Are you from Texas? I'm from Brazil and I'm reading Solomon Kane by Robert Howard and his tales So are amazing that He became my favorite author. I read the Conan's tales I did an academic work about the fantastic narrative of Robert E. Howard: An analyse about the Conan's tales. And Relly was wonderfull. It's so sad that an author so genious like Robert Howard has been an final living so tragic. He was really an Great talent of fatasy's writing.
That was a great overview of REH's work. Conan and Kull get talked about a lot, but the boxing stories, horror, westerns, etc. get passed over when people discuss his body of work. One of my favorites is Solomon Kane, and just to throw in another medium, I loved it when they would throw in a Solomon Kane story in the back of Savage Sword of Conan.
Bob guzzling beer; on the back of a copy to E. Hoffman Price, Howard wrote, "Schlitz didn't pay me a penny for this endorsement -- and probably won't."
Pulp fiction was defined by its venue, not its content. There is appallingly bad pulp and astoundingly good. REH was tops and he'd almost certainly have become one of America's literary giants had he lived. As is, he's a lion in the pulp kitchen. Excellent overview. Brought back great memories, too.
Working my way through your older videos Michael. Very good overview of Howard's writing here. The Bran Mak Morn/Kull story "Kings Of The Night" and the Jim Allison tale "The Valley Of The Worm" are the two that I read regularly and which I've bought every comics adaptation of that I could find. They just resonate so much with me. Roy Thomas did a good job adapting Howard's non-Conan stories to Marvel's "Conan The Barbarian" comic. Howard's poetry, what little I've read of it (what little there is of it?) is something else I like.
After watching this, the next video that came up in my UA-cam feed was a reading of Robert E. Howard’s The Valley of the Lost from Weird Tales. You are right - Robert E. Howard certainly succeeds drawing one into the story. It was great.
This video was indispensable regarding my future purchase. I have his horror work but have little idea of his other works. I hope I can get to your knowledge level on REH soon. Hail from Switzerland.
I am a recent discoverer of Robert E Howard's Conan books. I know the movie, I have had the books for a few years but never got around to reading them. I have discovered a profound appreciation for his writings now. I'm going to get those other books now. Thank you for the presentation
What a fabulous overview! He led such a short life. I wonder what might have happened if he hadn't taken his own life at such a young age. He was in his early 20s when he wrote many of the Weird Tales pieces.
Have really enjoyed all of your videos about Robert E Howard. I've read quite a bit of his work, but your videos always make me want to seek out literally everything else and read everything he ever wrote. Think I might do that over the course of 2022... Thanks again Michael, I've loved all your videos from the start of your channel
Good run through of Howard's work. I have to admit that I've not read everything, but that's good, because I have much to look forward to. I am interested to understand how much a 'man of his time' Howard was. Sport really took off in the '30s. I'm going to treat myself to a copy of Blood and thunder for Christmas. Thanks for re-igniting my interest.
Robert Howard writes like he's in the action or giving an after action report. He describes things as if you were there alongside Conan in the middle of the adventures.
Terrific précis of Howard's huge body of work. He was a huge literary hero of mine through my teenage years. Here in the UK Sphere published the Lancer Conan stories which I quickly devoured. They also published collections of many of his other tales including Almuric. The only stories I didn't, and still haven't read 😞 are the Solomon Kane cycle. I need to remedy that. Really didn't like the either of the Schwarzenegger Conan movies. I think Jason Mamoa did a great job with the material he was given. I'd love to see him do more.
What a nice and encompassing video on Howard's work! I really like Solomon kane's sort of character arc that was subtly going on in the stories, and it's the reason I appreciate the story "The Footfalls Within" so much. Kane is a zealot; probably insane; very distrusting of pagan things and heathen ways, but through hanging out with nLonga, he starts to change, and in that story, must use his voodoo staff to fight off invisible monsters, and starts thinking that perhaps these heathens were more right about certain things than he would have once admitted. I like to think that his sojourn in Africa helped him become a better man! About Conan and Kull -- the first Conan story is very literally a repurposed Kull story. "The Phoenix on the Sword" reads exactly like, I think it is, 'By this Axe I Rule!", except h threw in a bit of extra supernatural stuff into the Conan tale. There are entire passages of "brooding king" plus dialogue lifted straight from the Kull story. While I really like the novel Hour of the Dragon, I personally really prefer Conan-as-not-king. Leave that business to Kull, where it fits better, I mostly say. Still enjoy all the tales though!
