Red Sonja?

[DrSkull]

What's up with that?

I've read all of the Howard Conan stories, the Bran Mak Morn, the Cormak mac Art, and 3 or 4 volumes of REH horror stories.

Then there is this character Red Sonja, who's apparently supposed to be a contemporary of Conan's or something. There was that dreadful movie about her awhile ago. I think there was a comic series too.

Was Red Sonja an actual Robert E. Howard character? Have I just been unlucky never to have seen the story or stories in which she appears, or is she a creation of another author but placed in the Hyborian age?

 

[Anonymous]

According to THE FANTASTIC WORLDS OF ROBERT E. HOWARD compiled by James Van Hise, in chapter 17 ROBERT E. HOWARD'S BOOK OF HEROES by Charles A. Gramlach, Howard wrote one story about Red Sonja, called "The Shadow of the Vulture" which can be found in the anthology called THE SOWERS OF THUNDER. The story took place in 1529 in Vienna, Austria. Later writers working in the Howard universe liked the idea of her, and hence her "temporal displacement" to Hyboria, and appearance in comic books, 6 novels by David C. Smith and Richard L. Tierney, and in my opinion a rather awful movie. In the original Howard work her name was Sonya, and she was from Rogatino in Russia. I guess from a strictly purist standpoint her existence in Hyboria, let alone teaming up with Conan, was pastiche. [/i]

 

[BhilJhoanz]

Here's Vincent Darlage's web site regarding Red Sonja

It may answer lots of your questions -- It includes a pretty exhaustive overview of her appearances in Marvel Comics

 

[VincentDarlage]

The Guest is correct. Sonja originated from Howard's "Shadow of the Vulture" (which can be found in "The Sowers of the Thunder"). Roy Thomas adapted a large number of Howard's non-Conan stories into Conan stories for the comics (especially Conan the Barbarian and The Savage Sword of Conan). When he adapted "Shadow of the Vulture" in CtB #3, he turned Sonya of Rogatino into Red Sonja of Hyrkania. He (and the readers) liked her so well, she turned into a recurring character and eventually earned her own comic book.

Interestingly, in her first appearances, she did not wear a chainmail bikini like the one she is famous for. She wore a chain shirt and a pair of hot pants.

BhilJoanz provided a link to my site which lists her comic book appearances in chronological order.

 

[Yokiboy]

According to THE FANTASTIC WORLDS OF ROBERT E. HOWARD compiled by James Van Hise, in chapter 17 ROBERT E. HOWARD'S BOOK OF HEROES by Charles A. Gramlach, Howard wrote one story about Red Sonja, called "The Shadow of the Vulture" which can be found in the anthology called THE SOWERS OF THUNDER. The story took place in 1529 in Vienna, Austria. Later writers working in the Howard universe liked the idea of her, and hence her "temporal displacement" to Hyboria, and appearance in comic books, 6 novels by David C. Smith and Richard L. Tierney, and in my opinion a rather awful movie. In the original Howard work her name was Sonya, and she was from Rogatino in Russia. I guess from a strictly purist standpoint her existence in Hyboria, let alone teaming up with Conan, was pastiche. [/i]

Well that pretty much explains why I haven't been able to find any Red Sonja stories by REH.

I still haven't read the Bran Mak Morn or Cormak mac Art stories though, so I still have some REH treasures left to explore. Speaking of which, are they any good?

TTFN,

Yokiboy

 

[VincentDarlage]

Yes, they are good. I especially enjoy the Bran Mak Morn stories.

Howard also wrote Solomon Kane, King Kull, boxing stories, pirate stories, horror stories, El Borak is another fantastic Howard hero, and a whole slew of historical fiction. His poetry is also wonderful to read.

Some books to look for in used bookstores or on eBay:
The First Book of Robert E. Howard
The Second Book of Robert E. Howard
Marchers of Valhalla
The Sowers of the Thunder
The Road of Azrael
Sword Woman (These are his Black Agnes stories)
Black Vulmea's Vengeance
The Lost Valley of Iskander (El Borak)
Son of the White Wolf (El Borak)
Three Bladed Doom (El Borak. This is the story L. Sprague de Camp turned into The Flame Knife)
Pigeons from Hell
The Iron Man (boxing stories)
Adventures of Dennis Dorgan
The Gods of Bal Sagoth
Nameless Cults
Skull Face and Others.

That list is by no means exhaustive (I am just looking over my bookshelf to generate that list - I don't yet have everything published by him). He was an extremely prolific short-story writer.

 

[Mythos]

I still haven't read the Bran Mak Morn or Cormak mac Art stories though, so I still have some REH treasures left to explore. Speaking of which, are they any good?

TTFN,

Yokiboy

Everything that Howard wrote is good.

 

[Yokiboy]

Everything that Howard wrote is good.

Ehm... yeah. :lol:

I'm trying to get my hands on all his work, but it's not easy.

[EDIT]I'm beginning to understand just how much REH wrote, so perhaps trying to obtain everything is a goal I should adjust a tad. :lol: [/EDIT]

TTFN,

Yokiboy

 

[Mythos]

Try checking here;
http://www.wildsidepress.com/cgi-bin/miva?Merchant2/merchant.mv+Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=WP1&Category_Code=howard1

and here;
http://www.barbariankeep.com/publish.html

 

[Yokiboy]

Howard also wrote Solomon Kane, King Kull, boxing stories, pirate stories, horror stories, El Borak is another fantastic Howard hero, and a whole slew of historical fiction. His poetry is also wonderful to read.

Solomon Kane will soon be taken care of, thanks to what should be a great collection. El Borak, what type of character is he, what setting does he appear in, and where can I find the stories? I must try to get my hands on some of REH's Pirate stories too.

Thanks for the recommendations Vincent.

TTFN,

Yokiboy

 

[Yokiboy]

Try checking here;
WildSidePress

and here;
Barbarian Keep

Thanks for the links Mythos, very helpful. Now where did I put those job listings, there's gotta be a second job for me somewhere in there... :wink:

TTFN,

Yokiboy

 

[VincentDarlage]

Solomon Kane will soon be taken care of, thanks to what should be a great collection. El Borak, what type of character is he, what setting does he appear in, and where can I find the stories? I must try to get my hands on some of REH's Pirate stories too.

El Borak (real name: Francis Xavier Gordon) is an American in Afghanistan and the middle east set in the 20's and 30's. He appears in the following stories:

The Daughter of Erlik Khan
The Lost Valley of Iskander
Hawk of the Hills
Blood of the Gods
The Country of the Knife
Son of the White Wolf
Three Bladed Doom

Three Bladed Doom was later rewritten by L. Sprague de Camp into the Conan story The Flame Knife. The stories are collected in three volumes: The Lost Valley of Iskander; Son of the White Wolf; and Three Bladed Doom.