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Post by Ghul on Sept 5, 2011 11:46:55 GMT -6
So, I've read all the Kull, Solomon Kane, Bran Mak Morn, and Conan yarns. I've also read a few collections of horror tales. The Conan yarns perhaps three times over since my preteen years. I should re-read the Kull and Solomon Kan tales, simply because it's been so long (maybe 20 years) and I fear that I've forgotten a lot, though I'm sure most of you experience the same as I do when re-reading a book you assume to have forgotten much about -- the synapses connect, and like good times with old friends, it all begins to come back to you. I digress. The one book on my shelf that haunts me is El Borak. Francis Xavier Gordon is a Howard character I know little to nothing about. Any fans here?
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arcadayn
Level 5 Thaumaturgist
Posts: 236
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Post by arcadayn on Sept 5, 2011 16:04:12 GMT -6
El Borak is one of my favorites. I have a compilation book from Ace called, Son of the White Wolf. It's very inspiring for a pulp era campaign.
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Post by kesher on Sept 7, 2011 10:15:30 GMT -6
Huh---I don't think I've ever heard of El Borak! Awesome. Kull is really my all-time favorite. Kicks ass like Conan, but is a philosopher at heart. The Mirrors of Tzune Thune may be the best story he ever wrote (imo).  |
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Post by Morandir on Sept 7, 2011 13:22:33 GMT -6
The El Borak stories are great; if you have an e-reader you can find them at Project Gutenberg Australia for free. Definitely worth reading!
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Post by Ghul on Sept 8, 2011 19:02:33 GMT -6
Huh---I don't think I've ever heard of El Borak! Awesome. Kull is really my all-time favorite. Kicks ass like Conan, but is a philosopher at heart. The Mirrors of Tzune Thune may be the best story he ever wrote (imo). Despite Conan being one of my favorite characters in any fiction (genre or otherwise), I think my favorite Howard tale might be Worms of the Earth. |
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Post by rabindranath72 on Sept 16, 2011 4:14:00 GMT -6
Huh---I don't think I've ever heard of El Borak! Awesome. Kull is really my all-time favorite. Kicks ass like Conan, but is a philosopher at heart. The Mirrors of Tzune Thune may be the best story he ever wrote (imo). Despite Conan being one of my favorite characters in any fiction (genre or otherwise), I think my favorite Howard tale might be Worms of the Earth. +1 Plus, Hour of the Dragon. Brilliant stuff. |
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Post by Finarvyn on Sept 16, 2011 4:24:27 GMT -6
My top three REH characters are probably Conan, Soloman Kane, and Francis Xavier Gordon. My order of preference changes with my mood. Gordon lives in a more modern era (not sure REH pins down an exact date but probably around 1900 or so, I'd guess) in Afghanistan. The setting reminds me a lot of those old French Foreign Legion movies. There are basic rifles but no automatic weapons, and Gordon uses knives and swords a lot as well. Really great action-adventure pulp tales of treasure hunting, damsel-in-distress saving, and so on. I'd reccommend the stories quite highly!  |
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Post by Ghul on Aug 5, 2013 20:38:23 GMT -6
I've since read all the El Borak stories, and I have to agree with you, Fin. Absolutely brilliant stuff -- Howard perhaps at his finest. I am blown away by these stories, and I can't believe I'd never read them. I'm now moving on to the three Kirby O'Donnell yarns.
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Post by Finarvyn on Aug 6, 2013 5:23:20 GMT -6
I'm now moving on to the three Kirby O'Donnell yarns. I'm not sure if I have read those. Which book has those stories? |
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Post by Ghul on Aug 6, 2013 11:21:23 GMT -6
I'm now moving on to the three Kirby O'Donnell yarns. I'm not sure if I have read those. Which book has those stories? They are all included in El Borak and Other Desert Adventures. That volume includes Francis Xavier Gordon, Kirby O'Donnell, and Steve Clarney. The included theses on Howard and the development of each these characters is also well worth the price of admission. |
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Post by Finarvyn on Aug 6, 2013 12:05:49 GMT -6
I'm not sure if I have read those. Which book has those stories? They are all included in El Borak and Other Desert Adventures. That volume includes Francis Xavier Gordon, Kirby O'Donnell, and Steve Clarney. The included theses on Howard and the development of each these characters is also well worth the price of admission. Ah, I have that one. When I read FXG I guess I've been reading my paperbacks instead of the DEL edition.  For anyone interested in the individual paperbacks, I think there are three: (1) The Lost Valley of Iskander (2) Son of the White Wolf (3) The Three-bladed doom |
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Post by Ghul on Aug 6, 2013 13:01:06 GMT -6
Indeed, but be warned of one thing: Your paperback version of "Three-Bladed Doom" has its beginning and ending rewritten by some editor who thought he could improve on Howard. The DEL version in "El Borak and Other Desert Adventures" has the original REH version -- both of Howard's versions in fact, because there is a short version of that story, and a longer novelette version. I prefer the longer of the two.
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Post by thegreyelf on Aug 12, 2013 12:19:43 GMT -6
I have plans to mine some of the El Borak and other Desert Adventures stuff for ideas for forthcoming Amazing Adventures modules, in fact.
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Post by Otto Harkaman on Aug 7, 2015 13:26:31 GMT -6
I think REH is one of the greatest writers and his stories can't be beat. But if you want to read more about the Afghan frontier, there is Talbot Mundy's "King--of the Khyber Rifles" King is a British officer adventuring in Northern India/Afghanistan, I think Howard might have read this story. King--of the Khyber Rifles: A Romance of Adventure by Talbot Mundy It was later made into a movie starring Tyrone Power.  |
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