I think it’s totally cool that the dedication page of Scott Oden’s forthcoming novel The Lion of Cairo (U.S. publication date Dec. 7) pays homage to a sword and sorcery legend:
To Robert E. Howard
whose tales of swordplay and sorcery
gave inspiration to a kid from Alabama
and caused him to take up the pen
in his own time
After the Howard name-drop you pretty much know what you’re in for: Pulse-pounding sword play, leagues of warring assassins, political intrigue, a hint of evil sorcery, and the clash of armies on a grand stage. On all these elements Oden delivers.
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I'm interested in his Men of Bronze, actually - I'm a huge fan of ancient (up through the Ptolemies) Egypt, and plan to set my next historical fiction/fantasy partly in that time and place. Of course that's a period of almost 3000 years to work with, so I probably should narrow that down.
ReplyDeleteMen of Bronze is really good. A real page-flipping, hairy-chested, blood and thunder historical novel. It's very Howardian without coming off as a slavish imitation.
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