It's weird how the Conan and the Sorcerer, Conan The Mercenary and The Sword of Skelos are a series, but published out of order and by two different publishers.
Another good video. I really perked up at the mention of Kane books from Karl Edward Wagner possibly being reprinted. What information do you have on that?
Very informative. Thanks for sharing this. Those covers are great. I've only ever read the original REH material and I was very lost on all the pastiche books and what order they were in. Thanks again for sharing this info and run down! Its too bad that a lot of this is hard to find now. I guess the fates have shifted and its much easier to find the original material than it is the pastiche. I guess that's good, but it would be nice to have it all available. But I guess I'm just greedy 😅
I picked up the Fanstasy Masterworks Conan editions ages ago and only just dusted them off to read them, largely thanks to you. Man, they are great. I can't believe I waited so long to read them. Now to read the rest of Howard. Great to hear that the Karl Edward Wagner stories might be getting a reprint. The used copies go for crazy prices even in rough condition, and the ebook covers make the books look like gay porn. 😄
We seem to have remarkably similar experiences of Conan. I too started with the comics in the 70s (harder to get in Scotland), and then graduated to the L Sprague de Camp books. In Britain these were published by Sphere books, and included the 6 you just mentioned, plus a whole lot of rather average novels by Robert Jordan. In the sphere series the Andrew J. Offutt book, The Sword of Skelos, was Preceded by Conan the Mercenary. I don't remember either book being great. I enjoyed the L Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter books more than any of the ones that came after, but all the books highlighted what an exceptional writer Robert E Howard was, by being vastly inferior.
I bought my first ever Conan comic in Scotland in 1973. We were on a family holiday to Ayrshire over what for us was an August Bank Holiday, although I think Scottish school kids would have returned to class by then.
this has become one of my favourite channels , especially the Robert E Howard shows. Thank you for covering so much Conan and REH. Looking forward to having some good discussions in these comment sections from Now on.
Looking forward to your review(s) of these books. Coincidentally I recently purchased _Sagas of Conan_ on a nostalgic whim. It contains Conan the Swordsman, Conan the Liberator and Conan & the Spider God. Reading the last one now.
Somehow, I'd never heard of these, much less that Karl Edward Wagner wrote one! That's really cool. I've been wanting to read the Kane stories forever, but as you said, they're pretty hard to track down for reasonable prices. Now I have to decide whether or not to get the e-book editions or to wait for a reprint... we shall see. 😛Aside from the Del Rey reprints, I'm more familiar with the Tor/Baen stuff. It would be interesting to hear more about the Tor stuff; I don't think you've talked about them yet on your channel. All I know is that Robert Jordan wrote a bunch, including a novelization of Conan the Destroyer, so that should be interesting, at the very least, lol. Great video as always, Michael! 🥰
I know that Liberator and Rebel were reprinted amongst the Tor books. My first exposure to Liberator was a Tor edition I picked up in the late 90s. I spied a Tor copy of Rebel at a used book store about 3 months ago
Interesting set of books. Conan The Liberator was the story of how he became king. If I remember correctly, it was a fight for freedom. A bit controversial with some Howard fans, as he was viewed as more of a conqueror. The Ace set that came after was a reprint of the books you have here. Most of those Ace covers had Conan stroking his sword with the artwork. Verry suggestive. A fun set of books. Looking forward to hearing your takes on them.
I was definitely part of the cohort who were first introduced to Robert Howard and Conan by this series (and by Roy Thomas,).I remember these paperbacks as QUITE a mixed bag to be sure.
Another good video Michael my first introduction to Conan here in the UK was through these volumes published ny sphere though they did have the same excellent covers still have them all after all those years back in the late 70s and early 90s Howard's fabulous stories wasn't so easily available unlike today
I found Road of Kings at a used book store. I actually seem to remember an interview on Sci-Fi Channel which stated that L. Sprague de Camp's wife Catherine was an uncredited co-writer on Conan and the Spider God.
I'd love to find these! Those foldout covers are so cool, I don't believe I've ever seen that idea in any book before. I've seen interior fold out maps of course, or secondary covers inside - this shows off the art much better then wrapping around the back where so much gets hidden by text and you can't lay it completely flat, why haven't more books done this? Unfortunately, my Sword of Skellos is 1981 bantam with blander art (although Conan's using a brazier as a weapon which is sort of novel).
If you haven't read it, try Oliver Stone's first draft screenplay for Conan, easily attainable online. He obviously pulls from Howard here and there, but mostly it's just really entertaining psychedelic insanity.
You mentioned a possible new set of Wagner's Kane books coming. I have been looking for a relatively inexpensive physical set of these books for a while now. Do you know if this new set will be buy-able by the masses (a la the recent Elric hardcover books from Saga), or are you referring to the reprinting of the Centipede books (which will be $500)? As always, love your videos Michael!
