132 replies to this topic

[deuce]

Gracias, Strom.

[docpod]

A few years back a friend of mine was at a David Gemmell book signing. He asked Gemmell about what he thought about Robert E. Howard. Gemmell replied "Brilliant stuff."

[deuce]

Steve Tompkins (in another excellent essay) brings one more brim-full jerry-can of gas for the Eternal Flame here:

http://www.thecimmerian.com/?p=1551

Ya gotta love this interactive age (in some ways).

[Strom]

There are people, of course, who think that only Howard should ever write Conan because no other writer has been able to capture the same spirit and power. Those people can rest easy, because the Age of Conan books are not about Conan, but about his world (although he does make two brief, cameo appearances in my trilogy). I'm not Howard and like the other Age of Conan writers, made no attempt to mimic his style. But I tried to be true to the world he created, and as much as I could to the philosophy he espoused.

There will only ever be one Robert E. Howard.

Jeff Mariotte
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

This one is dedicated to all those literary sorcerers ? most notably Robert E. Howard ? who have given so much of themselves for this reader?s joy.

Jeff Mariotte

------------------------------------------------------------------------

And of course my appreciation to Robert E. Howard. Without him we are nothing.

J. Steven York

[PainBrush]

See, contrary to the asinine gossip whispered deep in dark troll-caves , it would be a much shorter list to name authors who 'weren't' inspired by Howard .

- Of course , any troll worth his salt will say to the above , "but I don't have any books by those guys you listed , and if I did , their books aren't exactly 'like' Howards on each and every page , so they don't really count as 'being inspired' by him........."
......Trolls are akin to orcs - just lob some feces or rotten apples , fishheads or carrion in their general direction & walk the other way back towards daylight when they start gobbling . Much easier to ignore them after that .

Edited by PAINBRUSH, 18 August 2008 - 04:38 AM.

[amster]

The Washington Post critique of "The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian", reprinted on Amazon, while not free of criticism, is generally favorable. Best as all, though, is that its 100% free of the MATTPOP crap. There's no mention of REH's suicide at all. The focus is almost entirely on the stories themselves. The journalist did some actual journalism before spouting off.

Are the tales of Conan then what a female friend would call "boys books"? Testosterone-driven daydreams for 15-year-olds? Pulp schlock with titillating suggestions of sadomasochism, rape and sapphism? (Many of the stories were originally illustrated for Weird Tales by the legendary Margaret Brundage, who specialized in kinky cover art.) The answer to all these questions is, obviously, yes.

Yet without making grandiose claims for them, Howard's Conan chronicles are also a bit more than that. They are, as Patrice Louinet demonstrates in his forewords and afterwords to these three volumes, studies in the clash of Barbarism and Civilization. In Howard's grim and all too realistic view, the barbarians are always at the gate, and once a culture allows itself to grow soft, decadent or simply neglectful, it will be swept away by the primitive and ruthless. As a character insists in "Beyond the Black River," the most deeply felt and complex Conan story, "Barbarism is the natural state of mankind. . . . Civilization is unnatural. It is a whim of circumstance. And barbarism must always ultimately triumph."

http://www.amazon.co...i...7851&sr=8-1

[deuce]

The Washington Post critique of "The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian", reprinted on Amazon, while not free of criticism, is generally favorable. Best as all, though, is that its 100% free of the MATTPOP crap. There's no mention of REH's suicide at all. The focus is almost entirely on the stories themselves. The journalist did some actual journalism before spouting off.

Are the tales of Conan then what a female friend would call "boys books"? Testosterone-driven daydreams for 15-year-olds? Pulp schlock with titillating suggestions of sadomasochism, rape and sapphism? (Many of the stories were originally illustrated for Weird Tales by the legendary Margaret Brundage, who specialized in kinky cover art.) The answer to all these questions is, obviously, yes.

