Discovering Robert E. Howard – The Series
Back in 2015, because I didn’t know any better, I thought I could reach out to Robert E. Howard experts and fans from around the world, and convince them to contribute essays about Robert E Howard, for a Black Gate series. Yeah, I know: “Who are you, Byrne? Why do you think you can pull this off?” Because I don’t have the common sense that God gave a rock. Also – I can’t even sing as well as a rock (Bible reference there). So, without a clue (GREAT movie!), I reached out to a few folks, got pointed to a few more, and with the Black Gate name behind me, rounded up a VERY knowledgeable and talented group.
Howard was much more than just the creator of Conan (who I LOVE). He, of course, wrote many other characters, and for many other markets and genres. He lived an interesting life as well. And some generous folks contributed some tremendous essays!
It was a fantastic series, nominated for a Robert E. Howard Foundation award. The Howard community loved it, to no one’s surprise. The wide-ranging look at REH, covering his life and his works, was a superb addition to REH scholarship. It also planted the seeds for a follow-up series at Black Gate, Hither Came Conan, which was an even bigger hit! And you fans of either series, it will be a trilogy, as we’ll be emulating Hither Came Conan with another Howard character. But I’ve got another non-Howard series to put together first.
Here below is the entire series (which included a blog series being done separately by Howard Andrew Jones & Bill Ward). I intentionally minimized the Conan content, as the goal was to paint a broad REH picture. And we covered Conan in depth with Hither Came Conan. Click on a few links and explore the amazing world of Robert E. Howard. Some tremendous stuff, which Black Gate was proud to bring together.
REH Goes Hard Boiled by Bob Byrne
The Fists of Robert E. Howard by Paul Bishop
2015 Howard Days by Damon Sasser
Solomon Kane by Frank Schindiler
REH in the Comics – Beyond Barbarians by Bobby Derie
Rogues in the House by Wally Conger
By Crom – Are Conan Pastiches Official? by Bob Byrne
The Worldbuilding of REH by Jeffrey Shanks
Re-reading ‘The Phoenix on the Sword” by Howard Andrew Jones & Bill Ward
Ramblings on REH by Bob Byrne
Pigeons From Hell by Don Herron
Re-reading “The Tower of the Elephant” by Howard Andrew Jones & Bill Ward
El Borak by David Hardy
Westerns by James Reasoner
Re-reading “Queen of the Black Coast” by Howard Andrew Jones & Bill Ward
Re-reading “Black Colossus” by Howard Andrew Jones & Bill Ward
Armies of the Hyborian Age by Morgan Holmes
Howard’s Influence on The World of Xoth by Morten Braten
Re-reading “Rogues in the House” by Howard Andrew Jones & Bill Ward
The Great Savage Sword Re-Read: Vol 1 by John Fultz
Robert E. Howard: Exile of Cross Plains by William Patrick Maynard
Re-Reading “The Devil in Iron” by Howard Andrew Jones & Bill Ward
Kull and the Quest for Identity by William Patrick Maynard
Re-Reading “People of the Black Circle” by Howard Andrew Jones & Bill Ward
REH: Peering Behind the Veil of Life by William Patrick Maynard
Re-Reading The Hour of the Dragon by Howard Andrew Jones & Bill Ward
Re-Reading “Beyond the Black River” by Howard Andrew Jones & Bill Ward
The Poetry of Robert E. Howard by Barbara Barrett
Re-Reading “The Black Stranger” by Howard Andrew Jones & Bill Ward
Re-Reading “Red Nails” by Howard Andrew Jones & Bill Ward
Conan Re-Read: Conclusion by Howard Andrew Jones & Bill Ward
Valentine’s Day — Robert E. Howard Style by Barbara Barrett
Esau Cairn – A Man Outside His Epoch by Fred Adams Jr.
Bob Byrne’s ‘A (Black) Gat in the Hand’ made it’s Black Gate debut in the summer of 2018 and has returned every one since.
His ‘The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes’ column ran every Monday morning at Black Gate from March, 2014 through March, 2017. And he irregularly posts on Rex Stout’s gargantuan detective in ‘Nero Wolfe’s Brownstone.’ He is a member of the Praed Street Irregulars, founded www.SolarPons.com (the only website dedicated to the ‘Sherlock Holmes of Praed Street’) and blogs about Holmes and other mystery matters at Almost Holmes.
He organized Black Gate’s award-nominated ‘Discovering Robert E. Howard’ series, as well as the award-winning ‘Hither Came Conan’ series.
He has contributed stories to The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories – Parts III, IV, V, VI and XXI.
He has written introductions for Steeger Books, and appeared in several magazines, including Black Mask, Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, The Strand Magazine, and Sherlock Magazine.
Great to see you back, Bob – I was wondering where you’ve been.
what is this tuesday nonsense :p
glad you are back! or will be back, cannot wait to see what you have curated next.
Thanks, guys! Taking a break. I was struggling to write something solid every week. I have started the groundwork for the successor to ‘Discovering REH’ and ‘Hither Came Conan.’ We’re going to tackle another fantasy giant next Fall. Should be a worthy entry in the series.
I’ve been re-reading/re-watching Tolkien. The Hobbit stuff has always bored me a little. But oh, the magic of his worldbuilding! I am almost in awe of it all. And thinking back to that Rankin-Bass movie, and then what Peter Jackson put on screen – it’s all SO amazing.
AND…I’m finally reading the final book in the Wheel of Time. Over 11,000 pages, covering 14 books and about 25 years – it lasted longer than my marriage did! I may write something about it – it’s bittersweet to finally finish something that’s been a presence for so long.
Stay well out there. I’ll get back to the weekly slot here at some point.
