The Conan Pastiche Novels
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 ม.ค. 2022
- A brief survey through all of the works written (minus the comics) about Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian NOT penned by Howard himself.
MY REVIEW OF THE CONAN STORY 'BEYOND THE BLACK RIVER'
• Beyond the Black River...
A great wiki about all things Conan:
conan.fandom.com/wiki/Main_Page
Wikipedia page on the Conan Chronologies:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conan_c...
#robertehoward #conan #robertjordan #johnmaddoxroberts #lancer #ace - บันเทิง
I got turned onto Conan through Marvel. The Savage Sword of Conan the black and White magazine. Fantastic stuff.
I really need to check out some of the Conan comics.
@@JeffMPalermo I have the omnibuses on my tablet and look great. Since the books are giant lap crushers. Also Marvel is about to lose the rights again. So these might go OOP once they sell out. Real simple grab anything written by Roy Thomas.
This is really an excellent video. You have read a bunch on non-Howard Conan. I could never manage that as I am one of those bitter Howard purists! I have to admit that those Lancer books introduced many people to Howard.
I had to come clean in case there are other “Lancerites” who are frightened of coming forward…
@@JeffMPalermo DeCamp and Carter are the closest to there being more Howard Conan. I like most of their efforts and take them as homages. They understood Howard's prose style and pacing.
When I was a teen, the Lancer series were the only way to read Conan stories, original or adapted.
Thank you! That was fantastic! I just got to edit a Robert E. Howard collection of short horror, and it was delightful to dive into his imagination. Your vid is a stellar addition to my new interest in his work!
@@GardnerGoldsmith what is this new collection and when does it come out?
Here in Brazil we have a large number of Conan fans. Your approach is very good! Bring more barbarian content!
By Crom, I shall!!
@@JeffMPalermoLet me ask you something, what do Conan fans think about L Sprague De Camp? In common sense, is this author well regarded as an important contributor to the popularity of Barbarian? And how do you view the fact that he changed some stories?
Have to agree on "Legions of the Dead", very Howardian. I've read it in Italian as part of my language study and it was the first time I was gripped by a story in this, to me, foreign language.
I too discovered Conan through the Lancer series, with the de Camp/Carter stories. The books were satisfying. I'm glad you didn't go into knee-jerk de Camp & Carter bashing. If it weren't for them, I would never have found Conan.
I would love to "be cool" and be a "I discovered Howard first" guy but it just aint the case. :-)
Damn!,, I had all these book back in the 80s and lended them out, and never got them back
The black and white savage sword of conan comics are amazing
I loved going to bookstores as a kid, and I’d see the Conan ace/lancer books on the shelves. The cover art was amazing and I wanted to read these books-but I wanted to do it in the “proper” order, so I was always on the lookout for the Conan #1 paperback.
But what I noticed was, everywhere I went, I could never find the early books, like #1 through #5, so I never bought any of them.
Then one day I remember being in a bookstore at the mall-and I found #1 and #2. I grabbed em, bought em and started reading that day. Was eventually able to track down all 12; but imho the first book is the best, containing several of what I think are Howard’s best stories.
Appreciate the background for the Carter/De Camp stories where they turned historical fiction starring other characters into S&S starring Conan. Thanks! Always nice to see sword & sorcery getting some discussion on TH-cam.
Thanks for the comment!
Great Information!! I've read every Howard Story, many times, but I'm thinking about reading some of the pastiches.
Ive been reading conan novels since 1985. My first Conan book is Conan the wanderer. Ace 83 edition. the Conan pastiches which I like are: Flame Knife(the best Conan Pastiche), Conan of Aquilonia, Frost Giant's Daughter , Moon of blood,
Great content, very informative. I cut my teeth on the Howard/decamp/ Carter/Nyberg mashups, and loved them all!
Yep. They don't compare to Howard, but they hold a special place for me too.
Surprised when I ran into Conan the Buccaneer last month at a used book shop. Perfectly serviceable novel. Needed more of the Amazon queen.
Even more surprised when I finished reading it last night and then your video pops up in my feed this morning. I haven't been searching for or buying Conan on-line.
Always meant to finish up my collection of those Lancers someday. These are really my favorites, but I also like L. Sprague de Camp's other novels.
If I ever see books in this series at used bookstores, I pounce!
Conan The Valiant- Ronald Green was my first Conan novel in 7th grade. Didnt discover howard till my mid 30's. REH is amazing an non of the pastiche writers can even come close to the real deal. Wonderful video!
