19 replies to this topic

[El Borak's Li'l Brother]

I have all but one of the Tor Conan the... series. Well, my nephew had to hit the book shop the other day, so I tagged along. Weeks easlier I'd noticed two or three Conan the... books on the shelf, big surprise, but recognizing the titles passed them by. This time I noticed one title left, Conan the Victorious by Robert Jordon, and this time... I had to look!

On the back I see: PLUS A SPECIAL BONUS! "Conan the Indestructable" -- a history of Conan ad his times by L. SPRAGUE DE CAMP

It's been years, probably what 26 years, since the book appeared in 1984 by copyright, and I didn't remember this little gem by Mr. De Camp being a part of it or having seen the article before, so I snatched it.

I am still reading volume 10 of Weird Works, but plan to dive into this 2010 reprint soon. My questions? Was this gem part of the original run of the book? (I suckered myself via bad memory)Or did this gem appear somewhere else first?

[Swiftsteel]

I have a few Tor books with that addition too. I think that's basically where it first showed up.

All I have left now from that series are the John Maddox Roberts and Robert Jordan stories. The rest of them - with respect to the authors who tried - for the most part just didn't hold up for me personally. To this day though I still flip through '...the Valorous', or '...the Marauder' by example from time to time to relive fave scenes. Back in the day as a teen I had hoped that, had the original film franchise kept going, say like Bond where you get a new one every couple of years, that some of those would have been adapted for the screen. A lot of Jordan's would have been great on teh big screen.

[PaulMc]

Was it really a 2010 reprint?

I'm just curious because last year, I found an old Glen Cook TOR novel, Tower of Fear popping up at different bookstores. They looked like old copies, and they were mint. I think I checked and they weren't reprints. I was thinking someone found an old box in the back-room of the TOR warehouse.

Just wondering if maybe it was the same story with these occasional, older Conans popping up.

[El Borak's Li'l Brother]

I have a few Tor books with that addition too. I think that's basically where it first showed up.

All I have left now from that series are the John Maddox Roberts and Robert Jordan stories. The rest of them - with respect to the authors who tried - for the most part just didn't hold up for me personally. To this day though I still flip through '...the Valorous', or '...the Marauder' by example from time to time to relive fave scenes. Back in the day as a teen I had hoped that, had the original film franchise kept going, say like Bond where you get a new one every couple of years, that some of those would have been adapted for the screen. A lot of Jordan's would have been great on teh big screen.

Ah, I suckered myself.

Actually, I'd rather a Conan set of flicks were based on Howard's stories. But that's a lost dream.

[El Borak's Li'l Brother]

Was it really a 2010 reprint?

I'm just curious because last year, I found an old Glen Cook TOR novel, Tower of Fear popping up at different bookstores. They looked like old copies, and they were mint. I think I checked and they weren't reprints. I was thinking someone found an old box in the back-room of the TOR warehouse.

Just wondering if maybe it was the same story with these occasional, older Conans popping up.

August 2010 3rd edition

1st and 2nd editions were 1984 and 1985

Something seems off there, but that's what's in the book.

[terryallenuk]

Looks like two were reprinted this year , with another out next.

http://store.tor.com/series/282

Terry

[PaulMc]

Looks like two were reprinted this year , with another out next.

http://store.tor.com/series/282

Terry

I wonder why? Capitalizing on the movie a little early. Maybe because Wheel of Time is finishing up (albeit posthumously?)

[El Borak's Li'l Brother]

Looks like two were reprinted this year , with another out next.

http://store.tor.com/series/282

Terry

I wonder why? Capitalizing on the movie a little early. Maybe because Wheel of Time is finishing up (albeit posthumously?)

I think it's more like after an author's passing you dump his stuff on the market for, you might say, as the Phantom strip says now and then, "For those who came in late." And he wrote some Conan the... books, so...

[Swiftsteel]

I was browsing in Chapters today (big Canadian book chain for those not living in the Great White North!) and saw that they had copies of most of the Jordan Conan's from Tor. Also a few of the recently re-released Howard volumes everyone's familiar with. This is all good stuff as far as I'm concerned. It's nice to see the character getting some long overdue exposure again.

[Urthur the Brythunian]

To above-Nice to see a fellow Canadian(Im assuming, since you were at chapters) (Of course, i am also a Brythunian)

I need to hit my local chapters for a book run. maybe they have some Jordan, but ill be looking for the Del rey volumes(And other non-Conan/Howard stuff,namely Swords and Deviltry by Fritz leiber)

[drush9999]

This is clearly to cash in on Jordan's name, while the new posthumous completions of Wheel of Time are on bestsellers lists.

Wonder if they'll reprint more of the old pastiches though.

[Mikey_C]

I don't know about the Tor edition, but in the UK the LSDC article appears in The Conan Chronicles 2, published by Orbit in the UK, which is the second collection of Jordan's stories (Conan the Victorious is in the first one). The piece is dated May 1984.

This certainly does raise the interesting possibility that Tor may reissue more pastiches when the movie comes out. John Maddox Roberts and John C Hocking deserve to be back in print. Much better than Robert Jordan!

[El Borak's Li'l Brother]

Well, I gone through L. Sprague De Camp's Conan the Indestructable and...

Yes, it was a nice little timeline of stories/books, even with a few stories tossed into question, but as I read it something gnawed at me, eventually making me laugh. It was de Camp's way of putting the timeline in order: through historical documents!

