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Post by linefacedscrivener on Jan 17, 2020 8:12:08 GMT -5
"A Cowboy, A Space Captain, a Private Detective and a Barbarian Walk Into a Bar…" I love that title. I kept trying to think of how the rest of the joke would go. Maybe that should be the actual intent of this post. Anyway, I am keeping up with Dark Worlds Quarterly and I have been working from the beginning in 2017 to the current posts. I am almost done. I just came across this article from November of 2019. Thomas talks about the development of four genres of literature and their creators, and for the Barbarian - Sword & Sorcery - he against attributes Howard as the creator. The article also made me think more about the similarities between these genres of literature and why I like them so much. Or, at least the early versions of them. I love westerns, but mostly Louis L'Amour and earlier. Space fiction I find great from Burroughs up into the 1950s, before it vastly changed. The private detective - give me Philip Marlowe any day. And, of course, Sword & Sorcery, it has to be Howard. I like Tolkien, but I have always preferred Howard. I also remember trying to read a lot of Sword & Sorcery after I discovered Howard and being very disappointed. It all paled in comparison. Having recently reread everything Howard, I have since been reading the development of Sword & Sorcery and have found some gems. I am enjoying Elak, Kothar, Brak, and Kane. Even though they are imitations of Conan, they set themselves somewhat apart and are fun. It has been an interesting endeavor. Here is the link the Thomas article: darkworldsquarterly.gwthomas.org/a-cowboy-a-space-captain-a-private-detective-and-a-barbarian-walk-into-a-bar/P.S. I only wish he had not used the picture of the actor who played Howard, but rather used a picture of Howard himself. |
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Post by linefacedscrivener on Feb 12, 2020 10:13:54 GMT -5
 Since last summer, I have been exploring the development of Sword & Sorcery as a literary subgenre with greater earnest. It started with reading the books listed in the Appendix N of the Dungeon's Master Guide, and morphed into the development of Sword & Sorcery in literature up to the 1980s. Starting with Howard and reading all of the emulators, Brak, Elric, etc., I also discovered the importance of some of the early contributions in Weird Tales, and then in what seemingly became its replacement, the various short-lived digests that were either dedicated to Sword & Sorcery or were at first, then added the seemingly more popular science fiction. I also found the lists of the paperback collections so important to the development of Sword & Sorcery and have been reading through them. My thoughts and reflections on the development have been all over the place, but were starting to coalesce. Then, a couple of weeks ago, I saw a plug for Flame and Crimson: A History of Sword and Sorcery by Brian Murphy. I ordered it and started reading right away. The book is in many ways an ode to Robert E. Howard, but it deftly traces the history of Sword & Sorcery from "The Shadow Kingdom" to the 1980s - the same time period I have been exploring as of late. Simply put: I cannot recommend this book enough if you have any inkling of wanting to know more about the history of Sword & Sorcery or you are a Robert E. Howard fan. It is that good! The book is available here: smile.amazon.com/Flame-Crimson-History-Sword-Sorcery/dp/1683902440/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=history+of+sword+and+sorcery&qid=1581519503&s=books&sr=1-2Disclaimer: Just for the record, I do not know Brian Murphy and I gain nothing personally from plugging his book. PS: For the most complete (and then some) list of Appendix N books, link here: docs.google.com/document/d/1mq8RFxXoCzXdg7I8toQ4U0lgIuE2J9sh6n6L__ZgKFY/edit |
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Post by linefacedscrivener on Mar 11, 2020 11:49:44 GMT -5
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Post by Jason Aiken on Mar 11, 2020 23:14:14 GMT -5
Not going to lie, that's a pretty epic link, brother. Thanks! |
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Post by Von K on Mar 12, 2020 8:26:49 GMT -5
Thanks linefacedscrivener - that's a superb resource! |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2020 21:03:36 GMT -5
Thanks for the link Linefacedscrivener.
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Post by linefacedscrivener on Mar 15, 2020 19:58:27 GMT -5
Ya'll are welcome. I was pretty blown away when I stumbled upon that link. I knew that Internet Archive had a lot of issues of Weird Tales, as does the Luminst League, but I didn't realize between the two of them they had them all. I wish I knew who created that webpage with all the links; I'd definitely buy him a beer or two.
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Post by linefacedscrivener on Mar 16, 2020 6:45:20 GMT -5
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Post by linefacedscrivener on Mar 24, 2020 7:40:27 GMT -5
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Post by garbanzo on Mar 25, 2020 19:21:09 GMT -5
Ya'll are welcome. I was pretty blown away when I stumbled upon that link. I knew that Internet Archive had a lot of issues of Weird Tales, as does the Luminst League, but I didn't realize between the two of them they had them all. I wish I knew who created that webpage with all the links; I'd definitely buy him a beer or two. Oh man, I wish I had that link a few months ago. I collected them all manually.
Internet Archive has thousands of pulp scans. Including plenty with original Conan stories, posthumous stories like God in the Bowl and Frost Giant's Daughter, and later re-worked stuff like Hawks Over Shem and Blood-Stained God. Even issues of Fantastic and World of Fantasy from the 60s and 70s with non-REH Conan stories
It's really nice being able to read these stories as they were originally published. Granted, reading on an iPad isn't the same as holding a real pulp magazine, but it's as close as I'm likely to ever get  |
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Post by linefacedscrivener on Mar 27, 2020 8:03:23 GMT -5
Ya'll are welcome. I was pretty blown away when I stumbled upon that link. I knew that Internet Archive had a lot of issues of Weird Tales, as does the Luminst League, but I didn't realize between the two of them they had them all. I wish I knew who created that webpage with all the links; I'd definitely buy him a beer or two. Oh man, I wish I had that link a few months ago. I collected them all manually.
Internet Archive has thousands of pulp scans. Including plenty with original Conan stories, posthumous stories like God in the Bowl and Frost Giant's Daughter, and later re-worked stuff like Hawks Over Shem and Blood-Stained God. Even issues of Fantastic and World of Fantasy from the 60s and 70s with non-REH Conan stories
It's really nice being able to read these stories as they were originally published. Granted, reading on an iPad isn't the same as holding a real pulp magazine, but it's as close as I'm likely to ever get I know what you mean. I have been working on a project focused on Weird Tales' "The Eyrie," and it took me forever to collect all of the ones I needed. In fact, some I could not find on the Internet Archive or at the Luminist League, so I resorted to Inter Library Loan. I finally achieved it, after about 9 months of labor. Then fast forward six months and I was looking up something, I think for this area of The Swords of REH and just stumbled upon it. It was a Reddit post that I never was able to find again, but I had bookmarked the spreadsheet's website. I have also been going through the other magazines on there, such as Unknown, looking for more sword and sorcery. I am trying to trace all of the stories post Howard to see how s&s developed, and also to find other authors that I like. It has been interesting. Oh, and with no ipad and despising reading on a screen - I print all of mine off to read, getting even closer to the feel of how they were originally published. I do remember what that was like though, as my Dad bought and sold old antiques, and he often had pulp magazines, which I read like crazy. He hated me reading them because I would always end up with a lap full of the bits of pulp paper. He said I was ruining the magazines, and I always told him he should be happy I was reading! |
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