Thankyou for this video!
Thank you! I appreciate the time you took in researching to get the overall chronological history of Robert E. Howard's sword wielding barbarian Conan. This to me is, so far, the most in depth of the stories of all the writers that did pastiche work other than Howard himself! I have been a big fan of Conan while I was still in elementary school and I knew deCamp and Carter and Bjorn Nyborg(?) but never knew the exact stories they had a hand in.
I would be glad to learn about the very first time you actually got hooked on Conan but again Jeff, Thank You and may CROM welcome you into his mountain halls!!!
Haha. thank you Richard glad you enjoyed it.!
Been collectiong conan books from used book stores and garage sales. This video helped a lot in figuring out what is what and what goes where. Turns up i got most of the books avaible i guess.
Thank you even if im late to this video.
Subscribed and liked
Very interesting video, thanks for making this and sharing your opinions :)
Two days ago I stumbled on some of these books in a local used CD and comic store, and they looked almost like new so I had to pick them up.
I got Conan The Hunter, Conan and the Gods of the Mountain, Conan Scourge of the Bloody Coast and Conan At the Demon's Gate. Are these any you recognize or like? Dislike perhaps?
I've never heard of these before so it kinda opens up a new world for me, and I feel so lucky finding these in such great condition at a local shop. Conan stuff in general are not easy to find in Sweden.
I’ve been collecting these lately starting with De camp’s continuing stories, I’ve just recently finished Robert Jordan’s Conan and really enjoyed it.
Jordan does a great job with him for sure.
In regard to the Liberator I would have to read or reread it. Depicting his rise to King of Aquilonia. But DeCamp had modified the ending of Howard's The Treasure of Tranicos . Here DeCamp alters the end of Black Stranger. Rather than Conan joining a ship of pirates a Aquilonian ship arrives to escort him back to become king. '
I just finished Conan the Rebel, by Poul Anderson. It's a decent read, as I expected as Anderson has written a few classics of his own.
I really enjoyed your chronological run down of the Conan novels. I was turned on to Conan via one of Robert E. Howard’s other characters in a book I received for “Christmas 78” called Almuric. I then started searching second hand book stores for the 1-12 Lancer series of books. I only found four from the early series before giving up my search. Now forward to present day, my interest in Conan has again been reinvigorated by the release of the new “Conan The Barbarian” series by Titan Comics. I enjoy it so much that I can’t wait until the end of the month now so I can go to the comic store and buy the next issue. And I stopped buying comic books years ago! Now with my Conan interest renewed, I wanted to get the rest of the Conan books. So I decided to purchase the complete 1967 Ace 1-12 volume Conan series instead buying the individual books I needed. If you are still interested in getting the series for yourself. There are quite a few Lancer/ Ace 12 book series for sale on Ebay now.
I will be by to visit again, thank you..
Glad to hear your passion for these books was rekindled!!!
I started getting the Lancer/Ace books not too long ago. I have the Robert Jordan omnibuses and SAGAS OF CONAN omnibus with three De Camp/Carter/Nyberg novels (CONAN THE SWORDSMAN/CONAN THE LIBERATOR/CONAN AND THE SPIDER GOD) I've been a fan of the Marvel series for a long time, as I got into CONAN through those comics. Some of their comics did discuss the Cimmerians attacking the fort you mentioned. I think CONAN THE ADVENTURER comic of the 1990s delve into it, but I haven't read those in a while.
All the Best,
James Heath Lantz
Freelance Writer
Staff Writer for Back Issue magazine
2021 Eisner Award nominee, 2019 winner, "Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism"
Excellent vid.
Thanks man!
This was a fantastic overview, thank you for putting it together!! (1) I'm a big Turtledove fan and I acknowledge Conan of Venarium is not his best work. I encourage you to complete the Videssos Cycle... It was one of his first published works - I believe the four novels represent his fourth through eighth published books, and while he still produces some good stuff, Turtledove's early works are more tightly plotted and "lean" in a way that his recent work is not. [I suspect he has gotten Stephen King-itis --- after reaching a certain level of success, he has the power to ignore publisher notes and editors' suggestions, sometimes to his detriment.] (2) I understand you were focusing on Conan, not Robert E. Howard, but have you ever read much about REH's life? His own personal story is as compelling as any of his characters. There are many excellent biographies available; just in 2021, Todd Vick published an excellent manuscript ["Renegades and Rogues"]. I also recommend the biography available on the Robert E. Howard Foundation website - it's 11,000 words (!) and is a great intro to REH, albeit from a subjective source...
