167 replies to this topic

[Mike_The_Barbarian]

Cheers for that Duram. I read the first few paragraphs (I can't read from computers for long periods of time, hurts my un-civilised eyes ). Decided I'm going to get it. You can tell it's an old book, and I love the way they wrote in those days. So much more gritty than some of the filth that's mass produced today.

I'll have to check the other stories later, as I need to sleep...Once again, thanks.

[deuce]

Seriously, if any of y'all out there dig stories involving Cossacks, Mongol hordes, Assassins, lost desert cities, dark gods of the mountains, beautiful women, intrigue, treachery etc... then Wolf of the Steppes (and Warriors of the Steppes) is for you. Howard consistently ranked Lamb as one of his favorite authors, period. There are things that obviously influenced REH in practically every story. Also, I've never seen a series where the quality from story to story improves so consistently (and its initial story is quite good). I've always pronounced the name "cleat", anyway, just like the "i" is pronounced in"Khalid" or "afrit". Besides, alot of the tales actually star Abdul Dost or Sir Weyand. Bottom line, these are great yarns that Howard himself loved and admired. Give 'em a shot.

[Vulmea]

I agree with deuce....these are great yarns.

Anyone who avoids them because of the character's name will be doing themselves a disservice.

Besides, the second volume of stories is about Abdul Dost and the third concerns Khlit's grandson Kirdy.

Highly recommended of you like adventure.

[Hyborian Frog]

Have any of you read these stories before? They sound like the type of fiction any REH fan would enjoy. I plan to read some of these!

Master of driving pace, exotic setting, and complex plotting, Harold Lamb was one of Robert E. Howard?s favorite writers. Here at last is every pulse-pounding, action-packed story of Lamb?s greatest hero, the wolf of the steppes, Khlit the Cossack. Journey now with the unsung grandfather of sword and sorcery in search of ancient tombs, gleaming treasure, and thrilling landscapes. Match wits with deadly swordsmen, scheming priests, and evil cults. Rescue lovely damsels, ride with bold comrades, and hazard everything on your brains and skill and a little luck.

http://www.haroldlamb.net/

Wolf of the Steppes
The Complete Cossack Adventures, Volume One
By Harold Lamb
Edited by Howard Andrew Jones
Introduction by S. M. Stirling
Paper
2006. xxiv, 606 pp. Map.
0-8032-8048-3
$19.95

http://www.nebraskap...kinfo/5010.html



Warriors of the Steppes
The Complete Cossack Adventures, Volume Two
By Harold Lamb
Edited by Howard Andrew Jones
Introduction by David Drake
Paper
2006. xx, 636 pp. Map.
0-8032-8049-1
$19.95

http://www.nebraskap...kinfo/5011.html



Riders of the Steppes
The Complete Cossack Adventures, Volume Three
By Harold Lamb
Edited by Howard Andrew Jones
Introduction by E. E. Knight
Paper
2007. , 544 pp. Map.
0-8032-8050-5
$21.95

http://www.nebraskap...kinfo/5165.html



Swords of the Steppes
The Complete Cossack Adventures, Volume Four
By Harold Lamb
Edited by Howard Andrew Jones
Introduction by Barrie Tait Collins
Paper
2007. , 640 pp. Map.
0-8032-8051-3
$21.95

http://www.nebraskap...kinfo/5166.html

[emerald]

They are, in a word, magnificent.

Vivid, colorful tales of high adventure set in a stunningly exotic, yet real, place and time.

You can see why REH thought so much of the author.

Lamb is clearly one of the writers who influenced Howard the most.
You could make a good case for him being the most influential of all.

Tied to REH or not, these are great stories.

Historical adventure just doesn't get much better.

John

[Patrice Louinet]

As he said,

if you like REH, you got to love Harold Lamb's stuff.
Clearly the pulp author who influenced REH the most, imo.

Patrice Louinet

[Crom]

Merged this thread with an older one.

Been reading Wolf of the Steppes. Excellent.

[Buxom Sorceress]

some of the *wolf* tales are a good period-adventure read, with some clever bits.
[ some influence on REH is loud and clear. but i find the *wolf* tales a bit dull compared to Howards best action-packed conan tales which overflow with swordplay, sorcery, and weird supernatural horror.
to me, Lamb is good at level 8. but Howard with Conan is rockin' up at level 20 and blows me away ].

i mainly enjoyed the detailed informative historical atmosphere and info about the huge sweeping power of the tartar/mongol hordes.
*wolf* [ as i shall call *khlit*, because unfortunately the *name* is so silly for a wrinkled grumpy old warrior it justs distracts me and makes me laugh] seems like conan should probably be in his grumpy bored old age?

but after reading several tales [ upto + including alamut and the assassins] i soon got bored with the corny way in which wolf often boldly walks into the huge enemy camps and cons them in a similar big way every time.
and i was soon PINING for some supernatural fantasy and bloody grim swordfights...so its back to sword+sorcery for me.
i'll leave old wolf [for now] to howl at the moon, smoke his pipe, and tell his own incredible adventures to the little lamb he is about to have for his supper...

and i repeat my THANKS to all who promoted the wolf books in this topic.
[ because my previous polite post [from sept] has been deleted along with all the other harmless fun comments and jokes about the silly *khlit* name. even the publishers seem embarassed by it because *it* is not on the book cover.]

