Anyone for Talking About Robert E. Howard?

[John Thiel III]

I just commenced reading this author in earnest, having obtained several volumes of his works from the SF Book Club. So far I am halfway into one volume, THE COMING OF CONAN, and find that I would like to have an opportunity to make some comments on the stories I am reading and perhaps talk about the author himself. Anyone care to join me in this discussion?

 

[BAYLOR]

Robert E Howards career spanned on a few short years from 1925 to 1936. and in that time he produced some of the most memorable pulp character s characters of all time. Conan, King Kull, Bran Mac Morn , Cormac mac Art , Steve Costigan and many other character in stores. He wrote Fantasy , Horror , science fiction , Westerns, Detective stories , Historical stories . He was an a very versatile writer and an excellent story teller , one the best I've ever read.

His best friends were H P Lovecraft and Clark Aston Smith whom he correspond with a number of years, none of them ever met each other face to face because they couldn't afford to travel because the type of writing that they did pay well .

 

[John Thiel III]

That's pretty prolific. According to the introduction to the volume I have, that's the length of his fantasy writing career, but he did other types of writing before then. I wonder how he would have been at word-processing, or working with a computer, would it have affected his writing for the better or for the worse.

 

[BAYLOR]

That's pretty prolific. According to the introduction to the volume I have, that's the length of his fantasy writing career, but he did other types of writing before then. I wonder how he would have been at word-processing, or working with a computer, would it have affected his writing for the better or for the worse.

I discovered him many years age The Ace 12 volume books. I was hooked from the start. I would not be the reader I am today had I not discovered him.

He didn't make all that much money as a writer , I think the rate was a penny a word and the magazines that sublimated to were not always reliable payers because they never the most profitable publications.

 

[John Thiel III]

I found KING CONAN in the library when I was thirteen. However, this particular edition had a lot written by other people, including L. Sprague de Camp, who claimed they were unable to find much of Howard's work, having no in with book dealers.

 

[BAYLOR]

I found KING CONAN in the library when I was thirteen. However, this particular edition had a lot written by other people, including L. Sprague de Camp, who claimed they were unable to find much of Howard's work, having no in with book dealers.

I think Howard wrote about 21 Conan stories in all.

 

[John Thiel III]

Apparently he expanded one, "The Phoenix on the Sword", into a novel, because the story has part of the same introduction the novel had, and a few of the details in the story are the same as the novel was, though in the book length they are highly rearranged, with many substitutions of events. The collection's introduction says the story went through some revisions even as a story, and at the end of the collection the original unpublished story is printed. The introduction is the one that begins, "Know, oh Prince.." I think De Camp's complaint when he said the works of Howard were not available was that they had not been published in book form, but since that time his writings have been getting published. His stories were in Weird Tales more than anywhere else.

 

[BAYLOR]

Apparently he expanded one, "The Phoenix on the Sword", into a novel, because the story has part of the same introduction the novel had, and a few of the details in the story are the same as the novel was, though in the book length they are highly rearranged, with many substitutions of events. The collection's introduction says the story went through some revisions even as a story, and at the end of the collection the original unpublished story is printed. The introduction is the one that begins, "Know, oh Prince.." I think De Camp's complaint when he said the works of Howard were not available was that they had not been published in book form, but since that time his writings have been getting published. His stories were in Weird Tales more than anywhere else.

Howard left a number synopsis and fragment for Conan Stories L Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter created took those and craft stories . The novel Conan The Flame Knife didn't start out as a Conan story at all.

From what I do know of the The Phoenix and the Sword, it was originally a King Kull story.

 

[Vladd67]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that the stories behind the films Conan the Barbarian and Kull are actually swapped round, the Conan film should be Kull and vice versa.

 

[BAYLOR]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that the stories behind the films Conan the Barbarian and Kull are actually swapped round, the Conan film should be Kull and vice versa.

In the case to he 1982 film The villain Thulsa Doom was King Kull's enemy none Conan.

The Kevin Sorbo Kull film was pretty much a rewriter of Conan Hour of the Dragon.

 

[BAYLOR]

One Story that I would recommend by him In particular is Kings of the Night. In this story you have three of Howard's greatest heroes all in one story, King Kull, Bran mak Morn and Cormac art. in the story Gonar Wizard ally of Bran mak Morn summons Kull from the past to help Bran Mak Morn Battle the Romans.

There is a graphic novel adaptation of this one done a few years ago

 

[John Thiel III]

Howard left a number synopsis and fragment for Conan Stories L Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter created took those and craft stories . The novel Conan The Flame Knife didn't start out as a Conan story at all.

From what I do know of the The Phoenix and the Sword, it was originally a King Kull story.

I regard that as the De Camp/Carter era in the evolution of fantasy fiction.

 

[John Thiel III]

Some people regard it as criticizable for others to do stories derived from a single author, but in Howard's case we have a bunch of incompleted manuscripts left around for anybody to do with as they saw fit, he didn't keep things very tight.

 

[John Thiel III]

Conan the Conqueror was the one I was referring to as being an expansion of The Phoenix on the Sword. I saw this before the DeCamp investigation into Howard's papers and its publication in an Ace edition may be what brought on this investigation.

It was said to be the first of the Conan stories, too, and it may have been the first Conan novel to be released, with plans of following it up with other Conan material.

 

[BAYLOR]

Some people regard it as criticizable for others to do stories derived from a single author, but in Howard's case we have a bunch of incompleted manuscripts left around for anybody to do with as they saw fit, he didn't keep things very tight.

Even though they are not quite as a good as what Howard wrote . I liked the de camp and Lin Carter Conan stories . i have no issues with then completing stores from incomplete fragments or doing stories based on Howard's synopses. De Camp , Carter ,Bjorn Nyborg filled in the Chronology of Conan rather nicely, I thought.

 

[BAYLOR]

Conan the Conqueror was the one I was referring to as being an expansion of The Phoenix on the Sword. I saw this before the DeCamp investigation into Howard's papers and its publication in an Ace edition may be what brought on this investigation.

It was said to be the first of the Conan stories, too, and it may have been the first Conan novel to be released, with plans of following it up with other Conan material.

The novel was also known Conan Hour of the Dragon . It's on the list of greatest fantasy novels ever written. Ive never delved deeply into the publican history of this one.

 

[J Riff]

Don't miss Solomon Kane, Breckenridge Elkins and others. Exceptional adventure writing of the times, huge fan base in the sixties, then the other writers filled in what they could from what was left behind.

 

[BAYLOR]

Don't miss Solomon Kane, Breckenridge Elkins and others. Exceptional adventure writing of the times, huge fan base in the sixties, then the other writers filled in what they could from what was left behind.

 

[logan_run]

I WISH HE WROTE 10 MORE

 

[John Thiel III]

Of course, I've finished the book by now. His characters don't fit the description of good men at all. His heroes cut men down in their tracks and sell out the bandits they congregate with. The only morality in them is "stay alive". Conan doesn't always try to do this; he goes through dooms, and it appears he gets some scant help from Crom, who regards him as destined for something. The behavior is so bad there's a feeling it's unreal which even mitigates the horror. But Howard's poetry shows through all of this.