I need to read more non-Conan Howard for sure. I am fascinated by all of his other heroes.
Per bios of REH, on @michaelk.vaughan8617 channel, he touts Blood & Thunder as being the best (he's a big REH fan - has a segment called the "REH Show").
Dude great video those first one's are the one's I grew up with I have a few. I didn't know Howard didn't write them either.
Thanks!
I love a lot of the stuff you've talked about here and I have 3 of the hard covers that were published by Gnome Publishing back in the 50's plus a all of the Acer/Lancer books and a bunch more. The thing I loved most about this though was hearing your take on Jordan and WoT - exactly like mine - especially the Braid tugging! It's like he had a fetish
I read about seven Konun books when I was in High School. It wasn't
until about 47 years later that I found FIVE Konun books at a 2nd--hand
Store. I bought them, and read them. Good memories.
I read the lancer paperbacks first throughout the mid 1970's. Attracted first to ERB's many series of books with Frazetta Covers, then was turned on to the Conan series. Based on the fact that ERB heroes stayed with the same mate for the whole series. In Howard's stories Conan found a different mate in each story.... At the time the books by Howard, DeCamp and Carter (Lancer) came out sporadically. Book 5 before 1 etc. So you read what you could find. The Lancer books often had different numbers than they would when all 12 books were finally published. I liked the chronological stories and the pretext about connecting on story to the next and mentioning Conan's approximate age. I didn't know any different at the time, and had just started enjoying reading so I could hardly tell which stories were Howard's and that of DeCamp and company. I think the last book to be printed came out around 1978, Conan of Aquilonia. Conan of the Isles (12) came out prior. Lancer went bankrupt, and Frazetta's CoA cover painting was stolen from the Lancer office. The painting depicted Conan with a double edge battle axe with white beard and mustache. One of Frank's best. Ace used a copy for their C of A cover likely from a cropped photo.
The Del Ray books are excellent and since its been like 50 years since my first reading the Lancer Conan's, I can certainly see why many are critical of DeCamps edits. But back in the day it was all we had and we loved it. I should reread Swordsman and the other book by Decamp. While the stories aren't Howard, it brings back memories of the other stories in Conan's tales that were quite good. Howard of course had a sharper edge to his writing then DeCamp and many others. I think for good reason because he was the creator of his Hyborian world. The paperback books don't hold up well. Hope you find some reasonably priced copies. Thanks for the video.
That was a great walkthrough of the Conan pastiche works. I love Howard's original works, but I have a great fondness for the pastiches as well, since that was my introduction to the character. I was given Conan the Swordsman as a gift, and loved the character, and that led to collecting all the Ace paperbacks (which I wish I still had) and reading them until they were falling apart. The Robert Jordan novels were a fun take on the character, though they did feel formulaic after the first few. Howard's originals are the best, but there is a lot of great reading in the pastiche works (including the comics).
You too?? I was afraid to admit that I came to Conan through the pastiche works... I also was given Conan the Swordsman as a gift. Funny. We must be the same generation....
@@JeffMPalermo It sounds like we are. It's interesting the ways we build up in our heads about the "right" way to come to something. I read The Sword of Shannara before The Lord of the Rings, because it happened to be published when I was 12 and just coming into fantasy works. I'm still a huge fan of Lord of the Rings. I discovered classical music through Bugs Bunny cartoons, and had classmates who saw West Side Story before reading Romeo and Juliet. However we came to something, whatever we enjoy, it's all good. Literary pedigrees and gatekeeping are games for teenagers.
@@stevengentry9396 Could not agree more!
Conan the Barbarian was my very first read after I saw the movie. I was 9 or 10. I was hooked. Found the comics at the public library. And then found the Tor books. I still collect everything Conan.
On Harry Turtledove, his most known work is the Worldwar series of books where a race of lizards come to invade earth thinking we were still in the middle ages when we were actually going into the second world war. Earths nations unite against the common enemy from the stars and mayhem ensues. It runs fairly true to history with some actual ww2 characters and the culture clash between lizard and humans is well done. The whole premise is creative using an alternative history.
I've seen those novels on various bookstore shelves back in the day.
