The Grasp for Power - The Bloody Crown of Conan

It was time to revisit the Robert E. Howard and his Conan novels. I enjoyed the first set of stories I read by him. He has a great way with words and pacing, bringing a kind of breathless energy to his adventure stories. Sure some of his pulp writing tendencies would shine through a little too much; he loves using "black" as an adjective for everything. But for a thrilling ride into some very raw and red sword and sorcery tales, you have a lot to enjoy.

In this collection, I read the only novel length work by Howard for his Conan character. It's called "The Hour of the Dragon", and so far I think it may be my favorite Conan story. One of the interesting things about the story is why it was written. Howard was trying to sell a collection of his stories to a publisher in England. The publisher wrote back and said they liked his material, but that story collections weren't selling well in England at the time. They recommended that he send a novel along the same lines and that they would be more than happy to consider that. Howard got to work, taking bits and pieces of all the short stories he had worked on, wove them into another tale he had been working on, and then smoothed the whole thing out.

The result is what could be called the quintessential Conan story. Not only does it contain all of the typical adventure elements of his previous stories (giant snakes, resurrected sorcerers, massive battles between armies, harrowing escapes and plenty of half naked women), but he makes a ripping good story out of it too. One thing I liked, as a writer, was the fact that some of his story elements were also borrowed, altered and shined up. I could recognize them, but in almost every case, I enjoyed what he did with them in this incarnation over the previous appearances.

After reading the book, I picked up Stephen King's "Dance Macabre". That book was the first one to really point me in Howard's direction. I was curious to see what King said about a specific story I had read in the collection (The People of the Black Circle). I also found an interesting take on fantasy writing by Mr. King. In his opinion, the best fantasy stories deal with the finding of power and the understanding of how to use that power. If the story takes a tragic turn, the power is lost. He even sited Conan stories as being an example of badly done fantasy stories, because Conan has the power, uses it without any consequences and already understands that he is invulnerable.

In most cases I agree. Some of the Conan stories do feature a lead character that is invincible and overcomes all his enemies through strength and cunning. But "Hour of the Dragon" is a bit different. In this story Conan loses his power completely. He is literally paralyzed by a spell and watches helpless as his armies are crushed, and his kingship taken from him. He is imprisoned and told that he will be broken in spirit and body soon enough. Against him is the resurrected sorcerer I spoke of earlier. Conan escapes the prison (thanks to a half naked women and makes for his former kingdom. He tries to rally support for a revolution against the conquerors, but no one is willing to help him. They all fear the sorcerer and his limitless power.

Nearly halfway through the book we find that the gem used to resurrect the sorcerer is also the only thing that can destroy him. The sorcerer thought he had the gem in a safe place, but his own scheming underlings stole it from him, believing it was the source of his power. Conan goes after the gem, understanding that it is the only way he can regain his kingdom. Then you have your standard quest material, with Conan in hot pursuit of the gem and facing all kinds of obstacles. Once he gets the gem and returns to his kingdom he is ready to wage war against the usurpers and the sorcerer.

What is interesting is that the gem is called The Heart of Ahriman. This heart was literally located in the center of Conan's kingdom. Without the heart and the king who knows how to wield it, the people and land suffer. While the heart may provide Conan with the power to conquer other lands, he only wishes to use it to save his kingdom and people. This understanding allows him to use the heart and stop the sorcerer.

So going by Mr. King's definition, I think this story works as a "good fantasy" novel. But it's also a fun read as well. There are a few other interesting themes in the book. The essay at the end of the book points out a connection to The Grail Legend, that I found interesting. I also enjoyed the little nod to H.P. Lovecraft's ghouls. All in all if you are looking for one of the best Conan tales, check out this book. And any writers of fantasy stories would probably find plenty to enjoy with the drafts and synopsis at the end of the book, giving you a picture of how Howard constructed his tales.

What did you think of "Hour of the Dragon"? Do you agree with Mr. King's definition of fantasy stories? Do you have a favorite fantasy story that fits this definition? What's your favorite Conan story?

The days of high adventure – The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian

My first exposure to anything relating to Robert E. Howard’s creation, Conan the Cimmerian, came with the 1981 film staring Arnold Schwarzenegger. When I first saw it, oh about six or seven years after it had been released, I really enjoyed it. I didn’t know much about Conan other than the movie. Later on, I found out that there was a comic book series of his exploits, but again, nothing really seemed overly interesting about it.

It wasn’t until recently that I ran into Robert E. Howard’s name. I was reading a couple essays on H.P. Lovecraft and they both mentioned that Howard corresponded with Lovecraft frequently. The essays said that he wrote the original Conan stories and was a famous pulp writer in his day. When he is brought up with Lovecraft, it’s because he wrote some horror stories that occur in the same world as many of Lovecraft’s work.

