I read all of Howard's Conan stories during The Unnamed Virus lockdown, reading in chronological order (first published to last published). I was impressed with the growth in Howard's writing from first to last. For anyone who wonders what Howard would have done had he lived, it seems likely he'd have abandoned Conan and gone on to other things. Westerns were very popular in those days (and were for decades after), and Howard, being a proud Texan, had set his sights on Texas-set Westerns. Howard gave me a quote I've memorized (from "Tower of the Elephant") because it's just as true now as it was when he wrote it: “Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split.” Or as the American philosopher "Iron Mike" Tyson once said: "Social media made y'all way too comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face for it."
@dansmith3085
12 күн бұрын
I've always been bothered by the fixation on Conan. I find Howard's other work much more interesting. He was basically done with Conan when he died, but all the Conan fetishists with their unending pastiche fiction won't let it go.
@GrammaticusBooks
14 күн бұрын
I just finished Conan of Cimmeria last night (reading only the pastiche)...but I couldn't help reading 'Frost Giant's Daughter'. FGD should be in a short story hall of fame. What a great story. Great stuff Michael! (Castle of Terror ~ Conan completely superfluous to the story, yeeesh)
@mr.danandhorror4230
14 күн бұрын
That always blew my mind that Cosmic Rays turned Johnny Storm into a virtually identical hero that already existed in the Marvel Universe.
@GardnerGoldsmith
14 күн бұрын
Great stuff!! I'm glad you discussed "The Weird Tales Boys"! Stephen Jones is so knowledgeable about genre fiction, has edited such great anthologies, and has welcomed me as a friend when I've made trips to the UK for various writing cons and gatherings. I'll look forward to that as a way to familiarize myself with the Weird Tales trio, and enjoy knowing you made me aware of it!! Thanks, man!!
@glockensig
14 күн бұрын
I knew The Weird Tales Boys would be below you.....but I also knew you would be jazzed to get it!!! Hope September is better for you! My August was also a little rough......good seasons and good times ahead, though!
@georgehenry1258
14 күн бұрын
I tore through all the del Reys about a year ago. I wish there was one series that printed everything REH wrote. It gets tiring ordering paperbacks on ebay for just one story. I’d love to see everything preferably in chronological order. Just think grabbing a random volume and getting a Conan tale or two, some boxing, some western or historical or pirate story. Along with a bunch of poems. It’s all out there, but I’d KILL for some omnibuses. I know there’s a ton of stuff I don’t have
@ComicSwag
12 күн бұрын
I was not aware of cimmerion September this gives me a good reason to catch up on my Conan comics this month. Thanks for the reminder
@EdG-p1q
11 күн бұрын
I have just bought The complete chronicles of Conan here in the Netherlands and am looking forward at reading the original stories. I only knew back in the 70s and 80s the comics we got here and offcourse the movie. And i read on or two pocket books once. Its you who mentioned the Chronicles book and at last i can hopefully enjoy these stories in writing instate of the first comic versions (which i also like).. so for me its a cimmerian september too 😀
@ericdavis5791
14 күн бұрын
Stephen Graham Jones wrote a Conan short story pastiche -- about 20 pages of total text on my Kindle -- called "Conan: Lord of the Mount." I can unreservedly recommend it. Very effective. Every other Conan pastiche I've read has just been, at best, okay. Most of them have been novels, and despite being short novels, they could stand to be cut down to novella length.
@freelivefree7221
13 күн бұрын
I will probably read some Howard pastiche's this month. You've gotten to the issues of the Fantastic Four that were really well...fantastic.
@markditoro8836
14 күн бұрын
The original of The Blood-Stained God was later published in a paperback anthology from Berkeley called Swords of Shahrazar under the title The Curse of the Crimson God.
@dansmith3085
12 күн бұрын
There is a pretty good documentary on Clark Ashton Smith called The Emperor of Dreams. Worth watching.
@tonette6592
14 күн бұрын
We wistfully await the weekend report.
@thekeywitness
13 күн бұрын
I’d like to see a tier ranking of the stories in this series, which I also read in my youth
@starstriker1881
13 күн бұрын
Not to say that I was a fan of pastiche, but I loved my collection of the books because of Frazetta's artwork
@Delta45566
14 күн бұрын
Lin Carter is a better writer tha The Camp,but he did not understand that Conan was not Thongor.
@charliedogg7683
13 күн бұрын
Frazetta's "Conan Of Cimmeria" cover is for me the greatest of his depictions of Conan - the purple background and the enormous mountains work so well. Would de Camp and Carter have been contracted to produce a certain number of Conan books each with a minimum page count? Might that be one reason why they mixed Howard's original stories with their own?
@michaelk.vaughan8617
12 күн бұрын
@@charliedogg7683 I doubt that was the reason.
@PeculiarNotions
14 күн бұрын
I'm ready for Cimmerian September. I'll have a review for Conan and the Spider God in a few days. You're 100% right about "Queen of the Black Coast," in that volume.
