paizo.com wrote:Introducing Planet Stories: Classic Science Fantasy NovelsAlmuric, by Robert E. Howard, is a savage planet of crumbling stone ruins and debased, near-human inhabitants. Into this world comes Esau Cairn, Earthman, swordsman, murderer. Only he can overthrow the terrible devils that enslave Almuric, but to do so he must first defeat the inner demons that forced him to abandon Earth. Filled with vile beasts and thrilling adventure in the tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Almuric is one of Howard's few novels, and an excellent yarn from one of America's most distinct literary voices. Robert E. Howard is most known for creating the fictional character, Conan the Cimmerian (a.k.a. Conan the Barbarian), who has been featured in comic books, short stories, novels, and feature films for over 70 years. Howard's work is often credited as the source of the sword-and-sorcery genre and influenced everyone from J.R.R. Tolkien to George R.R. Martin. The Anubis Murders, by Gary Gygax, weaves a fantastic tale of warring wizards that spans the world from the pyramids of ancient Egypt to the mist-shrouded towns of medieval England. Someone is murdering the world's most powerful sorcerers, and the trail of blood leads straight to Anubis, the solemn god known by most as the Master of Jackals. Can Magister Setne Inhetep, personal philosopher-wizard to the Pharaoh, reach the distant kingdom of Avillonia and put an end to the Anubis Murders, or will he be claimed as the latest victim? Gary Gygax co-created the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game over 30 years ago and has watched it grow to become one of the largest entertainment sources in the hobby gaming industry. Dungeons & Dragons has been played by tens of millions worldwide and the name Gygax is instantly recognizable to any fans of the game, past or present.
Radovarl wrote:Okay, this is pretty OT, but I just had to vent about it somewhere where people might appreciate my horror. Those of you who have ever read REH, JRRT, or Gary Gygax's novels will understand. Check out Paizo.com's newest announcement, about two "classic" science fantasy novels to be published in August:I'll make my rant short but bitter 1) I'd be surprised if Prof. Tolkien ever heard of Robert E. Howard, let alone read him or was influenced by him. Tolkien died in '73, before anything like the Conan game or movie might have brought it to his attention across the pond. I doubt he was reading Weird Tales back in the '30s, which is how early it would likely have had to be to "influence" him. I REALLY doubt he was exposed Lin Carter's Adult Fantasy series which came in the few years preceding his death. And while I'm sure GRRM has read REH, I don't detect one iota of influence. Please correct me if you know differently. Don't get me wrong, I love REH's work too, but he and the good Professor don't even inhabit the same plane of existence.Another Gary Gygax novel? Didn't we try that already? Again, don't get me wrong, I love the man for helping to create D&D, etc., but I've read the entire "Gord the Rogue" series, and while he might be a better novelist than R. A. Salvatore, it ain't by much.Rant ended.
Radovarl wrote:Another Gary Gygax novel? Didn't we try that already? Again, don't get me wrong, I love the man for helping to create D&D, etc., but I've read the entire "Gord the Rogue" series, and while he might be a better novelist than R. A. Salvatore, it ain't by much.
Badmike wrote:Tolkien actually was quite aware of Howard and his ilk, but as for influence, well, it's pretty much been established JRR had an entire other field of writers influencing him, from William Morris to George MacDonald, and if anythng was far more influenced by ancient mythologies than even those two.
zhowar wrote:Radovarl, just a FYI: this book originally came out in 1992! The Paizo version is a reprint. It was part of a series of three books: Anubis Murders, Samarkand Solution and Death in Delhi. These tied into the Dangerous Journeys game system & were murder-mysteries set in a fantasy world.I completely missed them when they came out and only heard about them in the past few years. I haven't read them so I have no comment on the quality.
Radovarl wrote:I didn't know that, thanks. What's your source for that info (Tolkien's awareness of REH, not the Morris/MacDonald influence), if you don't mind me asking? Not that I doubt you, I just want to read whatever it is.
zhowar wrote:rec.arts.books.tolkien is a good place to look for information like this. You can search it through Google Groups. I just found this thread:http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts ... 991069edadApparently L. Sprague de Camp stated in a book that Tolkien enjoyed Conan stories, but there's no published verification of this (nothing in Letters).
None of the Americans had finished high school except Howard, and he only barely, while the core Inkling trio all had the equivalent of Master's degrees and were Profs except Williams. The Americans were atheists, except possibly Howard for whom as far as I know there is no specific statement, while the Inklings were all devout Christians (Lewis converted atheist, Williams mystico-whacko-occult Christian, Tolkien devout Catholic). Inklings were heavy drinkers, while the Americans were teetotalers except maybe CAS.I don't think they would have gotten along well, at all
sleepyCO wrote:Hmmmm . . . one would've thought the opposite--the atheists would be the drinkers while the Christians wou've been teetotallers (or rarely drank at all). Interesting information!
Winterwords wrote:Random fact - C.S. Lewis died on the same day Aldous Huxley - 22nd Nov. 1963.
FormCritic wrote:The Inklings were not really heavy drinkers in the sense that they got drunk all the time. Alcohol was a part of their social scene and Lewis in particular enjoyed a night at the pub...frequently with his students.Mark
red_bus wrote:Waaay, back in 1988/89, I spent a year at the University of Kansas, in Lawrence, as an exchange student. I recall being quite suprised to discover that it was a 'dry' campus - in that alcohol was not served or sold at all. While there were plenty of (great) bars nearby, there were also plenty of people there who were suspicious if you drank at all. In the part of Northern Ireland where I grew up - there is a strong no-drinking culture amongst some of the more Calvinist protestant churches. But that too is (thankfully) a minority position