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Post by KiramidHead on Feb 17, 2016 19:43:09 GMT -5
Alright, still not finished with the book yet, but damn, Worms of the Earth was an excellent tale.
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Post by deuce on Feb 18, 2016 16:24:55 GMT -5
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Post by KiramidHead on Feb 18, 2016 17:06:58 GMT -5
Alright, I'll give that a read.
I read through "The Dark Man," and the whole time I kept wondering why it seemed so familiar... it was because I had read it adapted as a Conan story in SSOC. XD
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Post by Jason Aiken on Feb 20, 2016 17:38:41 GMT -5
I've heard pulp and REH scholar Rick Lai say that "Worms of the Earth" may be the best story REH ever wrote. That's REALLY saying something to me, as Rick's read a lot of fiction and I trust his opinion. I haven't read it yet, but plan on reading all the Bran Mak Morn stories before the year is over.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2016 18:18:22 GMT -5
Worms of the Earth certainly inspired Barry Windsor-Smith and Tim Conrad   |
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Post by johnnypt on Sept 28, 2017 9:26:38 GMT -5
You can get a good sense of Bran if you only read the 4 main stories in the cycle: Men/Kings/Worms/Dark Man (reading them in order written, which would flip Worms and Dark Man, also works). But to get the full impact of Howard's vision, you also have to add what I guess you could call the Little People Quartet: The Lost Race/The Little People/Children of the Night/People of the Dark (the last one I don't usually see included but it's as much the ending of their story as Dark Man is the end to Bran's) and the three poems: Drums of Pictdom/Song of the Race/Bell of Morni.
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Post by keith on Apr 29, 2018 6:59:31 GMT -5
I haven't developed the idea in an essay or anything, but I sort of theorize that Atla's promise to Bran at the end of "Worms" ( ... in their own time, they will come to you again!") came terribly true. Maybe he paid the price for dealing with them by having his spirit trapped in the image of the Dark Man that Turlogh Dubh -- a "dark man" himself -- found as he sailed to rescue Moira from the Vikings.
The secretive cult of Bran that revered the image and lasted into the twentieth century may have held the delusional belief that he would return and make the Pictish race great again, facts to the contrary. It may even have believed that the "bell of Morni" described in REH's poem would, when rung at the right time, bring Bran's image back to life and herald the great new age of Pictdom. The poem makes clear that what it would in fact do is awaken "the dead men under the sea" and call "the dead men into the day, and the living into the night." Nobody would really benefit but the loathsome Worms of the Earth. "But God defend the sons of men/when the bell of the Morni tolls."
Let's hope nobody's left who still knows where that hidden cave is.
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Post by mindboggled on Jan 4, 2019 20:46:36 GMT -5
I couldn't get into Howard's Bran Mak Morn stories, too much about the past, and not enough about what Bran is going through in the moment.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2019 5:05:08 GMT -5
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Post by mindboggled on Jan 5, 2019 18:57:27 GMT -5
I'll give the tale another go sometime in the near future. Never completed it actually. I'll get back to you with my thoughts on it. |
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Post by mindboggled on Jan 18, 2019 17:05:30 GMT -5
Alright, I finished reading it a couple of days ago; so I've had some time to digest it. It's a good one, that's for sure. I got a good feel for Bran as a character, which is something the previous stories I had read did not give me. I sympathized with him, he is a rather tragic character. Whole hardheartedly regretting the method of revenge he chose to execute upon his foe. The atmosphere is thick, and pretty spooky. There's one moment that really got under my skin; made me genuinely scared. I'm going to read the rest of the Del Rey edition. Not one of my favourites tho, I think several of Howard's Conan, Solomon Kane and Kull stories are much better. My favourite Howard story is Hour of the Dragon. |
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Post by charleshelm on Feb 2, 2019 10:52:41 GMT -5
"Not one of my favourites tho, I think several of Howard's Conan, Solomon Kane and Kull stories are much better. My favourite Howard story is Hour of the Dragon."
If you have not read it, the Bran/Kull crossover Kings of the Night might interest you. It is referenced above. It is not my favorite Bran story but is a good one.
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Post by bartonamra on Feb 11, 2019 12:46:34 GMT -5
The thing with Bran is that with a whole book dedicated to him, you would think there would be more substance to it. But in the end, there are only three stories worth it, and one has him as a statue. The rest of the content is interesting for those, as I am, who want to understand more about the author and his developping ideas.
For example, Men of Shadows (if I remember the totle correctly), has a promising start, but develops more into an essay than a story.
I do think Kings of the Night, The Dark Man and Worms of the Earth belong in a Best Of volume. But I wouldn’t recommend a whole Bran Mak Morn book, unless from a completionist or scholar perspective.
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Post by charleshelm on Feb 16, 2019 9:57:46 GMT -5
Just in from the Bay...signed and numbered promo card for the Worms graphic novel/comic by Wandering Star...if this is the wrong place let me know...
Should have spent more time on the pics and pulled out the real camera....apologies.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2019 10:59:30 GMT -5
Just in from the Bay...signed and numbered promo card for the Worms graphic novel/comic by Wandering Star...if this is the wrong place let me know...
Should have spent more time on the pics and pulled out the real camera....apologies.
Nice. |
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