For Robert E. Howard neophytes, a little background. REH created Kull prior to Conan, but had difficulty seling his stories. What few there are were sometimes far more involved and intricately plotted than the typical Conan tale. Since they didn't sell, REH came up with Conan and a few of Kull's tale actully were transformed into Conan stories.One of those was "By This Axe I Rule," which was loosely adapted to become "The Phoenix on the Sword," as I recall. Some people actually prefer the character of Kull to Conan. Regardless, Kull is a worthwhile and enjoyable read.