I read a Howard omnibus during the pandemic lockdown. The heartbreaking part was that I read Howard's writing published chronologically, and got to see that he was growing in strength as a writer. He had so much left to give us at 33 years old, but...we'll never know, and will have to be content with what we have.
You're right! Finding old REH paperbacks in the wild really is tough these days. While ordering online is easier and quicker, doing so misses out on the delight in finding something unexpectedly on a shelf in a used bookstore after searching for years.
I was in Melbourne two weeks ago and bought a second hand copy of The Horror Stories Of Robert E. Howard (Del Rey) for $5 Australian. Illustrated by Greg Staples and in a decent condition as well.😄
Collecting Howard has been a lifelong passion of mine. You remember how difficult it was to find his books back in the day. I'm glad the rest of the world has finally come around. 😆
I have a certain nostalgia about those old Ace Conan, L. Sprague de Camp books for some of the reasons you stated: they were kind of hard to find, searching all the old dusty book stores, while also looking at other books, and trying to get them all with the fantastic Frazetta covers, etc. I don't know why they were printed that particular way, but I eventually met de Camp at a Dallas Comic Con along with his wife, rather delightful couple. I wish someone had asked him that question, but they never did, and it might have been seemed offensive, I don't know, but it was fun to hear him talk.
Despite all the flack DeCamp got from Howard purists, I liked those Ace/Lancer books. Even though they weren't Howard's chronology, it was still fun reading them in that order. I always tried to figure out where the new Tor books fit and how it corresponded with the Marvel Comics Chronology.
I grew up reading the de Camp/Carter books and Savage Sword of Conan. I'd love to read Howard's letters. Thanks for letting me know that they exist in print.
Once I discovered The Savage Sword Of Conan as a 13yr old, buying my first issue starting with #44 in the summer of 79'. It was a revelation to me, that was it, I was hooked. I went from being a strictly Superhero guy down the dark S&S path. I even got my dear old Dad into SSoC helping to keep us close right through my turbulent teens & twenties. #44 led me to the books of R.E.Howard, Tolkien, Leiber, Moorcock, AD&D etc etc
You're the one who originally introduced me to Robert E. Howard and I am so glad you did! I've picked up and read so many Conan book since and I've enjoyed every one of them. I am going to try and get my hands the collected letters book. I believe you mentioned in a previous video that he used to write to HP Lovecraft, I'd love to learn more about that relationship.
In 1967, I was a kid looking at paperbacks and saw the Frazetta cover of Conan and the giant snake. Pretty soon I graduated from comic books to pulp paperbacks that were flooding the paperback stands in the late ‘60’s.
True, his main heroes complete tales, Conan, King Kull of Atlantis, Solomon Kane etc, all his Cthulhu Mythos related work and horror stories, his letters, all published, and many films and comics based on his work.
Damn you’ve brought back a memory-I picked up a copy of the Del Rey/Ballantine collection of Kull of Atlantis in the used bookstall outside the Arndale Food Market and put the bloody thing back down because I didn’t want to carry such a big book around with me through the city. That was about five years ago and I’ve regretted it ever since.
I've been to that bookstall (outside the Arndale) and yes, I've seen and bought a couple of REH books there (US editions). Every so often, I will go back there and hope to find some more. So far = no luck.
🎵 It's the Robert E. Howard Show! 🎶 On a Friday?! Great video, Michael! I love my Del Rey editions! I'd like to remind people to buy their books anywhere but the Evil Empire! If there's only one place to buy books we will end up reading only what THEY want us to read! 🤔
You're so right. Even August Derleth wouldn't have been so audacious as to slip his own pastiches into an HP Lovecraft correction. And he also went so far as to ask A Conan Doyle for permission to take over Sherlock Holmes. I'm sure Carter and de Camp would be fun to have a beer, but sheesh, man...
It is great to have access to all these works. Back in the 50s, it was pretty hard to find any RE Howard beyond those Gnome books and old beat up copies of Weird Tales, now we can even read all those wonderful issues online (or originals if we can pay the price for the RE Howard ones). A lot of my favourite stores for books are now long gone but there is still so much to find and read, still miss Dark They Were And Golden Eyed in London for picking up those Conan books but I did get most of my. Conan via the Sphere books here in the UK
I was lucky enough to have an awesome little used bookstore nearby when I was 14-18 in the early’80’s and found great old REH paperbacks (including Almuric and the fantastic Karl Edward Wagner’s Legion From the Shadows about Bran Mak Morn). I dropped most of my old favorite authors’ books from those days long ago (Roger Zelazny, Michael Moorcock) but am still working toward a complete collection of all of Howard’s original stories. There’s just something special about his writing that I won’t let go of.
I got most of my Robert E Howard books online. It seems like good, used bookstores, where you could hunt down those old paperbacks, are like hen's teeth. Those days are mostly over.
I remember seeing those fantastic book covers all the time in bookstores, but not being a fantasy reader, I only glanced at the incredible art by Frazetta. I started reading Conan only a few years ago when I was seduced by the opening sentence of Queen of the Black Coast.
Just finished reading "The Shadow of the Vulture." Yes, Red Sonya is a great character. Great siege story. Reminded me a bit of Gemmell's LEGEND, which must have been influenced by it. I realized two things while I was reading. It's important to have a device (or, I suppose, a good dictionary) nearby to look up the unfamiliar words as you read. This is essential. My second thought is, in a backwater town in Texas, how did Howard come to know so much about exotic cultures -- weapons and clothing and such? He must have done prodigious research. Superhuman. He must have been obsessed with history and exotic lands. I read the story in the Zebra paperback edition of Sowers of Thunder. Those old paperbacks are delicate. The bindings tend to wither with age. Beautiful artwork though between Jeff Jones and Roy Krenkel. Regarding the pastiche stories in the Lancer books, you can sense quickly that the writing is not as good in the non-Howards, but I did enjoy a lot of the stories. But you're right. It would have been better to experience them separately. Maybe you should flesh out the Howard publishing legacy with a discussion of the Gnome Press hardcovers, the Donald M. Grant publications, and the Zebra books. These were all important. I have all of the Breckenridge Elkins editions and a bunch of other Grant editions including most of the boxing stories, the Berkley Book Club Editions, a number of FAX editions. I think I had almost all of them at some point, but the darn things keep selling. I've never owned any Arkham Howard books that I can recall (I believe there are only three, not including story and poem appearances in anthologies.