I have a soft spot for the Rankin-Bass Hobbit myself and much prefer it over the bloated and cacophonous Jackson Hobbits. I’ve even toyed with the idea of writing a piece on it. Provisional title: “Does Size Matter?”
I loved Jackson’s the LotR. Only the third Hobbit movie worked for me. ‘Bloated’ is how I felt as well (though I’m going to rewatch with a more open mind, and appreciate the extra material he pulled in from the Appendices. – I just re-read those a few weeks ago).
But the old Hobbit, Bakshi’s film, Krull, Kull, The Sword and the Sorcerer, Ator, Beast Master, – those movies of my youth didn’t live up to my D&D-infused desires. And I don’t really have any nostalgia for them. Jackson’s LotR are what I had been waiting forever for.
Heck – I watched every episode of Wizards & Warriors, just to have some fantasy on TV. And that was a bad (and short-lived) show.
Also, since I think MTV’s ‘Shannara’ (I LOVE the book and a lot of the series) was mostly garbage made for teens who like Twilight, I feel like they’re still doing crappy adaptations of fantasy series’. Which makes me appreciate Jackson’s work even more. Would love to see him get to do Beren and Luthien, or Gondolin, or something tracking the Nauglamir.
Will be watching Wheel of Time Friday night. Not sure what I think of the preview.
the Wheel of Time series is one of my major misses, and now at that many books i hesitate to begin reading it. i think now i will watch the amazon show, and if that inspires me to read the whole series i will work at it through 2023.
oh man i used to be GLUED to my TV when the old animated The Hobbit would come on, usually around easter every year, it became a tradition to me. i never could get into the rotoscope versions, but i remember enjoying the other animated ones too, but man oh man the hobbit one was/is excellent, though i havent seen it in probly 15 years now.
but i will be honest, i have never been much into Tolkien, i can acknowledge the talent and influence, but as much as i loved thaat animated movie, i did not get into the books at all. honestly at the time i was reading, i was a sci fi guy way more and the books that were fantasy that got me into fantasy were the D&D novels, stuff like the Finders Stone trilogy, which i re-read last year still hold up for me. i wish i could get into middle earth but i think it passed me by.
Wheel of Time – For the first five-ish books, it had some of the best fantasy writing I’d read. From anybody. I thought that Jordan was simply excellent. Then, in the middle phase, he started trying to shoe-horn in EVERYTHING. The books were plodding. I found I was forcing myself to get to the end of a chapter sometimes. Which was a disappointment, since it had been so outstanding before.
However, Sanderson did a TREMENDOUS job with the final three books after Jordan died. It’s the only thing I’ve read by him, but he absolutely breathed life back into it. And now, with about 400 pages left to go for me, he’s doing a heck of a job tying everything together. And believe me, it is all over the place with an epic scope. I’m impressed with how he’s managing it.
Tolkien – I don’t actually read The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings much. I do pick out parts of The Silmarillion which I like, once in awhile. But I like to read pieces of The History of Middle Earth books, and I listen to podcasts like Nerd of the Rings. I simply love the worldbuilding, and stories of the great elves, and the dwarven holds, and the epic battles. So many characters and events, even though it’s often depressing, as the bad guys usually win (until the very end).
Wow. There truly is no accounting for – or arguing with – taste. I eagerly grabbed The Eye of the World when it came out, and was ready to burn it by the time I had dragged my way through it; I thought it was one of the worst things I had ever read and nothing on earth could induce me to read sixty-eight more volumes or whatever the number is. The Joys of Jordan will forever be closed to me, it seems.
Ha! It opened with such a downer, I abandoned it twice. But once I finished book one, I was hooked. But you and I consistently have different tastes in authors while liking the genre they write in. 🙂
HA this is exactly what i fear, just from how people talk about it on reddit or goodreads, we shall see what the show brings as far as inspiration to read it.
i dont know if you will see this Mr. Byrne long after posting, but holy poop the Psych 3 movie was fantastic, got to be the best of the 3 movies, really just loved it! Peacock stays subed for me! (cause of futball too)
I am going to subscribe to Peacock to watch it. Probably this week. Watched the trailer the other day.
I just re-watched ‘American Duos’ the other day. I NEVER tire of that show.
Have you discovered ‘The Psychologists Are In’ Podcast? It started a couple weeks ago. Maggie Lawson and Timothy Omundson are doing a weekly podcast, loosely based around an episode, in chronological order. They had Steven Franks on for the first show, then James Roday for the second.
It is FANTASTIC!!! This exactly what every Psycho wants to hear. It is an absolute blast. I’ll probably do a short post on it here at BG.
it’s been at least a year or more since i last listened to a podcast, but that sounds like a winner, thanks for letting me know!
I watched the first three episodes of The Wheel of Time. So far, I give it a thumbs up. I like the foundation, and the direction. I can (and will) nitpick, but no egregious flaws right out of the gate. It looks really good, visually. Certainly appears to be better than The Shannara Chronicles.
me and the wife have watched the first 2, she was more into Cowboy Bebop so we didnt get far in Wheel yet. to me it is coming off as a very CW like show. Rand, who i gather is the “main” comes off like a whiney brat, not a fan. i like maybe 2 characters so far. not loooking good for gettng me to read the series. the vistas and locations are fantastic though. that huge wall destroyed in the second episode looked very awesome and inspiring for story.
I knew nothing about Cowboy Bebop, and watched the first episode. Too over-the-top for me. Almost seems like a parody.
I don’t get a CW vibe from WoT. I absolutely did from The Shannara Chronicles.
Cobra Kai, Discovery, Book of Boba Fett, The Expanse, and Hawkeye, all within a couple of months. Plus WoT. I’m a happy streaming camper!