Yet without making grandiose claims for them, Howard's Conan chronicles are also a bit more than that. They are, as Patrice Louinet demonstrates in his forewords and afterwords to these three volumes, studies in the clash of Barbarism and Civilization. In Howard's grim and all too realistic view, the barbarians are always at the gate, and once a culture allows itself to grow soft, decadent or simply neglectful, it will be swept away by the primitive and ruthless. As a character insists in "Beyond the Black River," the most deeply felt and complex Conan story, "Barbarism is the natural state of mankind. . . . Civilization is unnatural. It is a whim of circumstance. And barbarism must always ultimately triumph."

http://www.amazon.co...i...7851&sr=8-1

Thanks, Amster! IMO, this type of thing is cool, too. The world of "lit crit" is just starting to come around to seeing the quality of REH's fiction.. Important voices from that realm should be noted.

[deuce]

While blogging about the new Kull book coming out, Rusty also happened to mention what Charles de Lint (noted in Post #1) is doing now ( http://www.rehupa.com/?p=348 ). Turns out, Mr. de Lint used to be a member of REHupa. Now, lemme tell ya, becoming a member of REHupa isn't like signing up for a newspaper subcription. It's more akin to becoming a 15th degree Mason. IF (as is apparent) de Lint DID join REHupa, then his credentials as a dyed-in-wool Robert E. Howard FAN are pretty impeccable. "Charles de Lint INFLUENCED by REH?" Check.

[godzilladude]

While blogging about the new Kull book coming out, Rusty also happened to mention what Charles de Lint (noted in Post #1) is doing now ( http://www.rehupa.com/?p=348 ). Turns out, Mr. de Lint used to be a member of REHupa. Now, lemme tell ya, becoming a member of REHupa isn't like signing up for a newspaper subcription. It's more akin to becoming a 15th degree Mason. IF (as is apparent) de Lint DID join REHupa, then his credentials as a dyed-in-wool Robert E. Howard FAN are pretty impeccable. "Charles de Lint INFLUENCED by REH?" Check.

Uhhh, LSDC was a long-time member of REHupa as well, don't forget. As well as the guy that stole their money a couple decades back. It's not like they have real tough admission standards. Geez, *I* was a REHupan for a while, talk about lack of standards.

[deuce]

While blogging about the new Kull book coming out, Rusty also happened to mention what Charles de Lint (noted in Post #1) is doing now ( http://www.rehupa.com/?p=348 ). Turns out, Mr. de Lint used to be a member of REHupa. Now, lemme tell ya, becoming a member of REHupa isn't like signing up for a newspaper subcription. It's more akin to becoming a 15th degree Mason. IF (as is apparent) de Lint DID join REHupa, then his credentials as a dyed-in-wool Robert E. Howard FAN are pretty impeccable. "Charles de Lint INFLUENCED by REH?" Check.

Uhhh, LSDC was a long-time member of REHupa as well, don't forget. As well as the guy that stole their money a couple decades back. It's not like they have real tough admission standards. Geez, *I* was a REHupan for a while, talk about lack of standards.

Hey Paul! I was being a little tongue-in-cheek there (hence the ). You bringing up your own former REHupa stint decisively blows my implication that REHupa is some sort of "exclusive club" RIGHT outta the water. My main point about de Lint has always been that here's a respected author who is generally NOT thought of as writing "in the tradition of CONAN!", yet he seems to be a genuine, long-time fan of REH.

[timeless]

There are probably dozens if not hundreds of published writers who were and are 'influenced' by Raymond Chandler yet aren't writing hardboiled P.I. fiction, just as there are that many who were and are influenced by Lovecraft who haven't written 'mythos' horror. I'm confident that Bob Howard has influenced many, many people who decided to try their hand (or fingertips) at 'spinning yarns' but did so without appropriating his territory.

'Influenced by' doesn't have to be defined as mimicry. And, well...shouldn't, I think. (Ahem, Parker, Lumley and, yes, De Camp.)

[docpod]

L. Sprague de Camp was an honorary member of REHupa. So was Glenn Lord, Karl Edward Wagner, and Novalyne Price. To give Sprague credit, he sent in letters more often than not though most of it was egoboo.

While blogging about the new Kull book coming out, Rusty also happened to mention what Charles de Lint (noted in Post #1) is doing now ( http://www.rehupa.com/?p=348 ). Turns out, Mr. de Lint used to be a member of REHupa. Now, lemme tell ya, becoming a member of REHupa isn't like signing up for a newspaper subcription. It's more akin to becoming a 15th degree Mason. IF (as is apparent) de Lint DID join REHupa, then his credentials as a dyed-in-wool Robert E. Howard FAN are pretty impeccable. "Charles de Lint INFLUENCED by REH?" Check.

