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Post by Calenture on Nov 6, 2007 19:46:36 GMT
Cover by Frank Frazetta Collection first published 1967; Sphere, 1974. First in the Conan series. Eighteen Conan stories were published in Howard's lifetime, including one novel. After his death another eight turned up among his papers, some of them unfinished, plus notes for a few more. When de Camp, Carter, and Nyberg set to work on the Lancer paperback series they sorted the stories into chronological order - Howard had written them in no apparent order, commenting that an adventurer 'telling tales of a wild life at random, seldom follows any ordered plan, but narrates episodes widely separated by space and years, as they occur to him.' In order to fill the gaps, then, de Camp and his cohorts followed hints in Howard's notes and letters, completed unfinished stories, and sometimes rewrote some of his other stories which had originally had contemporary settings and heroes. Due to copyright complications the Lancer books were issued in the wrong sequence (only the stories in the respective volumes follow a chronology). And this legacy has been handed on down so that Sphere, who decided to number the volumes, numbered them in the wrong order (So Conan is numbered 3 though in fact it's properly the first of the series). Anyway, so much for all that; here are the stories: (God knows where I learned that, but it's what I wrote long ago! ) The Thing in the Crypt (Carter & de Camp): A mere lad, Conan escapes from slavery and heads off across the snowy steppes half-naked and carrying only a length of chain for a weapon. Pursued by wolves, he takes shelter in a crack in the rock, where he discovers a long dead chieftain buried with all his regalia. Part of this piece was used in the first Schwartzenegger Conan film. The Tower of the Elephant (Howard): In Zamora, the City of Thieves, Conan learns of a fabulous treasure kept in a glass-smooth tower, guarded by monsters and magic. Inside he discovers an alien being held captive by a magician. The first true Conan adventure, this one isn't bad. Again, part was used in the film; and it provided the story for a classic Barry Smith Marvel comic. The Hall of the Dead (Howard & de Camp): Hearing rumours of treasure in a ruined city, Conan sets off, hotly pursued by a troop of soldiers sent to arrest him. The story opens well, and the ruined city is nicely evoked, but the nasties don't amount to much (he should have remembered to bring a few slug pellets). Written by de Camp from an outline of Howard's. The God in the Bowl (Howard): This one's a favourite. A night watchman finds a hideously mutilated body in an open doorway just as Conan appears on the scene. The local police are called and an investigation is mounted. A strange bowl-shaped sarcophagus lies within, and someone has tampered with it. The entire story unfolds on the single stage set of the street and the room, which lends a claustrophobic intensity to what is in fact a kind of sword and sorcery detective story. It's a tour de force, the tension doesn't let up for an instant. The only minor criticism which could be levelled at it would be an occasional slight confusion over dialogue - who's saying what? But characterization was never one of Howard's strengths. That aside, it's brilliant and quite chilly. One of my favourite Conan stories. Rogues in the House (Howard): Another one drawn brilliantly by Barry Smith for Marvel comics. Conan's latest girlfriend has betrayed him to the police, but a priest helps him escape on condition that Conan murders an enemy for him. The trail leads to a house with death traps in every room and a monstrous and murderous pet who has learned far too many tricks from his master. There's a strongly Freudian moment when Conan mounts some stairs and bursts in on his double-crossing former girlfriend clutching a bloody dagger, sheaths the dagger, picks up the girl, carries her outside and drops her from the roof into a cesspit...which leaves one wondering just what was Howard's view of women. The Hand of Nergal (Howard & Carter): A battle's being fought and Conan's on the losing side; the enemy have supernatural allies. Fortunately for Conan he happens to be carrying a magic talisman which he just happened to find the day before, and this saves his life. Wandering home thigh-deep through blood and entrails (Carter really lays this stuff on thick) he finds a naked slave girl who tells him he must come at once, her master has need of his assistance and the pay's good. It turns out that the king of the nearby city has fallen under the spell of an evil talisman ...and you can work out the rest for yourself. Written by Carter from a three page fragment found among Howard's papers by Glen Lord. The City of Skulls (Carter & de Camp): Another time waster. Conan is part of an escort conveying a princess to her intended husband when the caravan is attacked and Conan, his comrade and the princess get taken captive. A stint on a galley follows, but eventually after the usual head bashing stuff they all escape and Conan delivers the princess, by this time one month gone, to her delighted hubby. Ah well, at least one of Conan's fatherless children found a good home. The book also contains the usual introduction by de Camp, a letter from Howard to P Schuyler Miller, and The Hyborian Age part 1, an essay by Howard, which is far too dull to go into here. Frank Frazetta contributes another splendid cover painting. But if nothing else, read The God in the Bowl in this volume. The Tower of the Elephant and Rogues in the House are also among Howard's best.
