D&D General No One Reads Conan Now -- So What Are They Reading?

[Bedrockgames]

Ngram viewer, so appearances of the string in the google books corpus. I didn't add 'red nails' as I expected there would be more noise than signal with such a common string.

No idea why Queen of the Black Coast is so much higher than the others. Bêlit is a well-loved figure, though, and some do consider it one of the stronger stories, plus it is likely to be a major touchstone if someone is discussing Howard's racism.

1865 is noise - some other appearance of the string

Also Queen of the Black Coast is maybe one of the more significant Conan stories. It is one of the ones that always stands out in my mind. I'd suggest people might want to actually read this one for themselves rather than take another poster's word for it. But there is a reason people like this one. If people have a problem with a given story, that is fine, but they should mention specifically what that is, hopefully citing relevant text so we can actually have a conversation about it. I might be good for people in the thread to get a copy online and read it so we can all be on the same page, rather than just vaguely discussing these things. I'd be happy to read this one again

 

[Alzrius]

Also Queen of the Black Coast is maybe one of the more significant Conan stories. It is one of the ones that always stands out in my mind. I'd suggest people might want to actually read this one for themselves rather than take another poster's word for it. But there is a reason people like this one. If people have a problem with a given story, that is fine, but they should mention specifically what that is, hopefully citing relevant text so we can actually have a conversation about it. I might be good for people in the thread to get a copy online and read it so we can all be on the same page, rather than just vaguely discussing these things. I'd be happy to read this one again

That's pretty easy to do, since the story is in the public domain now, and so on Project Gutenberg:

Queen of the Black Coast

www.gutenberg.org

 

[Bedrockgames]

That's pretty easy to do, since the story is in the public domain now, and so on Project Gutenberg:

Queen of the Black Coast

www.gutenberg.org

Thanks. I got the omnibus edition not to long ago and just read it

 

[Bedrockgames]

Read Queen of the Black Coast just before I went to the store. For me it really holds up well. It is like a Conan story with more heart than usual to it. I also think it does a good job of having Conan crash into the opening of the story, full of blood and fresh off breaking skulls, then we get these more subdued scenes between him and Belit. It was a good contrast. And the adventure is quite compelling and he does a good job of creating a sense of atmosphere.

But I always loved the way this passage ends. The rest of the story is more focused on the romance between Conan and Belit. But this passage always strikes me:

In an instant he was the center of a hurricane of stabbing spears and lashing clubs. But he moved in a blinding blur of steel. Spears bent on his armor or swished empty air, and his sword sang its death-song. The fighting-madness of his race was upon him, and with a red mist of unreasoning fury wavering before his blazing eyes, he cleft skulls, smashed breasts, severed limbs, ripped out entrails, and littered the deck like a shambles with a ghastly harvest of brains and blood.

 

[The Firebird]

I've never found Queen of the Black Coast that strong. The sexualization, especially the end of the first part, is just too extreme, too unbelievable, too male fantasy for me and I find it grating.

 

[Bedrockgames]

I've never found Queen of the Black Coast that strong. The sexualization, especially the end of the first part, is just too extreme, too unbelievable, too male fantasy for me and I find it grating.

That stuff never bothered me. I feel like it actually adds a lot to her character's sense of power in the story. She is presented almost like a Goddess on the ship, the way she controls the crew. Fantasy got so tame in the 80s, when I first discovered Conan, this story was something that stood out as kind of refreshing to me for that reason, as it was much more libertine (not Gor levels libertine but there was like real sexuality in the story). I get that he wasn't the first or last. But that you have this crazy love making scene before her crew on the ship, done the way it is done, was for me surprising to see in a book from the 30s (at the time I didn't understand this sort of thing came in waves in the history of media and wasn't a straight line to the 80s I was growing up in). But more than that it was just the way it handled him falling in love, how the center of the story is their conversation after the love making scene, and the way she comes back from the dead briefly to help him. And it is all woven into a great adventure story.

 

[WhatLiesBeyond]

For whatever it's worth, I read Conan, but I'm a bit more familiar with older fantasy work than most.

In terms of contemporary fantasy, the Ninth House/Locked Tomb books are the most recent series I've gotten invested in, and they have a lot more in common with the older pulps than one would think. I get a similar sense of dry wit and passionate world detail from both stories.

 

[cl3ver]

Look, Conan hasn't been relevant for over a decade at this pont and while certain trapping of Sword-n-sorcery still exists the genre as a whole is far from any influence these days.

So what are the genres and media that do have an influence these days?

Doesn't have to be actual literature ofc but basically what are the cultural touchpoints for what fantasy looks and 'feels' like for modern players in your experience? Bonus if it's from players who started with 5e.

Lord of the Ring is cheating.

Is it Sanderson's works? The romantasy 'Court of X and Y' style? Warcraft? How much anime(-adjacents)ness do you think the average DnD player considers now? Is Genshin impact the way younger player/DMs think of how fantasy 'should' be like even subconsciously? Or is it all a bit incestuous with Frieren, Dungeon Meshi and Critical Role being the touchstone of how things should be like?

We tend to revisit old "classics" or the works that inspired games like D&D. I recently saw a Conan book in B&N’s New Releases section—alongside a new Batman novel set in the Tim Burton era. So, someone is reading them... though who is another discussion entirely.


That said, some narratives don’t age well. I read some of REH’s Conan stories a few years ago—fun but not enough to finish. As you said, are they even relevant?

 

[Cordwainer Fish]

I read some of REH’s Conan stories a few years ago—fun but not enough to finish. As you said, are they even relevant?

Is there a story where Conan goes to the Hyborian version of India? There'd probably be a relephant in that one.

 

[Autumnal]

So for those who don’t know, this is going on:

Titan Books to publish original Conan fiction | Conan The Barbarian

Great news for fiction lovers! Conan Properties, through the imprint Perilous Worlds, has inked a deal with Titan Books to publish original new work in the

conan.com

New Conan The Barbarian Short Stories Coming From Titan Books [EXCLUSIVE]

Conan: Lord of the Mount drops September 26.

screenrant.com

Titan Books Announces Two New Conan The Barbarian Stories & The First-Ever Solomon Kane Novel

The books will be released in 2025 and 2026.

screenrant.com

I’ve read three of these and found them all solid good times that feel pretty Howard-like without the racism and sexism, but very much with the cycle of barbarism and civilization, magic that is not your friend, and elaborate double-crosses whose perpetrators tried for more cleverness than they actually have. I’d have no problem recommending them to someone wondering what the genre is like without a lot of really heavy brain lid, and I say that without insult or condescension at all.

What fascinates me is how many of the authors are fairly big names in horror as well as whatever else they do; someone at Titan is making very sharp editorial choices. So far I haven’t read an entry in the line that felt like the author’s best work, but I have yet to regret a purchase.