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Post by Jason Aiken on Aug 22, 2020 7:27:08 GMT -5
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Post by charleshelm on Aug 22, 2020 11:46:19 GMT -5
Is it cheating if I don't re-read it? Kull was always more of a philosopher king than Conan, and his curiosity about the world and other worlds/dimensions was almost his undoing in this one. Luckily he had good friends. Not much action in this one, but an interesting premise.
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Post by Char-Vell on Aug 22, 2020 12:50:26 GMT -5
I severely dislike that middle illustration.
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Post by Jason Aiken on Aug 23, 2020 21:17:15 GMT -5
Is it cheating if I don't re-read it? Your honesty is admirable, charles. You don't have to do anything you don't want to. A reread is definitely recommended but if you don't want to, you don't have to. |
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Post by Jason Aiken on Aug 23, 2020 21:18:24 GMT -5
I severely dislike that middle illustration. That's from Weird Tales, circa September 1929. It's an interesting piece of history, but yeah, there's far better Kull artwork out there. |
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Post by CamNhungDinh on Aug 24, 2020 2:35:55 GMT -5
It is a great book to be honest. I have read twice. |
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Post by charleshelm on Aug 26, 2020 23:29:56 GMT -5
I have read it more than once but, time permitting, I will do so again. Work, of all things, has started keeping me busy.
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Post by zarono on Aug 27, 2020 8:07:36 GMT -5
My favorite of the Kull tales (although I like them all  |
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Post by bartonamra on Aug 27, 2020 20:51:04 GMT -5
It is indeed one of the best Kull stories. Howard started with a bang with The Shadow Kingdom, and I think no other Kull tale had such an impact as his first. The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune is a great follow up. It had been a while and I just read it once more. It is very poetic and dream like. It's a pleasant read ant I could often hear Howard instead of Kull having these doubts about reality and worlds beyond worlds. It is without a doubt the story which gave Kull such reputation as a brooding hero, while Conan is the more action oriented figure. It does belong in the Best of REH and I am glad it was published.
From there, it seems Howard never could write as good a story about Kull as these two. I really like the short ones, like The Strinking of the Gong, which really read as experimental exercises, but there are so many false starts or unpolished drafts that reading the Kull Del Rey, when I did, after hearing such good things about the Kull stories, was a let down for me. At least we have By This Axe I Rule!, which rules indeed, but then Kull wasn't a sword and sorcery hero anymore. The fantasy aspect was evacuated and it seems Howard was trying for other magazines with his last Kull tales. I think Phoenix is superior because he reintroduced some fantastic horror element. True, the ending is not as strong. I guess the best would be a mix of the better elements of both versions...
Anyway, I am rambling. The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune as one of the best Kull and one of Howard's finest. I think it has the poetry and style of old legends and it's subject is deep enough while being a fun and short read. It seems Howard kind of lost this balance as he grew as a writer. His writing became more realistic, he wrote longer tales and while the poetry is never too far, it is rarely as strong as it is here (The Frost-Giant's Daughter comes to mind).
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Post by kobeck on Sept 8, 2020 11:22:57 GMT -5
The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune was my first NOT Conan R. E. Howard story.
Quite enjoyed the setup about the monotony of ruling a kingdom. Enjoyed the imagery of the setting for the House of a Thousand Mirrors.
ending was abrupt, but that aint a complaint.
Overall nice short story
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Post by charleshelm on Sept 15, 2020 7:51:12 GMT -5
I re-read the story yesterday and have repaired my sins of omission. I was struck by this passage which nicely encapsulates Howard's Wheel of Time:
"Time strides onward," said Tuzun Thune calmly. "We live today; what care we for tomorrow—or yesterday? The Wheel turns and nations rise and fall; the world changes, and times return to savagery to rise again through the long age. Ere Atlantis was, Valusia was, and ere Valusia was, the Elder Nations were. Aye, we, too, trampled the shoulders of lost tribes in our advance. You, who have come from the green sea hills of Atlantis to seize the ancient crown of Valusia, you think my tribe is old, we who held these lands ere the Valusians came out of the East, in the days before there were men in the sea lands. But men were here when the Elder Tribes rode out of the waste lands, and men before men, tribe before tribe. The nations pass and are forgotten, for that is the destiny of man."
