where to start?

[ThePulpReader]

Guys, I am new to REH. So far I read only one story (”A witch is born”).what would you suggest to start reading him more seriously? In a few days I am going to receive ”A means to freedom” (two-volume set of the letters between REH and HP Lovecraft)....yay!

[Michael]

Hi, Enrico. Thanks for joining us. As a newcomer to Robert E. Howard, you've got a lot to discover and I hope you find our little Group a useful guide to exploring his works.

Where to start? Well, you've begun with a story about Howard's most famous creation: Conan! That's a very good place to start, and you'll probably find those stories the easiest to pick up. But have a look on the Group Bookshelf and you'll find the shelves are organised by characters and genres, making it easy to find something that might interest you. Also, there's lots of stuff you can read for free online. You'll find some links in the Discussion Topic Reading REH on the Web.

You might want to join in our monthly Group Reads. The current story is The Sowers of the Thunder, one of Howard's historical tales of the Crusades. Also, if you search the discussion posts for "Group Reads" you can see those stories we've already read and see if there's one that takes your fancy - please be aware that the Group Read discussions will contain spoilers!

If you want more specific recommendations once you've explored the Group a bit further, post here to say what character/genre has piqued your interest and I'm sure you'll get a ton of advice :-)

[Vincent]

I discovered Howard in the following order: Conan; Mythos Horror stories; El Borak; King Kull; Bran Mak Morn; Solomon Kane; Historical Fiction; Boxing Fiction; Weird Menace; Detective; and Spicy stories. It worked for me. I am sure whatever pattern you explore, you'll enjoy.

[Jim]

Most of Howard's work is short & quite a bit of it is free here:
http://gutenberg.net.au/plusfifty-a-m...
just scroll down to Howard, Robert Ervin.

You can either read the stories online or download them for later or another device. That way you can see what you like & then buy more complete collections. Some is also available here:
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Author:...

[Brian]

Definitely start with Conan!

[Mohammed]

Start with few Conan and Kane stories. If you like his S%S stories you are ready for his adventure,historical stories.

[Peregrine 12]

Yeah, start with Conan, for sure. But a personal favorite of mine is Howard's horror collection. Lots of nameless, faceless monsters running around and die-hard men trying to defeat them. Specifically: Pigeons From Hell, The Valley of the Worm, The Fire of Asshurbanipal.

[Peregrine 12]

Vincent wrote: "I discovered Howard in the following order: Conan; Mythos Horror stories; El Borak... Detective; and Spicy stories..."

Hey, Vincent - What are 'spicy' stories? Was REH writing for certain *other* kinds of magazines that I'm unaware of? That's an odd name for stories...

[Michael]

P12: At the time REH was writing, Spicy Stories was a pulp genre (and magazine) considered to be soft porn. I haven't read any (honest!) but they're considered pretty tame by today's standards. Here's a link to some of the titles:

Spicy Stories

[Vincent]

Exactly. The magazine editors tended to edit him down, so the stories found in The Exotic Writings of Robert E. Howard, The Book of Robert E. Howard and similar collections are edited. Spicy Adventures contains his unedited erotic stories.

Robert E. Howard also wrote some poetry with first lines like "He clutched his penis tight..." and "Drawers that a girl strips down her thighs..." (contained in The Collected Poetry of Robert E. Howard. So erotic content is not something Howard was uncomfortable with.

[Peregrine 12]

Hmm... a man in his twenties who isn't uncomfortable with ideas of sex and violence. Yeah, that makes sense to me. Seems like I was in my 20's once...

I had no idea REH wrote that stuff. I'm not that crazy about his poetry generally, so it wouldn't be of much interest to me. But I'm glad I learned about it. Lots of layers to this guy!