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Dec 10, 2007 7:59:10 GMT
Just love Conan, really dark at times, wonderfully evocative
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Post by redbrain on Dec 10, 2007 18:30:15 GMT
The Lancer or Sphere Conan books are little loved by R E Howard purists. To take the various attributions of authorship:
Carter & de Camp - pastiches, mostly low grade pastiches.
Howard & de Camp or Howard & Carter - either fragments completed by Carter or de Camp - or non-Conan stories altered to become Conan stories. The former class are essentially pastiches, the latter seem to me to take too much of a liberty with Howard's work. The fragments have all since been published without the Carter or de Camp additions/alterations.
Howard I believe that these are textually poor - and corrected versions of all of these stories have since been published.
I haven't personally compared the corrected Conan texts with these earlier versions. However, I have done something of the sort with Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith corrected texts. This is what I found:
Lovecraft - most of the changes are minor - mostly to do with punctuation or paragraph breaks.
Clark Ashton Smith - some really major changes with large chunks of missing text restored, sometimes producing a complete transformation of the story.
My suspicion is that Howard's Conan stories lie somewhere between these extremes.
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Post by Calenture on Dec 11, 2007 10:31:36 GMT
The Lancer or Sphere Conan books are little loved by R E Howard purists... ... Howard I believe that these are textually poor - and corrected versions of all of these stories have since been published. I haven't personally compared the corrected Conan texts with these earlier versions. However, I have done something of the sort with Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith corrected texts... Clark Ashton Smith - some really major changes with large chunks of missing text restored, sometimes producing a complete transformation of the story... I haven't read any of the restorations of Howard's Conan texts. Steve did tell me something about them, mentioning that they'd attracted criticism because of racist sentiments, if I remember right. I'm well-prepared to believe that otherwise, as fiction, they're vastly better than the De Camp/Carter-reworked pieces. As I think I indicated above, those stories attributed solely to Howard are better than others. I read long ago in the Lin Carter-edited The Young Magicians that Clarke Ashton Smith's stories were often extensively subject to the editors blue-pencil to remove large areas of purple prose. Really, I think it's necessary to put up with these tendencies of the author, to appreciate his work as it was intended. If Lovecraft's text - or anyone else's - had all but the basic narrative removed, the stories would be a lot shorter and probably pretty anonymous.
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Post by Steve on Dec 11, 2007 11:20:39 GMT
I haven't read any of the restorations of Howard's Conan texts. Steve did tell me something about them, mentioning that they'd attracted criticism because of racist sentiments, if I remember right. I don't know that they attracted criticism as such, in fact I'm sure most fans of Howard's work were simply overjoyed at the chance to see the stories in their original unexpurgated form. Howard's use of racial stereotypes and certain attitudes towards race expressed in his texts were some of the things which de Camp addressed with his, perhaps not always entirely judicious, use of the blue pencil when he was editing the stories. I've certainly seen some comments from reviewers and readers alike regarding Howard's apparent racism (more apparent in his private letters than his published stories, as one might expect). Generally though, I think it's put down to "well, he was a product of his times". The other question of course is: Does it really matter? Do a writer's personal opinions, even if we might find them disagreeable, mean that his work can't be enjoyed for what it is? Personally, the very words "political correctness" have me reaching for something heavy with which to beat the unfortunate user senseless. It's not clever, I grant you, but it is surprisingly effective. Also on a personal note, I fell in love (I don't think that's too strong a way of putting it) with Conan and Robert E. Howard when I was a kid, through the Sphere paperbacks and the Marvel comics. It's interesting to compare and contrast the stories 'as written' and as they first appeared before my wide-open eyes, but I'd never get rid of my Spheres. They're as much a part of the Conan story to me as anything else - de Camp's dodgy continuity included.
