Hi, folks. I've been spending the last few weeks getting re-acquainted with the work of Conan creator Robert E. Howard, and I thought it might be fun to surf around the Internets and see if I could find if there's any kind of consensus regarding what are the best of his Conan tales. Basically what I've done here compiled the selections from three main sources: the stories that John Clute selected for the Penguin Modern Classics anthology Heroes in the Wind: From Kull To Conan; the stories selected for the two Best of Robert E. Howard volumes, edited by noted REH scholar Rusty Burke; and the top five stories selected by forum posters at Conan.com, the official REH website.
Here are the results:
Stories selected for HEROES IN THE WIND: FROM KULL TO CONAN (Penguin; John Clute, ed.):
TOWER OF THE ELEPHANT
QUEEN OF THE BLACK COAST
A WITCH SHALL BE BORN
RED NAILS
Stories selected for THE BEST OF ROBERT E. HOWARD VOLUME 1: CRIMSON SHADOWS and VOLUME 2: GRIM LANDS (Del Rey; Rusty Burke, ed.):
PEOPLE OF THE BLACK CIRCLE
BEYOND THE BLACK RIVER
TOWER OF THE ELEPHANT
RED NAILS
Top 5 REH Conan stories as selected by forum posters at Conan.com (and % of votes obtained):
1) BEYOND THE BLACK RIVER (19%)
2) HOUR OF THE DRAGON (12%)
3) RED NAILS (10%)
4) PEOPLE OF THE BLACK CIRCLE (9.5%)
5) QUEEN OF THE BLACK COAST (9.1%)
So the final tally is something like this -
On all 3 lists:
RED NAILS
Selected by Clute and Burke only:
TOWER OF THE ELEPHANT
Selected by Clute and posters only:
QUEEN OF THE BLACK COAST
Selected by Burke and posters only:
PEOPLE OF THE BLACK CIRCLE
BEYOND THE BLACK RIVER
Selected by Clute only:
A WITCH SHALL BE BORN
Selected by posters only:
HOUR OF THE DRAGON
So what do you think, Howard fans? Is this a pretty good sample of the best of REH's Conan, or is there some glaring omission that newbies should be made aware of? Let me know.
PS If you're rarin' to start reading some of these Conan yarns, most of Howard's fiction (as well as a decent chunk of his letters, poetry, essays, etc.) can be found online here.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I think it's pretty solid.
ReplyDeleteI don't think one can possibly argue against "Beyond the Black River," "Red Nails" and "The Tower of the Elephant" being essential Conan stories. "Queen of the Black Coast" and "The People of the Black Circle" are also extremely good, definitely top ten, if not top five.
The only one listed I have any misgivings about is "A Witch Shall Be Born," which, while not one of the mediocre Conans like "Iron Shadows in the Moon" or "The Man-Eaters of Zamboula," is not one of the best either, in my opinion. Clute is a recent convert to Howard, so he can be forgiven in this instance.
If I were making my Top Ten Conan tales (based on what I take to be consensus rather than personal taste), it'd be something like this, in alphabetical order:
Beyond the Black River
Black Colossus
The Frost-Giant's Daughter
The Hour of the Dragon
The People of the Black Circle
The Phoenix on the Sword
Queen of the Black Coast
Red Nails
Rogues in the House
The Tower of the Elephant
Honourable mention goes to "The Black Stranger" (a very underrated tale and in my personal top ten Conan stories), "The God in the Bowl" and "The Scarlet Citadel," which are still high quality.
Hey, Al. Thanks for commenting.
ReplyDeleteLet me start out by saying that I'm slightly embarrassed at the paucity of my knowledge of Howard's fiction. As someone who prides himself on being well-read in the classics of speculative fiction, I was a little shocked when I took inventory a couple of years ago and realized how many important writers in these genres I had read little or nothing by (for example, I had never read an H.G. Wells novel all the way through until about 6 months ago). As I indicated before, one of the writers that I realized I had read little by was REH. I had read the first couple of Lancer/Ace Conans when I was a teenager, a Kull story in a WEIRD TALES anthology ("The Shadow Kingdom"), and that was it. I hadn't even read that many stories featuring his characters - just the Lancer/Ace pastiches and a few issues of the CONAN THE BARBARIAN and SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN comics. After realizing this (and after reading all of you and your colleagues fine REH-related writing @ The Cimmerian), I decided to give him a whirl again and have now read about 1/2 the stories in the COMING OF CONAN THE CIMMERIAN tpb (i.e., "Phoenix on the Sword," "Frost-Giant's Daughter," "God in the Bowl," "Tower of the Elephant," "Scarlet Citadel," and "Queen of the Black Coast," all of which I've enjoyed, with "Tower of the Elephant" being, for me, the stand-out).
Back to your comment:
"Clute is a recent convert to Howard, so he can be forgiven in this instance."
I was intrigued by Penguin's selection of him as editor of their Howard collection. Didn't he make some rather controversial remarks about REH a few years back?
"The Black Stranger"
That's the one (along w/ "Hour of the Dragon") that I'm most looking forward to reading. That was one of Steve Tompkins favorite REH stories, too, wasn't it?
Anyway, thanks again for your input.
Art, don't feel embarassed at all - I couldn't tell you the number of authors I still have to read. I've barely scratched Philip K. Dick, for example, despite being a fan of SF. I'm very glad you're enjoying Conan so far: just wait till you get to Conquering Sword!
ReplyDeleteClute's statements were largely made from misapprehensions based on what was, for the longest time, considered to be the "truth" about Howard, as well as some things that come out of nowhere like his "fattishness" and alleged ambiguity regarding his sexuality. Leo Grin took him to task for it, and he's been repentant ever since.
Steve was a fan of TBS, and wrote a few fantastic articles on it. I'll just say that reading The Scarlet Letter beforehand adds so much to the experience.
Al -
ReplyDeleteSorry it took me so long to comment back - I got that Lovecraft encyclopedia that I talked about in a previous post in the mail yesterday & kinda got sucked into it.
Re: Clute's statements about REH - You Howard guys really have your work cut out for you. I can't recall when I've seen so much misinformation and/or disinformation on anyone who's not a political figure. I guess the "haters" out there have to gravitate toward someone and for some reason (probably in part 'cause he's not around to defend himself) a lot of them choose Howard. As someone at the Cimmerian once said (it might have been you, I can't recall (and I'm paraphrasing anyway)), "How come Ernest Hemingway never gets this crap?"
I have read THE SCARLET LETTER, although it's been over a quarter-century ago, so I'm probably due for a re-read. So many interests, so little time!
No problem, Art - I know the feeling.
ReplyDeleteWell, the problem with Clute was that he's an SF guy. SF fans can be really condescending towards fantasy as a whole, and Howard is one of their most frequent targets. This probably dates back to a particularly odious essay Hans Joachim Alpers on Heroic Fantasy and Fascism, arguing that fantasy is only a few steps removed from Nazism:
http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/backissues/14/alpers14art.htm
I think there's a possibility that this sort of sentiment regarding fantasy has persisted, and is responsible for a lot of nonsense over the years, culminating in "Lord of the Swastika." Alpers is long overdue for a right thrashing.
It was likely Leo with the Hemingway mention, though I know Mark has said words to that effect too.