Lambs wolf is worth a read. but dont expect much fighting or action. the few sword fights are usually very briefly described: a major disappointment which i did not expect.
--
BTW, please let me know if the tales get 'better' [ie, more action and better fights? and less incredible solo stuff by wolf?] after alamut, and later in the other books?

[Mikey_C]

I can never resist a good double-entendre - shame the censors stepped in. Anyway, I've been enjoying Talbot Mundy's Tros of Samothrace recently. Would I be correct in thinking that Lamb is similar? If so, I'd be tempted to check this out. (I can cope with a funny name... )

[Crom]

I can never resist a good double-entendre - shame the censors stepped in. Anyway, I've been enjoying Talbot Mundy's Tros of Samothrace recently. Would I be correct in thinking that Lamb is similar? If so, I'd be tempted to check this out. (I can cope with a funny name... )

*sigh*

The purpose of this thread is to promote the Lamb series, not play bump & giggle over a character's name. The posts were distracting, so I removed them for that reason. If anyone wants to comment on the name, there's already an untouched thread further down General Discussions.

Knock yourself out.

[Mikey_C]

Point taken!

[deuce]

I can never resist a good double-entendre - shame the censors stepped in. Anyway, I've been enjoying Talbot Mundy's Tros of Samothrace recently. Would I be correct in thinking that Lamb is similar? If so, I'd be tempted to check this out. (I can cope with a funny name... )

Hey Mikey! Glad to hear that there's a new TROS fan out there. IMO, Mundy's novel was one of the direct inspirations for Kull, Cormac Mac Art and (to a lesser extent) Bran Mak Morn. Most people don't realize that before TROS, NOBODY bad-mouthed Julius Caesar. In literature, it was given that JC was a "Great Man". It was Mundy who first described him as the power-mad proto-fascist that he was.
That said, I'd say Lamb is a faster-paced writer with bloodier battles. More Howardian. Check 'im out.

Oh yeah. Fritz Leiber was a big fan of TROS.

Edited by deuce, 30 July 2009 - 05:37 PM.

[hajones]

Deuce, Bruce,

Thanks for all the work promoting this unsung author. I'm sure pleased to see so much enthusiasm for his work here.

Volumes 3 and 4 will be available in the spring of 07. 3 will contain a cycle of adventures, never before reprinted, of some of Khlit's allies, but concludes with two more short stories of an older Khlit and his grandson Kirdy, and one of the finest entries in the whole saga, the novel White Falcon, wherein Khlit and all the Cossacks from the other tales join forces. It's been out of print since the 30s, and is awash with blood and action and intrigue.

Volume 4 contains the final adventure of Khlit and Kirdy, mostly focused upon Kirdy, a final novel of their Herculean friend Ayub, then a few other short cycles of Cossack adventures as well as some really marvelous standalones that, like everything but the Kirdy novel in volume 4, have never, ever been collected.

I'm working now to get a Lamb crusader volume out. Keep your fingers crossed. Someone mentioned the Lamb Viking and Crusader stories I reprinted in Flashing Swords. Picture a whole volume full of those. To my mind, nothing I've ever read sounds as much like REH historical fiction as a Lamb crusader story.

Deuce, it was a real pleasure to meet you in person at the WFC. Do you attend those regularly, or was this a one-time thing because of REH?

best,
Howard

[Hyborian Frog]

I'm working now to get a Lamb crusader volume out. Keep your fingers crossed. Someone mentioned the Lamb Viking and Crusader stories I reprinted in Flashing Swords. Picture a whole volume full of those. To my mind, nothing I've ever read sounds as much like REH historical fiction as a Lamb crusader story.

Please make this a smyth-sewn hardcover volume!!!

[deuce]

Deuce, Bruce,

Thanks for all the work promoting this unsung author. I'm sure pleased to see so much enthusiasm for his work here.

Volumes 3 and 4 will be available in the spring of 07. 3 will contain a cycle of adventures, never before reprinted, of some of Khlit's allies, but concludes with two more short stories of an older Khlit and his grandson Kirdy, and one of the finest entries in the whole saga, the novel White Falcon, wherein Khlit and all the Cossacks from the other tales join forces. It's been out of print since the 30s, and is awash with blood and action and intrigue.

