Cimmerians other than Conan

[Anonymous]

I know that REH never featured any other Cimmerian characters, nor did he ever allow Conan to travel back to Cimmeria, but did any of the pastiche writers? I'd like to see some treatment of Cimmerians other than Conan. Was Conan an exceptional Cimmerian, or is he an average or common variety Cimmerian? Thanks.

D Benson

 

[VincentDarlage]

Conan was indeed exceptional, as pointed out in Phoenix on the Sword, where it is shown he is more like the Aesir in temperament (sp).

Cimmerians are a depressed lot who sing a lot of dirges; probably a race of manic depressives. Up in an excited rage one minute, depressed the next.

Yes, a pastiche has been written with other Cimmerians. I think it is 'Conan the Valorous', by John Maddox Roberts. A terrible book that mischaracterises Cimmeria as being treeless, even though Howard always described it as foggy, forested and hilly.

 

[Anonymous]

Conan was indeed exceptional, as pointed out in Phoenix on the Sword, where it is shown he is more like the Aesir in temperament (sp).

Cimmerians are a depressed lot who sing a lot of dirges; probably a race of manic depressives. Up in an excited rage one minute, depressed the next.

Yes, a pastiche has been written with other Cimmerians. I think it is 'Conan the Marauder', by John Maddox Roberts. A terrible book that mischaracterises Cimmeria as being treeless, even though Howard always described it as foggy, forested and hilly.

CONAN THE MARAUDER takes place entirely in and around Hyrkania and was a book I enjoyed, giving insight into the various tribes and border city-states. CONAN THE VALOROUS, also by Roberts, is the book you're thinking of. I haven't read it yet, but own it.

 

[LWM]

I know that REH never featured any other Cimmerian characters, nor did he ever allow Conan to travel back to Cimmeria, but did any of the pastiche writers? I'd like to see some treatment of Cimmerians other than Conan. Was Conan an exceptional Cimmerian, or is he an average or common variety Cimmerian? Thanks.

D Benson

I recall some story, although I have no idea who wrote it, in which Conan fights side by side with another Cimmerian. I want to say that the name is Rolf, but I haven't read the books in over a decade, so my memory is probably very inaccurate. I seem to recall the second Cimmerian being very similar to Conan in most ways.

 

[VincentDarlage]

CONAN THE MARAUDER takes place entirely in and around Hyrkania and was a book I enjoyed, giving insight into the various tribes and border city-states. CONAN THE VALOROUS, also by Roberts, is the book you're thinking of. I haven't read it yet, but own it.

Thanks. I am at work, and not at my library. All the Conan the... titles get mixed up sometimes. Yes, it was Conan the Valorous I was thinking of.

 

[Anonymous]

CONAN THE MARAUDER takes place entirely in and around Hyrkania and was a book I enjoyed, giving insight into the various tribes and border city-states. CONAN THE VALOROUS, also by Roberts, is the book you're thinking of. I haven't read it yet, but own it.

Thanks. I am at work, and not at my library. All the Conan the... titles get mixed up sometimes. Yes, it was Conan the Valorous I was thinking of.

For anyone who has read CONAN THE MARAUDER, I am interested in where the city-states (Sogaria, etc.) lie on the map. The city-states lie between Turan and Hyrkania (on the other side of the Vilayet?), serving as a buffer and trade route to the East. THE MARAUDER did not include the map common to the TOR pastiches for some reason.

 

[Mythos]

Turtledove came out with a Conan novel less then a year ago. he used Conan's childhood as the timeframe and the destruction of the outpost Veniaum(sp?) as the climax of the story.
In general the entire book sucked. It read like a bad rewrite of Braveheart, and showed that the author did absolutely no reserach to the material that Howard had written.

 

[Anonymous]

Turtledove came out with a Conan novel less then a year ago. he used Conan's childhood as the timeframe and the destruction of the outpost Veniaum(sp?) as the climax of the story.
In general the entire book sucked. It read like a bad rewrite of Braveheart, and showed that the author did absolutely no reserach to the material that Howard had written.

That's disappointing. I had read a few reviews that were glowing and I was going to pick it up as soon as I finished "The Coming of Conan, the Cimmerian". I guess I'll skip it if it is that bad. Which pastiche authors would you recommend?

 

[VincentDarlage]

I'd stay away from the pastiches in general, but if one insists on reading them, I enjoyed Andrew Offut's trio the best (Conan and the Sorcerer, Conan the Mercenary, and Conan and the Sword of Skelos).

I recall enjoying Sean A. Moore's pastiches, and, except for Conan the Valorous, John Maddox Roberts (I am of the firm belief that Cimmeria should be left alone and mysterious).

You'd probably find more material usable for a Conan game from Howard's other, non-Conan, material than from some of the pastiches. REH had an incredible volume of output and most of it makes for far better and far more inspirational reading than the Conan pastiches.

 

[Faraer]

I'm getting back into Conan and REH, and although I've ordered Conan the Swordsman (mostly for "Hyborian Names") and Karl Edward Wagner's Road of Kings (because Wagner is good and the book's cheap), I also think Howard's non-Conan fantasy and historical adventure stories are the best inspiration. Many of them 'could' be Hyborian Age stories in terms of setting and plot, if not character, tone, etc. You also get information and names for Picts, Cimmerians, Æsir, pseudo-Africans, etc.

