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Post by lordyam on Jul 18, 2017 16:42:27 GMT -5
Is there a consensus on when exactly the stories take place and what order? Dale Rippke suggested that the tangle with Rotah was before Kull became King.
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Post by deuce on Jul 18, 2017 17:10:58 GMT -5
My rough chronology. Definitely open to modification, but I stand by it in general.
"Exle of Atlantis"/EoA
I think it's hard to argue that this isn't first. However, it has real inconsistencies with later tales that could be discussed at some point.
"Curse of the Golden Skull"/CotGA
REH calls Kull "of Atlantis" and a "barbarian chief". It's hard to see this being set after Kull took the throne.
"The Shadow Kingdom"/TSK
The fact that Kull hasn't met Ka-Nu/Kananu (or Brule) yet points to it being very early in his reign. In fact, the first couple pages are probably Kull's inaugural parade.
"The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune"/TMoTT
It all gets trickier from here. The fact that Brule is the only one around points to an early placement. So does Kull's extreme naivete.
"The Cat and the Skull"/TCatS
Once again, very naive. Plus, no Kelkor/Kelka.
"The Screaming Skull of Silence"/TSSoS
Kuthulos is back (and never again after). No Brule or Kelkor.
"By This Axe I Rule"/BTAIR
Kull says it's been "months and months" since he took the throne. Still no Kelkor around. Plus, there's still a Serpent temple around (though that doesn't necessarily mean anything).
"The Altar and the Scorpion"/TAatS
Kull cleaning house after the assassination attempt. Kelkor possibly shows up around this point.
"The Striking of the Gong"/TSotG
Another (suicide) assassination attempt. This could go here or after "Stagus".
The Stagus Fragment ("Sunrise")
To me, this marks a turning point. Kull is still making idiotic decisions, but things (appear) stable enough that Brule and Kelkor (and Tu) seem to feel Kull can just ride off to Valka-knows-where taking the best warriors of the kingdom with him.
The whole thing is pretty obviously a setup. Maybe Grondar, maybe the Triple Federation (Thule/Commoria/Kamelia) or maybe Thulsa Doom. The whole thing could've easily become a novel. I see the consequences of this finally making Kull see he's got to take the kingship thing seriously and quit haring off at the drop of a hat or sitting around musing. In the rest of the tales he seems a bit more Conanic.
The Black City/TBC
On my map, I place Kamula up near the Kamelian border, since I think it's reasonable that it was once part of Kamelia but annexed by Valusia at some point before Kull. Bad blood there against Valusia, at least in some quarters. This could be before or after the defeat of the TF (which includes Kamelia). Kull is obviously good buds with Brule at this point.
Swords of the Purple KIngdom/SotPK
Kull has fought the Triple Federation and Grondar. He's got things well in order. Kelkor. This story has to be placed later. Hence, here.
The Brule Fragment ("Wizard")
Things are settled, plus, we've never seen Ronaro before.
The King and the Oak
Very hard to tell what's going on here. Could go just about anywhere after BTAIR.
Kings of the Night/KotN
Thurian Age Gonar shows up. Never before seen. Brule gets the "Morni jewel". Kull possibly at his most Conanic.
A quick recap:
"Exle of Atlantis"/EoA
"Curse of the Golden Skull"/CotGA
"The Shadow Kingdom"/TSK
"The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune"/TMoTT
"The Cat and the Skull"/TCatS
"The Screaming Skull of Silence"/TSSoS
"By This Axe I Rule"/BTAIR
"The Altar and the Scorpion"/TAatS
"The Striking of the Gong"/TSotG
"The Stagus Fragment" ("Sunrise")
"The Black City"/TBC
"Swords of the Purple Kingdom"/SotPK
"The Brule Fragment" ("Wizard")
"The King and the Oak " (?)
"Kings of the Night"/KotN
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Post by johnnypt on Jul 19, 2017 7:24:41 GMT -5
Looks about right to me. You have to sort of follow how he wrote them since he seemed to add characters as he went along (C&S followed by Skull of Silence being one example). The King and the Oak is a perfectly fine way to end the Thurian portion of his life, to be capped off by KotN.
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Post by bazinga on Aug 4, 2018 10:34:47 GMT -5
Someone on the old forums posted a very thorough chronology, and I wish we had it now.
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Post by coinilius on Oct 5, 2020 4:22:42 GMT -5
Someone on the old forums posted a very thorough chronology, and I wish we had it now. I wish this was still around as well - I recently sat down to try and make a chronology out of the Kull stories, thinking that it wouldn't be too difficult as there are characters and plotlines that carry between the various stories, but it has proven to be more maddening than I expected! Like johnnypt mentioned, the rough order that they were written in works a bit to help order the stories, as some have to follow others based on characters and events, but that there is still so much variation on where you could potentially place the stories. I've gone through about 10 different orders and still haven't found one that really feels right! Currently I am looking at an order that roughly goes: Exile of Atlantis The Curse of the Golden Skull The Shadow Kingdom The Cat and the Skull/Delcardes' Cat The Screaming Skull of Silence/The Skull of Silence Riders Beyond the Sunrise The Black City/Black Abyss The Altar and the Scorpion The Mirrors of Tuzan Thune The Striking of the Gong By This Axe I Rule! Swords of the Purple Kingdom Wizard and Warrior The King and the Oak But they are almost all subject to change, including The Curse of the Golden Skull (I feel like a case could be made for it to go later). I've used deuce's timeline from earlier in this thread as inspiration, as well as one I found on Reddit, while also going over details from the various stories again and again.
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Post by jbruel0 on Oct 7, 2020 8:39:33 GMT -5
Added it in topic Kull the Conqueror/Destroyer Marvel comics
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Post by coinilius on Oct 8, 2020 1:24:50 GMT -5
Thanks for posting that over in the Marvel thread - the Marvel timeline is interesting to see how they approached certain things.
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