Volume 4 contains the final adventure of Khlit and Kirdy, mostly focused upon Kirdy, a final novel of their Herculean friend Ayub, then a few other short cycles of Cossack adventures as well as some really marvelous standalones that, like everything but the Kirdy novel in volume 4, have never, ever been collected.

I'm working now to get a Lamb crusader volume out. Keep your fingers crossed. Someone mentioned the Lamb Viking and Crusader stories I reprinted in Flashing Swords. Picture a whole volume full of those. To my mind, nothing I've ever read sounds as much like REH historical fiction as a Lamb crusader story.

Deuce, it was a real pleasure to meet you in person at the WFC. Do you attend those regularly, or was this a one-time thing because of REH?

best,
Howard

It was way cool meetin' you too, Howard. It was my first WFC. I was there because of REH and because it was only an 8 hr drive rather than 18 or 80. Glad I did it. Great town, beautiful women, plenty of booze and the best conversation to be had anywhere on the planet. So who knows, I may end up at another one...

Would the "Crusader" volume contain the third "Durandal" tale? I've got the first two in Grant editions.

[hajones]

Oh how I wish I could guarantee hard covers for the Crusader book or the Cossack books, but unfortunately I don't have any say in it. I'm frankly just overjoyed to be able to present these stories between covers. But yes, I'd absolutely LOVE to have hard covers of these volumes. Maybe if enough copies sell? So, spread the word!!

Deuce, I spoke with the Grant company that printed the first two Durandal books, and here's the holdup with them on the third volume. They've had the art drawn for years but the inker won't come through and finish. They're going to publish in 2007 without the inker, they told me. We'll see. If they don't, my goal would be to reprint the COMPLETE Durandal in one volume. If they do finally print Rusudan, I'll leave it alone. There is, however, a prequel story to Durandal, and I'll put THAT in Swords from the East, the proposed companion to Swords from the West (the Crusader Lamb volume I've proposed). The narrator of the prequel to Durandal is the best friend of Sir Hugh, the Arab Khalil el Kadr.

Anyone who likes the Cossack stories -- if anything this work is even more moody and violent and polished then the Cossack stuff. Lamb wrote it some ten to fifteen years later. I'd be thrilled to have it available to readers again. Good stuff.

Like I said, if you dig the Howard straight historical fiction (I think it's some of his best work) then this is RIGHT up your alley.

Best,
Howard

[Hyborian Frog]

Oh how I wish I could guarantee hard covers for the Crusader book or the Cossack books, but unfortunately I don't have any say in it. I'm frankly just overjoyed to be able to present these stories between covers. But yes, I'd absolutely LOVE to have hard covers of these volumes. Maybe if enough copies sell? So, spread the word!!

Deuce, I spoke with the Grant company that printed the first two Durandal books, and here's the holdup with them on the third volume. They've had the art drawn for years but the inker won't come through and finish. They're going to publish in 2007 without the inker, they told me. We'll see. If they don't, my goal would be to reprint the COMPLETE Durandal in one volume. If they do finally print Rusudan, I'll leave it alone. There is, however, a prequel story to Durandal, and I'll put THAT in Swords from the East, the proposed companion to Swords from the West (the Crusader Lamb volume I've proposed). The narrator of the prequel to Durandal is the best friend of Sir Hugh, the Arab Khalil el Kadr.

Anyone who likes the Cossack stories -- if anything this work is even more moody and violent and polished then the Cossack stuff. Lamb wrote it some ten to fifteen years later. I'd be thrilled to have it available to readers again. Good stuff.

Like I said, if you dig the Howard straight historical fiction (I think it's some of his best work) then this is RIGHT up your alley.

Best,
Howard

Who is publishing this? Bison Press? If so, I hope they do a smyth-sewn version also. But I would get the trade-paper if that is all they offer.

[Hyborian Frog]

I recently grabbed all three of these hardcovers for about $50.

The Three Palidins (Donald M. Grant 1977)



Durandal (Donald M. Grant 1981)



Sea of Ravens (Donald M. Grant 1983)

Edited by Hyborian Frog, 06 December 2006 - 01:30 AM.

[deuce]

Way to go, HF! I bought "Durandal" and "Sea of Ravens" 10-15 yrs ago. Picked up "Palladins" off Amazon for $12.50 a couple months ago. Worth it!

[Hyborian Frog]

Way to go, HF! I bought "Durandal" and "Sea of Ravens" 10-15 yrs ago. Picked up "Palladins" off Amazon for $12.50 a couple months ago. Worth it!

I'm new to Lamb, but I am really digging these books. I did not really get into the Cossacks stories I tried, but these books read like REH Crusades material!