Brilliant overview of the wide range of books out there. Yes, the world out there is awful at the moment, but it's a great time to read all (or most) of Mr RE Howard's output, in nice editions. Thanks
I also endeavored to buy all of the hardcover books done by the University of Nebraska Press in the early 2000s. They did two volumes of westerns, one of boxing, one of the adventure tales, and one of his horror shorts. There was also the mid-2000s 10 volume Wildside Press collection of his Weird fiction and poetry, with restored text and produced in order of original publication. It was a nice way to get a taste of all those Weird Tales stories.
I find that my eBay watchlist continues to grow and grow as I find more Conan related items to buy. Yes it is a wonderful time to be a Conan fan. We are so lucky to have Titan holding the rights to this IP. They have kept Jim Zub, they brought back Savage Sword ( magazine size with newsprint paper no less) They let John C. Hocking finish his story. All they need to do now is give us a monthly Kull and Solomon Kane comic.
Here in Portugal i was blessed with 3 things: 1- a Collection of Conan tales published by Saida de Emergência (a fantasy and sci fi publisher) 2- the new titan comics are being released, got the 2 Free Comic Book day editions and everything 3- a huuuuuge collection of marvels savage sword of conan comics was available, cheap, in a big book fair in lisbon Ever since 2021, i can say, for sure, im a Rober E Howard Fan.
A decade ago, I lived near a used book store that had a lot of REH and it's where I helped my husband collect some of the Flashman series of novels, too. Those hole in the wall, blink and you'll miss them bookstores can be absolute gold mines. Thank you for this upload. I need to get my husband the Conan comics.
Ha ha! 70's child here as well, and I still remember my first Conan comic. It was one of the Belit issues and had both of them on the Cover, and I would re-read it almost nightly. I wouldn't become crazed with the character overall till I got into D&D in the 80s. So as you can tell, I was VERY cool. Ha ha ha!
You're not kidding about trying to find most books from most authors and what you find even in some used book stores, and don't get me started on public libraries. The pastiche stories mixed in still makes my blood boil.
I gave up on public libraries about 20 years ago. When not even the classics can found, then it's time to move on to other sources. It's sad because libraries used to be a place to find books. Now it's a place to find everything but books!
Totally agree! I've been saying this for at least 15yrs. By that point, all the Del Reys were out and the Foundation books were rolling out at a nice pace. I was there for the '70s boom and during the "wilderness years" the '90s.
Witam z Polski Mam wszystkie powiesci jakie napisał Howard ...od Conana , Kulla , Salomona oraz wszystkie opowiadania jakie zostały przetlumaczone z angielskiego na polski i ok 50 powiesci kontynuatorów Hoearda co pisali o Conanie. ...Spregue de Camp , Jordan , Wagner , Anderson i inni 📚📚📚📚📚👋👋👋👋👍Pozdrawiam wszystkich milosników tej literatury Regi !
Really enjoyed this. Almuric and Bran Mak Morn are my favorites. Delphi Classics has an ebook Delphi Complete Works of Robert E. Howard (Illustrated) (Series Four Book 21) for just a for dollars. They're a classic ebook publisher from the UK I've gotten many of my collections from and am impressed by their format and care.
Being from a small European country, I only knew Conan from comics and movies. Some R.E.H. stories were translated and published in pocket "fantasy" paper editions. Only recently the first (as far as I know) complete R.E.H. Conan edition (4 books of stories and one novel) was published. I'm slowly discovering "book" Conan...
I love your channel. Never miss a video. I have a lot in common with you. I like hearing you talk REH & other topics. I do agree this is the best time to be a fan. My 2 favorite writers are REH & Doyle. My bookshelves look much like yours. I’ve read everything they’ve done (that I could find). Including most comics/graphic novels, (my fav Dark Horse & Marvel), starting reading them in the 80s as a youngster, Marvels SavageSword & DarkHorse imo are their best. I wish we had more films of REH material. So much to choose from. Anyway, keep it up in these crazy times. Stay safe & keep the videos coming!
You and Mark Finn are probably two of the biggest fans of REH out there. He's a REH biographer, if you look for 'Mark Finn on Robert E. Howard' here on yt you'll find a very interesting intereview of him talking about the man. Worth the watch if you haven't seen it already.
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 What's your opinion about the biopic The Whole Wide World? For a long time (before YT) I felt I was the only person on Earth who watched it!
I remember hearing about Robert E. Howard back around 2016 or 2017 in a video talking about pulp fiction and while I wasn't much of a reader at the time, getting my hands on Howard's work quickly changed that. In a way, I have to thank him for getting me interested in reading and even taking up writing as a hobby. While I wasn't around for the muddy waters of the 70s, I really do love those Frank Frazetta covers. Easily the best visual depictions of Conan and his world. Regardless, I am glad I got into Howard when I did. As you mentioned, the Del Rey editions of his works are easy to pick up and contain some of his best work. I have managed to get a collection of his boxing stories as well and they are very underrated in terms of his discussed work. While Howard will no doubt be mostly remembered for Conan, I am glad that the Howard Foundation is putting out his other works. I'm hoping to get more of his westerns as the ones I read in the Best of Robert E. Howard Del Rey books left me wanting to dig deeper into that area of his writing. On a side note, thank you for all the videos you have done. Even if they are probably not your most popular videos, I am glad there is someone taking a deep looking into Robert E. Howard in general as most videos tend to skim him over so they can talk about Conan (which is far enough, but Howard really deserves more attention).
I have just finished my big black book of Conan by Robert E. Howard, the Larry Hama( the real creator of G.I. Joe) Marvel run of G.I. Joe, and Season of of Anspach & Cole’s Galaxy’s Edge series (I think you’d love them). Currently going through Golden Age Batman, early Judge Dredd, and the Marvel Conan comics. Also, love your show. Keep up the good eat work. Jealous of the Sherlock Holmes books on the shelf and the Mummy you dug up. He s an excellent co-host
You make a great point! I have the Del Rey Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, probably from B&N about ten years ago. Otherwise i have a story here and there in some fantasy collection or other. I really enjoyed the stories, and love the illustrations in that book. i was always a huge fan of the film from 1982(?) and still watch my dvd a couple times a year. I have a friend that was gifted a set of Frank Frazetta art cards, which I've seen most of, and those are great. She read some Conan stories lately, I believe from an e-book (KU) and it seems there was a page missing here and there, when we talked about them! I really enjoyed this video and have subscribed for more!
