# Conan



## Turgon (Feb 24, 2009)

I couldn't find a thread solely for Conan so I thought I'd start one up. He probably deserves his own.

Anyway, I was in town last weekend and wandering around my local bookshop looking for something interesting, when I came across a copy of _The Complete Chronicles of Conan_ which was a large hardback volume for the reasonable price of twenty English pounds: needless to say I bought it as I am sucker for a pretty tome.

Having read now the first two stories in it: _The Phoenix on the Sword_ and _The Scarlet Citadel_ as well as a little essay on the History of Conan's world - I am suitably impressed. I've really enjoyed what I've read so far - and am quite struck by how well they (the tales) have stood up to time. I don't know what it is with these stories that I find appealing, they are not literary gems, nor are they deep delvings into a rich fantasy world. There is just something... vibrant about them I guess... a bit of a page turner is Mr Howard.


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## Mike (Feb 24, 2009)

Oh yes, I'm a huge Conan fan and a fan of Robert E. Howard in general. It's too bad how the name "Conan", mentioned now, conjures up images of furry underwear and plenty of bare breasts. For a long time the original stories weren't even in print, but you could pick up the hundreds of terrible pastiches by other authors writing, with severe disrespect, about the title character. These were truly great stories by Howard: _People of the Black Circle_ being one of the greats.

If you liked Conan, get yourself a copy of the Solomon Kane stories. He remains, in my opinion, the best of Robert. E Howard's pulp heroes.


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## Turgon (Feb 24, 2009)

Something that puzzled me about Conan when I read the first tale in the anthology, is that we first see him as King of Aquilonia and not as a barbarian at all. In fact I spent most of the first story scratching my head and wondering if perhaps I had picked up Volume Two of Conan's Chronicles by mistake. It was an eye-opener though - as it dispelled most of the preconceptions I had about Conan right off the bat. It is also interesting to see how influenced Michael Moorcock (and I'm sure many other writers) must have been by Howard - as reading Howard's prose took me right back to the days when I devoured Moorcock Books with a hunger.

Cheers Mike - I will give Solomon Kane a look out when I am done with Conan.


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## Thorin (Mar 30, 2009)

LOL...for some strange reason, I was thinking of Conan the other day! My brother and I used to read the comic books.

One of my brother's favorite expressions was, 'By Crom!'


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## Daranavo (Mar 30, 2009)

I have always appreciated REHs perspectives on his Hyborian Era. I always received a good sense of the brutalness of that time and what Conan had to become in order to become King.


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