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Post by Deleted on Dec 27, 2018 13:24:44 GMT -5
Hither Came Conan: The New Weekly Robert E. Howard Series at Black Gate!Wednesday, December 26th, 2018 | Posted by Bob Byrne Hither Came Conan. Indeed. The iron-thewed Cimmerian trod the thrones of the earth under his sandaled feet. Usually, while wearing nothing more than a loincloth…Robert E. Howard completed twenty-one tales of Conan, as well as a few more fragments. Of course, some stories were better than others, but even those generally considered among ‘the worst’ offer evidence of Howard’s expertise as a story teller. “The God in the Bowl” rarely makes anybody’s Favorites List, but I wrote an essay, positing that it was a very early example of a police procedural; before the term even existed.Which might leave the average reader wondering, “What are the best stories in the Conan Canon?” Black Gate is here to tell you… ALL OF THEM! in a brand new weekly series.Black Gate was proud to round up some of the best Howard scholars, and biggest fans (hey, there’s no shame in that sobriquet – I’m one!), for our award-nominated Discovering Robert E Howard series.Reaching far beyond the stories of the sword (and axe, and dirk, and torch, and furniture, and…) swinging northern barbarian, almost two-dozen essays delved into the works and life of the pride of Cross Plains. It was a fantastic series that truly paid tribute to the man I consider to be the best fantasy writer I’ve yet read.Well, Black Gate sure as heck didn’t win a World Fantasy Award for my posts on Sherlock Holmes and hard boiled pulp! Swords and sorcery, epic fantasy, and imagined worlds are what the visitor comes here for. And until they change the password and I can’t log in anymore, I’m going to do my best to keep the Robert E. Howard content flowing. And this time, it’s all about Conan!Beginning on Monday morning, January 7th, an absolutely All Star roster of guest contributors and Black Gaters (and me. Hey, it’s my series!) is going to be presenting you a cogent argument on why that week’s story is the best Conan tale written by Robert E. Howard.What? I’m being a bit presumptuous in heaping accolades upon the roster? Okay, fine. You be the judge (the order is still being juggled):Rob Derie – The Phoenix on the SwordJohn C. Hocking – The Scarlet CitadelJason M. Waltz – The Tower of the ElephantDeuce Richardson – Black ColossusJason Durall – Xuthal of the Dusk/The Slithering ShadowDavid C. Smith – Pool of the Black OneBob Byrne – Rogues in the HouseMorgan Holmes – Iron Shadows in the Moon/Shadows in the MoonlightPatrice Louinet – Queen of the Black CoastScott Oden – The Devil In IronGabe Dybing – The People of the Black CircleJeffrey Shanks – A Witch Shall Be BornJames McGlothlin – The Servants of Bit-Yakin/Jewels of GwalhurConan-Rogues-in-the-HouseKeith West – Beyond the Black RiverSteven Silver – The Man-Eaters of Zamboula/Shadows in ZamboulaRyan Harvey – The Hour of the DragonKeith Taylor – Red NailsFletcher Vredenburgh – The Frost Giant’s DaughterMark Finn – The God in the BowlDave Hardy – The Vale of Lost WomenFred Adams – The Black Stranger I admit, I was bragging a bit. But still think I was overstating things?Each story was randomly assigned to a writer. So, nobody got to pick their favorite. Or trade for one they really like. That would have made things too easy. And we editors don’t make things easy for writers now, do we?So, some contributors got a story in which there are some obvious angles to pursue. But others had to really delve into Howard’s plots and prose to assert why that tale is the best of the bunch (I did not envy Dave Hardy the luck of the draw…). This approach really required the essayist to pull out Howard’s strengths. And I think it worked out fantastic!I plan on interspersing a few other Howard/Conan-related posts as well, so you should have some quality Conan reading from winter into the summer. It will be like going from the frozen wastes of Vanaheim to the deserts of Stygia. Without all the danger and dust.So, join us as we examine Conan’s gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth: from young, uncivilized thief to king of the greatest nation in Hyboria.By Crom: This should be fun!Link: www.blackgate.com/2018/12/26/hither-came-conan-the-new-weekly-robert-e-howard-series-at-black-gate/
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Post by Grim Wanderer on Dec 28, 2018 12:54:23 GMT -5
This sounds like a great series of articles. Time to register at Black Gate.
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Post by Von K on Dec 28, 2018 14:53:14 GMT -5
That's a fantastic lineup - looking forward to this.
Kudos to all the contributors, Bob for setting it all up and the Black Gate team for hosting.
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Post by sherlock on Dec 28, 2018 19:37:32 GMT -5
Thanks for posting this, Hun. I was working my way over here to the board. And thanks for the kudos, Von K.
Early last year, I was trying to come up with a worthy successor to Black Gate's 'Discovering Robert E. Howard' series. But also something a bit more, 'fun.'
And the couple people I bounced this off of, including BG head honcho John O'Neill, all loved the idea. I was personally recruiting folks like David C. Smith, John Hocking and Fred Adams at Windy City Pulp Fest in April. Though I failed to persuade some folks, like Howard Andrew Jones and Paizo's Erik Mona.