One reason the pastiches are generally bad is, I think, that fantasy and SF authors were hired rather than authors of historical or adventure fiction: the mindset now after the swords and sorcery genre has been established (and also post-Tolkien) is so different from the 1930s.

 

[Anonymous]

I'd stay away from the pastiches in general, but if one insists on reading them, I enjoyed Andrew Offut's trio the best (Conan and the Sorcerer, Conan the Mercenary, and Conan and the Sword of Skelos).

I recall enjoying Sean A. Moore's pastiches, and, except for Conan the Valorous, John Maddox Roberts (I am of the firm belief that Cimmeria should be left alone and mysterious).

You'd probably find more material usable for a Conan game from Howard's other, non-Conan, material than from some of the pastiches. REH had an incredible volume of output and most of it makes for far better and far more inspirational reading than the Conan pastiches.

I'm gonna take flak for this, but I got more inspiration for an adventure from John Maddox Roberts' CONAN THE ROGUE (aka CONAN AND THE MALTESE FALCON, aka A FISTFUL OF SILVERS, LOL) than any other Conan source, REH included. That's not to knock any of the other writers (certainly not REH himself) but as far as RPG adventure inspirations go, this book was an absolute jackpot. Conan is Sam Spade pitted against the same gang of crooks chasing a black scorpion statue (of some Stygian goddess, Sekmet, IIRC) instead of the Maltese Falcon. While looking for it in the wide-open Aquilonian mining town of Sicas, Conan plays the rival gangs controlling the city off against each other, managing to do a few good deeds in the process, with the end goal cleaning up the town. LOL!

 

[Anonymous]

While looking for it in the wide-open Aquilonian mining town of Sicas, Conan plays the rival gangs controlling the city off against each other, managing to do a few good deeds in the process, with the end goal cleaning up the town. LOL!

Actually, his end goal is getting rich and getting out just ahead of the king's executioners, but the end result is the town is to be cleaned up, which makes Conan smile to see all those civilized creeps getting their just desserts (the ones who aren't already dead) while he rides away with a huge chunk of their ill-gotten gains.

Remember, I'm talking about drawing inspiration for adventure design. What better than to rip off two CLASSIC MOVIES, so you get hardboiled detective work mixed in with double-dealing espionage/action and deadly swordfights in the middle of the street at high noon, ala the best Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns. I prepared a bunch of preliminary notes on the subject; I'll have to post them later if anyone's interested.

 

[Broccoli_Head]

I know it was pastiche, but didn't "Lair of the Ice Worm" take place in/around Cimmeria or was that Vanaheim or Asgard?

 

[VincentDarlage]

I know it was pastiche, but didn't "Lair of the Ice Worm" take place in/around Cimmeria or was that Vanaheim or Asgard?

It took place on the Eiglophian Mountains between Asgard, Cimmeria and Hyperborea. Although it was near Cimmeria, it was more toward Asgard.

 

[dagger]

Personally, I dont take reviews for books, movies and music all that seriously. It all based on personal views, so whether the story was written by REH or not shouldnt really matter. You should just read the dang Conan books and stories and choose for yourself if it is any good.

 

[VincentDarlage]

Time is a scarce resource. Asking for reviews and opinions helps people make decisions on how to best use that important resource. Doesn't make the reviews or opinions right, but it is a decision-making tool that many people choose to utilize.

 

[Anonymous]

Personally, I dont take reviews for books, movies and music all that seriously. It all based on personal views, so whether the story was written by REH or not shouldnt really matter. You should just read the dang Conan books and stories and choose for yourself if it is any good.

Generally, the people who write reviews of a book in a particular genre share my interests. Like Vincent said, I'l looking for an overall impression that helps me determine whether to waste my time. I have so many books to read and so few precious seconds of life left (according to www.deathclock.com)

 

[Anonymous]

LWM, the Rolf character you are thinking of is from CONAN THE AVENGER but unfortunately he is not Cimmerian. He is a wandering Aesir who aids Conan's escape from Yezdigerds palace in Agraphur and winds up as captain of a bunch of Vilayet pirates.

 

[Anonymous]

Dear fellow Cimmerians,
u can get all the info u need about conan books, etc. at these great sites -

conan.com

conan.no

great forums, reviews, info, + lot's art !
-
conan the VALOROUS by john maddox roberts [jmr] is a very good book with lots of useful info on cimmeria !
[ IGNORE vincents grumpy comments ]

eg - crom's sacred mountain BEN MORGH is fully detailed including a huge temple cave + massive statue of crom!
+ plenty nice details of these -
the 6 main cimmerian clans + all are named
sacred stones
chiefs + warriors
villages
+ much more.
[ + the lowland valleys are later described as being forested with wild boar + stag hunting ]

+ plenty bloody fights between cims + vanir + demons!
+ 4 powerful sorcerers from stygia, vendhya + far khitai !
action packed + great climax.
jmr is 1 of finest pastiche authors!
check it out

 

[Anonymous]

Close the gates! Everyone to arms! The REH purists are coming!