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Post by alexander on Nov 10, 2022 6:53:05 GMT -5
I have just re-read Andrew Offutt's trilogy: Conan and the sorcerer, Conan the Mercenary and Conan and the Sword of Skelos
I had not read them since 1992 I believe.
In hindsight - now that I've read probably all of Conan pastiches - I think Offutt's are among the best. Yet he is rarely praised, especially compared with John Maddox Roberts or Robert Jordan so I thought I'd create this thread.
The stories are fast paced (Conan the mercenary being a bit slower), the plots are interesting (and contrary to 99% of Conan pastiches is not about an evil wizard bent on world domination, even though there are ambitious, evil wizards!!) and there are only a couple of anachronisms (e.g., when Conan mentions a scorpion of the Turanian desert while at this stage he has never been to Turan)
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Post by terryallenuk on Nov 10, 2022 7:54:04 GMT -5
I only read them when they came out and remember enjoying them enough , a lot more than Jordan's which put me off bothering with any more so never read the JMR ones.
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Post by robp on Nov 10, 2022 9:16:13 GMT -5
I have just re-read Andrew Offutt's trilogy: Conan and the sorcerer, Conan the Mercenary and Conan and the Sword of Skelos I had not read them since 1992 I believe. In hindsight - now that I've read probably all of Conan pastiches - I think Offutt's are among the best. Yet he is rarely praised, especially compared with John Maddox Roberts or Robert Jordan so I thought I'd create this thread. The stories are fast paced (Conan the mercenary being a bit slower), the plots are interesting (and contrary to 99% of Conan pastiches is not about an evil wizard bent on world domination, even though there are ambitious, evil wizards!!) and there are only a couple of anachronisms (e.g., when Conan mentions a scorpion of the Turanian desert while at this stage he has never been to Turan) I always enjoyed them and agree, they are amongst the best pastiches. I have a great illustrated copy of Conan and the Sorcerer which I revisit every now and then. These would also make good TV / film adaptations |
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Post by johnnypt on Nov 10, 2022 14:44:23 GMT -5
I'd like a nice reprint of all three in one package and see if they can get Maroto to do some illustrations for Sword of Skelos (not sure if he's retired at age 80 but it'd certainly be well earned!)
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Post by cromfelge on Nov 11, 2022 13:05:08 GMT -5
Yeah they are great! I read them as my first pastiches and liked them a lot - when I read Robert Jordan's novels afterwards, I was highly disappointed that not every Conan pastiche is actually good.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2022 3:03:41 GMT -5
I enjoyed the adaptations in the 1st Roy Thomas run in SSoC.
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Post by irondavith on Nov 12, 2022 15:38:56 GMT -5
I've never read a single Conan pastiche. I think there's just a part of me that doesn't want to be disappointed. But it sounds like I should probably give Offutt's work a bash. Funnily enough, I just finished the 3-part SSoC adaptation of the Sword of Skelos and it was pretty good.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2022 17:18:06 GMT -5
I've never read a single Conan pastiche. I think there's just a part of me that doesn't want to be disappointed. But it sounds like I should probably give Offutt's work a bash. Funnily enough, I just finished the 3-part SSoC adaptation of the Sword of Skelos and it was pretty good. When it comes to the old stuff, I consider the best way to read it, irrespective of the author, whether it be De Camp or Offutt, read the adaptation in the old issues of SSoC. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2022 17:19:26 GMT -5
...I should add, concerning the prose both suck. Nothing beats REH.
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Post by mindboggled on Nov 12, 2022 19:08:16 GMT -5
Conan and the sorcerer is my favorite of the three he wrote and I think it is in the top five pastiches.
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Post by irondavith on Nov 13, 2022 6:03:43 GMT -5
I've never read a single Conan pastiche. I think there's just a part of me that doesn't want to be disappointed. But it sounds like I should probably give Offutt's work a bash. Funnily enough, I just finished the 3-part SSoC adaptation of the Sword of Skelos and it was pretty good. When it comes to the old stuff, I consider the best way to read it, irrespective of the author, whether it be De Camp or Offutt, read the adaptation in the old issues of SSoC. That's a great idea, thanks. I'll do exactly that. |
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Post by irondavith on Nov 13, 2022 6:06:19 GMT -5
Conan and the sorcerer is my favorite of the three he wrote and I think it is in the top five pastiches. Good to know, ta! It seems to have been adpated to SSoC #53-55, so I'll dip into those next. Just reading Moon of Blood in the same omnibus at the moment. |
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Post by alexander on Nov 13, 2022 7:12:52 GMT -5
I don't compare pastiches with REH's stories. Few - if any - would pass that test except De Camp's adaptations of other REH stories (but hey that's cheating) and Scott Oden's Shadow of vengeance.
I deem pastiches good when:
- it's an enjoyable, fast paced sword & sorcery story (that's the minimum and yet a few Conan pastiches are boring)
- it's not about a wizard bent on world domination unlike 80% of Conan pastiches (while this plot was rarely used by Howard)
- it is set in the Hyborian world (that disqualifies Steve Perry)
- the character is faithful to the one created by Howard (for instance Conan sleeping with a zombie is a show-stopper for me), which includes being faithful to the chronology (e.g. Conan cannot speak many languages before the Tower of the Elephant and/or know animals and customs of far-off countries he has not visited yet)
When a pastiche meets those criteria I call it "good/great". I reckon 80% fell in the okay/average category and a few are just bad (Conan of Venarium being at the bottom of the list)
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Post by mindboggled on Nov 29, 2022 1:02:47 GMT -5
...I should add, concerning the prose both suck. Nothing beats REH. Offutt's prose is distinctly horrid. I recently gave The Sword of Skeloes a second chance and I could hardly stomach his writing. |
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Post by alexander on Nov 29, 2022 8:42:11 GMT -5
...I should add, concerning the prose both suck. Nothing beats REH. Offutt's prose is distinctly horrid. I recently gave The Sword of Skeloes a second chance and I could hardly stomach his writing. I'm not an English native speaker so that does not bother me much. |
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