58 replies to this topic

[keny from prague]

this is a tough one to explain but i'll try.

Are there any character types you wish REH would have written about but didn't?

For example, would you like to have seen REH try a story about a Zulu warrior uniting warring tribes in southern africa? Or maybe a western style hero in the Australian bush? Or irish celtic sailors in north america?

Or maybe his take on a certain historical event. Say the visigoth sack of Rome? Or the Teutonic knights battling the Lithuanians/poles?

Just curious. Is there anything you'd have liked to have seen him try? character wise, story wise, setting wise, etc.

[Kortoso]

Say the visigoth sack of Rome?

That would rule. I am sure he would put plenty of himself into that.

[keny from prague]

Say the visigoth sack of Rome?

That would rule. I am sure he would put plenty of himself into that.

kind of surprising he never did. You'd think "barbarians" overcoming "civilization" there would have been right in his wheelhouse.

[amster]

Say the visigoth sack of Rome?

That would rule. I am sure he would put plenty of himself into that.

kind of surprising he never did. You'd think "barbarians" overcoming "civilization" there would have been right in his wheelhouse.

There was no point in Howard rewriting the real history of the Visigoth sack of Rome, because he took the themes from real history and channeled them into his fiction, particularly the Conan stories. See the thread The Hyborian Age: Ancient or Medieval?

[Fernando]

Say the visigoth sack of Rome?

That would rule. I am sure he would put plenty of himself into that.

kind of surprising he never did. You'd think "barbarians" overcoming "civilization" there would have been right in his wheelhouse.

There was no point in Howard rewriting the real history of the Visigoth sack of Rome, because he took the themes from real history and channeled them into his fiction, particularly the Conan stories. See the thread The Hyborian Age: Ancient or Medieval?

Anyway, REH rewrote the reasons for the Visigoth sack of home, in his tale Delenda Est. Too bad he only spoke few things - almost nothing - about it, in "Delenda" and The King's Service...

[Libaax]

Why rewrite history? He could have written more historical fiction about periods that interest him.

[keny from prague]

Aye, considering that REH himself said nothing brought him more pleasure than writing historical fiction. In the end it was probably the lack of market that limited him and took him into fantasy. well, also writing about fantasy worlds meant you didn't have to do as much research or be sure to get the history "right"

Anyway, as to my original question, are there any other times or places you'd have liked an REH take on?

[Gin-Wulf]

Say the visigoth sack of Rome?

That would rule. I am sure he would put plenty of himself into that.

kind of surprising he never did. You'd think "barbarians" overcoming "civilization" there would have been right in his wheelhouse.

There was no point in Howard rewriting the real history of the Visigoth sack of Rome, because he took the themes from real history and channeled them into his fiction, particularly the Conan stories. See the thread The Hyborian Age: Ancient or Medieval?

You say that like it's a proven fact. Would you mind proving it on the ancient or medieval thread and state your case.?

[Gin-Wulf]

wow such a pleasant response. filled with so much fact, funny how you think my post are as deep as a kiddie pool when i find yours just as shallow ( cuz its all opinion). Oh and grammar is SOOOO important on forums were we are all english teachers and professors ,lol.
instead of trying to make personal attacks on people why not just answer the question?

[Gin-Wulf]

thats fine that you feel the topic reached its point .
but everything else you just babbled is so far off base its laughable.
all you seem to do is TRY to attack people personally ,
if it is not all just opinion please show the fact. well i guess you only read the quick posts not ones were i refer to REH letters or stories as examples, such selective eyes
OH yes (sarcasm) grammar is such a perfect way to gage some ones argument in a forum were we have members who not all have english as there first language
depth of my opinion ?? lol wow thats a good one. neither of us is a REH scholar so YES both out opinions here are EQUAL!!!!
i simple thought you should bring that comment over to the proper thread to discuss
so now i guess we must call you professor Amster

[PaulMc]

MOD WARNING : GET IT BACK ON TRACK. Any more "I said" "You said" "I argue better than you" crap and I'll delete all of it.

You have any idea how much of a damn babysitter I feel like right now?

[PaulMc]

Charles Martel would have been good fodder, I think, for an REH historical or three. Lots of battles and politics.

http://en.wikipedia..../Charles_Martel

[mario]

I just watched a good documentary on vlad tepesh ( tepish?) the imapler. It had none of that vampire myth in it just historical battles strategies forts , his wifes death, his own demise while fortifying his present location. I think his tales could have made good historical stories in the vein of lion of tiberias and lord of samarcard.

[deuce]

Charles Martel would have been good fodder, I think, for an REH historical or three. Lots of battles and politics.

http://en.wikipedia..../Charles_Martel

REH mentioned the Battle of Tours once or twice (in relation to "historical what ifs"). He doesn't seem to have been interested in the Carolingian period that much.

That said, Martel was a bad-a$$ who made history.

[Libaax]

Aye, considering that REH himself said nothing brought him more pleasure than writing historical fiction. In the end it was probably the lack of market that limited him and took him into fantasy. well, also writing about fantasy worlds meant you didn't have to do as much research or be sure to get the history "right"

Anyway, as to my original question, are there any other times or places you'd have liked an REH take on?

If it wasnt so marketed controlled i would like to have seen REH write a grim,realistic,bloody Viking Saga. I mean a nautical character series about the reavers. Like that comic series Northlander about different Viking Age protoganist.

[kalel21]

A Revolutionary War guerilla fighter for the Americans, such as the Swamp Fox, would have been good fodder for an REH story. I could see him handling such a character in either a straight adventure/war tale or in a horror story with a supernatural element added. ("We'll have to team up with the hated British to defeat the swamp monster!")

Of course, though I'm pretty familiar with REH's work, I will be suitably embarassed if he did write about such a character and I'm just not familar with it.

[Kane]

I'm a little surprised that he never, as far as I know, wrote any stories taking place during The Great War.
Perhaps it was too modern for his tastes. Maybe he could never see a way to make a character stand out in the midist of trench warfare. Still, I would think that the thought of trying to create a character caught up in the greatest war of human history, at that time, would have been something that Howard would have spent a little time thinking about.

[constantine]

I'm a little surprised that he never, as far as I know, wrote any stories taking place during The Great War.
Perhaps it was too modern for his tastes. Maybe he could never see a way to make a character stand out in the midist of trench warfare. Still, I would think that the thought of trying to create a character caught up in the greatest war of human history, at that time, would have been something that Howard would have spent a little time thinking about.

Kane

That is a nice suggestion. You are right, an individual could hardly make a difference in the trenches, but how about a character having an unexpected brush with the supernatural, a weird menace amidst the horror of trench warfare?