I wonder how many readers were introduced to Conan and Robert E. Howard through Marvel Comics? This is true in my case. The first REH story I can remember reading (actual story, not adaptation) was 'Usurp The Night' (also titled 'The Hoofed Thing'') which had been reprinted in Marvel's Haunt Of Horror magazine back in the early 70's. In the 80's and 90's, it was nice when I would get a horror/fantasy anthology and find a Robert E. Howard story inside. The first REH Book I read was the Baen edition of Bran Mak Morn. That's a great book.
Just an FYI, received my Titan Conan the Barbarian trade paperback. I picked up the first two. Also have the recent REH books you reviewed in my “basket” to order.
Just read first story in City of the Dead. Excellent. I highly recommend it for Conan or adventure fans. Oh you can't buy it because of your 500 book challenge. But I have way around that. Have Roger buy it and you can read it when he is done - Easy Peasy ! Love your passion for books and reading Michael !
Great video! I love the Conan stuff the most personally. I'm lucky enough to have collected the original 12 books, of course they are not all from the same publication date, and about half of them are from sphere and the other half from Ace LoL.
My introduction to REH was the ACE series edited by deCamp in the late 70s (my dad had a bookstore and bought the series for me at the wholesale warehouse). I devoured them and soon after read the Berkeley paperbacks, etc. Good times.
I've been going crazy buying used books lately, 'cuz the prices of everything keeps going up because so much stuff isn't available anymore (at least not in print - I don't do digital). Luckily REH's stuff is coming back out, but a lot of Western authors are really drying up. Happily, they put Gordon Shirreffs's stuff got reprinted nicely not long ago, but most of the others (other than Louis L'Amour)? Scarce.
Oh man my first REH Conan book was the Berkeley Edition of Red Nails paperback, withthe foldout. Always have a soft sport in my heart for those paperback versions.
My biggest unpopular opinion as a lifelong fantasy fan is this: *Robert E Howard >JRR Tolkien* I will die on that hill and ask Crom to take me to Valhalla afterwards.
Crom will only take you to a shadowy valley to wander endlessly, and I don't think he escorts you personally. You might get something like Valhalla with Tolkien - more likely if you're an elf - but it's mystery for mortals really - still probably better then Crom's vale. :P
Great video Michael! I remember seeing the first movie when I was a kid, then I got into the comics, which then brought me to the original REH stories. I read them originally through the one volume Centenary edition. I've since picked up the Del Ray editions. I'm currently reading through Solomon Kane by following along with your video reviews of that collection. Which by the way has been very helpful! I'll have to check out the foundation press soon. Thanks again for the insight! I also look forward to your continued thoughts on the current comics series. Can you pick up the new trades/issues or do they fall under the 500 book challenge?
I’m enjoying this new Howard boom and resurgence of Sword and Sorcery. Just ordered Swords of the North. Looking forward to finally reading those Cormac stories as they were meant to be read. ⚔️
Almuric is GREAT ! I read it recently for Rocket Winter (southern hemisphere). The formatting and typos are a big problem with ebooks. I notice on Amazon, Wildside Press has his action, boxing, western stuff, but they appear to have been published ages ago.
From the point of view of REH, the ideal time for fanhood would have been during his life, so he could spend the royalties. Rumor has it that Kosher Comics is coming out with their hero, Cohen the Veterinarian any day now. Can't wait.🤗
Just as an aside, but for me, my first experience of Sherlock Holmes *was* actually a mix of Arthur Conan Doyle stories and pastiches by Anthony Boucher. This was by way of the "new Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" radio series from the 1940s starring Rathbon and Bruce, which I got on cassette tape in the early 90s. They did some of the classic Conan Doyle tales ("Scandal in Bohemia", "The Red-headed League", "Man with the Twisted Lip") and also a lot of other stuff that was more like some of the Bruce and Rathbone movies that came later (even some first World War stories). It was an odd mix, to be sure. Not the same as reading a book that's a haphazard mixup though, like those Sprague jobs.
I remember looking for Howard's Conan stories in bookstores in the nineties and not finding them. Now, I look for a writer I care about in bookstores and not finding them.
The only conceivably better time to be an REH fan was back in the '30s, when a fan could write him a letter and, if the Gods were kind, he might answer with a reply letter (as long as you sent a SASE perhaps). BTW, on a recent trip to Boston, I learned that the style of hat you're wearing is called a "scally hat" -- as in 'scallywag', perhaps, a word that means 'rascal' or 'a person who behaves badly but in an amusingly mischievous way'. I took to wearing 'em about 5 years ago, when I made my first major effort to read the works of James Joyce -- which is odd, because I'm a teetotaler, and those Irish authors tend to be tipplers (at least, that's the stereotype). There seems to be a resurgence in the popularity of the scally hat, due to the 'PEAKY BLINDERS' show. My scally hats, though, don't have razor blades hidden in the brim! I wonder if REH put razor blades in the brims of his scally hats?
I recently picked up all three volumes. I grew up hearing the name, but I just associated it with the movie that I never watched (and which didn’t really interest me). I was surprised to find out how old the stories are and that Howard was acquaintances with Lovecraft.
It's true about eBooks; I obtained a copy of The King In Yellow by Robert Chambers and it was complete gibberish in part. I was slavering at the complete letters of REH by the Robert E Howard foundation. For my Christmas list I fancy.