@GaryMartinDobbs
14 күн бұрын
OK I'm in...starting Conan the road of kings by Karl Edward Wagner.....Frozen stillness, and diamond-bright steel.
@DDB168
14 күн бұрын
Weird Tales Boys sounds like it was written/researched from the internet.
@fiddlechips8555
14 күн бұрын
Enjoying your channel, but Roger is a bit out of control. His views are insanely radical. I know being a mummified corpse is rough, but he has to unwind his knots a bit.
@jamesholland8057
14 күн бұрын
Relaxation is a must.
@DM_Bluddworth
14 күн бұрын
I hope you don't mind I snipped a segment of your last year's intro for Cimmerian September, but I gave you full accreditation (linking the video) and added your channel to my Featured Channels list. I really love your videos, been a subscriber for quite some time, and I would absolutely love to interview you on my channel if you are open to such things. You are a true Nemedian Chronicler of the modern era.
@midnightgreen8319
14 күн бұрын
Matthew does fantastic work! Glad to see you here Bluddworth!
@DM_Bluddworth
14 күн бұрын
@@midnightgreen8319 agreed, he is literally a scholar of REH.
@MarkFletcher-c7w
14 күн бұрын
Reading that series of books is a little like trying to enjoy a meal of your favourite fish dish. It's great until you come across a bone. After that, you can't help but worry what each bite contains... Still, Carter and De Camp are doing a lot better than I thought they would... Are you getting soft in your old age, Michael? 😊
@2plus2isfive
14 күн бұрын
I agree with the sentiment of de Camp and Carter literarily violating REH's Conan stories. But no, in our current context of REH Conan being available in multiple formats, is there room for a republishing of de Camp and Carter (and Nyberg) pastiche? I am thinking omnibus style would be fun. Because, as you say, they can be fun indeed if you enjoy them on their own merits and not spliced and shoehorned into REH stories. As @GrammaticusBooks mentions in a recent video reviewing the film adaptations, there are some really fun moments in there. I for one enjoyed the adaptation as a sort of companion to the film, particularly the crypt scene (which is itself based on the Thing in the Crypt). Anyways, keep on trucking with the pastiche!
@williamjackson6705
14 күн бұрын
Speaking of Lovecraft movies what did you think of Stuart Gordon's adaption of Dreams in the Witch House?
@kallianpublico7517
14 күн бұрын
@@williamjackson6705 Have you seen Tubi's risqué set of Lovecraftian movies. "Call girl of Cthulhu" is strangely good.
@nunyabizness6595
14 күн бұрын
Everytime you say "mixed it all up" my colon tightens. 😂😂😂😮
@xreev0x
14 күн бұрын
I know what you’re saying, but every time I hear “El Spraggedy Camp” 😂
@ellesse3862
14 күн бұрын
August didn't let me have much fun either but last night I kicked off Cimmerian September with Red Sonja & Conan - Blood of a God, comicbook collection of the mini series.
@grantross2609
14 күн бұрын
funny how we know less about Smith but there seems to be more photos of him than the other two out there !!
@jimkuna8687
14 күн бұрын
You should build a lovecraftian bookstore. if you build it they will come. shit il stop by lol.. no you should own your own book shop it fits you with all your knowledge.🐙🕯📖⚰ keep up the good work your bad for my wallet but is cool to find all these cool books and give them life..
@bigaldoesbooktube1097
13 күн бұрын
I’m starting to think that I could get into some Robert E Howard historical fiction 🤔
@michaelk.vaughan8617
9 күн бұрын
I highly recommend it. It’s all available in Sword Woman and Other Historical Adventures.
@TheEricthefruitbat
14 күн бұрын
For me, Vale of Lost Women and A Witch Shall Be Born are the bottom of REH's Conan Stories, but still better than pastiche Conan.
@lock67ca
14 күн бұрын
The covers were, by far, the best thing about the ACE/Lancer series. Stuff you'd be proud to display on your walls. Not that I have (move along, nothing to see here....). de Camp and Carter were decent writers, at best, and their work really stood out like a sore thumb, when put side by side with the Howard originals. Even 11 year old me could tell the difference. And, while Carter is deservedly well known as a good editor, de Camp's editing of these stories was disgraceful and disrespectful.
@kallianpublico7517
14 күн бұрын
Are you saying the writing was horrible from the de Camp and Carter additions? But what about the coherence? Did those stories ...enhance the timeline or fill them in, in some way? Having read the complete 12 edition Ace Conan stuff I never got the feeling of being in another world other than Howard's Hyboria. I can understand the criticism of bad or just different writing, but that doesn't answer the question of fitting in: coherence. Did the additions take from Howard's vision or just fill in? Fill in without being untrue to the "worldbuilding"? Did they add to the worldbuilding? Add in a way that expanded the coherence of the whole? If they did and it lent an air of decoherence that would definitely be a valid criticism. If they did and no one who read it could detect any difference then what would be the harm? Was there a de Camp or Carter addition that captured the mood of Howard? One that stands out? Which one of the de Camp and Carter additions stands out as being particularly egregious? Untrue to Howard, or just awful?