I have a few of the L. Sprague de Camp/Lin Carter volumes and I didn't pay much for any of them. I picked them all up at branches of a local used/remainder book chain in my area. If you try eBay, it would probably be $20 at least per volume. I have found a bunch of great stuff at those stores at very good prices over the years. For instance, I found a first edition of The Running Man (i.e. no Stephen King on it, just Richard Bachman and in paperback format). That goes for $50 or so usually online, but I paid under $3 for it and this was not a long time ago. If you have any used book shops or something like that in your area, I would say check those places periodically. Many times, you will find nothing of interest, but then sometimes you will find stuff that just makes your day.
In fact, at one location of that store recently, I found various Conan books, including some of those volumes, but I couldn't remember which ones I had and which ones I didn't, as they are in storage at the moment, so I wasn't able to check. They got sold pretty quickly, unfortunately. I did pick up the novelization for Conan the Destroyer, though, which is fun.
I do want to get some of the continuation novels, but never knew which ones to get and which to avoid. Think I will focus on the Jordan novels, at least to start.
Ive only read the REH conan stories, im definitley going to give these a go
This was a great reading-order list, and exploration of the Conan Pastiche novels, Conan of the Isles and Conan of Aquilonia both caught my eye along with his year one adventure.
While I've enjoyed some Conan comics, I very much have to agree that I prefer the book Conan to the comic book version, though that might be my inexperience with Conan (only been reading him for about almost two years).
I’ve heard very good things about Marvel’s Savage Sword of Conan run in the 1970’s but haven’t read them.
@@JeffMPalermo Weirdly I didn't like the Marvel stuff I read, but preferred the Dark Horse run.
I was 13 in 1970 when I bought the first Marvel Conan comic. I had started to lose interest in comics around that time, having already done a total immersion in Marvel, DC, and...I can't remember the name of the publisher...something Classics...they did pretty good comic book versions of classic novels. This Conan comic was something different, though, something new, and each new edition got better and better. Barry Smith's artwork was phenomenal. Then I came upon a copy of Lancer's Conan the Adventurer. The Lancer covers didn't have the white borders. They had the whole painting edge to edge. I can still picture it perfectly, Conan staring at me from that book rack at the convenient store in all his Frazetta glory. That moment changed my life. The comics by Thomas and Smith were fantastic, but the stories by Howard were GGGGGRRRREEEEEEAAAAAATTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!! Carter and de Camp's additions just filled it all out. I became a Conan fanatic in my teens, and still to this day, I think I should at least give doing my own pastiche or two a try. It's always been on the list, but that bucket's getting much much closer. I should probably hurry up on that.
I never tried the comics. I should give them a go at some point...
I’ve been obsessed with these novels for the last ten years. I have the 8 of the lancer 60’s editions. They’re so fragile I can’t read them. Breaks my heart. They’re in good condition, though
Yeah getting those Ace or Lancers is quite an odyssey now...
the very first Conan book I read was Conan the wanderer PB ace 85 edition back in 86. I consider Flame Knife as the best Conan pastiche written love that one.
Robert E. Howard is my favorite author. I wasn't a fan of Robert Jordan's Conan. I know that's probably controversial-but I felt his writing didn't suite the barbarian. I think Jordan is a great writer, but he wasn't gritty enough in my eyes. Now the newest novel by S.M. Stirling, "Conan: Blood of the Serpent" I am loving.
Given that Howard offered himself so young, it's no surprise that his % of Conan stories is very small. Still the best.
A similar statement could be made regarding Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle, minus the suicide.
A welcome and worthwhile video, but the bed in the background is really throwing me off. The brick wall alone would make you look like a stand-up comedian. No bookshelf? BookTubers must have bookshelf. It is the law of BookTube. ;) Valorous and Rogue sound cool. I need to revisit Road of Kings.
Oh wait, this was my bedtube video.... :-)
What about "Conan and the Sorcerer" by Andrew J. Offutt in 1978? It's been years since I read it but I liked it as a kid. It also had some great illustrations in it back in the day. I'll have to re-read it as an adult and see if it holds up.
I missed that one!
31 is slightly more Conan stories than “about a dozen”
I loved John Maddox Roberts alternate history novel King of the Wood. , a obscure hard to find PB from Tor bought it in the late 80s from a sidewalk vendor selling used US military stuff in Avenida Manila. , Philippines.
have never heard of that. One will give it a look. I still want to read his SPQR novels.
@@JeffMPalermo it has a conan feel to it, with Europe overrun by the mongols, a viking colony in the USA and the hero helping the mongols sack the Aztec empire.
Me my fave story in Conan the swordsman was Moon of Blood the last story, My Conan the swordsman was the UK sphere PB edition bought in 89 from a Hong Kong book shop in Kowloon.