Sadly, it seems what I have heard about these reprints might be little more than rumors. I have been unable to confirm anything. Sad, as these books desperately need to be reprinted.
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 Thanks for the reply! Yes, it IS sad. I have been reading these from a highly questionable set of eBooks I found, and they are pretty bad. Rough OCR scans mean lots of typos and formatting errors. Really takes a reader out of the story. I don't think I have the same editions that are for sale on Amazon, so maybe those are a little better. Those covers are scary though. They look like romance novels.
The only ones I definitely remember reading from that series are The Liberator and The Road of Kings. I thought The Road of Kings was excellent. I think I may have read The Spider God but, from what I've heard, it was pretty forgettable anyway. I did read the movie adaptation but, as you said, that doesn't count.
The Del Rey set looks great! Out of Howard's original Conan stories is there any specific one you would recommend starting with, or does the reading order not really matter?
I would read them in the order they were written starting with The Phoenix on the Sword. They are all pretty self contained however so you don’t really need to read them in any particular order.
Whats your opinion on the Lin Carter edited books of the Clark Aston Smith. There are 5 of them n each is a collection of a cycle he did. Are they the original version on the stories or r they edited like Lin Carter and DeCamp did with Conan. Wanna know if they are worth getting or not. I reslly wanna do justice for Clark Aston Smith and read his stories.
Those are great books if you can get them. I have a couple of them. Lin Carter was an excellent editor and, to my knowledge, did not change the texts other than to correct obvious errors.
I am familiar with the Tor series, but these Bantams are new to me. Andrew J. Offutt is a pretty interesting guy; his son wrote a biography called My Father The Pornographer that was one of the best books I read last year.
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 No worries, you spelled Bantam correctly, I just thought that'd be surreal if he'd met Batman, and had somehow a way into Marvel and DC!
The book covers in the thumbnail are a definite turnoff. The way that the woman relates to the man in the pictures is naked, powerless, and dominated. I hope those aren't a reflection of the books' contents.
Women lying at the Hero’s feet, often clasping him by the ankles, is something that happens over and over again on Sword and Sorcery covers of the 70s and 80s. It is an odd, though fairly obvious way to attract men to buy the books. The one moment I can remember it actually happening in one of Robert E. Howard’s stories is in Xuthal of the Dusk, and the young woman was suffering from severe dehydration and so can be forgiven. As for this Bantam set, it’s been so long since I’ve read them I couldn’t tell you for sure.
its ramadan no conan time for me. its intresting the conan evenmany times goes on east with mythlogy its lack of islamic aspect. only buildings solders and women harem. one of the things robert howard lack of ı think faith. he pursuit cultural aspect very good but lack of spritual aspect. this why ı put Berserk manga over comic book conan. miura berserk conan plus with spitual aspect. not just demons vs guy on arabic world or arabic padisah enjoying women with cruelly. you can found solders heros even angels to smilarty islamic faith. prince silat a character alone ı think way above hat conan introduce from east. fake prophet or chosen one is topic on berserk like star wars. conan kinda lack of this greater purpose. makes him travel around east places kinda empty.
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 73 วันนี้!! คู่เอก "วรพล vs พันฤทธิ์"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/rrOljlqse3A/mqdefault.jpg)
Big fuzzy Spiders, babes in bronze Bikinis, and bare chested barabarians unite!
It's weird how the Conan and the Sorcerer, Conan The Mercenary and The Sword of Skelos are a series, but published out of order and by two different publishers.
That is weird. I wonder what happened there.
I hope you cover the Tor books, though that's a big ask seeing how many there are.
Andrew Offut edited the Swords Against Darkness anthology series. That was good Sword and Sorcery.
Yes! I only have the first one, unfortunately. It was awesome.
Another good video. I really perked up at the mention of Kane books from Karl Edward Wagner possibly being reprinted. What information do you have on that?
Robert E. Howard(excuse me)😁
I’ve read a couple of those and they were great. 👍
Very informative. Thanks for sharing this. Those covers are great. I've only ever read the original REH material and I was very lost on all the pastiche books and what order they were in. Thanks again for sharing this info and run down! Its too bad that a lot of this is hard to find now. I guess the fates have shifted and its much easier to find the original material than it is the pastiche. I guess that's good, but it would be nice to have it all available. But I guess I'm just greedy 😅
I picked up the Fanstasy Masterworks Conan editions ages ago and only just dusted them off to read them, largely thanks to you. Man, they are great. I can't believe I waited so long to read them. Now to read the rest of Howard.
