Andronicus
Mongoose
Hello there all you howling REH fans! If you're anything like me, you've avidly read every scrap of Robert E. Howard material you could get your greedy mitts on. You've probably subjected yourself to some pretty lame pastiches in search of more literature on par with the original.
In the search for great reading and inspiration, we must not overlook non-Conan, non-REH books. There's plenty of great stuff out there that we can make use of, sometimes really easily. So I am dedicating a series of posts on this forum to just that. Each post will cover one author. I will discuss why they make good additions to the canon and how easily they can be adapted to your Conan chronicles.
Authors I intend to cover (not necessarily in this order), are Karl Edward Wagner, Michael Moorcock, Clark Ashton Smith, Jack Vance, Fritz Leiber and others. Requirements to make this lists are 1) I need to have read them personally. Elsewise I can't review them. 2) They can't be overwhelmingly magical. Way too much magic and fantastic creatures in Dragonlance or D&D fiction. 3) It can't go too contrary to the mood of Conan. C.S. Lewis's land of talking animals and kids defeating evil just isn't Conan material.
I am totally open to requested authors, debate, criticism etc.
My first author of choice is Karl Edward Wagner. He's an excellent place to start. He openly credited REH as his inspiration and reviled many of the pastiches as weak imitations. While Wagner wrote a great many things, he's most famous for his character of Kane.
Kane is the immortal Kane of legend, who invented murder. He's doomed to wander the Earth until he's destroyed by the violence he created. Kane is defiant and independent, roaming and destroying however he pleases. Sometimes he strongly resembles Conan in his darker moments. However, unlike Conan who is ultimately good, Kane is at best amoral and sometimes downright evil. He rapes, enslaves and murders whenever it suits him. In many of the stories though, he runs into people worse than even himself making him an antihero.
The mood is dark and gothic. The action scenes are incredible and the mood of horror pervasive. Kane is a fully realized character. In addition to being a skilled killer, he's also a great statesman and a deadly wizard. He succumbs to melancholy and sometimes has a conscience. There's a lot to recommend this for Conan fans. I will caution that the Kane stories got really goofy towards the end.
If you're interested in checking this out most are collected into a book called Midnight Sun put out by Night Shade Books. Here are some of the short story samples. A lot are good, but emphasize the ones particularly suited to Conan. These descriptions are necessarily brief, as I loathe plot spoilers and don't want to ruin things for you.
Two Suns Setting-This details Kane meeting one of the last giants, a dying race. The giant wants to retrieve a crown from a lost giant tomb to revive his race.
The Dark Muse-A tormented poet desperate for inspiration turns to Kane's magic for help. Kane agrees to help but treachery and demons await.
Misericorde-A noblewoman seduced a theif to steal a relic from some nearby bandit lords. When that theif dies, she hires Kane as an assassin to avenge him. Naturally, each bandit lord has their specialty.
Lynortis Reprise-There is an old fort that had been the scene of an immense battleground that ultimately killed millions, warping the landscape with mass graves and alchemical warfare. Rumors of treasure brings desperate men to find it, and Kane returns for reasons of his own. Old things still live in the fort...
Raven's Eyrie-Kane is the victim of a powerful hex, meant to destroy him soul and all. The save himself he must atone for a past sin. Aside from the tension of racing against time, this one has a great scene were Kane talks one on one with a demon lord.
Reflections for the Winter of my Soul-Kane, lost in a devastating blizzard, takes shelter in a nobleman's winter keep. All too soon, his respite is interrupted by werewolf attacks. A great "Ten Little Indians" story with plenty of paranoia and battles against wolves.
Cold Light-Kane is wallowing in melancholy in a city nearly empty of life due to a plague that had happened over a decade ago. Rather than finding peace, a band of fanatical adventurers track him down to kill him for glory. These guys claim to serve good, but are clearly evil (torturing innocents for information etc). Great cat and mouse action.
The Gothic Touch-Actually this one is a little goofy, but it delivers on the action and it's got Elric and Moonglum. Crossovers are always fun.
Karl Edward Wagner has written some novels for Kane and even one for Conan. I haven't read them and can't vouch for them, though I'd be surprised if they weren't any good.