Yeah agreed. Howard's writing was a little rough around the edges, but there was definitely something special about his works. I used to think the same thing about De Camp, & Carter mixing in their pastiches with Howard's Conan stories - that's crazy - I hated that concept so much, that I only read the Howard stories, & completely ignored the pastiches by the other authors - lol - to be fair, De Camp wrote many excellent non-Conan works - short SF & fantasy stories that were very entertaining - but mixing in his imitations with Howard's Conan stories was a mistake IMO. Howard's other fictions are good examples of pulp fiction as well, & are well worth a read - Kull of Atlantis, the Mythos stories, Solomon Kane, & others. Favorites from the "Weird Tales Magazine" pulp era were Clark Ashton Smith (probably my all time favorite pulp writer, with great descriptive & literary gifts), Lovecraft, & Howard...
Unfortunately it seems that El Borak stories by Del Rey are out of print, at least for now. Maybe i'm wrong but i had been looking online , locally and abroad, for some time and eventually i was forced to get it as an e-book (on google books). I leave in EU btw and so i wanted to avoid exorbitant shipping and duty fees. On the positive side, i'm waiting to get my pre order of Bran Mac Morn and Kull. My dilemma though is if i should also get Del Rey's Conan stories. I already own the complete chronicles by Gollancz, so i think it would be too much. On the other hand the main draw for me with Del Rey is the excellent illustrations... 🤷♂
The REH Foundation Press will have the Ultimate Edition of Howard's straight western tales available in a few months. The Ultimate Edition of Breckinridge Elkins vol. 1 probably won't be available before sometime next year.
The '70s had its good moments as well. I agree that the pastiche series was a travesty to read, but the Frazetta covers on most of them were very influential in the way that Conan (and Sword and Sorcery as a genre) would be perceived from then onwards. Also, Zebra made a large number of Howard's other writings available and could be found almost anywhere that sold books. But, I agree...now is the best time to be a fan.
I’m such a Conan (Robert E. Howard) fan that I created a barbarian character for my upcoming graphic novel. Michael, do you think that Robert E. Howard would have gotten into writing graphic novels/comic books?
I don’t know how there is such a glut of pastiche because IMO they are not quality like OG Howard. Did they get great reviews or something? The only comparable pastiche that I know is Karl Edward Wagner’s. I tried a Jon Maddox roberts book but the horror elements were not good and let the book down.
What kind of hero is Conan? Is he a hero? An anti-hero? Something else? To me Conan isn't an idealist. He doesn't seem to have hard and fast ideals or principles which he follows. He's not Solomon Kane is he? A Puritan? He's not a Lensman fighting a psychic war against a specific and identifiable enemy? Is he a hero in the Greek sense, forged by Fate? A plaything of Gods and their schemes? Merely a vessel carrying out his genetic programming inherited from the Gods? An heir to a supernatural fate inherited from supernatural beings? A pawn? Is he an organic, hero? A natural "event" brought about by historical Rules? The opponent to some Thesis playing out in a Hegelian Dialectic? The emergence of a proletarian hero provoked by some fundamental unfairness in the political world? An entrepreneur taking advantage of market forces? Conan is not any of these. He has no overriding sense of purpose. No pawn of Crom to bring the Snakemen of Valusia to their Doom. Though he is a genetic descendent to Kull. No member of an oppressed class seeking power. Of the three he's closest to the Greek mold. But instead of the "epic" story, we get the episodic story. A convoluted history of adventures and misadventures, driven by ad-hoc motives and the mere will to survive. Wealth, lust, loyalty, sympathy, friendship, animosity - superstitious and otherwise, and even love. If Conan is in the Greek mold his actions were not the product of Noble birth and upbringinging. Conan is not a Greek Hero. A Biblical hero plucked from obscurity and setbacks to rise against iniquity? Mmmm, not really. Conan does have genetic connections as in the Greek and Jewish writings. His story though is not, in any way, Noble: with a capital N. He's no Ulysses, Moses, or even Aragorn (though he does wander). Howard, eventually, uses the fact of Conan's lineage to deal out some cosmic justice in the form of the the Snakemen. That, however, doesn't inform all the other stories. In Howard we have something that's missing in Moses, Hercules and Aragorn. A sense of personality not riveted to a main plot. We get the "growth" of his attitudes and personality. Not just a byword in the text. We get the "missing" years. We get the callow barbarian, the thief, the mercenary, the journeyman, the Pirate, the general, the King. Alas, we don't get the child and student, but that would make Tom Sawyer's tale pale in comparison. I suspect much more would be answered of Conan's personality if the Tale of Conan and the Hyperboreans could be told.
![I Went Rummaging for Masterpieces in History’s Discard Pile [4 Books Reviewed]](/img/1.gif)
I read a Howard omnibus during the pandemic lockdown.
The heartbreaking part was that I read Howard's writing published chronologically, and got to see that he was growing in strength as a writer. He had so much left to give us at 33 years old, but...we'll never know, and will have to be content with what we have.
I am a lifelong fan. Honored to be a member of the REH Foundation and love the work they're doing to keep my favorite author's legacy alive.
How do you become a member
@@tristanhogue4690 visit their website. Just search reh foundation
I have all these original books..been a fan since i was 13yrs old...60 now..thanks for keeping this going...
The Barry Windsor Smith art on those 1970’s Marvel comics was simply fantastic!
Terrific video Michael, thank you.
You're right!
Finding old REH paperbacks in the wild really is tough these days. While ordering online is easier and quicker, doing so misses out on the delight in finding something unexpectedly on a shelf in a used bookstore after searching for years.
I was in Melbourne two weeks ago and bought a second hand copy of The Horror Stories Of Robert E. Howard (Del Rey) for $5 Australian. Illustrated by Greg Staples and in a decent condition as well.😄
Staples is highly underrated, IMO.
Collecting Howard has been a lifelong passion of mine. You remember how difficult it was to find his books back in the day. I'm glad the rest of the world has finally come around. 😆
I am a Robert E Howard virgin. I confess my sins and will endeavour to rectify this today 😊
I have a certain nostalgia about those old Ace Conan, L. Sprague de Camp books for some of the reasons you stated: they were kind of hard to find, searching all the old dusty book stores, while also looking at other books, and trying to get them all with the fantastic Frazetta covers, etc. I don't know why they were printed that particular way, but I eventually met de Camp at a Dallas Comic Con along with his wife, rather delightful couple. I wish someone had asked him that question, but they never did, and it might have been seemed offensive, I don't know, but it was fun to hear him talk.
