167 replies to this topic

[deuce]

The two final "Cossack" volumes came in the other day. Just finished Riders of the Steppes. These two volumes cover the mid- to late-20s period when REH first started reading Adventure. I know some of y'all had trouble getting into the first volume. I'll just say that Lamb was just getting started at that point. By the time of the "Riders" volume, Lamb had come back to writing Cossack tales with new vigour, honed writing skills and a better idea of how to create memorable heroes. Here's a scene (modified slightly) from The Witch of Aleppo:

"Too much talk, too much talk altogether," muttered the Don warrior. "Out of the way, old women: stand aside dishcloths, that a man may drink!"
Elbowing aside the other Cossacks who did not resent his hard words, as the warrior was going on the road, the man from the Don gained the side of the nearest keg, refusing all proffers of beakers and dippers.
"Hail to the fair young mistress," he roared, throwing back his head, "the round-armed, the soft-eyed maiden! Hail to her whose embrace is the warmest, whose kiss awaits a Cossack--"
"To Lady Death!" echoed the Cossacks.
At this the Cossack plunged his head in the cask, and sprang up, panting, shaking the liquor from his long scalp-lock..."

[Pontifex]

I just started reading Wolf of the Steppes the other day. I'm only on the 3rd or 4th story but I like it so far!

As I can read more, I can definitely see how he influenced REH.

Edited by Pontifex, 27 April 2007 - 08:08 PM.

[Otto Harkaman]

Thanks for posting the Harold Lamb Protection story!

I was lucky to have picked up both hardback volumes of Lamb's Crusader stories at a used book store. Excellent!

I also just bought and finished reading Lamb's "Omar Khayyam". I think it was the inspiration for "The Tower of the Elephant"

Anyways I also have been lucky to checkout Stanley Lane-Poole's "Saladin" from the university library. Lane-Poole's history books influenced Lamb and REH greatly.

Cheers!

Oh the Protection story doesn't seem viking other than that the Italo-Norman knights in Sicily and Southern Italy were descendants of the Vikings under Rollo. I haven't read Lambs "Iron Men" first book of the Crusades yet but it should explain greatly who and what the Italo-Norman knights were and how much influence they had on the first crusade.

[deuce]

Lambites unite in uproarious rejoicing! Pass the corn brandy and whet your steel! I just found out (by way of Leo Grin's excellent Cimmerian blog) that Bison Books have agreed to publish three more volumes of Lamb's bloody adventure-tales. Included will be his Crusades and Mongol stories. ROCK!!!

[Pontifex]

Lambites unite in uproarious rejoicing! Pass the corn brandy and whet your steel! I just found out (by way of Leo Grin's excellent Cimmerian blog) that Bison Books have agreed to publish three more volumes of Lamb's bloody adventure-tales. Included will be his Crusades and Mongol stories. ROCK!!!

Deuce, you sly old thread necromancer, you! hehe, good to hear though! i need to pick up the other 2, or is it 3, Wolf of the Steppes books. Don't know when I'd get to read them though.

[deuce]

Lambites unite in uproarious rejoicing! Pass the corn brandy and whet your steel! I just found out (by way of Leo Grin's excellent Cimmerian blog) that Bison Books have agreed to publish three more volumes of Lamb's bloody adventure-tales. Included will be his Crusades and Mongol stories. ROCK!!!

Deuce, you sly old thread necromancer, you! hehe, good to hear though! i need to pick up the other 2, or is it 3, Wolf of the Steppes books. Don't know when I'd get to read them though.

That's me, Lord Deuce the Netromancer. There are FOUR volumes in the "Cossack" series. Believe me on this: the first volume is ol' Hal finding just the right balance. Each volume after that is better than the last. Personally, I think it was Lamb learning how to create better heroes that led to the most improvement (the plots were always great). There's one hero, Ayub, who's a Cossack "Wulfhere Skull-Splitter". Seriously, Pontifex, if you don't like 'em, I'll owe you a case or a fifth the next time you're in SEK.

[Crom]

Lambites unite in uproarious rejoicing! Pass the corn brandy and whet your steel! I just found out (by way of Leo Grin's excellent Cimmerian blog) that Bison Books have agreed to publish three more volumes of Lamb's bloody adventure-tales. Included will be his Crusades and Mongol stories. ROCK!!!

