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Post by Jason Aiken on Jan 22, 2021 13:22:42 GMT -5
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2021 4:07:15 GMT -5
Excellent  |
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Post by danieljames495 on Jan 23, 2021 8:34:43 GMT -5
Awesome! I'd actually go out and say this is my Favorite REH story but it just might be due to the fact that it was the first one I was exposed to.
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Post by Jason Aiken on Mar 2, 2021 21:20:30 GMT -5
Wow, it's been so long since I read this story it was like reading it for the first time. I totally forgot how much of a central figure Balthus was in this. This is definitely one of the better Conan yarns, easily in the top 10, no question about it. I enjoyed seeing the Pictish Frontier through Balthus' eyes, but once the story was told from Conan's POV it really took off. I loved the final battle especially.
If anyone is going to be in the business of adapting Conan yarns to live-action or animated features this would surely be one of the most interesting given the setting, the black arts involved, and the creatures. REH told an excellent frontier story, but also added his usual eldritch elements to the formula.
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Owen
Wanderer
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Post by Owen on Mar 3, 2021 23:50:56 GMT -5
This is one of my personal favorites. I remember reading somewhere, not sure where, of Balthus serving as a self-insert sort of character for Howard in this story, no sure how accurate that may be. I actually felt that this character was one of the most effective devices, giving an effective "mere human" point of view, something like a Watson function to Conan's Sherlock Holmes. And of course the death of the dog certainly pulled on the heartstrings! Really a masterpiece.
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Post by danieljames495 on Mar 4, 2021 4:27:04 GMT -5
Wow, it's been so long since I read this story it was like reading it for the first time. I totally forgot how much of a central figure Balthus was in this. This is definitely one of the better Conan yarns, easily in the top 10, no question about it. I enjoyed seeing the Pictish Frontier through Balthus' eyes, but once the story was told from Conan's POV it really took off. I loved the final battle especially. If anyone is going to be in the business of adapting Conan yarns to live-action or animated features this would surely be one of the most interesting given the setting, the black arts involved, and the creatures. REH told an excellent frontier story, but also added his usual eldritch elements to the formula. I agree with you about adapting this into a live-action yarn, it would definitely make for a good experience. This is different than all the other REH stories for more reasons than one. No damsels in distress, It's really a unique read and it's the source of one of the most iconic lines in a Conan story, although it wasn't spoken by Conan himself: "Barbarism is the natural state of mankind. Civilization is unnatural; it is a whim of circumstance... And barbarism must always ultimately triumph!" |
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Post by danieljames495 on Mar 4, 2021 4:29:53 GMT -5
This is one of my personal favorites. I remember reading somewhere, not sure where, of Balthus serving as a self-insert sort of character for Howard in this story, no sure how accurate that may be. I actually felt that this character was one of the most effective devices, giving an effective "mere human" point of view, something like a Watson function to Conan's Sherlock Holmes. And of course the death of the dog certainly pulled on the heartstrings! Really a masterpiece. Oh man. I felt so bad for slasher and Balthus first time reading this. |
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Post by linefacedscrivener on Mar 5, 2021 9:52:08 GMT -5
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