Stephen King mentions Howard in “Dance Macabre”. King praised his writing style and his stories, saying that they were great examples of well-crafted adventure writing in the pulp style.

Finally, I was doing some research on the genre of fantasy. I found that Tolkien and his many disciples are often referred to as “High Fantasy”. While Howard and his disciples are considered part of the “Low Fantasy” crowd. This lead me to discover that Howard and his Conan stories are often considered the genesis of the Sword and Sorcery genre. I decided to pick up some Howard and see what all the fuss is about.

I got my hands on “The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian” a Del Rey collection of Howard’s short stories restored to their original form (seems that a lot of Howards stories were reworked after his death and many of these stories have not been seen in their original form for decades). In addition to the stories the book contains a ton of useful information for writers, and I’ll get to that in a minute.

First thing first, I don’t know what my problem is, but whenever I pick up something from the pulp era, I expect it to be interesting, but archaic. I expect it to be a bit trashy and overall lacking in anything but basic escapism. To put it bluntly, I’m not expecting good writing. I don’t know why I get this way; maybe penguins tampered with my mind. Who knows?

The Conan stories blew me away. Howard does two things very well. First off, he keeps the story moving at a quick pace. He does it in such a way that you get a solid taste of the world you are in. At the same time you are never bored. There is always some kind of adventure right around the corner, and even if it seems like the set up is taking too long, he will throw in a moment of horror, blood or naked flesh to grab your attention. This is writing that is alive and bold. It’s going for jugular and it isn’t shy about catching your attention. Sure it does get a bit trashy, but it’s well written.

The second thing that Howard does in each story (and especially when you read a bunch of them together) is flesh out the world of Conan. This is especially impressive within the short story itself. His use of words, his balance of action and setting, and his characterization all add up to a vivid experience in Hyborian Age (the fictional time period Howard created for the Conan stories). Sure other writers have used Howard’s template since then, and that makes some of what you read a bit stale, but when you put into perspective that this was written in the 1930s and that it was brand new, it’s not surprising that a whole brand of fantasy was created based on these stories.

Of course there are some downsides to the stories. Since all of these are short stories, there isn’t a lot of character depth. Conan is pretty much the same guy in all the stories, but the fun in reading them comes from seeing what kind of crazy adventure he’ll end up in next. On top of that, the Conan of the films is not the man in the stories. Howard’s Conan is a barbarian, not a simpleton. He is grounded in the present and does things that will benefit him now. He doesn’t fear death because it comes to all men, but he doesn’t lie down and take what life throws at him. He fights with everything he has. The very first story establishes this character as one who is true to himself and doesn’t care what others think. He can be clever, but also deceived by others. He believes in his abilities but fears magic. He is honest and does what he says he will do. He has a temper and even a cruel streak in him, and seems to prefer to be a loner, even when he is a king.

Another fact that will bother some people is that these are stories about a very masculine world and written from a very masculine world view. Women are pretty much sex objects to be saved or that will try to destroy the good guys. There are exceptions, especially Belit, the Queen of the Black Coast, who is very much like Conan, but eventually becomes his willing consort. On the whole the women are presented as beautiful, kinda dumb and usually in need of rescue.

In addition Howard obviously has an issue with snakes, especially ones of the giant variety. Giant serpents appear in several of the stories, and there is usually an action scene where Conan faces them down. There is also a frequent appearance by apes that are closer to men than primates. Also present is some of the racism that was still very rampant in the 30’s. Most readers should be able to put this in context and not let it bother them.

For writers, Howard’s skills with storytelling are real reason to read the book. These short stories are great examples of how to make fast paced adventure stories work. The stories are simple, but there is always something going on or something looming just around the corner. Descriptions are short but potent (word selection is key here and it didn’t surprise me to learn that Howard had started out writing poetry before turning to prose). Above all there is a spark to the writing, something driving it that may be harder to capture, but should be alive in any storyteller who is serious about keeping an audience.

As I mentioned, this collection is especially interesting to writers because it includes a first draft of one of the stories, as well as synopses of a few others. There is an outline for a story and then a long fragment of a first draft for it. Also included is an essay of the Hyborian Age that Howard compiled to help ground the world of Conan. You also get notes on names used in the stories, maps drawn by Howard and a final essay that goes into the creation of the stories (taken from interviews, correspondence and gleaned from drafts) and how they were received. All told it’s a solid investment for anyone looking to find out more about the beginnings of Sword and Sorcery tales, as well as just learning more about a writer who is considered one of the best pulp writers of the 30’s. You also get some great stories to read, can’t say no to that.

Have you ever read any of Howard’s work? What did you think of the Conan stories? Ever find your conceptions of a certain genre or era of work challenged? What writer have you learned a great deal from just reading their work?