Ah, you beat me to it. Howard Andrew Jones, Managing Editor of Black Gate and the editor of those Harold Lamb collections, sent me an e-mail with the announcement. Obviously he's a very happy puppy. I forgot that Leo does work for Black Gate now.

[Pontifex]

Lambites unite in uproarious rejoicing! Pass the corn brandy and whet your steel! I just found out (by way of Leo Grin's excellent Cimmerian blog) that Bison Books have agreed to publish three more volumes of Lamb's bloody adventure-tales. Included will be his Crusades and Mongol stories. ROCK!!!

Deuce, you sly old thread necromancer, you! hehe, good to hear though! i need to pick up the other 2, or is it 3, Wolf of the Steppes books. Don't know when I'd get to read them though.

That's me, Lord Deuce the Netromancer. There are FOUR volumes in the "Cossack" series. Believe me on this: the first volume is ol' Hal finding just the right balance. Each volume after that is better than the last. Personally, I think it was Lamb learning how to create better heroes that led to the most improvement (the plots were always great). There's one hero, Ayub, who's a Cossack "Wulfhere Skull-Splitter". Seriously, Pontifex, if you don't like 'em, I'll owe you a case or a fifth the next time you're in SEK.

I really liked the first book, so I'm sure I'll like the others, especially if you think they get better and better!
Btw, what's SEK?

[deuce]

That's me, Lord Deuce the Netromancer. There are FOUR volumes in the "Cossack" series. Believe me on this: the first volume is ol' Hal finding just the right balance. Each volume after that is better than the last. Personally, I think it was Lamb learning how to create better heroes that led to the most improvement (the plots were always great). There's one hero, Ayub, who's a Cossack "Wulfhere Skull-Splitter". Seriously, Pontifex, if you don't like 'em, I'll owe you a case or a fifth the next time you're in SEK.

I really liked the first book, so I'm sure I'll like the others, especially if you think they get better and better!
Btw, what's SEK?

They definitely do. Plus, it's awesome to see where REH got some great ideas. One tale has this lone Cossack guy that helps out some of the Czar's troopers against some Turcomen(?). It's like a mini-"Black River". There's also some great stories about this old Cossack during WWII. That wily scoundrel tears the Nazis a new one. Many, many other great tales.

SEK? That would be south-east Kansas, where the Ozarks collide with the Great Plains.

[Kortoso]

...some Turcomen(?). ...

Depending on your reference that would be either Turkomen or Turduckhen.

[deuce]

...some Turcomen(?). ...

Depending on your reference that would be either Turkomen or Turduckhen.

Hey Kortoso! I looked it up. The story is Koum (vol.4, p.223). They're referred to as "Turkomans" (and who am I to argue with Lamb?). Great story.

[the black stone]

membershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khlit_the_Cossack, reh fans would love these, now all reprinted in their original state--by andrew jones---

Edited by the black stone, 05 November 2008 - 10:45 PM.

[Sermon Bath]

Just from reading some of his books I would say that Harold Lamb seemed to have an almost incredible knowledge of history. I would guess that he must have read almost everything someone could read about ancient history and archeology. He actually talked quite a bit about the real historic Cimmerians. According to Lamb they were a race of fierce barbarians and would oftentimes raid south into asia minor and terrorize people like the ancient Trojans, Hittites, and Lydians. According to Lamb they were finally beaten back for good by the Lydians just before the rise of the great Persian empire of Cyrus the Great. (I'm doing this from memory so this post may not be 100 percent accurate folks!) Anyhow, it seems the Cimmerians were quite a force at one time and might actually be related to several ancient european tribes

I really recommend that you read Lamb if you want to get some good insight on ancient peoples....some of his theories may be outdated now but I would bet he is dead on for the most part. I also have no doubt that Howard read everything by Lamb he could find. From what I've seen, Howard's style most closely resembles Lamb's adventure writing.

Another thing about Lamb is this...you can learn a ton about history and still find yourself being highly entertained by the way he worked ancient characters and their lives into novel form. You basically can't tell what is real and what Lamb just throws in there. (about the characters, not the actual history surrounding them)

when I get a chance I will post some direct quotes from Lamb about the Cimmerians

I almost forgot to add that generally the ancient Cimmerians were thought to have been a branch of or were descended from the Thracians who of course were often mentioned in Homer's writings. Supposedly Scythians chased the Cimmerians out of their homeland so who knows where they went?

