New novels set in the Age of Conan
- Thread starter Iron Guardian
- Start date
High Lord Dee
Mongoose
I just finished reading the first three books from Coleman (The Legend of Kern). I had not read the posts here (thank God!) before reading the books. I was a bit surprised at how harsh the reviews were....
After reflecting on the story and reading the threads, I felt the trilogy probably was too long. It could have easily been condensed down to one book. The second book dragged out and basically could have been summarized. Not the best piece of literature but I certainly feel it could give the Dragonlance (non-Hickman/Weiss)-Forgotten Realms stuff a run for their money. I give them credit for tackling a tough topic though. Writing three books about barbarians cannot be an easy task. Anyways...did not want to open up the can of worms on anyone's opinion of the series since there is plenty of that out there.
I wanted to highlight some positives that I have not seen on any of the posts. This forum is about Conan the RPG. With that in mind, I strongly would recommend anyone reading this Trilogy if they ever intended on running a Cimmerian adventure or campaign.
I have not found any material that gives as much background on Cimmeria culture, flora, fauna, or geography as the Kern series. The information on the clans were worth the price of admission. I also thought there were several interesting NPC's worthy of consideration in the game (Kern, Ros-Crana, Old Finn, Lodur, to name a few...).
The advent of the Ymirish have added a new and exciting sub-race to my game along with more detail of the Frost Giants themselves. Love the descriptions of Grimnar! Dire Wolves, Giant Spiders, Sabre Tooth Tigers, Wyverns, and Yeti round out some potential Northern adversaries that I will be expanding on.
Kern reminded me in many ways of Elric. I was surprised no one else picked up on that or I just may be way off base there.
Again, I will probably be mapping many of these Cimmerians out as NPC's (unless someone has already taken the time!).
HLD
After reflecting on the story and reading the threads, I felt the trilogy probably was too long. It could have easily been condensed down to one book. The second book dragged out and basically could have been summarized. Not the best piece of literature but I certainly feel it could give the Dragonlance (non-Hickman/Weiss)-Forgotten Realms stuff a run for their money. I give them credit for tackling a tough topic though. Writing three books about barbarians cannot be an easy task. Anyways...did not want to open up the can of worms on anyone's opinion of the series since there is plenty of that out there.
I wanted to highlight some positives that I have not seen on any of the posts. This forum is about Conan the RPG. With that in mind, I strongly would recommend anyone reading this Trilogy if they ever intended on running a Cimmerian adventure or campaign.
I have not found any material that gives as much background on Cimmeria culture, flora, fauna, or geography as the Kern series. The information on the clans were worth the price of admission. I also thought there were several interesting NPC's worthy of consideration in the game (Kern, Ros-Crana, Old Finn, Lodur, to name a few...).
The advent of the Ymirish have added a new and exciting sub-race to my game along with more detail of the Frost Giants themselves. Love the descriptions of Grimnar! Dire Wolves, Giant Spiders, Sabre Tooth Tigers, Wyverns, and Yeti round out some potential Northern adversaries that I will be expanding on.
Kern reminded me in many ways of Elric. I was surprised no one else picked up on that or I just may be way off base there.
Again, I will probably be mapping many of these Cimmerians out as NPC's (unless someone has already taken the time!).
HLD
Mark Dunder
Mongoose
Good thing I read this before getting those books. I don't think they will add anything to my perception of Conan.
I think some of the writers on the Starship Troopers fan fiction, could use some constructive critique from some of you real writers. I've been reading their stories and find they are pretty good. I'm trying to read them all. So far all the stories have been fun to read. But they really could use some pointers in grammer and dialogue techniques. I'm not a professional writer, so I did not really feel qualified to critique.
Also, I do believe they want some sort of critique from some real authors. Not only the grammer (spelling I don't even worry about), but perhaps plot development.
Why don't some of you give them a hand?
I think some of the writers on the Starship Troopers fan fiction, could use some constructive critique from some of you real writers. I've been reading their stories and find they are pretty good. I'm trying to read them all. So far all the stories have been fun to read. But they really could use some pointers in grammer and dialogue techniques. I'm not a professional writer, so I did not really feel qualified to critique.
Also, I do believe they want some sort of critique from some real authors. Not only the grammer (spelling I don't even worry about), but perhaps plot development.
Why don't some of you give them a hand?
Mark Dunder
Mongoose
I'm also surprised at the lack of stories in the Conan Fan Fiction. Stories written because of pure enthusiasm, are a lot of fun to read. A few of you have written about your gaming adventures, and that was real fun to read. Why not take those experiences and plop them down into the Conan Fan Fiction?
Mark Dunder
Mongoose
Thanks for reading my stories Strom, I'm glad you like them. I would like to read yours, and if you can't find your old drive, try and rewrite 'im.
I'm glad Erik has continued writing also, was worried about that for a while.
To tell the truth, I'm writing my stories as I think about them to the forum. I hope they don't ever delete anything, cause I haven't downloaded any copies to my drive yet (except the first part I wrote).
I guess I should do that, eh?
I'm glad Erik has continued writing also, was worried about that for a while.
To tell the truth, I'm writing my stories as I think about them to the forum. I hope they don't ever delete anything, cause I haven't downloaded any copies to my drive yet (except the first part I wrote).
I guess I should do that, eh?
CimmerianMan
Mongoose
I'm sorry but up to this point I can't bring myself to buy them. The non REH stories are removed enough as is but at least retain Conan as the central character.
These are simply taking Howards vision and trying to open it up to any number of interpretations, which will eventually make Howard's HYboria obsolete.
These are simply taking Howards vision and trying to open it up to any number of interpretations, which will eventually make Howard's HYboria obsolete.
Mark Dunder
Mongoose
You know what I think would be interesting? Is if someone who has had the time to read all the stories; to put some sort of anthology together. One that would rate which stories were closest to REH's style. Some sort of scale from 1 to 5, or something like that. Maybe even a panel of critics. Just an idea.
Problem with that idea dunderm is the varying tastes of Howard fans on which stories are consistent with Howard's Hyboria except for a few obvious stories. Emerald lotus is considered one of the best pastiche Conan stories and while it is good there are inconcistenties in the story similar to the ones others cry foul on, yet it's praised while others are toasted. It's really something you need to do on your own - I'm trying to read them as I find them used at the bookstore. But, I'm sure there are lists out there that rate each story.
Mark Dunder
Mongoose
You're probably right Strom, unfortunately. Well, I guess I will just have to find the critics that I agree with most.
DourDeadlyPuritan
Mongoose
Neeklus said:
Yeah, where did they get off having Joe Chill kill Bruce's parents. EVERYONE KNOWS IT WAS THE JOKER! :wink:
Seriously, you must've had a heart attack with the previous Batman movies if you thought Batman Begins wasn't true to the comics.