Despite all the flack DeCamp got from Howard purists, I liked those Ace/Lancer books. Even though they weren't Howard's chronology, it was still fun reading them in that order. I always tried to figure out where the new Tor books fit and how it corresponded with the Marvel Comics Chronology.
I grew up reading the de Camp/Carter books and Savage Sword of Conan. I'd love to read Howard's letters. Thanks for letting me know that they exist in print.
Once I discovered The Savage Sword Of Conan as a 13yr old, buying my first issue starting with #44 in the summer of 79'. It was a revelation to me, that was it, I was hooked. I went from being a strictly Superhero guy down the dark S&S path. I even got my dear old Dad into SSoC helping to keep us close right through my turbulent teens & twenties. #44 led me to the books of R.E.Howard, Tolkien, Leiber, Moorcock, AD&D etc etc
You're the one who originally introduced me to Robert E. Howard and I am so glad you did! I've picked up and read so many Conan book since and I've enjoyed every one of them. I am going to try and get my hands the collected letters book. I believe you mentioned in a previous video that he used to write to HP Lovecraft, I'd love to learn more about that relationship.
In 1967, I was a kid looking at paperbacks and saw the Frazetta cover of Conan and the giant snake. Pretty soon I graduated from comic books to pulp paperbacks that were flooding the paperback stands in the late ‘60’s.
True, his main heroes complete tales, Conan, King Kull of Atlantis, Solomon Kane etc, all his Cthulhu Mythos related work and horror stories, his letters, all published, and many films and comics based on his work.
Damn you’ve brought back a memory-I picked up a copy of the Del Rey/Ballantine collection of Kull of Atlantis in the used bookstall outside the Arndale Food Market and put the bloody thing back down because I didn’t want to carry such a big book around with me through the city.
That was about five years ago and I’ve regretted it ever since.
I've been to that bookstall (outside the Arndale) and yes, I've seen and bought a couple of REH books there (US editions). Every so often, I will go back there and hope to find some more. So far = no luck.
🎵 It's the Robert E. Howard Show! 🎶 On a Friday?! Great video, Michael! I love my Del Rey editions!
I'd like to remind people to buy their books anywhere but the Evil Empire! If there's only one place to buy books we will end up reading only what THEY want us to read! 🤔
Always good to be a REH fan!!!!🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲
You're so right. Even August Derleth wouldn't have been so audacious as to slip his own pastiches into an HP Lovecraft correction. And he also went so far as to ask A Conan Doyle for permission to take over Sherlock Holmes. I'm sure Carter and de Camp would be fun to have a beer, but sheesh, man...
It is great to have access to all these works. Back in the 50s, it was pretty hard to find any RE Howard beyond those Gnome books and old beat up copies of Weird Tales, now we can even read all those wonderful issues online (or originals if we can pay the price for the RE Howard ones). A lot of my favourite stores for books are now long gone but there is still so much to find and read, still miss Dark They Were And Golden Eyed in London for picking up those Conan books but I did get most of my. Conan via the Sphere books here in the UK
I was lucky enough to have an awesome little used bookstore nearby when I was 14-18 in the early’80’s and found great old REH paperbacks (including Almuric and the fantastic Karl Edward Wagner’s Legion From the Shadows about Bran Mak Morn). I dropped most of my old favorite authors’ books from those days long ago (Roger Zelazny, Michael Moorcock) but am still working toward a complete collection of all of Howard’s original stories. There’s just something special about his writing that I won’t let go of.
It is always the time to be a REH fan. Great vid!
@@mikesbookreviews thanks!
I got most of my Robert E Howard books online. It seems like good, used bookstores, where you could hunt down those old paperbacks, are like hen's teeth. Those days are mostly over.
Well, I don't know your location but in Germany they can still be found close to a University. Though, they usually specialize in the expensive stuff.
I remember seeing those fantastic book covers all the time in bookstores, but not being a fantasy reader, I only glanced at the incredible art by Frazetta. I started reading Conan only a few years ago when I was seduced by the opening sentence of Queen of the Black Coast.
Omg omg Almuric was the first book I read of Howard's in the early 80's at age 12
Just finished reading "The Shadow of the Vulture." Yes, Red Sonya is a great character. Great siege story. Reminded me a bit of Gemmell's LEGEND, which must have been influenced by it. I realized two things while I was reading. It's important to have a device (or, I suppose, a good dictionary) nearby to look up the unfamiliar words as you read. This is essential. My second thought is, in a backwater town in Texas, how did Howard come to know so much about exotic cultures -- weapons and clothing and such? He must have done prodigious research. Superhuman. He must have been obsessed with history and exotic lands.
I read the story in the Zebra paperback edition of Sowers of Thunder. Those old paperbacks are delicate. The bindings tend to wither with age. Beautiful artwork though between Jeff Jones and Roy Krenkel.
Regarding the pastiche stories in the Lancer books, you can sense quickly that the writing is not as good in the non-Howards, but I did enjoy a lot of the stories. But you're right. It would have been better to experience them separately.
Maybe you should flesh out the Howard publishing legacy with a discussion of the Gnome Press hardcovers, the Donald M. Grant publications, and the Zebra books. These were all important.
I have all of the Breckenridge Elkins editions and a bunch of other Grant editions including most of the boxing stories, the Berkley Book Club Editions, a number of FAX editions. I think I had almost all of them at some point, but the darn things keep selling. I've never owned any Arkham Howard books that I can recall (I believe there are only three, not including story and poem appearances in anthologies.
Brilliant overview of the wide range of books out there. Yes, the world out there is awful at the moment, but it's a great time to read all (or most) of Mr RE Howard's output, in nice editions. Thanks
I also endeavored to buy all of the hardcover books done by the University of Nebraska Press in the early 2000s. They did two volumes of westerns, one of boxing, one of the adventure tales, and one of his horror shorts. There was also the mid-2000s 10 volume Wildside Press collection of his Weird fiction and poetry, with restored text and produced in order of original publication. It was a nice way to get a taste of all those Weird Tales stories.