You are definitely right about Phoenix on the Sword, of course! I thought in the other King Conan stories he was much more himself, though annoyingly burdened with responsibility. I agree with you about Solomon Kane.
I recently found Conan chronicles you know that badass leather bound edition ? And i was absolutely stunned by that cause first of all it's REH and over here in my country we don't have to many books from him,it was pretty expensive,to tell you the truth im not a rich man,i lost my job due this "virus shall not be named" couple months ago and i should be keeping every coin in my pocket,but this man was a inspiration since my very young days and i just couldn't let it pass,i lost lunch for that day but i have lovely wife who understand my opssesion with him and sai King,so here it is standing proudly on my shelf and i know it's silly but i believe it's gonna bring me luck
I personally like the King Kull stories: "Brooding and introspective" was how you described said barbarian king--reading and rereading these stories, I found Kull to be an alter ego of Robert E. Howard himself. In the REH stories, Kull rarely ventured outside his castle, so there's a lot of court drama involved--claustrophic indeed. Conan, by contrast, was always willing to confront the villain, beast, or monster in person, slay them, and rescue the girl. (Not necessarily the damsel in distress type.) He comes across as more resourceful than his better educated fellows. 🗡🗡🗡🗡
My intro to REH and Conan was the books that were edited by L Sprague De Camp. I have only read these edited versions. I would like to know why De Camp edited the REH originals?. Also, I'd like to see examples of the original Howard text followed by the De Camp edited text, too see the difference and changes. And some thoughts about the motives for editing the originals.
This was great !! I've been waiting for this one. I'm emotional, I need to calm down. 🤣 Thanks to you I've become a Conan tragic but I do want to devour all his other works. I see there is a collection of his Sailor Steve Costigan stories. I am guessing these are fisticuff related ? Have you read or do you have this one ? It looks hilarious.
I have a collection of his horror stories on Audible. I love them, and I have an edition of the Solomon Kane stories in paperback I picked up in the 90’s.
Robert E. Howard will always be my absolute favorite author. Whatever the genre, I swear his writing is what rings the loudest and most profoundly to me. It is a bloody shame that so few people actually know about him, thanks to hacks and professional liars like L. Sprague De Camp dancing on his grave and exploiting his work for their own ends.
As far as I know, I've got everything published by REH. You forgot to mention his short stories, poetry, ect,etc. In my opinion, the most fantastical thing he ever wrote was the poem "Recompense "...I have yet to figure it out after 60 years.
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 Thanks for the feed back. I am looking more closely into Howard and I am truly enjoying it. Your really helped me learn more. Keep making more Howard videos please. Thank you.
You speak of Conan and Kull , Bran Mak Morn and others. But you never speak of El Borak. El Borak was another of REH's characters. And I thought his stories were as great as "any" of the other characters. They were action packed and full of fun. Please do a video on the El Borak stories !
It’s too bad Del Rey hasn’t reprinted REH’s Skull Face and other “Fu Manchu”-inspired detective stories. I suppose they are overly dated and racially insensitive, but great fun nonetheless. The Berkeley edition from the late ‘70s maybe the easiest way to get them, or an ebook.
Yes, I agree. I would have liked to see both Skull Face and Almuric reprinted in that line. Skull Face was reprinted in the small press line Weird Works of Robert E. Howard, in Volume 2, I believe.
Robert E. Howard was from Texas and was a practicing homosexual who blew his head off with a shot gun when he was only thirty years old. Disturbing. Does this suggest that the Conan the Barbarian series was nothing but a homosexual fantasy? Also disturbing.
Nothing about this statement is true. There is not a shred of evidence to suggest that Robert E. Howard was gay. Quite the contrary, actually. He did not shoot himself with a shotgun. You might want to actually get your facts straight before you make comments of this sort.
