As mentioned a few weeks ago, bookseller (and REH fan) Terry McVicker is giving special consideration to readers of The Cimmerian in regard to the new deluxe edition of Conan of Cimmeria, Volume Three. Here’s an update from Terry:

CONAN 3 has just arrived and I am much relieved and delighted to inform “The Brotherhood” that the book is absolutely beautiful, and a perfect match for the previous two volumes – in all its states! Last call at the in-print price of $225 (California residents must add $18 Sales Tax, Shipping & Insurance included). I am not trying to intimidate anyone, but the book is nearly out-of-print and if you want a copy I will hold on Layaway for “Cimmerian” readers at $50, even if the book goes out-of-print.

As Mr. McVicker notes, time is running out. Anyone who wishes to complete their set better act now. As always, Terry can be reached here:

Three different volumes of possible interest to readers of H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, Horror tales and thought-provoking writings are being released in March and April. Cthulhu’s Reign and Black Wings: New Tales of Lovecraftian Horror, respectively edited by Darrell Schweitzer and S.T. Joshi, are collecting stories by various writers. Dark Awakenings is entirely authored by Matt Cardin.

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Old Man Willow -- art by John Howe

A little piece of Middle-earth is being restored and preserved.

The BBC reports that:

A Birmingham nature reserve that was a favourite childhood playground of Lord of the Rings author JRR Tolkien has been awarded a £376,500 lottery grant.

Tolkien said Moseley Bog had inspired the mystical Old Forest that his Hobbit characters travelled through in the Lord of the Rings.

Read the full story here.

My take on John Milius is ambivalent. I greatly enjoyed his films The Wind & The Lion and Red Dawn, as well as his scriptwriting in Apocalypse Now and Saving Private Ryan. “Rough Riders” was a contributing factor in granting Theodore Roosevelt a posthumous Medal of Honor, and I share a similar level of awe for the 26th President of the United States. Quint’s unforgettable and haunting monologue in Jaws is frequently attributed to Milius, and his involvement with one of the finest pieces of popular cinema cements his status in cinematic history. Then again, he was also involved in the abysmal 1941, and a reading of the King Conan: Crown of Iron draft screenplay left me worried that a prospect film would be in danger of becoming the Matrix Reloaded of the Conan the Barbarian mythos.

So Conan the Barbarian leaves me somewhat conflicted for various reasons. However, I do share one sentiment with him: nobody wants to see a remake of Conan the Barbarian.

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A few days ago, I blogged about the Harper’s Pen Award Finalists.

The Sorcerer’s Guild has revealed the name of the winners: John C. Hocking’s tale “The Face in the Sea,” from the thirteenth Issue of Black Gate magazine has been designated as the best Heroic Fantasy or Sword-and-Sorcery short fiction of 2009 by Jeff Crook:

John’s story is a superb example of the genre, harkening back to the master himself – REH. It hit all the points I mentioned in my previous post: two strong hooks (story and adventure); well-crafted, believable historical fantasy setting; solid characters; monsters, mayhem and magic aplenty; a satisfying ending, and an entertaining storyteller’s voice.

Logically, The Sorcerer’s Guild also recompensed Black Gate as the best publisher. It coincides with the release of the latest issue of the magazine.

Congratulations to this years’ winners and long life to the Award!

My, how time flies. It seems just the other day that I became aware of Grognardia, the fine site owned and operated by James Maliszewski. Suddenly, I find that Grognardia is celebrating its second anniversary and that the industrious Mr. M has cranked out thirteen hundred and nineteen posts in those seven hundred and thirty-one days. As a fellow bloviator, I can testify such is no mean feat.

As I’ve noted before, Grognardia is not just for those who enjoy old-school RPGs. James’ “Pulp Fantasy Library” series of reviews should be read by any fan of the sub-genre. His most recent review (and one of his best) looks at REH’s own “Dark” Agnes de Chastillon. You can see Al Harron’s comments below the review.

Happy birthday, Grognardia.

“Francis Stevens” was the pen-name of Gertrude Barrows Bennett, the first important female writer of fantasy and  science-fiction in the United States, who paved the way for Leigh Brackett and C.L. Moore. She wrote for pulp magazines such as All-Story Weekly, Argosy and Famous Fantastic Mysteries. Mrs Bennett was definitively a pioneer. It should be noted that her novella “The Nightmare,” which appeared in All-Story Weekly in 1917, a story close to Edgar Rice Burroughs‘ The Land That Time Forgot, was published a year before the latter story.

Howard Phillips Lovecraft praised many times Gertrude Barrows Bennett’s writings; for instance her novel Claimed: “One of the strangest and most compelling science fantasy novels you will every read.” On The Citadel of Fear: “Wonderful and tragic allegory … amazing and thrilling scenes … masterful … huge mystery, gigantic tragedy, and original and extraordinary situations…”

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Oxford University Press will release Tarzan of the Apes on April 15, the first novel featuring John Clayton, Lord Greystoke written by Edgar Rice Burroughs. First published in the pulp All-Story Magazine in October 1912, ERB’s novel introduced a character who would become iconic, so popular that Burroughs would write more than two dozen sequels about “White-Skin.” Robert E. Howard had more books by Edgar Rice Burroughs in his bookshelf than by any other author. The Bard of Cross Plains thought that ERB was a “highly imaginative writer of fiction.”

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‘In 1974 the power of Angmar rose again, and the Witch-king came down upon Arthedain before winter was ended. He captured Fornost, and drove most of the remaining Dúnedain over the Lune; among them were the sons of the king. But King Arvedui held out upon the North Downs until the last, and then fled north with some of his guard; and they escaped by the swiftness of their horses.

‘For a while Arvedui hid in the tunnels of the old dwarf-mines near the far end of the Mountains, but he was driven at last by hunger to seek the help of the Lossoth, the Snowmen of Forochel.

–The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, III – Eriador, Arnor and the Heirs of Isildur (The North-Kingdom and the Dúnedain)

Even with the depth and detail Tolkien delved into, there are mysteries that remain: individuals, creatures, places, events, even whole peoples are shrouded in darkness. So is the case with the Lossoth of the Forodwaith, one of the more enigmatic and unusual of the barbarian peoples of Middle-earth.

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George R.R. Martin has announced on his Not A Blog that Ted Nasmith is producing the art for the 2011 Song of Ice and Fire calendar.

Nasmith is probably best-known for his work depicting Middle Earth and is esteemed as one of the very best of the artists working in Tolkien’s world.

The HBO series A Game of Thrones will — as film tends to do —  “set” the image of Westeros for many readers of Martin’s epic. It will be interesting to see how much the film-makers draw on Nasmith’s imagery.