109 replies to this topic

[HARPERSGRACE]

Went to three stores tonight couldn't find it at any of them, on order but cann't say when they'll be in.

[Jason]

Well it appears amazon is shipping there's now. So good news to those who've oredered. Can't wait to get my grubby mits on this book!

[Strom]

Yes, a lot of stuff. This new edition is the reprint of the deluxe Wandering Star hardback, and only the first couple hundred pages are basically the stories from Worms of the Earth. It also has a long Miscellaneous section, and an appendix section. This paperback even has a thirty page fragment not even available yet in the Wandering Star edition! Fully illustrated by Gianni, with some new Gianni sketches in the back, too.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So there are new Gianni illustrations not in the hardcover? Any info on the thirty page fragment? Man, not sure if I want to get this new reprint since I have the hardcover WS edition - but new illustrations and a never before fragment are great selling points...

[korak]

I haven't read the new fragment yet. There are several pages of Gianni sketches added to the back of the book. I, too, have the WS edition, but this one is also essential I guess. You might want to wait a few weeks and get the Sci-fi book club hardback version.

[Kane]

Just got my copy late yesterday. Cannot wait to start reading it.
One thing that I like is the images of Howard's own typewritten manuscript and a copy of one of the stories he worked on written out in longhand.
Another bonus is draft version of Worms of the Earth!

[Hyborian Frog]

You might want to wait a few weeks and get the Sci-fi book club hardback version.

Yes, they are publishing a hardcover version in June!

[Merlin]

Book club editions have minimal collectible value and don't add to the sales figures for the trade paperback! Buy the trade paperback for you and your friends!

For those of you who haven't read these stories, they cover areas familiar from the Conan tales and also emotional and narrative territory that's 'new': the immense pathos and heroism of the downtrodden, once-great Picts, a different inflection of Howard's work on kingship, a recognizable but deeply torqued historical setting, a less brash hero than Conan but with greater moral strength, savage magic and time travel. You won't understand who the Picts in the Conan stories are, or how much Howard is on their side, unless you read the Bran stories.

[Newt]

Allegedly, Bran Mak Morn : The Last King comes out next Tuesday. At least amazon still lists it for then (May 31) when I checked a few minutes ago. But, a few hours ago I purchased a copy at my local Barnes & Noble, here in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA. I don't know how long the several copies of the book had been on the shelf, but they weren't there on my last visit exactly a week ago. I stopped in today to purchase something else, and went to the Howard books on a whim. Good choice, there it was! My guess is that someone at Ballantine or the distributor decided it made more sense to get the books in the store for all the shoopers on Memorial Day weekend, than to wait for empty stores on Tuesday. Of course it is possible that my particular store just screwed up, and put Bran on the shelves early, but why not check for yourself at your local establishment?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sorry, I'm a bit late to this thread, but I just read your post, Speelie, and you're a lucky guy. I also live in Colorado (near Highlands Ranch) and I called the Barnes & Noble by Park Meadows on Memorial Day and they said they had this book in the back but couldn't put it on the shelves to sell until the 31st. I begged and begged but they wouldn't budge. I didn't even bother calling anywhere else because I assumed it would be the same story. I'm thinking the stores in Fort Collins and all of the other places in the country where people lucked out ignored the street date and put it on the shelves once it arrived in their warehouses (these things happen from time to time). I did stop by and pick it up on Tuesday, but it would've been nice to have it to read on a nice, relaxing day off of work, especially since the weather outside was dismal.

[Speelie]

So I guess I did luck out in finding it on the shelf early. For people in the rest of the world, Fort Collins is about 75 miles north of Highlands Ranch, and it was dismal here too, raining all day with cool temperatures on Memorial Day. I went to a pizza place which had a roaring fire going, and did some peaceful reading while quaffing some New Belgium 1554 Black Ale! Happy reading to all now that the Bran book is in general distribution!

[El Borak's Li'l Brother]

I ordered my copy a month in advance at Books-A-Million, figuring I'd get it a week in advance like the others... No! Wednesday I was told it was shipped and Today I got the call it was in.

I can't wait...well, I can, but I'm eager to get it.

[Ironhand]

I got it off the shelf at Barnes & Noble, but I had to order Lord of Samarkand.

[El Borak's Li'l Brother]

At Books-A-Million, at least in my home town where they have a monopoly, books like this are rarely carried on the shelf. In fact, I couldn't even find the Age of Conan book there either. It's the only place I've ever been that 9 times out of 10 you have to special order books you want.

[alex]

Got mine last week and headed straight for my favorite stories. Love the illustrations, particularly in The Dark Man.

[Krieghetzer]

I just bought this book, but haven't started on it yet... what are your thoughts?

[Kieran]

It's pretty good. As a charcater I like Bran better than Kull, but not as much as Conan. Just to let you know that most of the stories in it don't have Bran Mak Morn as a central figure. In fact there's quite a few he's not in at all. The book should really be called The Picts as they're the central theme that links all the stories.
There's some good stories in there: Kings of the Night, Worms of the Earth and The Dark Man are all Howard at his best. There's also the first two chapters of a never published before novel that is pretty interesting where a modern man remembers all his past lives as various heroes. It's interesting, but I have no idea where Howard could have gone with it - probably why he only wrote the first two chapters. There's also another story which I didn't particularly like called The Children of the Night which seems to be an excuse for Howard to talk about the "virtues" of racial purity. So there's a nice mix in there and there's some interesting notes by the editor that are well worth a read.

[Kortoso]

The first couple of "stories" have so little going on in them, it's a wonder that Howard even considered submitting them. The character had a lot of potential; I hope the movie is halfway decent.

[korak]

These stories have an eerie kind of continuity that is totally unique among Howard's writings. Like you say, Bran is not even in some of these except as a mysterious background figure. This builds the suspense so that when Bran does appear it is a big buildup. This effect is probably more obvious in the 1969 Dell first edition edited by Glenn Lord. I actually remember the very afternoon I read that book as a youth. It was a deep experience in its own way. Howard has a way of impressing the heavy tragedy of history upon the soul of the reader. Howard mentions in a letter (used as a foreword to the first edition) that he plans to write a novel someday about Bran. For me, this collection IS a novel about Bran. It has a strange kind of consistency in spite of the wide variety of short stories involved.

[TroceroQuijas]

Thw wandering star/ del rey version is exellent.
Burke's intro is awesome & really helpful insights
Bran Mak Morn & the Picts rule!

[ironmammoth]

The wandering Star edition is excellent and the reading on the accompanying CD is very good too!