Jim's comments (member since Dec 04, 2008)

Jim's comments from the Robert E. Howard Readers group.

I wonder if REH is losing ground in the libraries because his lack of political correctness? I haven't been to a library in a while, though. There are a lot of newer books that want shelf space & that's very limited.

Is it The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard, Mike? I have that on my wish list, too.

It is amazing, the amount of work he did in the few short years he had.

The bedroom scene was especially repugnant.

I'm not very good at picking things like this out, but I think quite a few of Howard's tales were similar. One I really enjoyed & seems similar is, "The Valley of the Worm" I think. It's S&S, but the worm is like something that would have climbed into our world from Lovecraft's hell.

One of my problems with so many of the new Conan stories is they split up the old stories & often poorly add to his life. His motives & methods as outlined by Howard in a story will get goofed up. I can't think of any examples I can defend off-hand, but I think "Conan & the Flame Knife" was one that ticked me off due to that.

To the best of my knowledge, Conan was only with Belit briefly. In "Conan of Cimmeria", which was the 2d book of the Lancer editions, he meets Belit in "Queen of the Black Coast". He's about 24 & running from something. He hops on a merchant ship that she & her pirates capture. After he kills half her crew, it's love/lust & they go adventuring. I don't remember the story clearly enough to say for sure, but I thought they spent a few months & then went after a treasure up a jungle river where Belit is killed.

The first thing that strikes me about the book is how similar the transport to the new planet is to what John Carter went through.

It doesn't seem to be one of Robert E. Howard's better known books in discussions, but a Google search brings up a lot of hits. If you can't find a copy, you can download it for free in a lot of formats here:
http://manybooks.net/titles/howardrother...

Craig wrote: "...I like other stories though like, Pigeons from Hell and Dig me no Grave..."

If you liked 'Pigeons from Hell', see if you can get
Black Canaan. That's a good bunch of his horror stories.

Have you tried any of his westerns (besides humorous) or boxing stories?

Welcome, Michael. It was the Frazetta covers that drew me in to reading REH, too! I have a few of Frazetta's books now. Just pictures. Absolutely great.

Thanks, Mark. That is interesting & makes sense. I read the introduction to The Incredible Adventures of Dennis Dorgan & it turns out there is only one published DD story, but lots of unpublished ones. Several were accepted but never got published.

Pike Bearfield in "Gents on the Lynch" in "Grim Lands" was very reminiscent of Breckenridge Elkins from A Gent From Bear Creek. It did have a lot of similarities & it turns out that Pike is the Dennis Dorgan of his funny westerns for the same reason, as I suspected after reading your post. I missed that in the introduction to 'Grim Lands' somehow.

I was worried that the editors had messed up his stories, although I don't know why. I've enjoyed a lot of the partial stories finished by others. I think I've mentioned how I liked "King Kull" better when finished up by DeCamp & Carter than the one that had the straight Howard partials.

Casper wrote: "Those are both great collections. However, it annoys me that being a REH collector, I now have many of the stories in three or four different releases. I wish a complete collection could be produce..."

I think I've been reading REH for close to 40 years, have about 50 books & still find new stories in the collections, not to mention re-writes that can be as interesting. I agree, it IS a pain buying new books all the time, but I have to agree with John. It is nice to be able to get some new stories. I'm a Wagner fan too & I am hoping some of his books will be re-released. Some are impossible to find & others are very expensive.

Welcome, Casper. I just read The Best of Robert E. Howard: Crimson Shadows & The Best of Robert E. Howard Volume 2: Grim Lands. I really got a better look at Howard's work through them. A little bit of all his work & quite a bit of his poetry.

I just finished reading The Best of Robert E. Howard Volume 2: Grim Lands which was sent to me by a dear friend here on GR, Jon. Wow! I found several more stories that I hadn't read before. I really enjoyed the order & mixture of the different genres. The intro & appendices were also interesting.

Until I read the first book's intro, I had thought most of REH's funny fight stories were about Dennis Dorgan because I read the book The Incredible Adventures of Dennis Dorgan. Turns out only 1 story sent to Weird Tales used that name for that character. All the rest were about Steve Costigan & they must have replaced the name in the book. Odd thing to do. Did they think the alliterative name would sell better?

I just finished reading The Best of Robert E. Howard: Crimson Shadows. I was very impressed by the selection of stories. Seemed to have some of each of his various types & very good ones.

I don't think I've ever read all of Michael Moorcock's Elric books in order. I've read more than a few, but never as a collected set. Considering how often he & Moonglum took off into other stories & universes, it's tough to do anyway. Is there any omnibus out there that packs them all together well? I have read all the The Chronicles of Corum & the Runestaff books.

My stepfather & I never got along well, but we had to take a couple of long trips when I was about 13. To shut me up, he bought me a few books at the local newsstand each time; The Jewel in the Skull, The Valley of Creation (a bad release with a couple of pages reversed), Chinese Puzzle & one of the early Mac Bolan, The Executioner books by Don Pendleton.

While I soured on The Executioner fairly quickly, I read the rest with a lot of interest. I have over 100 of the Destroyer series. If I never remember him for anything else, I'll remember him for picking out excellent reads, even though he didn't himself. I guess it was the cover art.

Karl Edward Wagner gets my vote, but his books can be hard to come by. I like Kane as much as Conan or Kull, better than Bran, Solomon Kane or Cormach.

Edgar Rice Burroughs also. I haven't read a Barsoom or Tarzan story in ages.

Maybe we should have a topic for the covers. Frazetta covers drew me in as well, but I like Vallejho as well. The new book I got has a different illustrator.

John wrote: "Problem with reading at lunch is that it makes it difficult to return to work. You enter a world of danger and adventure and then bam, back to mundane reality. "

Not only that, but when I get in a good part or have just a 'few' pages left in a book, returning to work is very difficult. I get an hour for lunch, usually only take 40 minutes, so occasionally I'll stretch it, but I usually feel guilty & can't concentrate as well.

I'm in IT as well, John & agree with you. One thing I try to do daily is leave the building (just outside to my truck) & read a fantasy book for 30 minutes or so. It makes a huge difference in my attitude & abilities.

If I eat at my desk or in the lunch room, there are always people who are "sorry to bother you, but just a real quick question" that is rarely quick or simple & always distracting. Or the phone or email or server alert or SOMETHING has to interrupt my reverie. The escape, relaxation & lack of thinking is just what I need to recharge.