Tuzan Thune reminds me of The Sphinx in "Mystery Me" in the way he answers Kull's questions.
I remain of the view that Kull is Howard's Marcus Aurelius, his philosopher-king. We know that Conan listened to the philosophers and was unimpressed. Kull seeks knowledge and to me there is to much of this and too little action. Howard is at his best is setting the scene with vivid imagery. The passivity and introspection in this is not so much to my liking.
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Post by Von K on Sept 15, 2020 17:36:44 GMT -5
Kull seeks knowledge and to me there is to much of this and too little action. Howard is at his best is setting the scene with vivid imagery. The passivity and introspection in this is not so much to my liking. Part of this springs from Kull's innate introspective nature and the rest from his role in the yarn imho. If I may impose a classic dramatic triangle: Hero, Victim, Villain. Brule plays the hero, who saves the victim Kull from the sorcery of the villain Tizun Thune. Imho it's really a weird tale set in a S+S world rather than a straight up S+S yarn and as a weird tale it works better through Kull's perspective. If the tale were told from the perspective of Brule the viewpoint character would show more agency and the yarn would be more of a full on classic S+S, but much of the philosophical weirdness would perhaps be lost. |
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Post by Jason Aiken on Sept 20, 2020 9:37:20 GMT -5
When I picked this story I didn't realize just how short it was, but I don't think the length detracts from it. As others have said this is a very unique sword-and-sorcery tale. The protagonist isn't very active or even that heroic in it having become somber on the usurped throne and lured into a sorcerer's trap. Luckily he is able to overcome it thanks to his buddy Brule snapping him out of it at the last minute and killing Tuzun Thune. The whole thing with "who is the reflection and who is the man?" could really mind-f*ck somebody if they let themselves get too drawn into it the way Kull did, let alone with sorcery backing the antagonist. It's a dangerous hole for the mind to go down, even for someone as formidable physically as Kull. Even though Kull doesn't do a whole lot in this story, I think it's still one of the better Kull tales. Howard's prose raises what could have been a very boring tale to a whole other level. There's just something about his writing that draws you into these lost ages he created and the heads of his protagonists. I could only find one Weird Tales fan letter, from the January 1930 issue, I attached it below. Attachments:
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Post by Jason Aiken on Sept 20, 2020 9:50:12 GMT -5
It is indeed one of the best Kull stories. Howard started with a bang with The Shadow Kingdom, and I think no other Kull tale had such an impact as his first. The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune is a great follow up...........From there, it seems Howard never could write as good a story about Kull as these two. The Shadow Kingdom and this yarn are easily the two I remember best, the plots and quality of the stories stuck with me long after reading them. The other Kull stories I really have to search for, besides perhaps the Cat and the Skull. Agreed, his prose is on a really high level in Mirrors. Don't get me wrong his prose is usually insanely good, but he was on a whole other level here. I wonder if the length of this and the Frost Giant's daughter has something to do with it? Both are fairly short, so perhaps he could allow himself to get into this even higher poetic mindset for only shorter stories as he couldn't channel it for long periods of time in his mind? At times I don't think REH was a writer, but some kind of shaman. |
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Post by Jason Aiken on Sept 20, 2020 9:51:14 GMT -5
The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune was my first NOT Conan R. E. Howard story. Quite enjoyed the setup about the monotony of ruling a kingdom. Enjoyed the imagery of the setting for the House of a Thousand Mirrors. ending was abrupt, but that aint a complaint. Overall nice short story Nicely summarized. I also don't have a problem with how quickly this story ended. I think it was long enough for REH to do what he wanted to do with it and once Tuzun Thune was vanquished and Kull was snapped out of it, what else was there for Brule and Kull to talk about or do? |
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