But if the Hyborian Age was between the sinking of Atlantis and the beginning of recorded History... Where did de Camp's documents come from?

It truly showed me he did not get it. And it explains a lot.

[Tex]

...de Camp's way of putting the timeline in order: through historical documents!

But if the Hyborian Age was between the sinking of Atlantis and the beginning of recorded History... Where did de Camp's documents come from?

It truly showed me he did not get it. And it explains a lot.

SLAM DUNK!

Tex
(target destroyed)

[deuce]

Well, I gone through L. Sprague De Camp's Conan the Indestructable and...

Yes, it was a nice little timeline of stories/books, even with a few stories tossed into question,

No, it's not. That timeline was LSdC's way of imposing/justifying his "official timeline" on all pastiches. If you notice, he excluded Wagner's The Road of Kings from the "DeCampian Conan Canon". That was simply sour grapes/animosity on Spraguey's part, NOT anything inherently wrong (REH chronology-wise) with that novel. De Camp played (sometimes passive-aggressive) hardball with those who didn't toe his party line.

Plus, it simply reinforced in the minds of the uninformed/ignorant/stupid the idea that ANY (approved by LSdC) tale about Conan was just as valid/"the same as" those written by Robert E. Howard himself in regards to the character of Conan and the Hyborian Age he bestrode. Crap like that was a big reason why Rusty Burke created his "REH Purist Manifesto".

but as I read it something gnawed at me, eventually making me laugh. It was de Camp's way of putting the timeline in order: through historical documents!

But if the Hyborian Age was between the sinking of Atlantis and the beginning of recorded History... Where did de Camp's documents come from?

It truly showed me he did not get it. And it explains a lot.

De Camp didn't "get it", but not in the way you describe. Robert E. Howard flat-out stated that the Hyborian Age was told of in Von Junzt's Nameless Cults. That implies Von Junzt learned of the Hyborian Age from "historical documents", since that 19th century German savant travelled the world studying esoteric manuscripts. "The Nemedian Chronicles" weren't written down by Hyborian Age Nemedians.

I look at the whole problem here:

http://www.thecimmer...ian-chronicles/

...and here:

http://www.thecimmer...ian-chronicles/

[drush9999]

I just read De Camp's Conan the Indestructible here.

While he mentions The Road of Kings, he then goes on to say:
"This tale involves many questions. If authentic it may belong in Conan's earlier mercenary period around the time of Conan the Defender. But there is no corroboration in other narratives of the idea that Conan ever visited Zingara before his late thirties, the time of Conan the Buccaneer. Moreover, none of the rulers of Zingara mentioned in the papyrus appear on the list of kings of Zingara in the Byzantine manuscript Hoi Anaktes tes Tzingeras. Hence some students deem the papyrus either spurious or a case of confusion between Conan and some other hero. Everything else known about Conan indicates that if he had indeed been offered the Zingaran crown, he would have grabbed it with both hands."

What a sad little man

[deuce]

I just read De Camp's Conan the Indestructible here.

While he mentions The Road of Kings, he then goes on to say:
"This tale involves many questions. If authentic it may belong in Conan's earlier mercenary period around the time of Conan the Defender. But there is no corroboration in other narratives of the idea that Conan ever visited Zingara before his late thirties, the time of Conan the Buccaneer. Moreover, none of the rulers of Zingara mentioned in the papyrus appear on the list of kings of Zingara in the Byzantine manuscript Hoi Anaktes tes Tzingeras. Hence some students deem the papyrus either spurious or a case of confusion between Conan and some other hero. Everything else known about Conan indicates that if he had indeed been offered the Zingaran crown, he would have grabbed it with both hands."

What a sad little man

It gets even more sad when you consider that LSdC counted EVERY tale written by himself, Carter and Jordan as "canonical". Even worse, Wagner wasn't allowed to write his projected novel, "The Day of the Lion" because Spraguey wanted to exploit that same period in Conan's career for the execrable Conan the Liberator. Check out these links:

http://www.thecimmerian.com/word/

http://www.thecimmer...-soft-pedalled/

http://www.conan.com...h=1

Meanwhile, Spraguey gave his implied imprimatur to various horrid "Conan" novels by Green, Perry and Carpenter in the Tor Conan pastiche series.

[drush9999]

It gets even more sad when you consider that LSdC counted EVERY tale written by himself, Carter and Jordan as "canonical". Even worse, Wagner wasn't allowed to write his projected novel, "The Day of the Lion" because Spraguey wanted to exploit that same period in Conan's career for the execrable Conan the Liberator. Check out these links:

http://www.thecimmerian.com/word/

http://www.thecimmer...-soft-pedalled/

http://www.conan.com...h=1

Meanwhile, Spraguey gave his implied imprimatur to various horrid "Conan" novels by Green, Perry and Carpenter in the Tor Conan pastiche series.

Interestingly The Day of the Lion synopsis reads like a sequel to Howard's original The Black Stranger, not the bastardised The Treasure of Tranicos version. He goes off to be a pirate at the beginning, albeit briefly.

[Taranaich]

Interestingly The Day of the Lion synopsis reads like a sequel to Howard's original The Black Stranger, not the bastardised The Treasure of Tranicos version. He goes off to be a pirate at the beginning, albeit briefly.

Ah, well we can't have that, can we? Can't have something that ignore's the established chronology, or we'll have such "abominations" as a gay Conan. Master of jumping to conclusions, that de Camp.

[grim cimmerian]

Do the new pastiche TOR reprints have the same cover art as earlier printings?