Happy 115th, REH

On the occasion of what would have been the 115th birthday of Robert E. Howard (had he had the blood of Numenor in his veins, and had not tragically ended his own life at age 30), I thought I would share my favorite presentation of some of his classic Conan stories.

I do regret obtaining these second-hand, as they are shorn of the full-sized pullout Ken Kelly posters that once graced their interior. But they are well-worth obtaining and reading for the great Karl Edward Wagner introductions.

Many enjoy the Tor Conan pastiches (I have mixed feelings about them myself), and if so you may not agree with KEW, who wrote this in the preface to The Hour of the Dragon:

I have written Howard pastiches myself, so I can speak both as a reader and author: Every author leaves his personal mark on whatever he writes; the only man who could write a Robert E. Howard story was Robert E. Howard. Read Howard pastiches as you will--but don't let anyone kid you that you're reading Robert E. Howard. It is far more than a matter of initiating adjective usage or analyzing comma-splices. It is a matter of spirit.

No other author I've read, pastiche or otherwise, could tap into the same heroic spirit of the late, great REH. I'll be drinking a high ABV craft beer or three tonight, to his shade.

Berkley Medallions, in your face.

The Great Debate: The Letters of H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard

My latest post for Goodman Games/Tales from the Magician's Skull is up. Check it out here.

My greatest challenge with this post was to try to summarize a 900-page correspondence in 1,000 words. This essay only scratches the surface of the amazing exchange of letters between Lovecraft and Howard from 1930-36, published in the highly recommended A Means to Freedom. Make no mistake, it was a great debate in which Howard formulated and formalized the underlying themes that give his stories much of their power and resonance. Howard rejected fascism and criticized political and industrial "progress" both home and abroad. Today it still remains to be seen whether barbarism will ultimately triumph over civilization.

On a lighter note, kudos to Goodman Games for the wonderful graphic displays they post with these articles. I'm digging the headshots of these two men overlaid on the handwritten letter and dip pen. Fancy.

Swords Against Darkness: Heyday of sword-and-sorcery

.My favorite cover goes to vol 4, I'm digging the mounted barbarian and skulls. On the back is a wicked wyrm.

 

Today's entry is the Andrew Offutt-edited Swords Against Darkness, a series of five anthologies published between 1977-79. This was still the heyday of sword-and-sorcery, as the subgenre was attracting names like Ramsey Campbell, Brian Lumley, Charles De Lint, and Orson Scott Card, the latter fresh off a John W. Campbell award for Best New Writer. All were published in the pages of Swords Against Darkness, along with many other fine authors. These were all new stories Offutt bought for the anthologies (and/or finished, in the case of the Robert E. Howard story "Nekht Semerkhet,") attesting to the health of sword-and-sorcery during this time period.

A lot of variety, much darkness and horror, and some fun introductions penned by Offutt. Five excellent volumes and I wish there were more.

Tolkien the barbarian

I recently finished a re-read of The Lord of the Rings, which inspired me to revisit Humphrey Carpenter's authorized biography of JRRT. I'm still in the early/pre-Oxford period of Tolkien's life, covering his days at King Edward's School in Birmingham, and encountered this particular scene:

There was a custom at King Edward's of holding a debate entirely in Latin, but that was almost too easy for Tolkien, and in one debate when taking the role of Greek Ambassador to the Senate he spoke entirely in Greek. On another occasion he astonished his schoolfellows when, in the character of a barbarian envoy, he broke into fluent Gothic; and on a third occasion he spoke in Anglo-Saxon.

It makes one wonder again whether Tolkien did in fact enjoy Robert E. Howard's Conan. I like to think he would have, and did.

Flashing Swords: More from the S&S collection

Hardcovers, paperbacks, but a complete collection. Still not sure why Gary Viskupic drew a 
horned-helmeted warrior springing from the head of an otherwise pleasant, oblivious young lass
(Flashing Swords #4).

The five-volume Lin Carter-edited Flashing Swords series (1973-81) is my next selection for gratuitous display. Gotta go with the cover of #1 for best art, but Frazetta's second piece in the series for Flashing Swords #2, featuring iconic warrior, wizard, and angry Ent, draws a close second.

I'd like to also call out the dedications: Carter dedicates the first volume to Robert E. Howard, "without whom we would all probably be writing nothing but science fiction stories," vol. 2 to Henry Kuttner, "one of the best Swordsmen and Sorcerers of 'em all," vol. 3 to Clifford Ball, "one of the first writers of Sword & Sorcery, now, sadly, forgotten and, even more sadly, uncollected," and vol. 4 to Norvell Page, "our late colleague, the chronicler of the saga of Hurricane John." Oddly, vol. 5 does not have a dedication, at least in the Nelson Doubleday Book Club Edition that I own.

Book porn: Pyramid sword-and-sorcery

For no other reason than it brings me great joy, I present you some book porn today: My copies of the L. Sprague de Camp edited four volume sword-and-sorcery series, published by Pyramid (last volume Putnam) between 1963-1971. Classics of the subgenre.

I'm not a collector. I don't particularly value items that are inherently collectable (i.e., rare, highly coveted, mint condition, bagged and as unhandled as possible). I don't care if the books I have are in excellent condition or are worn readers' copies, though obviously given a choice I would prefer the former. I am a man of utility. I buy books for what they contain, in order to read them, enjoy them, and occasionally write about them here and elsewhere. 

That said I am a completist. Not owning a particular volume in a series gnaws at me until I can track it down and add it to the shelf, with a sigh of relief. I've got a few holes that I'm working to fill.

I'm also a lover of print. Outside of a couple digital subscriptions to new publications, I far prefer books over e-pubs/Kindle and the like. I love books for their artwork, their feel, the smell (creepy?), and being able to cast my gaze across a full bookshelf or three, and get lost in the titles and the thought of what I will read next.

I'll do more of these posts

Wonderful covers by Finlay, Gaughan,
Steranko. Favorite cover = The Spell of Seven. 

in the coming days. I won't always have anything to say. The pictures will mostly do the talking. 

Boris Vallejo at 80

My first post of 2021 is up on the blog of DMR publishing. Check it out here: https://dmrbooks.com/test-blog/2021/1/8/boris-vallejo-at-80

Boris Vallejo is not my favorite artist of all time, but he's produced some amazing pieces over his eight decades on the planet. I share some of them in the essay. 

And he's damned prolific and continues to work to this day.