Once again, I must thank Grim Blogger for bringing another cool project to my attention. Recently, artist and designer Eric Mongeon announced the publication of 4 by Poe, an illustrated collection of four short stories by Edgar Allan Poe.
This is a saga, to be read round a fire against the lurking dark.
– Robert Low on The Whale Road
Most Robert E. Howard fans find a good Viking saga hard to resist. Many have delved into the treasures hoarded by H. Rider Haggard and Poul Anderson seeking the “Northern thing” that inspired Tolkien and sang with moody restlessness in the blood of Robert E. Howard.
All that is deep and gloomy and Norse in me rises in my blood. I would go east into the sunshine and the nodding palm trees, but I bide and the dream of the twilight of the gods is on me, and the dreams of cold and misty lands and the ancient pessimism of the Vikings.
It seems to me, especially in the autumn, that that one vagrant Danish strain that is mine, predominates above all my Celtic blood.– To Harold Preece, ca. October 1930
Robert Low, right, lives his tales of the Oathsworn. His deep knowledge of his period gives his writing depth and power.
Scotsman Robert Low has written a saga worthy to stand with the greats of yore. The Whale Road launches the four-book Oathsworn series, which follows a band of Norse mercenaries through adventures across Europe and into Asia, from the market towns of Scandanavia to the steppes of Russia to the Great City of Constantinople, known to the Norse as Miklagard.
The saga follows the growth of Orm Rurikson from a green and fumbling youth into a seasoned fighter and leader of men.
Writer Adam Christopher has embarked on a very ambitious project—reading and reviewing all of Stephen King’s books in the order in which they were published. He started a Web site dedicated to the task a couple weeks ago entitled Stephen’s Lot.
Christopher certainly has a massive task ahead of him. According to his Web site, King has written 56 books, including 46 novels, seven short story collections, and three works of non-fiction. Christopher also plans to intersperse his entries with reviews of film and television adaptations of King’s works and other King esoterica. To date he’s completed reviews of Under the Dome (which he’s calling Book #0—it’s King’s latest and out of order, hence the “zero” appellation), and has since reviewed Book #1, Carrie. Next up is ‘Salem’s Lot.
On April 19th, George H. Scithers (pictured above, circa 2001) passed away. On April 20th, Damon Sasser wrote a post for the REHupa blog summarizing Scithers’ accomplishments in the fantasy/sci-fi field. Damon did a fine job and I see no real need to write another eulogy as such. I do, however, want to acknowledge the debt I owe Mr. Scithers. He and Amra, the fanzine he edited, had a profound effect on my reading choices these past thirty years or so.
Only a short while after I did an overview of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ The Land That Time Forgot for the anniversary of his death, it seems that the tale of Caspak–or at least, the first two parts–will be adapted into the comic medium. When dinosaurs are involved, you don’t have to twist my arm particularly vigorously, particularly if they’re based on a classic author’s interpretation.
A previously unknown copy of the exceedingly rare 1937 Herbert Jenkins first edition of A Gent from Bear Creek has been just been discovered by noted Robert E. Howard scholar Patrice Louinet. This is only the thirteenth known copy of Howard’s first published book to be located and it could very likely be one of the nicest copies in existence. Judging from the photos, it appears to be in better condition than the Darrell Richardson copy, which sold at auction last month for over $12,000. Louinet found the book last week with an automated online search and quickly purchased it from the UK bookseller that had listed it. The exact events are best described by Louinet himself (as posted at TGR):
Or, “A Pedantic Nitpicker Strikes Again.”
BOOM! Studios brings you an epic story by CONAN creator Robert E. Howard published in comic book form for the first time ever!
His name is Cormac FitzGeoffrey, and he has no master. As a wandering warrior born and bred on the battlefield, Cormac is a renowned fighter, a ruthless adversary, and a man who is no stranger to the ways of bloodshed and violence. Cormac counts his friends on one hand, so when he learns that his most recent liege has been murdered, nothing will stop his quest for revenge. By oath, a path of vengence will be marked by the blood of his enemies. Sword swinging, beserker action only the way Robert E. Howard and BOOM! Studios could deliver. Featuring covers by fan-favorite THE SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN artist Joe Jusko and SLAINE artist Karl Richardson!
A month after the initial news broke of Cormac Fitzgeoffrey’s comic debut, Comic Book Resources has nine pages from the comic online. Since the Hiberno-Norman terminator is one of my favourite creations, I was eager to feast my eyes on what BOOM! Studios brought to the table. Now, I have a few problems with what I’ve seen so far, but in comparison to certain other comics claiming to be inspired by Howard, it’s like Michael Alan Nelson was channeling REH himself.
