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phillip_mk 's review for:
The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian
by Robert E. Howard
I was very excited to read this collection, as I have never really gotten to read Howard's stories without mangling by other authors and publishers. I was pleasantly surprised by the hefty dose of cosmic horror themes, which shouldn't have been a surprise considering Howard was a colleague of HP Lovecraft. I think his descriptions of dark magic and sorcery are some of the best I have ever read. There is a pervading atmosphere of dark secrets, magic, and the unknown throughout these stories, which I felt drawn right into.
However, like any collection of short stories, there are some hits and misses (even the guy writing the foreword said as much). "The Pheonix on the Sword," "The Tower of the Elephant," and "The Scarlet Citadel" stood out to me as the best tales. "Queen of the Black Coast" is honestly overrated, in my opinion.
There is definitely the sexism and racism you'd expect from something written in the 30s, though it is more present in certain stories. "The Vale of Lost Women" was by far the worst, and I only made it halfway through that one before skipping it. I doubt Howard was worse than anyone else during his time, but it still isn't the kind of thing I want to read. I'm noticing the two that were the worst were both published after his death, so I am wondering if they really should be considered.
As a collection, many of these stories are pretty much the same formula. I don't think this would have been much of an issue in their original format, where they are all separated by issues of Weird Tales, but when they are all read back-to-back, your eyes start to glaze over. I'd recommend reading these spread out over time instead of doing them all in one go.
However, like any collection of short stories, there are some hits and misses (even the guy writing the foreword said as much). "The Pheonix on the Sword," "The Tower of the Elephant," and "The Scarlet Citadel" stood out to me as the best tales. "Queen of the Black Coast" is honestly overrated, in my opinion.
There is definitely the sexism and racism you'd expect from something written in the 30s, though it is more present in certain stories. "The Vale of Lost Women" was by far the worst, and I only made it halfway through that one before skipping it. I doubt Howard was worse than anyone else during his time, but it still isn't the kind of thing I want to read. I'm noticing the two that were the worst were both published after his death, so I am wondering if they really should be considered.
As a collection, many of these stories are pretty much the same formula. I don't think this would have been much of an issue in their original format, where they are all separated by issues of Weird Tales, but when they are all read back-to-back, your eyes start to glaze over. I'd recommend reading these spread out over time instead of doing them all in one go.