This wraps up this post. I hope you all enjoyed reading and look forward to more posts.
In the search for great reading and inspiration, we must not overlook non-Conan, non-REH books. There's plenty of great stuff out there that we can make use of, sometimes really easily. So I am dedicating a series of posts on this forum to just that. Each post will cover one author. I will discuss why they make good additions to the canon and how easily they can be adapted to your Conan chronicles.
Authors I intend to cover (not necessarily in this order), are Karl Edward Wagner, Michael Moorcock, Clark Ashton Smith, Jack Vance, Fritz Leiber and others. Requirements to make this lists are 1) I need to have read them personally. Elsewise I can't review them. 2) They can't be overwhelmingly magical. Way too much magic and fantastic creatures in Dragonlance or D&D fiction. 3) It can't go too contrary to the mood of Conan. C.S. Lewis's land of talking animals and kids defeating evil just isn't Conan material.
I am totally open to requested authors, debate, criticism etc.
My first author of choice is Karl Edward Wagner. He's an excellent place to start. He openly credited REH as his inspiration and reviled many of the pastiches as weak imitations. While Wagner wrote a great many things, he's most famous for his character of Kane.
Kane is the immortal Kane of legend, who invented murder. He's doomed to wander the Earth until he's destroyed by the violence he created. Kane is defiant and independent, roaming and destroying however he pleases. Sometimes he strongly resembles Conan in his darker moments. However, unlike Conan who is ultimately good, Kane is at best amoral and sometimes downright evil. He rapes, enslaves and murders whenever it suits him. In many of the stories though, he runs into people worse than even himself making him an antihero.
The mood is dark and gothic. The action scenes are incredible and the mood of horror pervasive. Kane is a fully realized character. In addition to being a skilled killer, he's also a great statesman and a deadly wizard. He succumbs to melancholy and sometimes has a conscience. There's a lot to recommend this for Conan fans. I will caution that the Kane stories got really goofy towards the end.
If you're interested in checking this out most are collected into a book called Midnight Sun put out by Night Shade Books. Here are some of the short story samples. A lot are good, but emphasize the ones particularly suited to Conan. These descriptions are necessarily brief, as I loathe plot spoilers and don't want to ruin things for you.
Two Suns Setting-This details Kane meeting one of the last giants, a dying race. The giant wants to retrieve a crown from a lost giant tomb to revive his race.
The Dark Muse-A tormented poet desperate for inspiration turns to Kane's magic for help. Kane agrees to help but treachery and demons await.
Misericorde-A noblewoman seduced a theif to steal a relic from some nearby bandit lords. When that theif dies, she hires Kane as an assassin to avenge him. Naturally, each bandit lord has their specialty.
Lynortis Reprise-There is an old fort that had been the scene of an immense battleground that ultimately killed millions, warping the landscape with mass graves and alchemical warfare. Rumors of treasure brings desperate men to find it, and Kane returns for reasons of his own. Old things still live in the fort...
Raven's Eyrie-Kane is the victim of a powerful hex, meant to destroy him soul and all. The save himself he must atone for a past sin. Aside from the tension of racing against time, this one has a great scene were Kane talks one on one with a demon lord.
Reflections for the Winter of my Soul-Kane, lost in a devastating blizzard, takes shelter in a nobleman's winter keep. All too soon, his respite is interrupted by werewolf attacks. A great "Ten Little Indians" story with plenty of paranoia and battles against wolves.
Cold Light-Kane is wallowing in melancholy in a city nearly empty of life due to a plague that had happened over a decade ago. Rather than finding peace, a band of fanatical adventurers track him down to kill him for glory. These guys claim to serve good, but are clearly evil (torturing innocents for information etc). Great cat and mouse action.
The Gothic Touch-Actually this one is a little goofy, but it delivers on the action and it's got Elric and Moonglum. Crossovers are always fun.
Karl Edward Wagner has written some novels for Kane and even one for Conan. I haven't read them and can't vouch for them, though I'd be surprised if they weren't any good.
This wraps up this post. I hope you all enjoyed reading and look forward to more posts.
