Thu 4 Aug 2022
Diary Review: ROBERT E. HOWARD, L. SPRAGUE de CAMP & LIN CARTER – Conan.
Posted by Steve under Diary Reviews , Science Fiction & Fantasy[6] Comments
ROBERT E. HOWARD, L. SPRAGUE de CAMP & LIN CARTER – Conan. Lancer, paperback, 1967. Cover: Frank Frazetta. Chronologically the first in the series.
My first exposure to the saga of Conan. I found him as exciting a character as his fans have been saying for years. The writing can be uneven, but Conan in combat is never dull. There were many points of similarity between story plots in this volume; Conan probably had his fill of kiling evil magicians. The quality of the pastiches is generally good – note that the highest rated story is by de Camp and Carter. It is also the shortest, however, which may imply something. Overall rating: ****
“The Hyborean Age, Part I” – Howard. Originally published in The Fantagraph, Feb, Aug, Oct-Nov 1936. The fictional background for the series, telling of events up to the time of Conan (not rated).
“The Thing in the Crypt” – Carter & de Camp. Fifteen-year-old Conan discovers a sword guarded by one of the undying dead. Skillful blend of horror and swords and sorcery. (5)
“The Tower of the Elephant” – Howard. Originally published in Weird Tales, March 1933. Conan undertakes the theft of a well-guarded jewel in an evil priest’s tower and frees the captive alien from whom the priest received his powers. (4)
“The Hall of the Dead” – Howard & de Camp. Originally published in F&SF, February 1967. Conan and Nestor risk the unknown dangers of the ruined city of Larsha for the treasures rumored there, but their net gain is two gold coins. Nothing terribly remarkable this time. (3)
“The God in the Bowl” – Howard. Originally published in Space SF, September 1952. A museum owner is killed under strange circumstances, and Conan is accused, A bit slow at times, but it is made up for as Conan escapes and discovers the real murderer. (4)
“Rogues in the House” – Howard. Originally published in Weird Tales, January 1934. In return for help in escaping imprisonment, Conan helps a nobleman against an evil priest, then saves them both from an ape-man who has taken over the priest’s home. Fun. (4)
“The Hand of Nergal” – Howard & Carter. Conan, the sole survivor of a battle against Yaralet, is brought secretly to that city to destroy its ruler, who possesses a talisman giving him magical powers. The weakest story; Conan needs the counter-talisman to succeed. (3)
“The City of Skulls” – Carter & de Camp. Conan is captured and made a galley slave. When he escapes, a living stone god must be destroyed. Slow in the middle; ending saves story. (4)
August 5th, 2022 at 11:58 am
I don’t think you gave the right synopsis for “God In The Bowl”. Which is actually a sort of murder mystery that Conan finds himself caught up in while attempting to rob a museum. The story you described with the killer ape living in a wizard’s house is actually “Rogues in the House”.
August 5th, 2022 at 12:44 pm
Matthew, You are quite right. I have to retype these old reviews, and every once in a while my fingers slip. Thanks for bailing me out on this, this time!
August 5th, 2022 at 10:22 pm
“Tower of the Elephant” is my favorite Howard Conan story, but atypical in many ways.
De Camp and Carter were often criticized as defanging Howard’s creation a bit, but these are splendid pastiche and without the two of them Howard would likely have stayed in creative limbo. Both men are fine literary critics and historians of the genre, and de Camp a favorite writer on his own.
You can’t discuss these Lancer books without mentioning the impact of Frank Frazetta’s covers. It’s true that if the books hadn’t been good the covers wouldn’t have sold as many copies, but combined with the interiors it was publishing magic.
August 5th, 2022 at 11:42 pm
Those were heady days indeed, back in the mid to late 60s, when the Conan books starting showing up in newsstands and drugstore spinner racks, out of seemingly nowhere. I’d heard of Conan, but who could find the Gnome Press hardcovers, or even know where too look for old vintage copies of Weird Tales?
And the Doc Savage paperbacks. He I’d never heard of, and they just kept on coming and coming. As I say, a wonderful exciting time to be a reader.
And I think the Conan covers were what made Frazetta famous, as much as the covers sold the paperbacks. A relationship between the two that bound the two together forever.
September 5th, 2022 at 12:58 pm
I read Conan the Conqueror in the Ace D-36 paperback about 1957 and fell in love with Conan, rereading that book many times until the Lancer editions appeared starting 1966. Recall that time well as I was still in university and reading the stories on the bus. Yes, the Frazetta covers clearly jumped out at you from the myriad other SF titles on the spinner racks. There really wasn’t a category for fantasy or horror in those days, with such few books published under SF banners. I have a set of original Lancers, and the Frazetta covers cannot be under rated as to their influence in helping attract buyers. The stories themselves, of course, completed the cycle of Frazetta’s vision. However, the pastiches were clearly inferior. I distinctly recall on first reading of the series the almost all the pastiche by de Camp & Carter were noticeably lacking in the immediacy that Howard himself wove into his stories. In many ways God in the Bowl is perhaps Howard’s poorest tale. I recall in REHupa someone suggesting it was an early police procedural. I rejected that notion as the concept was really created many years later. Howard I believe was experimenting with it and trying to weave it into a sort of murder mystery. He had written some mystery detective stuff but it never took off for him. Good action but lacking good plots. Just wasn’t his forte. De Camp made a mess of it editing and publishing it in an SF Digest in the 50’s before it appeared in the Gnome series, were he pulled back on his editing, and in the Lancer he went back to the original mss with only minor edits. As this story was early in Conan’s career, he was too much an action oriented fighter to simply stand around while the captain of the guard tries to determine what happened. Howard needed to rewrite that whole part to speed up the pace and keep on an true to form.
September 5th, 2022 at 1:36 pm
Most interesting, especially to me, not at all a Conan expert. Thanks, Scotty!