@jamesholland8057
14 күн бұрын
I saw the presentation as the journey of a life as important as Jesus or Buddha clearing the world of the ancient race and evil sorcery. Conan accomplished this task not deliberately but because he didn’t like losing and hated sorcery.
@kallianpublico7517
14 күн бұрын
@@jamesholland8057 Clearly the categorization and judgements must be different. Men of faith are not the same as men of knowledge, or men of purpose, or men of action. Jesus I consider as a ..."being" of faith. Perhaps not exclusively, but mainly. Buddha I consider a man of knowledge or, in his specific case, a man of "will". His concern dealt exclusively with his own understanding, consciousness and "spiritual" abilities. Conan, from a long term perspective regarding his adventures, seemed to have the hand of "fate" upon him. They "seemed" to prepare him for the culmination of the destruction of the Snakemen of Valusia; and the consecutive crippling of the worship of Set/Damballah. Conan is not like Jesus. He did not have his "way" prepared for him by the prophets and the faith of his people. Conan "forged" his path in a way Jesus didn't. He was not like Buddha, his contemplations were less spiritual and more material/physical. While his physical "will" was honed and developed by genes and effort, the mental accomplishments were more mysterious. How did he acquire his strategic intelligence, his polymath acquisition of dozens of languages and writings, his moral code? It is never really explained. Did Conan acquire a kind of "spiritual" will through all his adventuring; was it ingrained in his youth; was it, too, forged in the fires, not of contemplation, of conflict and opposition to the forces opposed to his...freedom/survival/pursuit of happiness? Conan, unlike Jesus, is not born to his fate. Unlike Buddha he does not pursue his fate. Yes it is true that he is a descendent of Kull, yes he chose his battles but there were many that weren't chosen. I consider Conan a man of action. By virtue of those actions he forged a fate. He did not choose it, was not necessarily born to it. What Urge drove him? Justice, morality, lust, greed, revenge, envy, insecurity, paranoia, fear, hate, resentment, loyalty, love? Not one but all? Conan was no exemplar of a single virtue, he was a wanton "sinner". Yet, in his way, he was admirable. Admirable in a way that I can say the world is a better place for having him in it. That, in a way, he is just as invaluable as a Jesus a Buddha. In a way that justifies even the peculiar and no doubt sordid life of the inhabitant of Vaughn Manor.
@jamesholland8057
14 күн бұрын
@@kallianpublico7517 wrong.
@kallianpublico7517
14 күн бұрын
@@jamesholland8057 Avaunt! Foul Dweomerlich! Damn Set worshippers.
@jamesholland8057
14 күн бұрын
@@kallianpublico7517 Absolutely.
@arekkrolak6320
14 күн бұрын
I tend to disagree on the limits of knowledge being acknowledged. I once read a fictionalized biography of Musashi where the author in words of characters gave multiple versions of what might have happened and it was awful. Author should be able to pick a choice and write as it was the only plausible one
@redwawst3258
14 күн бұрын
😎
@alanginger282
14 күн бұрын
Michael, I love your videos and in many cases we are on the same wavelength. But I'm getting tired of your constant smackdowns of de Camp and Carter as being unworthy of their involvement in the REH canon. Okay, they don't have the same talent, but it's not their character. I bought and read those Lancer editions when they came out and back then they didn't have the academic scrutiny that's being applied today by " KZitem Suh-sigh-ety". We were just grateful to have the opportunity to actually read this stuff. It was a cult audience who devoured any Howard publication as it came out (cf. Donald Grant) so if de Camp and Carter felt the need to pad the works then so be it. You even say that some of their work is pretty good. de Camp and Carter had their own literary heights. But they weren't Saint Robert. So what? We've come a long way since and we know better now. But don't judge them on the past by the standards of today.
@michaelk.vaughan8617
13 күн бұрын
I’m not. I refer you to the great Karl Edward Wagner who had even harsher words for this set of books, and he wrote those words at the time. He was right and I certainly stand by his opinion.
@YetAnotherytc1234
14 күн бұрын
I don't know if it was in this video or the other that I just watched but if you are going to read Varney the Vampire you should start a read along because I thought I might want to try it and Amy at the channel Zoe Beck is wanting to read it too.
@YetAnotherytc1234
14 күн бұрын
So, how do I get the original Conan stories that aren't all edited up with other stuff? I haven't read the Conan stories before and I want the original not something messed up.
@Falconlibrary
14 күн бұрын
I bought this Kindle version: Conan: The Barbarian complete collection. 100% Howard. It was only 99 cents. Hardcover and paperback books have gone sky-high in price as Amazon tries to herd readers into buying Kindle versions, so if you like a "real" book, try the library. I'm sure they can get whatever you want.
@glockensig
14 күн бұрын
The complete chronicles of Conan by Gollancz or (Michael's favorite), the Del Rey editions.......which I believe is a three book set!
@GholaMuadDib
14 күн бұрын
The three book Del Ray set is the way to go for the original unedited text.
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