I find that my eBay watchlist continues to grow and grow as I find more Conan related items to buy. Yes it is a wonderful time to be a Conan fan. We are so lucky to have Titan holding the rights to this IP. They have kept Jim Zub, they brought back Savage Sword ( magazine size with newsprint paper no less) They let John C. Hocking finish his story. All they need to do now is give us a monthly Kull and Solomon Kane comic.
Here in Portugal i was blessed with 3 things:
1- a Collection of Conan tales published by Saida de Emergência (a fantasy and sci fi publisher)
2- the new titan comics are being released, got the 2 Free Comic Book day editions and everything
3- a huuuuuge collection of marvels savage sword of conan comics was available, cheap, in a big book fair in lisbon
Ever since 2021, i can say, for sure, im a Rober E Howard Fan.
Thanks to you I have started to buy books from the Foundation Press and I made sure they knew it was because of you! 😅
A decade ago, I lived near a used book store that had a lot of REH and it's where I helped my husband collect some of the Flashman series of novels, too. Those hole in the wall, blink and you'll miss them bookstores can be absolute gold mines. Thank you for this upload. I need to get my husband the Conan comics.
Ha ha! 70's child here as well, and I still remember my first Conan comic. It was one of the Belit issues and had both of them on the Cover, and I would re-read it almost nightly. I wouldn't become crazed with the character overall till I got into D&D in the 80s. So as you can tell, I was VERY cool. Ha ha ha!
I first bought #38, but didn't start buying REGULARLY until "The Ballad of Belit".
You're not kidding about trying to find most books from most authors and what you find even in some used book stores, and don't get me started on public libraries.
The pastiche stories mixed in still makes my blood boil.
I gave up on public libraries about 20 years ago. When not even the classics can found, then it's time to move on to other sources. It's sad because libraries used to be a place to find books. Now it's a place to find everything but books!
I've only found REH's books as e-books, but I'm still grateful for your introduction to his work. 🙂
Now I have to go and dig out my collection that I haven't read since the 70s.
Totally agree! I've been saying this for at least 15yrs. By that point, all the Del Reys were out and the Foundation books were rolling out at a nice pace. I was there for the '70s boom and during the "wilderness years" the '90s.
Witam z Polski Mam wszystkie powiesci jakie napisał Howard ...od Conana , Kulla , Salomona oraz wszystkie opowiadania jakie zostały przetlumaczone z angielskiego na polski i ok 50 powiesci kontynuatorów Hoearda co pisali o Conanie. ...Spregue de Camp , Jordan , Wagner , Anderson i inni 📚📚📚📚📚👋👋👋👋👍Pozdrawiam wszystkich milosników tej literatury Regi !
Really enjoyed this. Almuric and Bran Mak Morn are my favorites. Delphi Classics has an ebook Delphi Complete Works of Robert E. Howard (Illustrated) (Series Four Book 21) for just a for dollars. They're a classic ebook publisher from the UK I've gotten many of my collections from and am impressed by their format and care.
Ebooks help in finding REH stories.
Being from a small European country, I only knew Conan from comics and movies. Some R.E.H. stories were translated and published in pocket "fantasy" paper editions. Only recently the first (as far as I know) complete R.E.H. Conan edition (4 books of stories and one novel) was published. I'm slowly discovering "book" Conan...
I love your channel. Never miss a video. I have a lot in common with you. I like hearing you talk REH & other topics. I do agree this is the best time to be a fan. My 2 favorite writers are REH & Doyle. My bookshelves look much like yours. I’ve read everything they’ve done (that I could find). Including most comics/graphic novels, (my fav Dark Horse & Marvel), starting reading them in the 80s as a youngster, Marvels SavageSword & DarkHorse imo are their best. I wish we had more films of REH material. So much to choose from. Anyway, keep it up in these crazy times. Stay safe & keep the videos coming!
You and Mark Finn are probably two of the biggest fans of REH out there. He's a REH biographer, if you look for 'Mark Finn on Robert E. Howard' here on yt you'll find a very interesting intereview of him talking about the man. Worth the watch if you haven't seen it already.
I met Mark Finn briefly in 2010 at REH Days. Really nice guy. His biography on REH is the best.
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 What's your opinion about the biopic The Whole Wide World? For a long time (before YT) I felt I was the only person on Earth who watched it!
@@PolygoniteYou’re not alone. And I have the dvd AND the blu-ray here. It gets a watch about 2x per year.
@@PolygoniteI liked it, very cool film.
I watched the video and ordered all three volumes of the collected letters. I am currently reading CONAN CITY OF THE DEAD.
I remember hearing about Robert E. Howard back around 2016 or 2017 in a video talking about pulp fiction and while I wasn't much of a reader at the time, getting my hands on Howard's work quickly changed that. In a way, I have to thank him for getting me interested in reading and even taking up writing as a hobby.
While I wasn't around for the muddy waters of the 70s, I really do love those Frank Frazetta covers. Easily the best visual depictions of Conan and his world. Regardless, I am glad I got into Howard when I did. As you mentioned, the Del Rey editions of his works are easy to pick up and contain some of his best work. I have managed to get a collection of his boxing stories as well and they are very underrated in terms of his discussed work.
While Howard will no doubt be mostly remembered for Conan, I am glad that the Howard Foundation is putting out his other works. I'm hoping to get more of his westerns as the ones I read in the Best of Robert E. Howard Del Rey books left me wanting to dig deeper into that area of his writing.
On a side note, thank you for all the videos you have done. Even if they are probably not your most popular videos, I am glad there is someone taking a deep looking into Robert E. Howard in general as most videos tend to skim him over so they can talk about Conan (which is far enough, but Howard really deserves more attention).
Conan is also very famous here in Brasil. Take a look at the editions of Robert's books from Pipoca e Nanquim. They are true works of art! :)
I have just finished my big black book of Conan by Robert E. Howard, the Larry Hama( the real creator of G.I. Joe) Marvel run of G.I. Joe, and Season of of Anspach & Cole’s Galaxy’s Edge series (I think you’d love them). Currently going through Golden Age Batman, early Judge Dredd, and the Marvel Conan comics.
Also, love your show. Keep up the good eat work. Jealous of the Sherlock Holmes books on the shelf and the Mummy you dug up. He s an excellent co-host
You make a great point!