It took me awhile to get everything in place and round up the guest essays.
But we're ready to hit the ground running a week from Monday (I wrap up my hardboiled pulp column, 'A (Black) Gat in the Hand,' this coming Monday).
I think it's going to be a really solid series and a nice addition to the writings on Conan. Hopefully, readers will enjoy it.
And I'm going to try and work in a couple 'extra' posts on some Conan topics, just to add to the whole thing.
There are quite a few folks at Black Gate who love Robert E. Howard. I think we'll continue to write about him there.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2018 12:00:15 GMT -5
Thanks for posting this, Hun. I was working my way over here to the board. And thanks for the kudos, Von K. Early last year, I was trying to come up with a worthy successor to Black Gate's 'Discovering Robert E. Howard' series. But also something a bit more, 'fun.' And the couple people I bounced this off of, including BG head honcho John O'Neill, all loved the idea. I was personally recruiting folks like David C. Smith, John Hocking and Fred Adams at Windy City Pulp Fest in April. Though I failed to persuade some folks, like Howard Andrew Jones and Paizo's Erik Mona. It took me awhile to get everything in place and round up the guest essays. But we're ready to hit the ground running a week from Monday (I wrap up my hardboiled pulp column, 'A (Black) Gat in the Hand,' this coming Monday). I think it's going to be a really solid series and a nice addition to the writings on Conan. Hopefully, readers will enjoy it. And I'm going to try and work in a couple 'extra' posts on some Conan topics, just to add to the whole thing. There are quite a few folks at Black Gate who love Robert E. Howard. I think we'll continue to write about him there. Thanks for all the info Bob. I'm really looking forward to this.
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Post by Von K on Jan 10, 2019 15:21:07 GMT -5
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Post by emerald on Jan 14, 2019 9:14:58 GMT -5
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Post by Grim Wanderer on Jan 14, 2019 13:07:47 GMT -5
An excellent start to the series. Not a review of the story but a review of the process of creating The Phoenix on the Sword. Well written and well worth reading.
The take-away for me was that Conan did not spring up fully formed from nothing but as a result of a lot of graft on Howard's part. This is something that needs to be brought to light more. We've all heard, I'm sure, about all the work and notes and details of Tolkein creating Middle-Earth, however, how many Tolkein fans have heard about the work required to create Conan (or Kull or Solomon Kane or...)? I bet a very few.
Looking forward to next week's article.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2019 14:13:10 GMT -5
An excellent start to the series. Not a review of the story but a review of the process of creating The Phoenix on the Sword. Well written and well worth reading. The take-away for me was that Conan did not spring up fully formed from nothing but as a result of a lot of graft on Howard's part. This is something that needs to be brought to light more. We've all heard, I'm sure, about all the work and notes and details of Tolkein creating Middle-Earth, however, how many Tolkein fans have heard about the work required to create Conan (or Kull or Solomon Kane or...)? I bet a very few. Looking forward to next week's article. Yeah, I agree an excellent start to the series. Unfortunately, the amount of work REH put into his yarns is often overlooked. I think one of the problems is that as a fan I'd like to believe that his yarns were created thanks solely to some kinda creative genius - of course REH was a genius; but he had to work at it, real hard.
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Post by Grim Wanderer on Jan 15, 2019 15:24:23 GMT -5
An excellent start to the series. Not a review of the story but a review of the process of creating The Phoenix on the Sword. Well written and well worth reading. The take-away for me was that Conan did not spring up fully formed from nothing but as a result of a lot of graft on Howard's part. This is something that needs to be brought to light more. We've all heard, I'm sure, about all the work and notes and details of Tolkein creating Middle-Earth, however, how many Tolkein fans have heard about the work required to create Conan (or Kull or Solomon Kane or...)? I bet a very few. Looking forward to next week's article. Yeah, I agree an excellent start to the series. Unfortunately, the amount of work REH put into his yarns is often overlooked. I think one of the problems is that as a fan I'd like to believe that his yarns were created thanks solely to some kinda creative genius - of course REH was a genius; but he had to work at it, real hard. What's that saying? Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.
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Post by sherlock on Jan 17, 2019 14:55:07 GMT -5
I do think it was an excellent post by Bobby Derie to kick off the series. Fletcher Vredenburgh gets to tackle "The Frost Giant's Daughter" coming up this Monday.
And we've added Wolf Dietrich to talk about "Wolves Beyond the Border."
I think that the discussions in the comments section is really going to add to the series. I hope folks here will join in over there.
- Bob Byrne
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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2019 10:33:42 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2019 2:13:46 GMT -5
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Post by keith on Jan 24, 2019 7:49:03 GMT -5
This sounds like a great series of articles. Time to register at Black Gate.
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Post by keith on Jan 24, 2019 7:51:39 GMT -5
This sounds like a great series of articles. Time to register at Black Gate. Actually the Black Gate bunch made things pretty easy for me! "Red Nails" does happen to be one of my favourite Conan yarns. Just hope I've done it justice.
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