Hyborian Adventure Novels

[Swoop109]

Ace books and Conan Properties Inc. are planning a release of new adventure books set in in Robert E. Howard's Hyborian setting.
All the details can be found at;

http://www.conan.com/f_aoc.shtml

 

[Dark Jezter]

It should be interesting to see what a Hyborean Age novel will be like in today's PC world. The original Conan tales tales were brutal, chuvanistic, and gratitiously violent. Antiheroes are much more common than real heroes, and most of the characters are motivated by greed and ambition rather than a desire to do good in the world.

I need to read them again.

 

[Orius]

It should be interesting to see what a Hyborean Age novel will be like in today's PC world. The original Conan tales tales were brutal, chuvanistic, and gratitiously violent. Antiheroes are much more common than real heroes, and most of the characters are motivated by greed and ambition rather than a desire to do good in the world.

I need to read them again.

Still, it could be interesting. Conan is cool, but given not just Howard's stories, but all the de Camp/carter pastiches, Tor novels, and so on over the years there's a lot. Perhaps even too much to be believable. I think that's why they're doing this. Seeing the Hyborian world from other perspectives could be interesting, or could end up being a huge flop.

 

[Mog Elffoe]

Something like the 'Adventures of Khemsa' could be really cool. He was wizardy sort. Maybe he used some sorcery to survive 'People of the Black Circle.' Or did he survive at the end anyway? I can't quite recall. Man, it's been a long time since I've read that one... Khemsa was a great character. That story had a bunch of freakin' awesome moments, too.

"I think I shall have your heart, Kerim Shah..."

 

[Faraer]

I certainly think that using the Hyborian Age rather than pastiching the Conan character is a better way to use the property. Let's hope the Conan name on the covers will make it financially workable.

Nine times out of ten, the idea of 'political correctness' is simply a means to demean people who think treating other people well and fairly is good.

The current US cultural climate is far more open to REHism than the 1980s and 90s, as you see by comparing Kurt Busiek's current Conan comic to Marvel's in those decades.

 

[Desdichado]

Heck, I'll be on board for the first one, hoping it works.

Certainly can't be any worse than the latest game fiction novels I've read...

 

[Orius]

Heck, I'll be on board for the first one, hoping it works.

Certainly can't be any worse than the latest game fiction novels I've read...

I'm thinking it might be pretty good too. Look at the characters they selected for the first three. You've got a Cimmerian, an Aquilionian, and a Stygian, arguably characters from the most popular of the Hyborian cultures. I think the last two might be particularly interesting, the Aquilonian story is about a soldier who serves under King Conan, and that's a period of Conan's life that hasn't been done quite to death yet. And it might be interesting to see things from the point of an ordinary Stygian. Most of the Stygians presented in Conan are either evil sorcerers like Thoth-Amon, or priests of Set.

 

[blackshirt5]

Hey as long as they don't let Robert Jordan anywhere near this to write more of his "sexsexsexConansex" stories, I'll buy 'em.

 

[MonsterMash]

If they're done properly they could be good, after all what made REH stories great was the narrative drive and energy, not the sexism! I just hope they avoid the mistake on the worldview that the de Camp/Carter stories had as there was too much reliance on the gods in there - see Don Herron's essay on Conan and Conantics for this.