Lamb also talked about the barbaric Iberians that roamed about ancient Iran (like the Cimmerians) Don't a lot of scholars believe the earliest people of the british isles were iberians too?

Edited by Sermon Bath, 09 January 2009 - 07:25 AM.

[Axerules]

Hey members!

I can't reach Howard Andrew Jones' website ( http://www.haroldlamb.net/ ) since two days.

I hope it is only a connection problem specific to my computer and that the site is not down.

[Axerules]

Hey members!

I can't reach Howard Andrew Jones' website ( http://www.haroldlamb.net/ ) since two days.

I hope it is only a connection problem specific to my computer and that the site is not down.

The website appears to be down.

[crossplain pilgrim]

Deuce said... "Lambites unite in uproarious rejoicing! Pass the corn brandy and whet your steel! I just found out (by way of Leo Grin's excellent Cimmerian blog) that Bison Books have agreed to publish three more volumes of Lamb's bloody adventure-tales. Included will be his Crusades and Mongol stories. ROCK!!!"

I remember when I was a kid in the '50's (hey, very late '50's, okay?) Harold Lamb's novels (and those of Thomas B. Costain and Edison Marshall) were the most prominently displayed and hyped at my local bookstore. Glad to see such a colorful and entertaining master is getting a another shot.

[Axerules]

Hey, I have good news for us, fellow Lamb fans!

1) The Curved Saber website is running again, the new address is:
http://www.haroldlamb.com/

2) Bison Books will release no less than four (yes, that's one more than the three already announced) new Harold Lamb collections in 2009 and 2010. AND Donald M. Grant company will release Rusudan. Five Lamb books in the two next years. Oh yeah!

Four more volumes will follow by Spring of 2010 -- two are slated for Spring of 2009. These are Swords From the West, a collection of Harold Lamb's thrilling Crusader stories, Swords From the Desert, a set of novellas and short stories with Arabian heroes, Swords From the East, a collection brimming with adventures set deep in Mongolia and high Asia, and Swords From the Sea, a grab bag of stories set on or near the ocean, including two novellas of John Paul Jones, eight Viking yarns, and a short novel of America's war against the Barbary pirates.

Three of Lamb's novels have been reprinted in recent years by the Donald M. Grant company, with beautiful accompanying illustrations. A fourth, "Rusudan," is slated to appear soon.

[docpod]

I won't hold my breath for Donald Grant books to publish RUSUDAN. They were supposed to to it 25 YEARS AGO!!! The only reason they showed some interest is because Howard Jones wanted to collect all the Durandal stories together into one book.

Morgan

Hey, I have good news for us, fellow Lamb fans!

1) The Curved Saber website is running again, the new address is:
http://www.haroldlamb.com/

2) Bison Books will release no less than four (yes, that's one more than the three already announced) new Harold Lamb collections in 2009 and 2010. AND Donald M. Grant company will release Rusudan. Five Lamb books in the two next years. Oh yeah!

Four more volumes will follow by Spring of 2010 -- two are slated for Spring of 2009. These are Swords From the West, a collection of Harold Lamb's thrilling Crusader stories, Swords From the Desert, a set of novellas and short stories with Arabian heroes, Swords From the East, a collection brimming with adventures set deep in Mongolia and high Asia, and Swords From the Sea, a grab bag of stories set on or near the ocean, including two novellas of John Paul Jones, eight Viking yarns, and a short novel of America's war against the Barbary pirates.

Three of Lamb's novels have been reprinted in recent years by the Donald M. Grant company, with beautiful accompanying illustrations. A fourth, "Rusudan," is slated to appear soon.

[Fierro]

Dog Brothers:

I see that there will be a September 1, 2009 release of Swords of the Desert and Swords From the West, Harold Lamb adventures featuring Arabian heroes (SoD) and Crusader tales (SFTW).

Good news, eh?

[crossplain pilgrim]

Absolutely, Fierro. I remember when I was a kid reading Thomas B. Costain novels, people kept comparing his stories to those of Harold Lamb. I remember at some point reading some of the Cossack stories featuring his great character, Khlit, and some of the crusader tales but I can't remember where or when. Wish I had those books now.

That Lamb greatly influenced REH has been mentioned a number of times by serious Howard scholars. Cecil B. Demille used Lamb as a technical advisor on his film, "The Crusaders," and as a writer on several others. I am definitely interested in these new publications. Thanks for the tip.