Great to hear that the Karl Edward Wagner stories might be getting a reprint. The used copies go for crazy prices even in rough condition, and the ebook covers make the books look like gay porn. 😄
Those covers are amazing. Thank you for this spotlight on them. Happy reading, Michael.
Another great video, Michael! Despite not having Howard stories in them, I'm still glad I have them in my collection. The covers are outstanding!
thanks, MKV. Much appreciated. I read them in the time period they were published and still have them in storage.
We seem to have remarkably similar experiences of Conan. I too started with the comics in the 70s (harder to get in Scotland), and then graduated to the L Sprague de Camp books. In Britain these were published by Sphere books, and included the 6 you just mentioned, plus a whole lot of rather average novels by Robert Jordan.
In the sphere series the Andrew J. Offutt book, The Sword of Skelos, was Preceded by Conan the Mercenary. I don't remember either book being great.
I enjoyed the L Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter books more than any of the ones that came after, but all the books highlighted what an exceptional writer Robert E Howard was, by being vastly inferior.
I bought my first ever Conan comic in Scotland in 1973. We were on a family holiday to Ayrshire over what for us was an August Bank Holiday, although I think Scottish school kids would have returned to class by then.
this has become one of my favourite channels , especially the Robert E Howard shows.
Thank you for covering so much Conan and REH.
Looking forward to having some good discussions in these comment sections from
Now on.
Great video and thank you for steering me to that fantastic Del Rey set Michael! (Would you believe I struggled with Wagner's 'Road of Kings'?)
I think Wagner struggled with it too.
Looking forward to your review(s) of these books. Coincidentally I recently purchased _Sagas of Conan_ on a nostalgic whim. It contains Conan the Swordsman, Conan the Liberator and Conan & the Spider God. Reading the last one now.
The Blade of Conan (edited by L. Sprague De Camp) The Worlds Greatest Living Fantasy Writers Pay Tribute to Robert E. Howard (1979)
My brother used to have thr spider god book but I don't recall what happened to it. I do remenber that the cover was eye catching.
Somehow, I'd never heard of these, much less that Karl Edward Wagner wrote one! That's really cool. I've been wanting to read the Kane stories forever, but as you said, they're pretty hard to track down for reasonable prices. Now I have to decide whether or not to get the e-book editions or to wait for a reprint... we shall see. 😛Aside from the Del Rey reprints, I'm more familiar with the Tor/Baen stuff. It would be interesting to hear more about the Tor stuff; I don't think you've talked about them yet on your channel. All I know is that Robert Jordan wrote a bunch, including a novelization of Conan the Destroyer, so that should be interesting, at the very least, lol. Great video as always, Michael! 🥰
Even though the non-Howard Conan books are a mixed bag I'd like to see them collected.
I know that Liberator and Rebel were reprinted amongst the Tor books. My first exposure to Liberator was a Tor edition I picked up in the late 90s. I spied a Tor copy of Rebel at a used book store about 3 months ago
😊
Interesting set of books. Conan The Liberator was the story of how he became king. If I remember correctly, it was a fight for freedom. A bit controversial with some Howard fans, as he was viewed as more of a conqueror. The Ace set that came after was a reprint of the books you have here. Most of those Ace covers had Conan stroking his sword with the artwork. Verry suggestive. A fun set of books. Looking forward to hearing your takes on them.
Michael, have you read any Harold Lamb? It is said he was a big influence on REH's Conan stories.
I was definitely part of the cohort who were first introduced to Robert Howard and Conan by this series (and by Roy Thomas,).I remember these paperbacks as QUITE a mixed bag to be sure.
I need all of these 😜
Hi. Can you do a episode on all of the H.P Lovecraft del Rey editions. Thank you.
Did you see my comment on DC Finest? Their upcoming version of the Epic Collections - starts in november! 😀
I had hoped that for April Fool's you would be doing a video on the "Conan the Librarian" bit from the UHF movie.
Another good video Michael my first introduction to Conan here in the UK was through these volumes published ny sphere though they did have the same excellent covers still have them all after all those years back in the late 70s and early 90s Howard's fabulous stories wasn't so easily available unlike today
I found Road of Kings at a used book store.
I actually seem to remember an interview on Sci-Fi Channel which stated that L. Sprague de Camp's wife Catherine was an uncredited co-writer on Conan and the Spider God.
Interesting.
I'd love to find these! Those foldout covers are so cool, I don't believe I've ever seen that idea in any book before. I've seen interior fold out maps of course, or secondary covers inside - this shows off the art much better then wrapping around the back where so much gets hidden by text and you can't lay it completely flat, why haven't more books done this? Unfortunately, my Sword of Skellos is 1981 bantam with blander art (although Conan's using a brazier as a weapon which is sort of novel).
