Well, after reading some of the comments here I decided to order (from Amazon) The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane.

One other thought . . . I see the list of authors are sci-fi, fantasy, etc.  What about someone like Tom Clancy?

sleepyCO wrote:One other thought . . . I see the list of authors are sci-fi, fantasy, etc.  What about someone like Tom Clancy?

Probably, technically, you might call his stuff very light SF, or speculative, but then again war/thriller is probably the most logical territory.

BTW, is it me, or is Clancy just not a very good writer?  I think he has a very awkward style and turn of phrase, and lost interest in his style after a few of the books.  His plots and characters are ok, but the writing style is what puts me off. Of course, I feel the same way about Grisham (acutally, I lie, I think Grisham is almost unreadable), and they have sold a few billion books between themselves, so what do I know.....

Mike B.

IttyBitty wrote:Well, after reading some of the comments here I decided to order (from Amazon) The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane.

Solomon Kane was an interesting character...too bad REH did not develop him any more than he did.

There is a Solomon Kane movie in the works.

Keith the Thief wrote:
It's not just you.  However, folks in my line of work (aerospace) love his novels.  Of course, I'm surrounded by people like Milton from Office Space.

I have trouble reading Ursula K. LeGuin for the same reason: awkward prose.  I struggle to even get through a short piece, like one of the EarthSea books.  And I never could figure out what made "Buffalo Gals" a classic.

Keith

That makes sense, as technically Clancy's novels are very well written. Literature wise, they are poo-poo.  One of the very few authors who, IMO, have better movies made out of their books than the books themselves (except for the excreable Sum of All Fears, which suffered not only having Ben I-Can't-Act in the title role, but bowed down to the politically correct leftist/liberal Hollywood types and changed the muslim terrorists to, that's right, WHITE neo-facists).

I still don't get Grisham.  The few books by him I've picked up I can't even finish.  And IMO the movies aren't even that great.

Mike B.

FormCritic wrote:
Well, I have to differ with you there.  I know of at least one teenager who thought it was pretty interesting.

I think I just had access to better porn at that age....

But even a much younger version of myself eventually realized that Norman wasn't offering anything except sadism and sexual brutality disguised as a story.  It got boring after a while and downright sickening a little while after that.

True story:  I've been selling Norman/Gor novels for years, and the vast majority (I'd say at least 80 percent) of the buyers are women.  I have theories...either they are buying them to destroy them, they are curious about being dominated/disciplined, a male friend told them "These books are great!", or women on the whole have very, very bad taste in literature.  Pick your favorite.  

The first five books at least have some story elements in amongst all the hatred of women and a truly demented worldview.  Assassin of Gor is a good read...if one can stand wading through all of the retarded sexuality in the book.

I've always had the theory that the Gor novels are a put on (the writer is a professor of philosophy in New York) because no one could be that much of a tool, plus he made a ridiculous amount of money (they sold millions) spouting his male superiority/female inferiority but loving it crap....he did it for the money.  When I was younger, at parties we used to get drunk and read passages aloud, trying to get the biggest laugh. Some of his stuff is unintentionally hilarious, but in the end it's just boring drivel.

Mike b.

g026r wrote:You must have seen the Houseplants of Gor parody by now then.  (If not, I think it's linked on the bottom of the Wikipedia Gor article.)

I also enjoyed the Norman wikipedia parody at Uncyclopedia (a pretty funny parody of wikipedia):

http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/John_Norman

Mike B.

The Kur were the invading species. I'm in the middle of rereading the Gor series now, even though I know them all.
You'd be shocked at the number of women who spontaneously combust at the thought of domination, and I don't mean in a bad way. I learned this back in the days when I was a thrash metal singer. Believe me, if you knew how many women fantasize about being dominated, you'd hit the floor.
99% of the animal kingdom is about male domination. As a few people here know, I breed endangered reptiles, and I see it every day. I've had male turtles KILL females while breeding.
Regardless of Norman's personal bent, no one can deny he has a unique genre of books. I certainly tend to agree with his general theme; most males in America are hobbled by societal strictures telling them that males and females are completely equal. Any idiot knows this is untrue. On the average, males are physically stronger and more aggressive (well, they are SUPPOSED to be), and females are smarter. Fact of life.
So, back on topic......
I've always been a big fan of the Blade series by Jeffrey Lord. Somewhat cheesy, but the concept of completely unique dimensions was brilliant. He wrote 36 books, fer Chrissakes, all different!

Nah, my wife is the best. I kick ass, and she takes the names.
I think my favorite series has to be Saberhagen's Swords books. I'm sure I mentined it before. Incredibly addictive.