The Road of Kings by KEW

[gary]

Off to Howard Days tomorrow. International traveler and REH fan Terry Allen will be doing a trip report for my blog eventually. I'll probably post some photos during the weekend. Until then here is a review of "Conan: The Road of Kings" by Karl Edward Wagner. Lots of behind-the-scenes letters here telling how the planned "The Day of the Lion" became "The Road of Kings." This is a good one! spraguedecampfan.wordpress.com/2024/06/05/the-bantam-conan-series-the-road-of-kings/

[salant]

Jun 5, 2024 17:48:44 GMT -5 gary said:

Off to Howard Days tomorrow. International traveler and REH fan Terry Allen will be doing a trip report for my blog eventually. I'll probably post some photos during the weekend. Until then here is a review of "Conan: The Road of Kings" by Karl Edward Wagner. Lots of behind-the-scenes letters here telling how the planned "The Day of the Lion" became "The Road of Kings." This is a good one! spraguedecampfan.wordpress.com/2024/06/05/the-bantam-conan-series-the-road-of-kings/

Another informative article, with those fascinating inside details of the letters from Sprague & KEW's agent.  Great stuff! 

Thanks for posting this before leaving for HOWARD DAYS.  I hope you, Terry, Stale, Jim Zub, & all the others have a good time!  I'll be looking forward to the REH news that comes from the event.

[Von K]

Thanks Gary, great article especially all the additional correspondence. Never seen that posted before - only ever seen KEW's DotL synopsis and response form Simba 2 until now.

We had a thread for KEW's Day of the Lion here - swordsofreh.proboards.com/thread/454/day-lion - where I posted KEW's response from Simba 2 (saved from a post on the old forum):

In early 1977 I was asked to organize material for three new Conan novels which I was to write for Bantam Books, under the authorizatlon of tbe Howard estate and Conan Properties, Inc. Accordingly, I submitted a prospectus for the first of those three pastiches -a novel that would chronicle Conan's usurpation of the throne of Aquilonia. To my regret, I was informed that L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter, who were also to write three new Conan novels for Bantam, had earlier agreed to write the novel that would cover this episode in Conan's career. In deference to their prior claim, I withdrew my prospectus and selected new areas for my pastiche efforts.

Karl Edward Wagner - preface to the Day of the Lion synopsis, published in Simba fanzine issue 2.

Hope you have a great time at Howard Days 2024!