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Post by redbrain on Dec 11, 2007 15:33:16 GMT
I haven't read any of the restorations of Howard's Conan texts. Steve did tell me something about them, mentioning that they'd attracted criticism because of racist sentiments, if I remember right. I'm well-prepared to believe that otherwise, as fiction, they're vastly better than the De Camp/Carter-reworked pieces. As I think I indicated above, those stories attributed solely to Howard are better than others. I have copies of the restored Conan books. At the moment they're a bit buried - but I'll dig them out some time, and post their contents (and other details) here. As to racist sentiments - I don't wish to defend either racism or political correctness. We do need to remember that accepted opinion has shifted considerably since Howard's time. No doubt it will continue to shift - not always in the same direction. I read long ago in the Lin Carter-edited The Young Magicians that Clarke Ashton Smith's stories were often extensively subject to the editors blue-pencil to remove large areas of purple prose. Really, I think it's necessary to put up with these tendencies of the author, to appreciate his work as it was intended. If Lovecraft's text - or anyone else's - had all but the basic narrative removed, the stories would be a lot shorter and probably pretty anonymous. Clark Ashton Smith is well worth seeking out in restored texts. Nightshade Books are in the process of publishing a definitive edition of Smith's fantastic stories in 5 volumes. The first two volumes are already available.
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Post by severance on Dec 11, 2007 19:55:54 GMT
This thread has given me the chance to transfer my piss-poor attempt on the old vault site to catalogue the Conan collections published here by Sphere:
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Post by severance on Dec 11, 2007 20:00:59 GMT
Clark Ashton Smith is well worth seeking out in restored texts. Nightshade Books are in the process of publishing a definitive edition of Smith's fantastic stories in 5 volumes. The first two volumes are already available. The third volume 'A Vintage from Atlantis' has just been released, I received my copy last week - these volumes really are stunning.
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Post by Calenture on Dec 11, 2007 21:32:36 GMT
Thanks for these, Sev'. I remembered you were a Clarke Ashton Smith fan and was hoping you'd step out of the shadows here.
Howard's Red Nails is great, and there was an excellent Marvel adaptation by Barry Smith. It'll take me awhile to track down the UK BW reprint of that. The only version I think I have ready to hand is a colour one in a Marvel Treasury Edition. I think it was originally a BW comic story, and the problem with the Treasury Editions is that they're too large for my A4 scanner.
A Witch Shall Be Born is another great one, which I think was worked into a Schwarzenegger film version - complete with the crucified conan vulture-biting scene.
Now I do have a BW comic of that story. John Buscema was probably the artist - and again the vulture scene is brilliant.
By the way, is your post on C L Moore's Shambleau still in existence at the old place? That's one I'd like to see transfered here.
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Post by Johnlprobert on Dec 12, 2007 11:22:08 GMT
I'll just mention here (seeing as it's as good a place as any) that I am a huge fan of Clark Ashton Smith. The Gollancz Fantsay Masterworks 'The Emperor of Dreams' is the best place to discover his work, but I'm collecting that 5 volume set as well. And what fantastic covers!
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Post by andydecker on Dec 12, 2007 15:16:12 GMT
For those desperatly interested in revisions of Howard´s texts is the Del Rey/Wandering Star edition recommended. In these books are a lot of revisions documented. But this sounds more interesting than it really is, it is mostly "no comma after this" and so on. I also think that the whole racism debate is a child of its time. Of course some stories are racist, read just, say, Black Canaan, which really is an uncomfortable read nowadays - and I don´t mean the horror , on the other hand this was written 1930 by a guy living in Texas. So it doesn´t really comes as a surprise that some editors 40 years later thought it necessary to change some words. There are translated editions of Dracula, even today as an audio-book, which are edited - particulary the stolen baby scene at the begining. Personally I think this is ridiculous in this case, but I can understand the thinking behind this move. And even if you can buy Howard in countless editions nowadays, the DeCamp editions are still worthwhile because of their great cover art, even if you get some of the lame DeCamp/Carter stories in the bargain. They still capture the spirit of Howard so well.
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Post by andydecker on Dec 12, 2007 15:27:38 GMT
@ severance
I have no doubt that the new Ashton Smith edition from Nightshade is very good, I have their Karl Edward Wagner editions which are marvelous. (Now a complete edition of Wagner´s horrorstories, that would be nice!)
