Magister_Ordo_Lyrae said:
Most of the ones Carter wrote have made me cringe. (Thinking of Conan of Aquilonia and Conan the Avenger).
Lin Carter didn't write "Conan the Avenger." That was Bjorn Nyberg. It was originally published in 1957 as "The Return of Conan" for Gnome Press. L. Sprague de Camp edited it slightly because Nyberg was not writing in his native Swedish. For the Lancer reprint, the title was changed to "Conan the Avenger." Lin Carter had nothing to do with it. BTW, Bjorn Nyberg also co-wrote the short stories "The People of the Summit" and "The Star of Khorala" with L. Sprague de Camp for
Conan the Swordsman. Again, Lin Carter was not involved in Nyberg's efforts.
And it might be worth pointing out that L. Sprague de Camp is the
co-author of the stories in "Conan of Aquilonia." Further, given that "Conan of Aquilonia" was the last of the Ace/Lancer books to be published (there actually wasn't a Lancer version, IIRC), it is possible that Lin Carter's name was only put on there for contractual reasons, and that L. Sprague and/or his wife Catherine is the actual author of those stories (I state that as conjecture, not fact, but it was published in 1977,
after the relationship had already fallen apart - see http://www.rehupa.com/?p=272).
Unlike the stories you mentioned, "The Hand of Nergal"
was mostly written by Lin Carter (with a snippet by REH). All the other Conan work Carter did was with L. Sprague Camp, so singling Carter out doesn't make a lot of sense, at least not to me (unless you just really hate
Hand of Nergal as worst-pastiche-of-all-time, or something).
Also, the term "posthumous collaboration" was not
coined by Mark Schultz, just used by him. The term has been around a long time - and is a bit macabre. Imagine if you wrote something, then, after you are dead, someone else rewrites it and calls it a postumous "collaboration." However, even L. Sprague de Camp calls the "collaborations" pastiches in his mean-spirited introductory note to "Tales of Conan" (Gnome Press, 1955).
Magister_Ordo_Lyrae said:
IMHO DeCamp at least got the feel and style of the REH stories much better than anyone else who wrote conan stories but that may also be because most of the "pastiches" he did were just edited or finished versions of REH stories, drafts and outlines.
I don't think that is true.
Pastiches
The Thing in the Crypt (de Camp and Carter)
The City of the Skulls (de Camp and Carter)
The Curse of the Monolith (de Camp and Carter)
The Lair of the Ice Worm (de Camp and Carter)
The Castle of Terror (de Camp and Carter)
Black Tears (de Camp and Carter)
Conan the Buccaneer (de Camp and Carter)
The Witch of the Mists (de Camp and Carter)
Black Sphinx of Nebthu (de Camp and Carter)
Red Moon of Zembabwei (de Camp and Carter)
Shadows in the Skull (de Camp and Carter)
Conan of the Isles (de Camp and Carter)
Legions of the Dead (de Camp and Carter)
The People of the Summit (de Camp and Nyberg)
Shadows in the Dark (de Camp and Carter)
The Star of Khorala (de Camp and Nyberg)
The Gem in the Tower (de Camp and Carter)
The Ivory Goddess (de Camp and Carter)
Moon of Blood (de Camp and Carter)
Conan the Liberator (de Camp and Carter)
Conan and the Spider God (de Camp)
I count 21 pure pastiches.
Posthumous Collaboration with REH
The Hall of the Dead (Howard & de Camp)
The Bloodstained God (Howard & de Camp)
The Snout in the Dark (Howard, de Camp, & Carter)
Hawks Over Shem (Howard & de Camp)
The Road of the Eagles (Howard & de Camp)
The Flame Knife (Howard & de Camp)
Drums of Tombalku (Howard & de Camp)
Treasure of Tranicos (Howard & de Camp)
(Two versions; the one found in King Conan (Gnome Press) is different from the one in Conan the Usurper (Lancer/Ace), which are both different from the original, The Black Stranger)
Wolves Beyond the Border (Howard & de Camp)
I count 9 "posthumous collaborations," unless you count both versions of "Treasure of Tranicos" as separate "collaborations."
70% of L. Sprague de Camp's Conan output was pure pastiche. Only 30% could be considered finished versions of REH stories, drafts and outlines. Therefore, most of his pastiches were true pastiches.