Kowloon! That’s wild.
@@JeffMPalermo yep HK had a bunch of very good english bookstores which sold mostly UK books. saw a good number of Conans published by Sphere in those bookstores int the late 80s early 90s. Also the old Hong Kong Kai tak airport has probably the best bookstores in any airport int he world, three very good sizable bookstores in that airport .
I became acquainted with Conan & Howard's works via Marvel comics; but I wasn't able to read an actual Conan/Howard story until a few years after my 1st Conan comic when I purchased the Lancer book Conan the Conqueror aka Hour of the Dragon. As I kept on buying the Lancer publications I found the pastiches stereotypical & wanting really.
Makes sense. I need to try the comics.
If there's something of a large comic book shop near you there are large reprint books for sale. You're not going to find it a book store. @@JeffMPalermo
And FRAZZETTA is the ONLY Artist ( for me) that really Nailed it!
In fact----- I Painted several of Frank's paintings for myself! They turned
out so good, that some people didn't believe that I actually painted
Them!
For me it will always be Frank Frazetta, Ken Kelly, John Buscema and Joe Jusko
I'm sitting on hundreds of dollars!?
Lol.
Have the entire De Camp and Carter series, great shape. Bought em new back in the early 80's.
Curious....
soon it's getting out Conan: Blood of the Serpent by S.M. Stirling
Im in the process of rough drafts of the Conan series. I liked the stories so much, that i brought all 10 volumes and a few from other sources, but they were nothing compared to Robert E. HOWARD, L SPRAG DE CAMP,& LIN CARTER. Anything else was tainted.
Someone once said of the James Bond books that reading Fleming is like eating a fine meal, while reading a pastiche is like eating fast food. Both can be good and will fill you up but only one is a truly meaningful experience. Having said that I enjoyed most of the Tor books. My favorite: Conan the Rogue by John Maddox Roberts. So much fun.
I’m a big fan of Conan the rogue!
@@JeffMPalermo I particularly enjoyed the "Maltese Falcon" riff.
@@christopherwilson3754 Yes! And of course, A Fistfull of Dollars.
All of it-- Yojimbo, Fistful and Last Man Standing- springs directly from Hammett's first novel, Red Harvest. I'd think you'd be aware of that, Book Tubing guy.@@JeffMPalermo
Nope. First i'm hearing of it.@@petercollinson8039
Adventure House has reprints of the Ace/Lancer books and they're all between $8-10 each.
Thanks for the tip!
I had all those books, gave them to my brother 😂😂😂
I'm almost done reading Conan the Marauder, it's not bad! For me though...it's not dark enough and it's a bit slow.
I don’t think I tried that one.
#ReadmoreConan !
I can't read Conan stories outside of the Ace series. I got spoiled by the Sword of Skelos book; there was a lot lacking: the dialogue, atmosphere.
Will try some of those other authors, Jordan, Wagner. But I have a feeling I will be disappointed. There is something cinematic about Howard's Conan. His language, morals, willingness to fight fit subtly into his surroundings and circumstances.
There is a subtlety to Howard's Conan, a moral subtlety. There are convictions there that defy modern narratives. Loyalty, chivalry in the Hyborian Age? I think not. An evolutionary urge, primal survival instinct more likely. Intelligence, professionalism, street smarts in the Hyborian Age? More like cunning, opportunism and hunger.
The Hyborian Age compared to the "Age of Innocence"? Avarice, ruthlessness, murder, exploitation? More like greed, survival, slavery, lust, treachery, fear and all the other human shortcomings on overactive display. Religion in the Hyborian Age? More like Worship of Possessive and Vengeful Gods. Nobility in the Hyborian Age? More like the strength to defend oneself and others. Philosophy and wisdom in the Hyborian Age? Plenty of it; learned from struggles with Sorcerers, demons, soldiers, thieves, fanatics, monsters and other creatures surviving from the pre Deluvian world.
Süper
I'd rate Wagner and Maddox the highest, but then again when you are in competition with the likes of Steve Perry...? Over all when it comes to the pastiche novels.... I find them to be sub-par mercenary work written in order to profit on a dead mans work.
It's true, ultimately. I think Jordan's work is of a solid calibre as well.
KONUN' sounds MUCH better than, CO--NAN. Co--nan sounds a bit
too effeminate to me KONUN sounds more BEEFY.....More Masculine,
and that's how I pronounce the name.