But still I wonder: is this a must have? Is there any interesting additional editorial material? I have the Fantasy Masterworks volume which has a lot of interesting stories and gives a good overview of CAS´ work, still it is one volume and not five.
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Post by David A. Riley on Dec 12, 2007 16:09:56 GMT
This volume, The Complete Chronicles of Conan from Gollancz is probably the best value for getting all the original Robert E. Howard Conan stories, and a very handsome book to boot, 925 pages and priced at only £14.99 in hardback. For the cover art and from nostalgia, I do love the original Lancer editions, which are where I first read the Conan stories, though I do wish de Camp and Carter had resisted the urge to go ego tripping with their own lamentable Conan stories, which were worse than awful in the main. I never did like Carter's writings - he was a much better editor, though he never could resist inserting some of his own inferior material in whatever anthologies he brought out. De Camp could write some damn good stuff in his own right, but not Conan pastiches. When set aside Howard, his versions pale into mediocrity. David
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Post by severance on Dec 12, 2007 18:41:43 GMT
But still I wonder: is this a must have? Is there any interesting additional editorial material? I have the Fantasy Masterworks volume which has a lot of interesting stories and gives a good overview of CAS´ work, still it is one volume and not five. There are extensive story notes which make for fascinating reading in their own right - so, for the CAS completist, they are a must have. Here are the notes for Beyond the Singing Flame to give you a taste of the additional material: As a result of the success of "The City of the Singing Flame," Smith undertook the writing of a sequel, completing it on June 30, 1931. In his cover letter to David Lasser of Wonder Stories, which published "Beyond the Singing Flame" in the November 1931 issue, Smith wrote that "I have found it advisable to maintain the same suggestive vagueness that characterized the other story; though I have explained many things that were left obscure in the other. The description of the Inner Dimension is a daring flight; and I seem almost to have set myself the impossible task which Dante attempted in his account of paradise. Granted that human beings could survive the process of revibration in the Flame, I think that the new-sense-faculties and powers developed by Hastane, Angarth and Ebbonly are quite logical and possible. Most writers of trans-dimensional tales do not seem to postulate any change of this nature; but it is really quite obvious that there might be something of the kind, since the laws and conditions of existence would be totally different in the new realm." Smith wrote to Donald Wandrei that "This is, by all odds, my best recent story." He eventually received sixty-eight dollars from the notoriously delinquent Hugo Gernsback, after engaging the services of New York attorney Ione Weber. In 1940 Walter Gillings, editor of the British science fiction magazine Tales of Wonder, reprinted both "The City of the Singing Flame" and "Beyond the Singing Flame" together for the first time. Rather than reprinting them seperately, Gillings edited them together, rewriting portions of Smith's prose and adding a bridging paragraph. Mr. Gillings admitted this to Donald Sidney-Fryer some years later. When CAS was putting together Out of Space and Time, he could not locate either his carbon of "The City of the Singing Flame" or the original Wonder Stories appearance, so he sent along tear sheets from the Spring 1940 issue of Tales of Wonder containing the conjoined stories. This text was duly included in Out of Space and Time and in August Derleth's 1949 anthology The Other Side of the Moon (Pellegrini & Cudahy), but not, contrary to what we stated in The Door to Saturn pp298, in From Off This World, a collection of "Hall of Fame" stories reprinted in the pulp magazine Startling Stories, edited by Oscar Friend and Leo Margulies (Merlin Press, 1949), which published each tale seperately. The present text is based upon a carbon of the original typescript at the John Hay Library, Brown University. If that's the sort of extra material you can do without then, certainly, the Gollancz collection Emperor of Dreams or the Arkham House collection A Rendezvous in Averoigne would be more up your street. Personally I find the above fascinating, but I can appreciate the fact that others might see it as deathly dull - to each his own!!
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Post by andydecker on Dec 12, 2007 21:16:07 GMT
@ Serevance
Thanks for your effort. This is appreciated.
No, this is great. I love such material. As there is currently a whole avalanche of pulp reprints it is sometimes difficult to decide which is worth to order.
As far as CAS is concerned I think his stuff is interesting, morbid even by todays standard (and truly unique, it is hard to imagine of other writers doing his stuff convincingly), but only digestible in small doses. Like a lot of pulp is.
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