Howard's stories about Kull of Atlantis are generally more reflective than his better-known Conan tales, and have an air of melancholy that, personally, I think contrasts well with the more conventional "hack-and-slash" elements.Although Kull's world is not as fleshed out as Conan's Hyborian Age, this works to the tales' advantage, as it adds to the age-lost mystery and atmosphere of degeneracy of a world in its last throes, about to be washed away by geological upheavals, a slate wiped clean ready for a new age.There's a fair admixture of cosmic horror of the kind H.P. Lovecraft admired in Howard's works, and also a sprinkling of the sardonic humour that fans of Howard's non-fantasy works will recognise, but which may come as a surprise to those who only know him as a Sword-and-Sorcery writer.Whilst not as commercial successful in their day (in fact, Howard only saw three, I think, published in his lifetime) as the later Conan stories, I think the Kull stories are some of Howard's best.
