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Post by deuce on Jul 1, 2017 14:03:19 GMT -5
There is usually at least one area -- out of several -- that any pasticheur totally fails at. It might be style or characterization or lore or sheer lack of talent...but it happens well over 90% of the time. It's almost always better that an author just uses the character for a springboard to make a totally new creation. The money's better, as well. I've seen people say that we "need" more Conan pastiches to "save" REH. Yeah, I noticed how all those authorized LotR pastiches "saved" Tolkien in the '70s, '80s and '90s. Whatever. That said, I wouldn't mind seeing an anthology of quality authors WHO KNOW THE HYBORIAN AGE that featured tales of NON-CONAN characters. The Hyborian Age has room for many, many adventures. Taking that approach would obviate three of the four pitfalls I outlined above. Anyway, I thought this would be a good thread to discuss possibilities. Epics of the Hyborian Drift? Stories set in the early Hyborian Age/Acheronian era? Yarns spun long after Conan during Aquilonia's height and fall? Tales of Prospero, Taurus, Shevatas, and Valerius? What about the mighty Stygian wizard of old, Rammon? Fritz Leiber and Ray Capella both wrote good, non-Conan tales set in the Hyborian Age. I was not impressed with the "Age of Conan" trilogies, though I admit I never read Knaak's books. Those might've been the best of the bunch. A thread which discusses issues tangential to this one is here: swordsofreh.proboards.com/thread/343/conan-hyborian-tales-neglected-charactersArt by Tom Barber
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Post by Von K on Jul 1, 2017 16:21:40 GMT -5
Such an anthology would be similar to Tales of the White Wolf, where notable authors, including Neil Gaiman, Karl Edward Wagner and Gary Gygax, wrote yarns based on Elric.
In his introduction to Tales of the White Wolf, Michael Moorcock stated that he once thought that his editor Ted Carnell had asked him to write a Conan pastiche. He was a little reluctant, partly because he “felt that Howard’s wonderful Conan novel The Hour of the Dragon had taken the character as far as he could reasonably go.”
Turned out that Ted Carnell had just wanted a swords and sorcery yarn, so Michael Moorcock put his work aside 10,000 words in, and set about the creation of Elric of Melnibone who became one of his most signature characters.
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Post by Von K on Jul 1, 2017 16:37:34 GMT -5
I’m still an apprentice at the writing craft, fighting my way through the trenches, so there’s not much chance of me making my way into such a tome.
I already laid my cards on the table with the fanfic pastiches I wrote for the old forum. I did the best I could, but fell star leagues short of REH. Like I said back then though, I learned bucketloads with the attempt.
Deuce’s idea of using an original character is a good one because those things which strike the ear as off key or off character in a pastiche, are much more likely to get a pass if one is writing one’s own character in one’s own style.
And what was it Ray Bradbury one said of our literary heroes: “we may love them, but we can’t be them.”
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Post by thedarkman on Jul 1, 2017 18:15:18 GMT -5
I like this idea more and more as I think about it. No need to try make "your" Conan seem just like Howard's . An impossible task anyway. But I think a good author could capture some of the "spirit" of Howard's work. Possibly exploring some of the minor characters mentioned in original Conan tales, or elaborating on events/characters mentioned in the historical outlines provided by Howard. It's an entire universe to play with; but you gotta do your research. Fans/scholars will spot the flubs if you get the facts wrong. Spelling, history, even physical descriptions of the people or geography will have to be right. And the spirit of these tales have to be, well, Howardian. Remember, they take place "in an age undreamed of..."
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Post by lordyam on Jul 3, 2017 0:37:50 GMT -5
The age of conan trilogies actually were an attempt. A few of them were alright (Richard Knaak's trilogy about Aquilonia was decent even if it fell flat in a few areas. Seriously naming a city SARTA rather than Sparta? That was just stupid.) The pictish trilogy I think was considered one of the better ones (haven't read the whole thing)
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