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[Retropunch]

What do I know of cultured ways, the gilt, the craft and the lie?
I, who was born in a naked land and bred in the open sky.
The subtle tongue, the sophist guile, they fail when the broadswords sing;
Rush in and die, dogs—I was a man before I was a king.

So I'm a big fan of fantasy and sci-fi, but I'm also a bit of a snob; so much is just trashy rubbish or fan fiction level writing going over the same tired tropes. As I'm always bickering about the best books/most classic/boring categorisation #3, I'm always amazed by the number of die hard fantasy fans who have never read the original Conan stories by Howard. Most people know it just by the movies, a few comics and some vague notion of earlier stuff. Basically, Conan as a dumb Barbarian bashing things.

However the original books aren't like that, he's more of a grim-dark hero in the vein of Logen or Caine, but way before grim-dark became a thing (and before Tolkien interestingly enough). The writing is good, and Howard was a contemporary and good friend of Lovecraft, so the books share a lot of the same aspects and mythos. More mystery and fighting evil itself, rather than just bashing dragons with a club. Even though the books follow paths well travelled, they're done better than most and don't feel dated or conservatively tame like a lot of old fantasy does.

All the Conan books are free on Gutenberg or here(https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/h/howard/robert_e/)

If you haven't got round to them, definitely give them a go.

[nenjin]

I was one of those people that never read the books because I watched movies and was like "Why would I read the books now?"

But I finally picked up an anthology a year or so ago and read through them, and I'm glad I did.

Because Conan is a badass. He's a hero, a rogue, a king, a general, a soldier and a killer. He's got an outlook that's uncomplicated compared to today's moody heroes, anti-heroes and self-inserts. He's got a moral compass that makes sense for who he is, and makes him a believable and fun character to read.

The stories are great pulpy sword and sorcery too. (I love the one about the temple with the two warring factions who locked themselves inside.) There are some familiar but well executed tropes in there. So I'll second reading Conan if you haven't before, you might be surprised.

[Retropunch]

Yeah, the movies and comics (some of which were pretty ok) really don't capture the proper Conan and I think it's such a shame that it's put people off the original books.

Because Conan is a badass. He's a hero, a rogue, a king, a general, a soldier and a killer. He's got an outlook that's uncomplicated compared to today's moody heroes, anti-heroes and self-inserts. He's got a moral compass that makes sense for who he is, and makes him a believable and fun character to read..

This has always been the thing for me; he manages to be all of the above whilst still coherent as a character which is seriously impressive. Most of today's heroes/anti-heroes have to give tortured monologues about why they're doing something different to normal because it doesn't naturally fit their one dimension of 'angry man' or 'sullen girl', whereas Conan just manages to work.

[Loud Whispers]

Yeah I'll give it a shot

[Harry Baldman]

I just read "The Phoenix on the Sword", it's good stuff. Thanks for the recommendation, I'll definitely read the other stuff at some point as well.

[Retropunch]

I just read "The Phoenix on the Sword", it's good stuff. Thanks for the recommendation, I'll definitely read the other stuff at some point as well.

My pleasure!!

If you read more, I'd suggest reading probably The Scarlet Citadel (next in the series) and the Tower of the Elephant. Then if you want to go all out, perhaps go and do it in the in universe chronological order of The Conan Chronicles (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1857989961/?tag=stackoverfl08-20).

It's definitely not necessary to enjoy it, and the chronology isn't perfect, but it does help make it more of a sort of...novel instead of just randomly jumping about.

Howard had always said that he had an extremely fixed idea of Conan and his life story by the time he started writing the very first book, which means that the jumping about in Conan's life doesn't end up having that horrible ret-con feeling that some books get when the author goes back and writes an earlier bit and the early life seems different to how you imagined or not quite fitting.

[ChairmanPoo]

   Most people know it just by the movies, a few comics and some vague notion of earlier stuff. Basically, Conan as a dumb Barbarian bashing things.
 

I dont think the first movie fits that stereotype. But yeah, even that one is a fairly different character. And I like the stories, too.

I'm a stories-and-first-movie snob.

(dadada dum dada-da dum dadada dum dada-da dum...)

[Urist McScoopbeard]

@ChairmanPoo, after watching that, I might pick up the first Conan book, lol. The feels!

[TempAcc]

It has some really sweet lore to it, too. Conan's world is well built and very interesting overall, and even though it is certainly fantasy, it never solves shit just by magic or deux ex machinae, unless you consider Conan's badassery to be that. He's no hero with a cause, he just gets shit done to get some thing or another. Sometimes its revenge, other times its gold and booty, its sword and sorcery at its best.

[My Name is Immaterial]

I don't have the time to read for fun much more, but I do take lots of public transportation, so I've taken a liking to audiobooks. Does anyone know where I could get the Conan books (preferably on the cheap)?

[Retropunch]

I don't have the time to read for fun much more, but I do take lots of public transportation, so I've taken a liking to audiobooks. Does anyone know where I could get the Conan books (preferably on the cheap)?

There are quite a number on Youtube which you can then download - here's the Conan novel the Hour of the Dragon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfuDtdxEMEc

They're all public domain librevox recordings, so don't feel bad about downloading them or anything.

I have to say though, I'm not a huge fan of the readers voice for it. That said, the only audio books I ever liked were The Dark Tower ones, although from what I understand they're pretty special in the realm of audio books.

[nenjin]

I got the complete collection on my Kindle I think for....like $5?

And yeah, never really get into audio dramas. The wrong reader can fuck up an entire work.

Of course, the right reader can elevate a work beyond text by giving it tonal meaning. (All hail our Voice Lord, Wayne June.)

[My Name is Immaterial]

I don't have the time to read for fun much more, but I do take lots of public transportation, so I've taken a liking to audiobooks. Does anyone know where I could get the Conan books (preferably on the cheap)?

There are quite a number on Youtube which you can then download - here's the Conan novel the Hour of the Dragon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfuDtdxEMEc

They're all public domain librevox recordings, so don't feel bad about downloading them or anything.

I have to say though, I'm not a huge fan of the readers voice for it. That said, the only audio books I ever liked were The Dark Tower ones, although from what I understand they're pretty special in the realm of audio books.

Thank you! I'll look into that! I think you might have a point, with the reader's voice. It's a bit flat. :/

All hail our Voice Lord, Wayne June.

Spoiler: mfw (click to show/hide)

[Retropunch]

(All hail our Voice Lord, Wayne June.)

hnggggggg.

[§k]

I read several stories so far, and find those very good.

They are not as strange as Lovecraft's, but still very entertaining. The action scenes in various dungeons and buildings are particularly good, reminding me of thrilling adventures in the Mazes of Menace and the dark city of Angband, except that Conan survived!