I have the Del Rey Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, probably from B&N about ten years ago. Otherwise i have a story here and there in some fantasy collection or other. I really enjoyed the stories, and love the illustrations in that book. i was always a huge fan of the film from 1982(?) and still watch my dvd a couple times a year. I have a friend that was gifted a set of Frank Frazetta art cards, which I've seen most of, and those are great. She read some Conan stories lately, I believe from an e-book (KU) and it seems there was a page missing here and there, when we talked about them!
I really enjoyed this video and have subscribed for more!
I wonder how many readers were introduced to Conan and Robert E. Howard through Marvel Comics? This is true in my case. The first REH story I can remember reading (actual story, not adaptation) was 'Usurp The Night' (also titled 'The Hoofed Thing'') which had been reprinted in Marvel's Haunt Of Horror magazine back in the early 70's. In the 80's and 90's, it was nice when I would get a horror/fantasy anthology and find a Robert E. Howard story inside. The first REH Book I read was the Baen edition of Bran Mak Morn. That's a great book.
Just an FYI, received my Titan Conan the Barbarian trade paperback. I picked up the first two.
Also have the recent REH books you reviewed in my “basket” to order.
A great American writer.
This is a fantastic channell....binging on your videos.
Life long fan of R.E.H. right here
Just read first story in City of the Dead. Excellent. I highly recommend it for Conan or adventure fans. Oh you can't buy it because of your 500 book challenge. But I have way around that. Have Roger buy it and you can read it when he is done - Easy Peasy ! Love your passion for books and reading Michael !
My friend Jim ( Mystery & Mayhem) bought it for me 😉
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 Congrats Michael. I think you will enjoy
great video - but would have loved for you to have had our version of the Shadow Kingdom on show - I will send you one for free for a review!!
Let's not forget about the excellent editions of REH put out in the 1970's by Donald Grant. Very nice hardcovers.
Those are nice.
Great video! I love the Conan stuff the most personally. I'm lucky enough to have collected the original 12 books, of course they are not all from the same publication date, and about half of them are from sphere and the other half from Ace LoL.
My introduction to REH was the ACE series edited by deCamp in the late 70s (my dad had a bookstore and bought the series for me at the wholesale warehouse). I devoured them and soon after read the Berkeley paperbacks, etc. Good times.
I like Michael's silly grin.
I love the dark fantasy's of Howard, conan being my favorite, just, hope the woke mind virus doesn't distort this amazing work.
Also, if you are s fan of the old Conan Marvel Comics series, they are available in a very nice hardcover Omnibus series. Pricy, but worth it IMO.
I've been going crazy buying used books lately, 'cuz the prices of everything keeps going up because so much stuff isn't available anymore (at least not in print - I don't do digital). Luckily REH's stuff is coming back out, but a lot of Western authors are really drying up. Happily, they put Gordon Shirreffs's stuff got reprinted nicely not long ago, but most of the others (other than Louis L'Amour)? Scarce.
Oh man my first REH Conan book was the Berkeley Edition of Red Nails paperback, withthe foldout. Always have a soft sport in my heart for those paperback versions.
The new Titan Comics Conan series is really good. They also start up the Savage Sword of Conan magazine again.
Yes I’m really liking what they’re putting out currently
Conan comics from Titan comics have been amazing recently!
My biggest unpopular opinion as a lifelong fantasy fan is this:
*Robert E Howard >JRR Tolkien*
I will die on that hill and ask Crom to take me to Valhalla afterwards.
Crom will only take you to a shadowy valley to wander endlessly, and I don't think he escorts you personally. You might get something like Valhalla with Tolkien - more likely if you're an elf - but it's mystery for mortals really - still probably better then Crom's vale. :P
Great video Michael! I remember seeing the first movie when I was a kid, then I got into the comics, which then brought me to the original REH stories. I read them originally through the one volume Centenary edition. I've since picked up the Del Ray editions. I'm currently reading through Solomon Kane by following along with your video reviews of that collection. Which by the way has been very helpful! I'll have to check out the foundation press soon. Thanks again for the insight! I also look forward to your continued thoughts on the current comics series. Can you pick up the new trades/issues or do they fall under the 500 book challenge?
I’m enjoying this new Howard boom and resurgence of Sword and Sorcery. Just ordered Swords of the North. Looking forward to finally reading those Cormac stories as they were meant to be read. ⚔️
I so need to get my grubby hands on Swords of the North.
Almuric is GREAT ! I read it recently for Rocket Winter (southern hemisphere). The formatting and typos are a big problem with ebooks. I notice on Amazon, Wildside Press has his action, boxing, western stuff, but they appear to have been published ages ago.
Love REH. As well as the other Weird Tales writers. I would much rather read those wonder stories than anything modern.
From the point of view of REH, the ideal time for fanhood would have been during his life, so he could spend the royalties. Rumor has it that Kosher Comics is coming out with their hero, Cohen the Veterinarian any day now. Can't wait.🤗
Great video! 😊
Just as an aside, but for me, my first experience of Sherlock Holmes *was* actually a mix of Arthur Conan Doyle stories and pastiches by Anthony Boucher. This was by way of the "new Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" radio series from the 1940s starring Rathbon and Bruce, which I got on cassette tape in the early 90s. They did some of the classic Conan Doyle tales ("Scandal in Bohemia", "The Red-headed League", "Man with the Twisted Lip") and also a lot of other stuff that was more like some of the Bruce and Rathbone movies that came later (even some first World War stories). It was an odd mix, to be sure. Not the same as reading a book that's a haphazard mixup though, like those Sprague jobs.
I remember looking for Howard's Conan stories in bookstores in the nineties and not finding them.
Now, I look for a writer I care about in bookstores and not finding them.
The only conceivably better time to be an REH fan was back in the '30s, when a fan could write him a letter and, if the Gods were kind, he might answer with a reply letter (as long as you sent a SASE perhaps).
BTW, on a recent trip to Boston, I learned that the style of hat you're wearing is called a "scally hat" -- as in 'scallywag', perhaps, a word that means 'rascal' or 'a person who behaves badly but in an amusingly mischievous way'. I took to wearing 'em about 5 years ago, when I made my first major effort to read the works of James Joyce -- which is odd, because I'm a teetotaler, and those Irish authors tend to be tipplers (at least, that's the stereotype). There seems to be a resurgence in the popularity of the scally hat, due to the 'PEAKY BLINDERS' show. My scally hats, though, don't have razor blades hidden in the brim! I wonder if REH put razor blades in the brims of his scally hats?
