BLACK CONAN is back!

[René]

I'm talking about IMARO, a black CONAN created by Charles R. Saunders back in the 70s.
For the guys who never read the short stories: the setting is an alternate Africa, Nyumbani, where the hero IMARO battles hostile tribes, beasts and demons, where he wins angel-like women and leads huge bandit gangs in sacking rich cities - sounds as you have read something like this before?

Sure, but maybe not from a BLACK perspective. Not only that IMARO is a black tribesman, the author C.R. Saunders is black, too, and was a strong sympathisant of the black emancipation movement of the 70s. He wrote IMARO as his contribution to a black F / SF -scene. And he did a lot of research: you'll notice this when reading. All the myths and stories and landscapes and even the language feel real. He e.g. doesn't say "black magic", but "mchawi", not "lion", but "Ngatun" etc.

Until now his wonderful stories were only available via used book stores, but from February 2006 on Nightshade Books will republish the three novels / short story collections PLUS the volumes 4 & 5 which were always planned, but never published before.

Having read the first (old) volume I strongly recommend these books to every CONAN fan and especially for every GM planning adventures in the Black Kingdoms. You not only get real good ideas and scenarios, but a lot of atmosphere and suggestions to portray your NPCs in a way which makes them feel real!

The links below give some info about the new edition and an interview with the author.

Have fun!

http://www.mail-archive.com/scifinoir_l ... 00584.html

http://www.zone-sf.com/crsaunders.html

[Mythos]

Glad to hear that these are going to back in print!
Since I first found out about these stories I've been looking for them in a complete collection. Without any luck.
Now I can get them and read through the entire series.

BTW, anyone wanting additional info on the character and setting can get the material at the following;
http://www.dodgenet.com/~moonblossom/imaro.htm

[Jason Durall]

Awesome!

I've only read scattered short stories about Imaro, so it'll nice to read a big chunk of them at once.

[toothill man]

it looks like perfect black kingdom fodder in fact after the conan books have been used up in adventure form how about a few black conan and some red sonja adventures that would be cool

[Ozric]

Those sound great. I wonder if the Science Fiction Book Club will carry those in a hardback version like the two Kane collections they carry, also from Nightshade, I believe.

[The King]

You can already gather some info there, thanks to Dale Rippke (once again): http://www.dodgenet.com/~moonblossom/imaro.htm

[René]

Just for thesake of completeness: the new IMARO books will not only be reprints, but will get rewritten in some major parts, e.g. in vol. 1 C. R. Saunders dislikes the Giant Kings story, because the place of the slaughter is Ruanda, which was in 1994 the place of a real genocide. This will have impacts on the overall course of the epic according to Mr. Saunders.

So if you want the original books, you should look in used book stores. I got mine via ebay at a high price (but unread all three!), but for U.S. residents it should be much cheaper.

[toothill man]

right e-bay here we come

[René]

right e-bay here we come

Wish you luck! The most offers I found at abebooks.com.

[Flashman67]

Wow! Talk about synchronicity. I was just putzing around the Nyambe site and found the reference to Inaro. Sounded interesting so I looked up some more and really liked it. Tracked down some titles that I'll look for at my used book store or order it on line if they don't have it.

Then I come here and see the "Black Conan" title and I knew it had to be Inaro.

[toothill man]

welcome to the boards flash

[Flashman67]

welcome to the boards flash

Hey, thanks! I've lurked on these boards from time to time, since the game came out. I've been a REH fan since 9th grade when I checked out "Conan the Conqueror" from my High School library.

[toothill man]

it seems to be common among conan fans that the books grabbed them when growning up and we have just been waiting for a game to come along to do it justice

[Flashman67]

it seems to be common among conan fans that the books grabbed them when growning up and we have just been waiting for a game to come along to do it justice

Exactly! I used to get so frustrated with the old Conan D&D modules; they just didn't do the setting justice. Since I lived in the boondocks when I was young, I wasn't able to get my hands on Gurps Conan, either.

I remember being ecstatic when Unearthed Arcana came out (the first one), and it contained the Barbarian class. All I could think of was that, at last, I could run Conan properly. Remember the awesome char gen? It was basically "roll a big bucket o' dice for strength, dexterity, and constitution."

[toothill man]

ah remember them well but the tsr bods could never do it justice being at the time self banned from deamons and the grimness needed so now we have mongoose showing us the way

[Yogah of Yag]

I'm talking about IMARO, a black CONAN created by Charles R. Saunders back in the 70s.
For the guys who never read the short stories: the setting is an alternate Africa, Nyumbani, where the hero IMARO battles hostile tribes, beasts and demons, where he wins angel-like women and leads huge bandit gangs in sacking rich cities - sounds as you have read something like this before?

Sure, but maybe not from a BLACK perspective. Not only that IMARO is a black tribesman, the author C.R. Saunders is black, too, and was a strong sympathisant of the black emancipation movement of the 70s. He wrote IMARO as his contribution to a black F / SF -scene. And he did a lot of research: you'll notice this when reading. All the myths and stories and landscapes and even the language feel real. He e.g. doesn't say "black magic", but "mchawi", not "lion", but "Ngatun" etc.

Until now his wonderful stories were only available via used book stores, but from February 2006 on Nightshade Books will republish the three novels / short story collections PLUS the volumes 4 & 5 which were always planned, but never published before.

Having read the first (old) volume I strongly recommend these books to every CONAN fan and especially for every GM planning adventures in the Black Kingdoms. You not only get real good ideas and scenarios, but a lot of atmosphere and suggestions to portray your NPCs in a way which makes them feel real!

The links below give some info about the new edition and an interview with the author.

Have fun!

http://www.mail-archive.com/scifinoir_l ... 00584.html

http://www.zone-sf.com/crsaunders.html

I had never before heard of this author nor character. It sounds thoroughly engrossing! I will definitely begin seeking out more data on this subject. Thanks for the information.

[toothill man]

same here but no luck on e-bay yet

[René]

I'm currently reading the 3rd and up to now last volume - they are definitely worth the money! Some differences to REH's CONAN: it's a continuous story, there is evil and good (or at least not-evil), the hero has a purpose, he is monogamic, he is fueled by an all-consuming hatred, the battle-scenes have less weight than in REH.

[René]

Seems that the 1st book of the new edition is available. Enjoy the black Conan!

[Auggie]

Wow, never heard of these books- I'll have to do some searching