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 Sorry to disappoint you, but it's all true and documented. It's been known for decades. It is speculative though if H.P. Lovecraft was a homosexual, there's no proof that was. Yet it's different for Robert E. Howard.
Are you from Texas? I'm from Brazil and I'm reading Solomon Kane by Robert Howard and his tales So are amazing that He became my favorite author. I read the Conan's tales I did an academic work about the fantastic narrative of Robert E. Howard: An analyse about the Conan's tales. And Relly was wonderfull. It's so sad that an author so genious like Robert Howard has been an final living so tragic. He was really an Great talent of fatasy's writing.
I am from California.
I love the expression on your face when you mention, for a second, that Conan was briefly a cartoon character. Priceless! 😂
That was a great overview of REH's work. Conan and Kull get talked about a lot, but the boxing stories, horror, westerns, etc. get passed over when people discuss his body of work. One of my favorites is Solomon Kane, and just to throw in another medium, I loved it when they would throw in a Solomon Kane story in the back of Savage Sword of Conan.
Yeah, I liked those old backup Solomon Kane stories in SSOC also.
That photo of Howard drinking the beer deserves to be framed.
Bob guzzling beer; on the back of a copy to E. Hoffman Price, Howard wrote, "Schlitz didn't pay me a penny for this endorsement -- and probably won't."
Pulp fiction was defined by its venue, not its content. There is appallingly bad pulp and astoundingly good. REH was tops and he'd almost certainly have become one of America's literary giants had he lived. As is, he's a lion in the pulp kitchen.
Excellent overview. Brought back great memories, too.
I missed Cormac MacArt, but otherwise a great overview of his work.
Can't wait to hear all you have to say about REH! He needs to be talked about more. I think his Steve Costigan stories are massively underrated. 😊
Working my way through your older videos Michael. Very good overview of Howard's writing here. The Bran Mak Morn/Kull story "Kings Of The Night" and the Jim Allison tale "The Valley Of The Worm" are the two that I read regularly and which I've bought every comics adaptation of that I could find. They just resonate so much with me. Roy Thomas did a good job adapting Howard's non-Conan stories to Marvel's "Conan The Barbarian" comic. Howard's poetry, what little I've read of it (what little there is of it?) is something else I like.
THANK you for mentioning Blood and Thunder, I really want to know more about Robert E Howard the person, This is my next Book Purchase! Thank You!!!
I want a collection of his westerns but YOI!! And double yoi!!! They are out of print and go for a pretty penny. (actually a big pot full of pennies)
I have read and enjoyed Howards work for decades
After watching this, the next video that came up in my UA-cam feed was a reading of Robert E. Howard’s The Valley of the Lost from Weird Tales. You are right - Robert E. Howard certainly succeeds drawing one into the story. It was great.
I was watching a Howard related video and one of my videos came up afterwards. That was so weird.
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 The algorithm knows what the Robert E. Howard consuming public wants.
😉
This video was indispensable regarding my future purchase. I have his horror work but have little idea of his other works. I hope I can get to your knowledge level on REH soon. Hail from Switzerland.
Fascinating and incredibly informative as always!
Thanks! I was worried I might have been a bit of a bore in this one.
I am a recent discoverer of Robert E Howard's Conan books. I know the movie, I have had the books for a few years but never got around to reading them. I have discovered a profound appreciation for his writings now. I'm going to get those other books now. Thank you for the presentation
I've done that decades ago, read every one I could find.
What a fabulous overview! He led such a short life. I wonder what might have happened if he hadn't taken his own life at such a young age. He was in his early 20s when he wrote many of the Weird Tales pieces.
I do frequently wonder about that.
Great overview as usual. Always love a Howard post...
Thanks!
Awesome! I'm looking forward to more Howard videos!
Many more to come!
Have really enjoyed all of your videos about Robert E Howard. I've read quite a bit of his work, but your videos always make me want to seek out literally everything else and read everything he ever wrote. Think I might do that over the course of 2022... Thanks again Michael, I've loved all your videos from the start of your channel
I really appreciate you being so loyal to my little channel! I really appreciate it!
Stories about Steve Costigan and his dog Mike also very good. They underrated.
They are good.
Very enjoyable video, more Howard please! Great job Michael, thank you.