I recently picked up all three volumes. I grew up hearing the name, but I just associated it with the movie that I never watched (and which didn’t really interest me). I was surprised to find out how old the stories are and that Howard was acquaintances with Lovecraft.
It's true about eBooks; I obtained a copy of The King In Yellow by Robert Chambers and it was complete gibberish in part. I was slavering at the complete letters of REH by the Robert E Howard foundation. For my Christmas list I fancy.
Yeah agreed. Howard's writing was a little rough around the edges, but there was definitely something special about his works.
I used to think the same thing about De Camp, & Carter mixing in their pastiches with Howard's Conan stories - that's crazy - I hated that concept so much, that I only read the Howard stories, & completely ignored the pastiches by the other authors - lol - to be fair, De Camp wrote many excellent non-Conan works - short SF & fantasy stories that were very entertaining - but mixing in his imitations with Howard's Conan stories was a mistake IMO.
Howard's other fictions are good examples of pulp fiction as well, & are well worth a read - Kull of Atlantis, the Mythos stories, Solomon Kane, & others.
Favorites from the "Weird Tales Magazine" pulp era were Clark Ashton Smith (probably my all time favorite pulp writer, with great descriptive & literary gifts), Lovecraft, & Howard...
Unfortunately it seems that El Borak stories by Del Rey are out of print, at least for now. Maybe i'm wrong but i had been looking online , locally and abroad, for some time and eventually i was forced to get it as an e-book (on google books). I leave in EU btw and so i wanted to avoid exorbitant shipping and duty fees. On the positive side, i'm waiting to get my pre order of Bran Mac Morn and Kull. My dilemma though is if i should also get Del Rey's Conan stories. I already own the complete chronicles by Gollancz, so i think it would be too much. On the other hand the main draw for me with Del Rey is the excellent illustrations... 🤷♂
El Borak is still available in the US.
Could you do a video on REH’s westerns? I hear a lot of references to them but have no idea where to find them (even as stand alone pieces).
The REH Foundation Press will have the Ultimate Edition of Howard's straight western tales available in a few months. The Ultimate Edition of Breckinridge Elkins vol. 1 probably won't be available before sometime next year.
I got a complete works of Robert E. Howard for 99 cents on Amazon, and my god the typos and misprinting is horrible.
The '70s had its good moments as well. I agree that the pastiche series was a travesty to read, but the Frazetta covers on most of them were very influential in the way that Conan (and Sword and Sorcery as a genre) would be perceived from then onwards. Also, Zebra made a large number of Howard's other writings available and could be found almost anywhere that sold books. But, I agree...now is the best time to be a fan.
It was the Sphere versions of Conan we got in Scotland back in the day.
Anyone have a recommendation for a version of the tales for e-readers?
Hail two gun Bob!
I’m such a Conan (Robert E. Howard) fan that I created a barbarian character for my upcoming graphic novel.
Michael, do you think that Robert E. Howard would have gotten into writing graphic novels/comic books?
Been a fan since I read Conan in 1976. Howard is the best but de camp, Carter are good as well. Dont count comics and TOR conan.
Please check out my Two audio versions of Howard's Conan stories Phoenix on the Sword and Scarlet Citadel.
😊
I like your hat.
I don’t know how there is such a glut of pastiche because IMO they are not quality like OG Howard. Did they get great reviews or something? The only comparable pastiche that I know is Karl Edward Wagner’s. I tried a Jon Maddox roberts book but the horror elements were not good and let the book down.
That new hardcover pastiche has plenty of horror.
Nope nope nope.
The Del Rey books are not 20+ years old...and Massive Attack's Unfinished Sympathy is not 30+ years old.
Time is broken.
It must be!
What kind of hero is Conan? Is he a hero? An anti-hero? Something else?
To me Conan isn't an idealist. He doesn't seem to have hard and fast ideals or principles which he follows. He's not Solomon Kane is he? A Puritan? He's not a Lensman fighting a psychic war against a specific and identifiable enemy?
Is he a hero in the Greek sense, forged by Fate? A plaything of Gods and their schemes? Merely a vessel carrying out his genetic programming inherited from the Gods? An heir to a supernatural fate inherited from supernatural beings? A pawn?
Is he an organic, hero? A natural "event" brought about by historical Rules? The opponent to some Thesis playing out in a Hegelian Dialectic? The emergence of a proletarian hero provoked by some fundamental unfairness in the political world? An entrepreneur taking advantage of market forces?
Conan is not any of these. He has no overriding sense of purpose. No pawn of Crom to bring the Snakemen of Valusia to their Doom. Though he is a genetic descendent to Kull. No member of an oppressed class seeking power.
Of the three he's closest to the Greek mold. But instead of the "epic" story, we get the episodic story. A convoluted history of adventures and misadventures, driven by ad-hoc motives and the mere will to survive. Wealth, lust, loyalty, sympathy, friendship, animosity - superstitious and otherwise, and even love.
If Conan is in the Greek mold his actions were not the product of Noble birth and upbringinging. Conan is not a Greek Hero. A Biblical hero plucked from obscurity and setbacks to rise against iniquity? Mmmm, not really.
Conan does have genetic connections as in the Greek and Jewish writings. His story though is not, in any way, Noble: with a capital N. He's no Ulysses, Moses, or even Aragorn (though he does wander).
Howard, eventually, uses the fact of Conan's lineage to deal out some cosmic justice in the form of the the Snakemen. That, however, doesn't inform all the other stories. In Howard we have something that's missing in Moses, Hercules and Aragorn. A sense of personality not riveted to a main plot. We get the "growth" of his attitudes and personality. Not just a byword in the text. We get the "missing" years. We get the callow barbarian, the thief, the mercenary, the journeyman, the Pirate, the general, the King. Alas, we don't get the child and student, but that would make Tom Sawyer's tale pale in comparison.
I suspect much more would be answered of Conan's personality if the Tale of Conan and the Hyperboreans could be told.