Robert Adams was a Master of Narrative Drive
The first ten novels in the Horseclans series by Robert Adams (Signet/
New American Library editions, 1979-1983). Cover art by Ken Kelly
Franklin Robert Adams (1933 – 1990) only used his middle and last name on his books. He wrote twenty-six of them, in three different series, and edited nearly a dozen more.
His first and most famous series is called Horseclans. It’s set on a post-apocalyptic Earth, after a nuclear war, and begins on America’s great plains with tribal groups organized along Native American lines. Later, it moves toward a more feudal society with city states and knights in armor. There’s a fairly elaborate back story about how the modern societies were built from the remnants of American survivors and some of the invaders.
The first book was called The Coming of the Horseclans and published in 1975. The last one published was #18, The Clan of the Cats, and it appeared in 1988, two years before Adams’ death. The series may be post-apocalyptic, but it’s long after Earth’s recovery has begun so it really feels more like standard Sword & Sorcery. There is some magic with undying heroes, telepathy, and “Witch” men. It’s definitely not Sword & Planet but most folks who like S&P like these pretty well.