Uhhh, LSDC was a long-time member of REHupa as well, don't forget. As well as the guy that stole their money a couple decades back. It's not like they have real tough admission standards. Geez, *I* was a REHupan for a while, talk about lack of standards.

[deuce]

Just happened to stumble across the transcript from a Robert Heinlein Discussion Group gathering held (presumably) in California on May 13th, 2000. Poul Anderson and his wife, Karen, were the special guests. Amongst many other questions, somebody asked about Conan and Robert E. Howard. Here's what Poul said:

"As for REH's influence, I came to him a little late. I have always enjoyed a certain amount of literary blood-and-thunder, and he certainly provided a very good brand of it."

[timeless]

Is that where Finn got the title for his bio?

Tell us, Mark.

[kansasbarbarian]

This isn't exactly a quote but I am a member of The Three Seas forum (R. Scott Bakker - The Prince Of Nothing Trilogy) and have conversed with him and he told me that REH was a big influence on his barbarian peoples.

[deuce]

This isn't exactly a quote but I am a member of The Three Seas forum (R. Scott Bakker - The Prince Of Nothing Trilogy) and have conversed with him and he told me that REH was a big influence on his barbarian peoples.

Hey KB! Get Bakker to post on this thread and say it his ownself! There seem to be several Bakker fans on this forum.

Seriously, thanks for relaying Bakker's kind words.

[deuce]

On Tompkins' blog entry, he serves up several quotes from Michael Moorcock, where "Mr. Multiverse" acknowledges his literary debt to REH.

http://www.thecimmerian.com/?p=1733

[Mark Finn]

Is that where Finn got the title for his bio?

Tell us, Mark.

Sheesh. In many ways, the single hardest thing I did was name the friggin' book. Let me 'splain. No, there is no time, I sum up.

All of the good names had been taken. I wanted something that bespoke of the Texas roots, and also the storytelling aspects of Howard's life and career. So I started writing down words...and the more I wrote down, the more I realized that anything I put together would sound like something else out there. Lone Star Raconteur...Texas Skald...it was all no good. Too many zines with great titles, past and present.

It was an accident that I stumbled into "Blood & Thunder." The term has been applied to Howard's work before, generally favorably, and I did a quick search and found nothing in print or related to the subject at hand. So, Blood & Thunder with the descriptive tagged on at the end, became the book title.

It was only AFTER the catalog copy was sent out that we saw Hampton Sides book listed--also appropriately named, and for the most part, not in my wheelhouse--and out one month before B&T hit. Figures.

Anyway, that's how it came about. And I *like* the term, Blood & Thunder. Some folks use it disparagingly, but not me. I gravitate to that kind of literature.

[deuce]

Is that where Finn got the title for his bio?

Tell us, Mark.

Sheesh. In many ways, the single hardest thing I did was name the friggin' book. Let me 'splain. No, there is no time, I sum up.

All of the good names had been taken. I wanted something that bespoke of the Texas roots, and also the storytelling aspects of Howard's life and career. So I started writing down words...and the more I wrote down, the more I realized that anything I put together would sound like something else out there. Lone Star Raconteur...Texas Skald...it was all no good. Too many zines with great titles, past and present.

It was an accident that I stumbled into "Blood & Thunder." The term has been applied to Howard's work before, generally favorably, and I did a quick search and found nothing in print or related to the subject at hand. So, Blood & Thunder with the descriptive tagged on at the end, became the book title.

It was only AFTER the catalog copy was sent out that we saw Hampton Sides book listed--also appropriately named, and for the most part, not in my wheelhouse--and out one month before B&T hit. Figures.

Anyway, that's how it came about. And I *like* the term, Blood & Thunder. Some folks use it disparagingly, but not me. I gravitate to that kind of literature.

Me too, Mark! I think our own "Mikey C" pointed out the "parallel titling" at the time. Still, great title.

[timeless]

Excellent title for an excellent book.