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From: ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Conan
Date: 12 Jun 2025 00:36:49 GMT
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In article <102d3is$28uk0$1@dont-email.me>,
William Hyde  <wthyde1953@gmail.com> wrote:
>Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
>> In article <102ck30$2525n$1@dont-email.me>,
>> Michael F. Stemper <michael.stemper@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Robert E. Howard's Conan (of many suffixes) is a cultural icon. In the late
>>> 1960s, Lancer Books began a project to publish of all of Howard's Conan
>>> works -- plus a little.
>>>
>>> The volume titled simply _Conan_[1] is the fifth one published, but relates
>>> Conan's earliest exploits. It contains assorted background information,
>>> as well as seven stories.
>>>
>>> Throughout this recap, the following are used:
>>> REH: Robert E. Howard
>>> LSC; L. Sprague de Camp
>>> LC: Lin Carter
>>> PSM: P. Schuyler Miller
>>>
>>> Introduction (LSC): Some biographical information about REH and how
>>> the stories came to be written.
>>>
>>> Letter to PSM (REH)): Approving response to PSM's working out of a
>>> chronology of Conan stories.
>>>
>>> The Hyborean Age, Part I (REH): Part of an essay giving the history
>>> of the world for several millenia prior to Conan coming on the scene.
>>>
>>> Now, the stories start.
>>>
>>> The Thing in the Crypt (REH, LC): In an underground storeroom, Conan
>>> fights a corpse and comes out of it with a nice sword.
>>>
>>> The Tower of the Elephant (REH): After a bar fight, Conan goes to the
>>> titular tower to steal a fabulous jewel, The Heart of the Elephant. He
>>> encounters another thief, with whom he teams up. The other theif doesn't
>>> make it; Conan uses the jewel to magically kill a sorceror who has been
>>> around from before the fall of Atlantis.
>>>
>>> The Hall of the Dead (REH, LSC): Conan is pursued, by those who wish to
>>> slay him, into a ruined city that has a reputation for killing all who
>>> enter. He takes on a giant slug, teams up with the leader (and only
>>> survivor) of the pursuers, takes on some zombies.
>>>
>>> The God in the Bowl (REH): Conan is caught red-handed burglarizing a
>>> temple where a murder has just happened. A cop is summoned, with his
>>> boss tagging along. The cop is ready to hang Conan, but surprisingly
>>> to me, his boss wants to investigate Conan's story before doing
>>> anything permanent.
>>>
>>> Rogues in the House (REH): Conan agrees to kill the enemy of a noble
>>> in exchange for being released from the prison where he is awaiting
>>> execution. By the time that his escape was to have been allowed, the
>>> guard that was bribed to abet it has been killed. Conan gets out on
>>> his own, and debates with himself before deciding to live up to his
>>> part of the bargain anyway.
>>>
>>> The Hand of Nergal (REH, LC): From the field of a horrific battle,
>>> Conan is recruited to retrieve a magical artifact.
>>>
>>> The City of Skulls (LC, LSC): Conan is captured and sold as a galley
>>> slave.
>>>
>>> Conan does not always get out of his scrapes with his sword. In fact,
>>> sometimes, he doesn't even get out due to his own efforts, but has
>>> help from others -- even a slave-girl or two.
>>>
>>> He sometimes ends one of his adventures with bags of loot, other
>>> times he's lucky to escape alive. He can't hold onto his gains, but
>>> blows them all on drinking and whoring. Conveniently, this sets the
>>> stage for another adventure.
>>>
>>> Alkthough a barbarian, he has an ill-defined code of honor. It includes
>>> keeping his word and not taking a woman by physical force or duress.
>>>
>>> The stories don't always start with him; the initial focus is often
>>> elsewhere, with him making an appearance after a few hundred or even
>>> a few thousand words.
>>>
>>> Although I read this volume in 1996 and again in 2005, I remembered
>>> absolutely nothing about it. It's nice to be able to reread something
>>> and have it be fresh.
>>>
>>> My nearly sixty year old MMPB is in amazingly good condition for a
>>> Lancer product, with only two loose pages.
>>>
>>> Note that the ISFDB listing says "The artist is not credited, ..."
>>> However, my copy says "COVER PAINTING BY FRANK FRAZETTA" on the page
>>> facing the title page.
>>>
>>> [1] <https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?7653>
>>>
>>> -- 
>>> Michael F. Stemper
>>> This sentence no verb.
>> 
>> I think "Rogues In The House" is the funniest Conan story (though I still
>> have a couple to read).
>> 
>> As I recall, the Lancer volumes were not for purists as deCamp & Carter
>> tended to take unrelated Howard stories and recast them as Conan ones,
>> or make them up out of whole cloth.
>
>To say the least.
>
>Here and there I've run into Conan fans who were incredibly angry with 
>deCamp, to the point of mania.
>
>Possibly one of the reasons I've never read Conan, fear it might be 
>catching.
>
>IIRC one G. Gygax wasn't all that happy with the first movie, either.  I 
>hope he didn't use up all his expletives, as the second movie was yet to 
>come.
>
>
>William Hyde
>
>

Eh.  The books were what they needed to be in the 1970s probably and
helped pave the way for more accurate editions.  If I were to get too
exercised about what they did, I would have to hate Red Sonja.

BTW, the current holders of the license for comic books, Titan, are doing a
really good job.
-- 
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..