Scorpion13
Mongoose
I was wondering which Conan stories not penned by Howard, in your opinion, were the best.
Which Robert Jordan ones are good? Which De Camp ones? Carter?
Which Robert Jordan ones are good? Which De Camp ones? Carter?
The best Non-Howard Conan works?
- Thread starter Scorpion13
- Start date
Lord Jolly the Scribe
Mongoose
I have heard many say De camp and Jordan are good, and I have heard some good things on Carter too, but there are many purists who think they are not that good.
I think De Camp is good cause he helped finish many works that Howard left undone after his death.
I think De Camp is good cause he helped finish many works that Howard left undone after his death.
mouthymerc
Mongoose
REH only ever had 18 complete stories of Conan published while alive. More finished stories were discovered after his death in 1950 and were published then. Also, de Camp, Carter and Nyberg worked together to finish many fragments and outlines that Howard had. De Camp took some other adventure stories that Howard had written and rewrote them as Conan stories. Their collection, from Conan #1 through Conan of the Isles #12, contains all the REH stories and the completed ones by de Camp et al. This collection is very good, as far as I'm concerned. I have not read much beyond it other than the Marvel comcs and magazines. I used to collect the magazines when I was a kid, but don't have any of them now. The only thing to survive is a map of the Hyborian world from issue 90 of the Savage Sword of Conan.
Evil_Trevor
Mongoose
The authors Karl Edward Wagner and Andrew J Oufit produced some good works, Most of the Robert Jordans are good too. The former are better at sticking to the Howard world. There are books that are based on the two films, I can't remember who wrote them.
Yogah of Yag
Mongoose
mouthymerc said:
Any chance you could post it?
mouthymerc
Mongoose
Yogah of Yag said:
I'll see what I can do.
mouthymerc
Mongoose
Yogah of Yag
Mongoose
mouthymerc said:
Great stuff! Thanks. I think I've seen a similar rendering of this type of projection, but in Norwegian of all things. Any cartographers out there who know what this projection is called?
rgrove0172
Mongoose
Ive been reading through my Conan collection of late to help get the juices flowing for our campaign. The last couple of books I read where by Robert Jordan. Funny, I probably havent read these for 10 years or more and I dont recall disliking them so much the first time around. Fact is though, they are stinkers. Finished Conan the Magnificent last night - what a stinker. Conan was completely out of character and the Hyborian trappings where so 2 demensional as to be laughable. Really dissapointing, expecially when it took place in Zamora, the location of our current campaign, and I had such high hopes for inspiration.
I've always like the Robert Jordan Conan books.
I've also liked the two Leonard Carpenter books that I've recently read "Conan of the Red Brotherhood" and "Scourge of the Bloody Coast". They are two parts of the same story, not a "to be continued", but they feature a lot of the same characters. It almost feels like there should have been a part three - anybody know if it is out there?
I've also liked the two Leonard Carpenter books that I've recently read "Conan of the Red Brotherhood" and "Scourge of the Bloody Coast". They are two parts of the same story, not a "to be continued", but they feature a lot of the same characters. It almost feels like there should have been a part three - anybody know if it is out there?
Yogah of Yag said:
Why do you think about to use the maps done by R.E. Howard in THE COMING OF CONAN THE CIMMERIAN, and the Rippke's maps from the essays "To the Styx and Beyond" (http://www.dodgenet.com/~moonblossom/Cmuse15.html)
and "The Blue East" (http://www.dodgenet.com/~moonblossom/Cmuse18.htm)?
The Dale Rippke's maps are the most faithfuls to the Howard's conception :wink: .
- In my opinion, and I've read more than 40 pastiches books plus the Howard stories not featuring Conan that Sprague rewrote, most of them are pale compared to REH works, but some can be read.
- I've not read J. Hockings Emerald lotus but the echoes I had about it were good. The best pastiche writer in my opinion is JM Roberts. He seems to be the only one who understood and was able to express nicely the whole barbarism vs cilization theme. His barbarians and nomads look, act and feel like barbarians, not like Spragues Conan thinking-man. Get the Marauder (Hyrkanians are very well depicted) and the Valorous (Cimmerians,Vanir, Aesir and Border Kingdom natives also well depicted). Poul Anderson's Rebel is also worth the buy. Some say that KE Wagner's Road of Kings is the "best pastiche ever written": it's certainly not, but it's a decent book. You can also buy R. Jordan's books if you're a little sex obsessed.
- But as a GM I would say like Emirikol: even in the bad ones (except the shameful crap written by S. Perry) you can find some adventure hooks, characters, plot ideas or scenes that you can use in game.
The King
Cosmic Mongoose
I am currently reading Conan the Hunter (by Sean A. Moore). He has a very good style and an acceptable knowledge of the Hyborian World. His description of the major characters are good.
I've already read 2/3 and some chapters are very entertaining.
His weakness however is that he probably played AD&D and has his (Mitra) priest casts spells like: cure light wound, cure poison, etc. with all the FX side effect (bluish light, etc.). His ways to describe supernatural powers are also less mysterious than Howard. There is also a lot of Deus ex machina scenes which are quite unnerving.
He also wrote Conan and the Grim Grey God which has the same powers and weakness. In this, the major villain is a sorcerer specialised in necromancy who visit Thoth Amon with an escort of undead servants. Typical AD&D.
I've already read 2/3 and some chapters are very entertaining.
His weakness however is that he probably played AD&D and has his (Mitra) priest casts spells like: cure light wound, cure poison, etc. with all the FX side effect (bluish light, etc.). His ways to describe supernatural powers are also less mysterious than Howard. There is also a lot of Deus ex machina scenes which are quite unnerving.
He also wrote Conan and the Grim Grey God which has the same powers and weakness. In this, the major villain is a sorcerer specialised in necromancy who visit Thoth Amon with an escort of undead servants. Typical AD&D.
I have only read some of the Jordans work in the realm of pastiches. They were written in a readable enough way, though the plots were rather thin and the characters shallow. Somehow the women in the stories seemed much more..hmm...pornographic than in Howard's original works. Of course, to some readers that might be only a plus, hehe.
Good summer reading, I think - the kind of stuff to browse through when it is too hot to do anything else. Just don't expect too much.
Good summer reading, I think - the kind of stuff to browse through when it is too hot to do anything else. Just don't expect too much.