Thanks for watching! I’ll be doing much more Howard in the future. Every Monday in fact.
Interesting analysis, fascinating 🤔👏👍
Thanks!
Solomon Kane. "Borderline psychotic." Great description.
Good run through of Howard's work. I have to admit that I've not read everything, but that's good, because I have much to look forward to. I am interested to understand how much a 'man of his time' Howard was. Sport really took off in the '30s. I'm going to treat myself to a copy of Blood and thunder for Christmas. Thanks for re-igniting my interest.
I envy you your first reading of more of Howard’s work!
Great Pulp by Robert E Howard. I'm a huge fan, but You know this. Wow...A little bit of 🍺Beer. LoL.
Great Video 👍😁👍
Howard liked his 🍺 beer!
Robert Howard writes like he's in the action or giving an after action report.
He describes things as if you were there alongside Conan in the middle of the adventures.
Terrific précis of Howard's huge body of work. He was a huge literary hero of mine through my teenage years. Here in the UK Sphere published the Lancer Conan stories which I quickly devoured. They also published collections of many of his other tales including Almuric. The only stories I didn't, and still haven't read 😞 are the Solomon Kane cycle. I need to remedy that.
Really didn't like the either of the Schwarzenegger Conan movies. I think Jason Mamoa did a great job with the material he was given. I'd love to see him do more.
I thought Jason M made a great Conan. He was just in a terrible movie.
Awesome video, very informative! Thank you 🙏
What a nice and encompassing video on Howard's work!
I really like Solomon kane's sort of character arc that was subtly going on in the stories, and it's the reason I appreciate the story "The Footfalls Within" so much. Kane is a zealot; probably insane; very distrusting of pagan things and heathen ways, but through hanging out with nLonga, he starts to change, and in that story, must use his voodoo staff to fight off invisible monsters, and starts thinking that perhaps these heathens were more right about certain things than he would have once admitted. I like to think that his sojourn in Africa helped him become a better man!
About Conan and Kull -- the first Conan story is very literally a repurposed Kull story. "The Phoenix on the Sword" reads exactly like, I think it is, 'By this Axe I Rule!", except h threw in a bit of extra supernatural stuff into the Conan tale. There are entire passages of "brooding king" plus dialogue lifted straight from the Kull story.
While I really like the novel Hour of the Dragon, I personally really prefer Conan-as-not-king. Leave that business to Kull, where it fits better, I mostly say.
Still enjoy all the tales though!
You are definitely right about Phoenix on the Sword, of course! I thought in the other King Conan stories he was much more himself, though annoyingly burdened with responsibility.
I agree with you about Solomon Kane.
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 yeah! Responsibility is not something Conan needs! Although you can tell he sometiems feels it for some of his lady friends...
I recently found Conan chronicles you know that badass leather bound edition ? And i was absolutely stunned by that cause first of all it's REH and over here in my country we don't have to many books from him,it was pretty expensive,to tell you the truth im not a rich man,i lost my job due this "virus shall not be named" couple months ago and i should be keeping every coin in my pocket,but this man was a inspiration since my very young days and i just couldn't let it pass,i lost lunch for that day but i have lovely wife who understand my opssesion with him and sai King,so here it is standing proudly on my shelf and i know it's silly but i believe it's gonna bring me luck
It’s not silly at all! That is a really great volume!
It is only silly if you don't use the stories to help inspire you to do things in the real world.
Great review, thanks.
Thanks for watching!
I personally like the King Kull stories: "Brooding and introspective" was how you described said barbarian king--reading and rereading these stories, I found Kull to be an alter ego of Robert E. Howard himself.
In the REH stories, Kull rarely ventured outside his castle, so there's a lot of court drama involved--claustrophic indeed. Conan, by contrast, was always willing to confront the villain, beast, or monster in person, slay them, and rescue the girl. (Not necessarily the damsel in distress type.) He comes across as more resourceful than his better educated fellows. 🗡🗡🗡🗡
I'll be getting into this guy in the new year, looking forward to it! I'm planning on making a few videos of this kind next year too!
I look forward to seeing watching them!
