Re: Conan

On 11/06/2025 17.57, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:

In article <102ck30$2525n$1@dont-email.me>,
Michael F. Stemper <michael.stemper@gmail.com> wrote:

Robert E. Howard's Conan (of many suffixes) is a cultural icon. In the late
1960s, Lancer Books began a project to publish of all of Howard's Conan
works -- plus a little.
>
The volume titled simply _Conan_[1] is the fifth one published, but relates
Conan's earliest exploits. It contains assorted background information,
as well as seven stories.
>
Throughout this recap, the following are used:
REH: Robert E. Howard
LSC; L. Sprague de Camp
LC: Lin Carter
PSM: P. Schuyler Miller

My nearly sixty year old MMPB is in amazingly good condition for a
Lancer product, with only two loose pages.
>
Note that the ISFDB listing says "The artist is not credited, ..."
However, my copy says "COVER PAINTING BY FRANK FRAZETTA" on the page
facing the title page.
>
[1] <https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?7653>

 I think "Rogues In The House" is the funniest Conan story (though I still
have a couple to read).
 As I recall, the Lancer volumes were not for purists as deCamp & Carter
tended to take unrelated Howard stories and recast them as Conan ones,
or make them up out of whole cloth.

That is quite true. More of the former than the latter, I believe, but I
haven't gone through all of the copyright pages (and don't intend to).

The later Del Rey re-issues are probably the gold standard, as they went
back to Howard's original manuscripts whereever possible (which was more
times than you would think), undoing edits made by magazine editors.
Also included are a number of outlines and partial stories.

Interesting. But, I have the Lancers, and they're all that I'm going to read.
My son is listening to Conan (which is what made me start pulling them off
of my shelves). He said to me that "Robert Jordan is the second-most canonical
Conan author, after Howard."
I have a feeling that purists (which I'm obviously not) would burst several
blood vessels upon hearing that.
--
Michael F. Stemper
Psalm 82:3-4