Just by chance I found this slim copy of Darrell Schweitzer’s Borgo Press paperback, Conan’s World and Robert E. Howard. Published in 1978, Schweitzer discusses each of the Conan stories Robert E. Howard wrote. This 64-page gem delivers information and appreciation about one of greatest sword and sorcery heroes ever. If you’re a fan of Conan and Robert E. Howard, you’ll enjoy this appreciation for Howard’s work and the character he created. Are you a Conan fan? Do you have a favorite story? GRADE: A
No, not a Conan fan.
Jeff, I’m a fan of the Robert E. Howard Conan. The pastiches vary wildly in quality.
George, back in the day I was a huge Conan fan. While I still appreciate the energy Robert E. Howard infused into his stories, the industry that has sprung up around Conan has left me jaded. Few of the imitators, hangers-on, and posthumous collaborations are worthy of the dead trees used to print them. Howard may not have been a great writer but he was a hugely effective one, a true pulpster who outshined most of those who have followed the Conan money train.
Jerry, you’re right. Very few of the Conan pastiches have the quality of a Robert E. Howard Conan story. But I’ve read that TOR is considering launching another round of Conan imitations.
Jerry nailed it, and I didn’t much care for the movies either. However, I absolutely LOVED the REH movie “The Whole Wide World”. Astonishingly, virtually no one seems to have seen it.
Michael, I’m one of those few people who saw THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD. I though Renée Zellweger was wonderful!
Howard fans seem to have made a point of seeing WORLD, I think.
I read some of Howard’s lesser horror fiction and one of his erotica stories, in one of the early pulp-story revival anthologies, which put me off reading his other work for some years. Though among those who did writer pastiches, I think Karl Edward Wagner did a good job…even if his own Kane stories were better.
Todd, you’re right. Karl Edward Wagner approached Howard’s writing powers. I need to go back and reread those Kane books.
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I have to admit that I tried reading some of these horror/sword&sorcery/fantasy books but just didn’t like them, so I stopped.
A bit OT:
Karl E Wagner was one of those who ruined their own life, what a shame! He was quite an interesting guy, well read and good to talk to.
I met him at the Eastercon 1984 in Brighton (a really nice sea town on the English southern coast) and we had a few beers together – he many more than I did …
The funniest story:
Someone addressed me at the con – thinking I was Karl … 🙂
Wolf, Karl Edward Wagner was a talented writer tormented by some demons he couldn’t subdue.