My intro to REH and Conan was the books that were edited by L Sprague De Camp. I have only read these edited versions. I would like to know why De Camp edited the REH originals?. Also, I'd like to see examples of the original Howard text followed by the De Camp edited text, too see the difference and changes. And some thoughts about the motives for editing the originals.
Me too. I started reading REH back in the late 60s.
I love "Blood and Thunder"!
So well written.
This was great !! I've been waiting for this one. I'm emotional, I need to calm down. 🤣 Thanks to you I've become a Conan tragic but I do want to devour all his other works. I see there is a collection of his Sailor Steve Costigan stories. I am guessing these are fisticuff related ? Have you read or do you have this one ? It looks hilarious.
You guess right about those Costigan stories!
Really enjoying your channel! New subscriber!
Would love to see a review of your bookcases! I have 1383 volumes of fiction mostly SF&F. out of a total library of 2114 volumes.
I need to get that S. Kane book!!
Great video… really nice review of his work. Which collection has Spear and Fang? I want to read that story.
I think the only print book I’ve seen that story in is Shadow Kingdoms: Weird Works of Robert E. Howard Volume 1.
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 Excellent. Added to my wish list (aka to be bought soon list). Thanks!
I have a collection of his horror stories on Audible. I love them, and I have an edition of the Solomon Kane stories in paperback I picked up in the 90’s.
It's Con-an not Ko-nan. After all, who wrote "Sherlock Holmes?" Why, Sir Arthur Con-an Doyle.
Robert E. Howard will always be my absolute favorite author. Whatever the genre, I swear his writing is what rings the loudest and most profoundly to me. It is a bloody shame that so few people actually know about him, thanks to hacks and professional liars like L. Sprague De Camp dancing on his grave and exploiting his work for their own ends.
Yeah, REH has been my favorite writer since I first read his work and he always will be.
As far as I know, I've got everything published by REH. You forgot to mention his short stories, poetry, ect,etc. In my opinion, the most fantastical thing he ever wrote was the poem "Recompense "...I have yet to figure it out after 60 years.
Solomon Kane always reminds me of. Short story of Hawthorne's, the man of adamant...
Also, Cormac Mac Art
Yes!
Dated is fine. The books you show are they original or highly edited?
The Del Rey editions take great care to present the stories as Howard wrote them.
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 Thanks for the feed back. I am looking more closely into Howard and I am truly enjoying it. Your really helped me learn more. Keep making more Howard videos please. Thank you.
You speak of Conan and Kull , Bran Mak Morn and others. But you never speak of El Borak. El Borak was another of REH's characters. And I thought his stories were as great as "any" of the other characters. They were action packed and full of fun. Please do a video on the El Borak stories !
It’s too bad Del Rey hasn’t reprinted REH’s Skull Face and other “Fu Manchu”-inspired detective stories. I suppose they are overly dated and racially insensitive, but great fun nonetheless. The Berkeley edition from the late ‘70s maybe the easiest way to get them, or an ebook.
Yes, I agree. I would have liked to see both Skull Face and Almuric reprinted in that line. Skull Face was reprinted in the small press line Weird Works of Robert E. Howard, in Volume 2, I believe.
They have a feeling that is different. Honor the Gerund, qualify as a member of our Culture.
Different from what? Incomplete thought.
Howard was friends with Howard Philips Lovecraft.
"You've done a man's job sir."
Thanks! I really appreciate that.
A man writing stories in the 1940's before computers and today in 2024 they read like they were written yesterday...
REH died in 1936.
I heard El Borak is badass.
Thews for days
Robert E. Howard was from Texas and was a practicing homosexual who blew his head off with a shot gun when he was only thirty years old. Disturbing. Does this suggest that the Conan the Barbarian series was nothing but a homosexual fantasy? Also disturbing.
Nothing about this statement is true. There is not a shred of evidence to suggest that Robert E. Howard was gay. Quite the contrary, actually. He did not shoot himself with a shotgun. You might want to actually get your facts straight before you make comments of this sort.
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 Sorry to disappoint you, but it's all true and documented. It's been known for decades. It is speculative though if H.P. Lovecraft was a homosexual, there's no proof that was. Yet it's different for Robert E. Howard.