My favorite by Howard has always been Conan. I agree that "Beyond the Black River" is one of the best. I like "Tower of the Elephant" and in my opinion it's the best story to start a newcomer with. "Black Stranger" is a personal favorite because I love the "pirates" and "Indians" plot and love the way he strings it all together. Particularly the stand off he creates between the Conan, the pirates and Zingaran Nobleman. I also love El Borak and Solomon Kane. I agree with Steven. As I've gotten older (55) I am finding the humorous fight stories and westerns fast becoming much more important than they used to be to me. They are LOL entertaining. My 14 year old son has been reading "A Gent from Bear Creek" (Donald M Grant edition) and he loves it!

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to The Incredible Adventures of Dennis Dorgan & it turns out there is only one published DD story, but lots of unpublished ones.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.

Jim wrote: "I just finished reading [b:The Best of Robert E. Howard Volume 2: Grim Lands|409765|The Best of Robert E. Howard Volume 2: Grim Lands|Robert E. Howard|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51..."

Actually, the reason for the name change was editorial policy. There was already a Robert E. Howard story in Magic Carpet, and since Costigan was part of the Fight Story and Action Story family, he changed Costigan to Dorgan and his own name to Patrick Ervin. It was a quick substitution for a quick sale. Dorgan was never supposed to be "another sailor," he was always Costigan in literary disguise.

Funny how things work out, eh?

Solomon Kane by a long shot! I also have a soft spot for the Steve Harrison stories and the few weird westerns I have read so far. And then of course Conan.

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've been a Howard fan for over 40 years (showing my age here) and I'll always hold a fond spot for his sword and sorcery stories, especially the Solomon Kane, Kull, James Allison remebrance stories, and some of the Conan stories, but as I've gotten older I've really really become a fan of his humorous stories, both boxing and western, to the point that I'd say they are my favorites now.

Mark, I understand your points on REH's boxing and western stories, but I'm not drawn to them simply because they occur in the 'real world.'

Howard was so good with Conan that there's no lure to return to reality, though it is in a past reality. Not to say I don't read reality-based fiction because I do, but I'm too enamored with the escapism afforded by Howard's prowess in Hyboria, different enough from our world serve as a temporary pass outta here.

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.

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.

This should come as no surprise from my track record, but I am an unapologetic fan of Howard's boxing fiction and his humorous work (both boxing and western). I think that, given the amount of boxing fiction that he wrote, and for long a period as he did, that to overlook it in one's estimation of Howard as an author is a serious mistake.

The boxing fiction was commercially and critically successful for him; he went back to the genre twice in his career. He wrote more boxing fiction than any other genre, with the funny westerns of Breck Elkins coming in second.

Also, I think it's possible to hear and to an extent "see" more of REH in the boxing fiction. Particularly in the Sailor Steve Costigan stories. I put forth the idea in "Blood & Thunder" that because of Howard's skill at "tall lying" that he was actually a lot closer to Costigan in his own mind than some of his other characters; there's an intimacy there--self-deprecating and hyperbolic at the same time--that makes the Costigan stories stand out sharply against his other work.

Mark Finn

I'm also in IT. I can sometimes get some reading done at lunch but usually it seems like people view an open book as an invitation to talk to me.

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.

For me it's Howard's S&S all the way. Mainly Conan.

Black River has to be one of Howard's best stories, and probably one of the best for the entire genre, imo.

Sometimes it's good to grab a few passages of REH reading in the middle of the day. Nice break from the IT realities of the day job

I just re-read Beyond The Black River a couple of weeks ago, and yes it certainly stands the re-reading.


I actually read it on my smartphone, which is not a great way to read Howard, but when you don't have an actual book handy it's better than nothing!

The Incredible Adventures of Dennis Dorgan were a fun set of fight stories by Robert E. Howard. I've read 'The Iron Men' as a separate book. It's been years & I couldn't find it separate from 'Dennis Dorgan' here on GR, but as I recall it was 4 or 5 short stories. I might be getting it confused with a similar book by Edgar Rice Burroughs, though.

The Conan stories will always be my favorite by him. I think 'Beyond the Black River' is one of the best. As a little kid, I remember seeing my father's Lancer paperbacks of Conan the Warrior & Conan: Conan the Usurper. The cover art was done by Frank Frazetta.

Those covers fired my imagination & made me want to be able to read soooo badly! My dad would read some to me, but he wasn't around much. The little he'd describe or read to me though was magical.

Well I guess most will plump for S&S, but lets see if anyone is inclined in a different direction!

Do you prefer Howard's S&S, his Westerns, fight stories, or anything else?

I have a keen interest in his poetry, and mainly read the S&S stuff, but I will read just about any of Howard's work. I do struggle with the fight stories though!