RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32

The final cover image and product description are available!
RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32

The final page count has been updated.

I didn't mind the "primitive" look of the placeholder cover, but this final one looks really nice. Is PS going back to two-column text and interior art on this one?
Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer
jmidd wrote:
I didn't mind the "primitive" look of the placeholder cover, but this final one looks really nice. Is PS going back to two-column text and interior art on this one?

This one is single-column, with no interior art.

Vic Wertz wrote:
jmidd wrote:
I didn't mind the "primitive" look of the placeholder cover, but this final one looks really nice. Is PS going back to two-column text and interior art on this one?
This one is single-column, with no interior art.

Hmm, I thought if nothing else there might have been old pulp illustrations to reprint, but thats good to know at least.

When will this actually be released? I've been looking forward to it ever since its annoucement, but the release date keeps changing.
Contributor
Ras Thavas wrote:
When will this actually be released? I've been looking forward to it ever since its annoucement, but the release date keeps changing.

It was sent to the printer a while back, so at this point it's just a matter of them shipping it back to us and then us shipping it out to distributors/subscribers/etc. I'm not sure what exactly caused the latest shipping delay, but rest assured that the book WILL be coming out!

Contributor
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Really looking forward to this one. Wellman is an underappreciated national treasure and I've never had the chance to read these stories.
Vic Wertz wrote:
jmidd wrote:
I didn't mind the "primitive" look of the placeholder cover, but this final one looks really nice. Is PS going back to two-column text and interior art on this one?
This one is single-column, with no interior art.

Is PS changing format again?

Contributor
Mairkurion {tm} wrote:

Is PS changing format again?

Yes and no. We had done a few books in the extra-pulpy style (Robots Have No Tails, Who Fears the Devil, Ship of Ishtar, the Piers Anthony books) and collected a lot of feedback from readers/authors/etc. General consensus was that everyone loves the larger size, but the two columns were a bit weird for modern readers. Same with the covers--the big box logo was neat and pulpy, but it ultimately took up a lot of space that could have been used for cover art, the author's name, etc. (And if there's anything we've learned, it's that more art and color on a cover is better!) Interior art is just a question of economics-- we were excited to reprint some awesome Virgil Finlay pieces and tickle our own fancy by ordering new stuff, but at the end of the day a few illustrations don't seem to affect who buys a book, while significantly effecting our bottom line.

That said, I personally think that the new Planet Stories books are the best-looking ones we've ever done, and the format we've been using for Template, Before They Were Giants, Battle in the Dawn, and the Moorcock/Lansdale double feature is pretty much what we'll be using for the foreseeable future.

Thanks, Sutter!

Frankly, I don't think the interior art was worth it in most of the volumes. Now, if you guys could get more art like the Virgil Finlay in SoI (LOVE!), then that would be another matter. (I didn't start my sub in time for RHNT, but I think I'd include WFtD as the second best art that has been in the volumes since my sub. Pre-sub volumes I'm getting catch-as-catch can.)

Any way, sounds like you're making good decisions: I sure want the line to thrive. Feel free to ask if you ever want opinions. Brother, I've got 'em.

Am I wrong, or does the cover art show Hok swinging a greatsword rather than the club he used in the stories I've actually been able to get hold of? I'm still buying this book either way, I just wat to be sure that these new glasses of mine aren't messing up my eyes that much.

And any chance of seeing a collection of Wellman's 'Kardios the Minstrel' stories from Paizo?
Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8

I didn't notice the greatsword..

Oh and David Drake's intro is wonderful. Surprised that in his bio Old Nathan wasn't mentioned.

<-- Big David Drake fan.

I quote Christopher Paul Carey in this thread.

Christopher Paul Carey wrote:
Perhaps you haven't yet read "Hok and the Gift of Heaven"? ;-) Granted the craftsmanship of the sword is a bit more advanced than I would have imagined, but then the cover illo is meant to be symbolic of Hok leading humanity's evolutionary charge, so I can see why the artist made that choice.

I finally got the book, and I love it... but is it just me, or does Hok come off less as a Stone Age Hercules and more like Einstein, given all the inventions he comes up with?

And I enjoyed the inclusion of the "War of the World meets Cavemen" story; very bizarre, reminiscent in some ways of Wellman's novel Sherlock Holmes and the War of the Worlds in all the good ways, and a great read.

It could also serve as inspiration for an adventure based around the Starfall in Numeria, and what became of the aliens.
Owner - House of Books and Games LLC
Eric Hinkle wrote:
I finally got the book, and I love it... but is it just me, or does Hok come off less as a Stone Age Hercules and more like Einstein, given all the inventions he comes up with?

I didn't get that feeling. He definitely seemed to think more about things than his peers, but it had more of a "right place at the right time" vibe for me.

Edit: and the stone age Hercules thing is 100% on purpose - there's even footnotes about it.

I've bought about half the Planet Stories books and love them to no end. I was wondering if you plan to release them in ereader format though. It seems almost a crime some of the best scifi and fantasy novels of the last century should be unavailable in ebook. (I have a host of ereaders in addition to my sizable physical library. Hence my asking.)
Owner - House of Books and Games LLC
Ras Thavas wrote:
I've bought about half the Planet Stories books and love them to no end. I was wondering if you plan to release them in ereader format though. It seems almost a crime some of the best scifi and fantasy novels of the last century should be unavailable in ebook. (I have a host of ereaders in addition to my sizable physical library. Hence my asking.)

There's posts about this out there somewhere; I remember reading them. It's a licensing issue - print licensing does not imply ebook licensing.

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8

First coolness on the nickname. Barsoom's own mad scientist.

gbonehead has it right. The electronic licensing is different, and I'd guess tricky to say the least. Look at the Dragon Magazine CD ROM and the headaches it caused.

DUH! Everybody knows it was thanks to Hok the Mighty!

EDIT: A bit of a spoiler, I guess.
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