Among Steve Tompkins’ many interesting blog entries written here on The Cimmerian, there was this piece about Lovecraft-inspired motions pictures. The movie he was looking forward to see (as I am), Del Toro’s At the Mountains of Madness, is not even in production yet, but another story written by the Man from Providence should make it to the silver screen sooner. Thanks to Grim Blogger, I learned a few days ago that the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society had released a new trailer for their adaptation of Howard Phillips Lovecraft‘s horror/science-fiction short story first published in the August 1931 issue of Weird Tales, ”The Whisperer in Darkness.” The film is supposed to be released in October.
Beware, Howard fans, viewing the video embedded in this blog post (thanks to shieldbrother Al for helping out someone who is only semi-literate with computers) might be painful. To see the (impressive) effort of a bunch of enthusiasts, who are genuinely caring for the source material, with this attempt to adapt their favorite’s author creation into film format, is something we’re not accustomed too. No compromise, no update of the story to a contemporary setting in a lame effort to please a modern audience; just the honest attempt to adapt faithfully on the silver screen what was written in the tale. In short, a purist’s dream come true. Exactly what has always been needed for movies based on Robert E. Howard’s stories, and never been supplied. When will the Texan’s tales get this kind of treatment?
It may have been noticed that no mention has yet been made of ancient America or ancient Africa, the South Seas, and Australia. That these areas may in fact be largely left out is due to a fact already stated: namely that the idea of monsters arises at a relatively late stage of cultural development. The ancient American civilizations do show some rudimentary–perhaps independent–composite forms, but these are for the most part ill-defined and it is often difficult to distinguish between monsters and human figures masked or disguised in animal skins. Ideas of magic, totemic customs, and animistic equation of different natural spheres may have led to some of the ideas underlying the shapes that interest us here. But it seems that these never brought about a true creation of new beings in a distinct visual form. For this reason, we shall have to leave out these areas of civilization if we want to keep to our subject, though in individual cases references will be made to possible connections. The observation that monsters were not created originally by the so-called ‘primitive’ peoples, as one might have expected, but are in fact to a large extent the product of highly developed civilizations is surprising enough.
Such are the views of Heinz Mode in Fabulous Beasts and Demons, a book on mythological and folkloric creatures. Even accounting for the state of the field at the time, it’s hard for me to imagine just how fundamentally mistaken Mode was. Since I was a lad, I was regaled with tales of monsters, beasts, demons and gods every bit as weird, terrifying, and imaginative as the denizens of classical mythology. Being no stranger to the subject, Charles R. Saunders has much to say on the things which haunt the Dark Continent.
Leon Nielsen’s survey A Collector’s Descriptive Bibliography of American and British Hardcover, Paperback, Magazine, Special and Amateur Editions, with a Biography will be republished by McFarland & Company. Damon C. Sasser of REH: Two-Gun-Raconteur fame provided the foreword.
From the blurb:
This guide is an invaluable resource about Howard, with information for every known published work. Initial chapters provide a biography, discuss Howard’s literary legacy, and give basic tips about collecting Howard’s writings. The main body of the work is a bibliography of Howard’s published works from 1925 through 2004. Each entry includes a description and known details including publisher, date, print run, and estimated value. A thorough index locates the publication of every Howard story or poem.
This volume should be available in Fall/Winter 2010.
The late Wisconsin writer and collector Leon Nielsen contributed to The Cimmerian print journal and to Two-Gun-Raconteur (you can read his TGR article “The Image of Conan” here). He also authored Arkham House: A Collector’s Guide (2004) .
Its Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments vii
Foreword by Damon C. Sasser 1
Introduction 51. Robert E. Howard: A Brief Biography 11
2. The Robert E. Howard Legacy 36
3. A Robert E. Howard Cast of Characters 80
4. Collecting Robert E. Howard 105
5. A Robert E. Howard Bibliography 134
6. Most Collectible Titles 247
7. A Representative Robert E. Howard Collection 253
8. Reference Bibliography 260Indexes 263
ISBN 978-0-7864-6109-7
98 photos, notes, bibliography, index
288pp. softcover 2010 [2007]
While the majority of this volume is dedicated to collecting, identifying and evaluating the prices of Howard’s writings, book also contains a biography, several photos of REH and his parents Hester Jane and Dr Isaac Mordecai Howard, as well as a discussion on the rights to Howards works.
