Living Hyboria

[Supplement Four]

I do love Howard's prose. His style takes you to that place, makes you believe it's real, as if you can taste it, feel it.

That, alone, makes the places he writes about, no matter how fantastic, seem quite real, as if they existed in history.

As I read through The Man-Eaters of Zamboula, I feel like I've been walking down those dusty streets, seeing the sun decline behind those flat-topped roofs.

But, it is not only his description that makes Howard's work come alive. It's also the details he brings to his work. Too many fantasy writers have a "stagnant" feel to them. Cities don't grow, live, breathe. Howard, though, in just a few lines, lets you in on what everybody else knows: That Zamboula was founded by the Stygians, a small oasis out in the desert of their eastern border. Zamboula grew, became a major caravan route stop for those making travel through the harsh desert.

And, it was just a generation ago, that the Tuarianians pushed aside Stygia's orignal border and claim to the city.

I love that stuff--that war happened here, and that there may be Stygian generals plotting to retake what was, not so long ago, their's.

 

[flatscan]

Yeah, I'm a fan. But if you consider yourself a fan of REH's writing please do refrain from referring to "Hyboria." That was a term invented by pastiche writers and REH never wrote of any such place. He did write of the Hyborian Age, of which Zamboula existed in. But even if one were to accept lands known as "Hyboria" Zamboula wouldn't be one of them. :evil:

Sorry, pet peeve. :x

 

[Supplement Four]

I know about your pet peeve. I've seen you write about it before. 8)

Conan's universe beg's for an easily recognizable tag, though. Hyborian Age, I guess, is the most widely accepted.

Yes, I know, "Hyboria" is not a place, and I know the Hyborians are decended from the savage tribes that emerged after the Great Cataclysm, worshiping the god Bori, founding the most advanced kingdoms during Conan's lifetime.

It's just an easy way of referring to that "universe", although, I do agree, not correct.

 

[Strom]

I do love Howard's prose. His style takes you to that place, makes you believe it's real, as if you can taste it, feel it.

That, alone, makes the places he writes about, no matter how fantastic, seem quite real, as if they existed in history.

As I read through The Man-Eaters of Zamboula, I feel like I've been walking down those dusty streets, seeing the sun decline behind those flat-topped roofs.

But, it is not only his description that makes Howard's work come alive. It's also the details he brings to his work. Too many fantasy writers have a "stagnant" feel to them. Cities don't grow, live, breathe. Howard, though, in just a few lines, lets you in on what everybody else knows: That Zamboula was founded by the Stygians, a small oasis out in the desert of their eastern border. Zamboula grew, became a major caravan route stop for those making travel through the harsh desert.

And, it was just a generation ago, that the Tuarianians pushed aside Stygia's orignal border and claim to the city.

I love that stuff--that war happened here, and that there may be Stygian generals plotting to retake what was, not so long ago, their's.

Never gets old either - sometimes I think "Ahhh, I know how that story goes, I don't feel like reading it again." Yet as soon as I start reading I'm transported to the Hyborian Age and before you know it I'm knee deep involved in the story like I've never read a single line. Amazing!

 

[David St-Michel]

I find it a challenge to get that much atmosphere into my descriptions without taking a good fifteen to twenty minutes of description.

I'm lucky that my players actualyl ENJOY hearing me yap on and on about how such city is built, what's the feeling of them walking down the street, etc.

 

[Supplement Four]

One of my two points, to be a bit more clear, was that I love how, in reading Howard's prose, Stygia is not just the same old space on a map. Not that long ago, it's borders swept out to encompass Zamboula. Stygia's eastern border was out that far for centuries, until recenlty, when Turan invaded.

It's neat knowing that Stygia hasn't always looked the way it does now--almost as if the Hyborian Age maps we see should be dated, to reflect the political borders at that moment in time.

That was one of the points I was making--the Howard's is a living, breathing, growing, changing universe. Too many times, fantasy authors have a map, and they stick with it, through hundreds of years, the map always looks the same.

Howard, in just a sentence or two, adds that little bit of needed realisim that does wonders in convincing me that I'm reading real history.

 

[VincentDarlage]

I agree totally. I've even said as much in some of my introductions to the books (although sometimes those get edited out). That is also one reason why I provide a map without borders - so people can draw in their own to reflect changes made during game play.

http://hyboria.xoth.net/maps/vd_hyborian_age_clean.jpg

 

[Kortoso]

I want to call his craft minimalism. The temptation when we was being paid by the word, would have been to pad out everything, but Howard dropped in sparse clues, bait, so to speak, that engages our imagination and makes these worlds more real.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimalism#Literary_minimalism

Literary minimalism is characterized by an economy with words and a focus on surface description. Minimalist authors eschew adverbs and prefer allowing context to dictate meaning. Readers are expected to take an active role in the creation of a story, to "choose sides" based on oblique hints and innuendo, rather than reacting to directions from the author. The characters in minimalist stories and novels tend to be unexceptional; they may be pool supply salespeople or second tier athletic coaches rather than famous detectives or the fabulously wealthy.

 

[Krushnak]

The characters in minimalist stories and novels tend to be unexceptional; they may be pool supply salespeople or second tier athletic coaches rather than famous detectives or the fabulously wealthy.

None of Howard's characters fit into that all. and im glad they dont. I just finished reading a bunch of other short stories of Howard's and they all take me in like the Conan stories, the man was gifted and its a damn shame he died so early and that its taken this long for him to get recognition for his works.