Clint’s Comments (group member since Jul 26, 2017)

Clint’s comments from the Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy" group.

I finished Tales of Attluma just in time to count for the group read. I can’t say much more than Seth did at a Blackgate (good review). I was surprised by the level of horror injected. I’d definitely say more CAS inspired than REH.

I too just started Smith’s Tales of Attluma. I’m hoping to find time to finish it before the end of the month.

@Seth, yes Sir.

I have a subscription and an looking forward to it

Welcome Forrest

Bummer. Seth, are you seeing the blow up on Facebook now? Left vs Right.

I was looking forward to this book. Price is the estate executive for Lin Carter. Bringing this back was a nice tribute. I support the authors’ right to pull their stories. I support Robert Price’s right to state his opinions; however, this was not the place. I want my S&S free of political opinion, left or right.

@David, thank you for taking the time to reply

I placed a review of the collection The Man Who Would be King

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

And I discovered the author’s notes in the back of The Man Who Would be King collection which answers my questions about the title story.

Group: this collection is a bit of a sampler of Mr. Smith’s writing career. It includes the Dia-Sust story I read in The Mighty Warriors, the notes for which serve as a history of the writing of.

New question for the author: “The Shadow of Dia-Sust”, although written for Bob Price’s collection appeared in this collection first. From your notes, it sounds like time passed and it looked like The Mighty Warriors might not materialize. I did not read Dia-Sust in this collection as I just read The Mighty Warriors a month ago, did you make major edits to the story between appearances?

Mr Smith,

I too would like to thank you for taking time for us. It is a great treat. I looked forward to this group read as, too long ago, I enjoyed reading Oron and The Sorcerer’s Shadow. I acquired paperback copies of the Oron sequels (prequels) but have not read yet.

Yesterday evening, I read “The Man who Would be King” in the collection of the same name. It’s not S&S, but that is honestly the reason I picked it. I absolutely in entirety enjoyed reading _Robert E Howard: A Literary Biography_ so have experienced your writing outside S&S. It is great writing with great research and literary analysis. Your Howard book sets next to Mark Finn’s REH biography on my shelf. Consider that the honor in which it is intended.

If I can bother you for a question on “The Man Who Would Be King”:
it was a clever story of a writer struggling later in his career with success, or the lack of. Dan (protagonist) has had some success, but not the wild success of Stephen King (who appears in the story and is the King referred to in the title). In the story, Dan remanences of early “gotcha!” stories written in his youth, which comes full circle in an intentionally cheeky manner at story end. It is mostly a story of dealing with the things we actually fear (emphasis upon the “actually”). It also deals with envy, the idea well drying up, mistakes made and opportunities lost.

My question sir, it seems an autobiographical account with a dose of fiction. Am I reading too much into it?

@S.E., Kellan, a young wandering mercenary trying to make his way to a grateful widow that gets wrapped up in a village war all for the mistake of wanting a drink of water.

Yesterday I read “Twin Scars”, in the DMR anthology _Warlords, Warlocks & Witches_. It was a fast paced S&S read. I think it’s first appearance was in WW&W, but I’m not sure. It may be set in Attluma, but the setting doesn’t matter. It was a ripping yarn. Enjoyed reading it.

And definitely agree I. His horror. “sticks” is one of my all time favorite horror short stories

I agree. I have a copy of Road of Kings, but have not hunted down his Bran Mak Morn pastiche

@Joseph, for lack of a better option, I will go with the kindle versions for now. Hopefully, there will be a reprinted, better edition someday soon

I checked. They are available as ebooks, but I have read someplace that they are not well formatted or edited.

@Steve Dilks. That is a shame. With all the crowd funding options available, I keep thinking it should be just a matter of time before someone tries something

Interesting. I’m hopeful with a resurgent interest in a S&S, KEW’s stories will become readily available in credible editions.

BtW Seth, “Sticks” is one of my favorite horror tales. I read it an average of once every two, three years. I’m due.

Question for the group. Does anyone know why KEW’s Kane novels are so difficult to come by? I can accept the rarity of the paper backs, and the high price point of the two volume editions put out a few years ago, but from what I’ve read about them, the available kindle editions are poorly edited. Is there a problem with KEW’s estate that makes reprinting his work difficult?

I have read a bit of KEW, here and there, but have not had the pleasure of easy access to his work for complete enjoyment.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...