Ha!
I would like to read a Conan novel by E Robert Howard! Where's a good place to start?
If you haven't read it, try Oliver Stone's first draft screenplay for Conan, easily attainable online. He obviously pulls from Howard here and there, but mostly it's just really entertaining psychedelic insanity.
I will definitely check that out!
For all their flaws the bantam books gave people a chance to read the novel Conan.
Bob Larkin did covers #1-4,6. Tim Kirk did #5.
Thanks!
You mentioned a possible new set of Wagner's Kane books coming. I have been looking for a relatively inexpensive physical set of these books for a while now. Do you know if this new set will be buy-able by the masses (a la the recent Elric hardcover books from Saga), or are you referring to the reprinting of the Centipede books (which will be $500)?
As always, love your videos Michael!
Sadly, it seems what I have heard about these reprints might be little more than rumors. I have been unable to confirm anything. Sad, as these books desperately need to be reprinted.
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 Thanks for the reply! Yes, it IS sad. I have been reading these from a highly questionable set of eBooks I found, and they are pretty bad. Rough OCR scans mean lots of typos and formatting errors. Really takes a reader out of the story. I don't think I have the same editions that are for sale on Amazon, so maybe those are a little better. Those covers are scary though. They look like romance novels.
The only ones I definitely remember reading from that series are The Liberator and The Road of Kings. I thought The Road of Kings was excellent. I think I may have read The Spider God but, from what I've heard, it was pretty forgettable anyway. I did read the movie adaptation but, as you said, that doesn't count.
The Del Rey set looks great! Out of Howard's original Conan stories is there any specific one you would recommend starting with, or does the reading order not really matter?
I would read them in the order they were written starting with The Phoenix on the Sword. They are all pretty self contained however so you don’t really need to read them in any particular order.
@@michaelk.vaughan8617
Thanks! I am a big fan of Haggard, Burroughs, Lovecraft and Tolkien, so I imagine Robert E. Howard will be fun!
Whats your opinion on the Lin Carter edited books of the Clark Aston Smith. There are 5 of them n each is a collection of a cycle he did. Are they the original version on the stories or r they edited like Lin Carter and DeCamp did with Conan. Wanna know if they are worth getting or not. I reslly wanna do justice for Clark Aston Smith and read his stories.
Those are great books if you can get them. I have a couple of them. Lin Carter was an excellent editor and, to my knowledge, did not change the texts other than to correct obvious errors.
I am familiar with the Tor series, but these Bantams are new to me. Andrew J. Offutt is a pretty interesting guy; his son wrote a biography called My Father The Pornographer that was one of the best books I read last year.
Yeah, I forgot to mention the staggering amount of porn he wrote.
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 I remember him mostly for his contributions to the Thieves World anthologies.
Man a lot of Conan stories were not written by Howard.
Blasphemy to me. If its not by Robert E Howard its not text. Its was Howard's creation everyone tries making money off. Norhing beats the original.
Am I the only one who was let down when they figured out this video wasn't about Conan: the Batman series? ☺
Sorry.
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 No worries, you spelled Bantam correctly, I just thought that'd be surreal if he'd met Batman, and had somehow a way into Marvel and DC!
The book covers in the thumbnail are a definite turnoff. The way that the woman relates to the man in the pictures is naked, powerless, and dominated. I hope those aren't a reflection of the books' contents.
Women lying at the Hero’s feet, often clasping him by the ankles, is something that happens over and over again on Sword and Sorcery covers of the 70s and 80s. It is an odd, though fairly obvious way to attract men to buy the books. The one moment I can remember it actually happening in one of Robert E. Howard’s stories is in Xuthal of the Dusk, and the young woman was suffering from severe dehydration and so can be forgiven. As for this Bantam set, it’s been so long since I’ve read them I couldn’t tell you for sure.
According to Richard Toogood, in his book 'The Conan Companion', L. Sprague de Camp didn't like it either (the cover of 'Conan the Liberator').
Looking forward to your comments on current Harlequin novels.
its ramadan no conan time for me. its intresting the conan evenmany times goes on east with mythlogy its lack of islamic aspect. only buildings solders and women harem. one of the things robert howard lack of ı think faith. he pursuit cultural aspect very good but lack of spritual aspect. this why ı put Berserk manga over comic book conan. miura berserk conan plus with spitual aspect. not just demons vs guy on arabic world or arabic padisah enjoying women with cruelly. you can found solders heros even angels to smilarty islamic faith. prince silat a character alone ı think way above hat conan introduce from east. fake prophet or chosen one is topic on berserk like star wars. conan kinda lack of this greater purpose. makes him travel around east places kinda empty.