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

[Bedrockgames]

Fair. I read pretty quickly, so I still like big, bulky series with high word counts; ideally a million-plus.

I tend to reading out loud in my head. Part of this is just being dyslexic I learned to read that way, but even now that I can read faster if I want to, I find it helps me to hear how the author wants the words to sound as I am reading (it is one of the aspects of reading I enjoy I think).

That said, I am not averse to spending time with a long book. I loved Dune, and Lord of the Rings is Long (the Condor Heroes books are insanely long if you read the full trilogies, as are most of Jin Yong's other works). I also read a lot of fan translations online and many of those can be quite lengthy. And to be fair, I did enjoy Way of Kings. I just got to the second book and I was like "Do I honestly want all these POV chapters ahead of me". It is more about the combination of this particular style and length for me than just the length if that makes sense.

I think i was just getting a bit tired of so much American media being told through POV characters at a very slow pace (that game of thrones approach). At the height of all that, I just went back to some Arthur C Clarke and was so good to return to that style of pacing.

 

[el-remmen]

I can't speak for others, but I think limiting what inspires D&D players to fantasy is a missed opportunity.

For example, for fun but also for inspiration for my current homebrew setting, I have been watching all the videos on the fantastic history You Tube channel, Historia Civilis esp. the playlists on Roman History and Roman Politics (though their videos on any era are inspiring).

I am also re-watching HBO's ROME, which I plan to follow up with one of my favorite series of all-time, I, Claudius.

And because it is also relevant to the syncretic cults of the setting, Steven Universe!

I think maybe one person in 2 current groups I run for reads any fantasy regularly.

 

[Bedrockgames]

Why? If I tell you will it change how you acknowledge the racism in his stories?

EDIT: Hint: I can tell by how you typed the question out you aren't interested in engaging in a real dialogue about it.

Do we have to have this conversation again? I feel like every time Lovecraft or Howard comes up, people debate this. And it just goes on for pages, and people all come away butthurt. At the end of the day this is less about anyones differing views on racism (I think we all agree racism is bad) and more about how people view approaching books written in different eras with different sensibilities, how bad they actually were or not, etc. How vigilant one should be while consuming media. I don't think any of us are going to convince anyone to think differently and I doubt it is going to improve the conversation to dwell heavily on these issues

 

[Imaro]

Do we have to have this conversation again? I feel like every time Lovecraft or Howard comes up, people debate this. And it just goes on for pages, and people all come away butthurt. At the end of the day this is less about anyones differing views on racism (I think we all agree racism is bad) and more about how people view approaching books written in different eras with different sensibilities, how bad they actually were or not, etc. How vigilant one should be while consuming media. I don't think any of us are going to convince anyone to think differently and I doubt it is going to improve the conversation to dwell heavily on these issues

I think if you want to understand why later generations of fantasy fans aren't interested in works like Conan as inspiration for their games or even as literature to read (as well as it's wanning influence on the official game)... This is probably a key factor and could use some discussion around it, as opposed to ignoring it while praising only what you feel are the stories virtues. There is so much choice now, why would they go back and read a probelmatic author... especially when there is a rising tide of authors actually exploring non-western fantasy... but yeah I agree... not going to change minds that are already made up.

Edit: As an example I'd like a Conan fan to maybe list some stories that aren't or at the least are less problematic... or even stories of Conan by other authors that don't contain any of those elements... and yet anytime there's an inkling of discussing this aspect of the author and his stories there's this rush by certain posters/Howard fans to shut it down which in turn just makes me more confident there isn't much there worth reading at all.

 

[Distracted DM]

Do we have to have this conversation again? I feel like every time Lovecraft or Howard comes up, people debate this. And it just goes on for pages, and people all come away butthurt. At the end of the day this is less about anyones differing views on racism (I think we all agree racism is bad) and more about how people view approaching books written in different eras with different sensibilities, how bad they actually were or not, etc. How vigilant one should be while consuming media. I don't think any of us are going to convince anyone to think differently and I doubt it is going to improve the conversation to dwell heavily on these issues

I'll admit that while the way that it was broached rubbed me the wrong way, I was curious how they think such things should be addressed... but you're probably correct.

 

[el-remmen]

Oh and because I love to drop references to it and because others mentioned D&D sources themselves as inspiring media (like BG3 and Critical Role), my compiled story hour of my "Out of the Frying Pan" campaign has a higher word count the Lord of the Rings (approximately 480,000 words vs. ~798,000). Though my count includes footnotes and the LotR count does not include forewards or appendices.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Edit: As an example I'd like a Conan fan to maybe list some stories that aren't or at the least are less problematic... or even stories of Conan by other authors that don't contain any of those elements... and yet anytime there's an inkling of discussing this aspect of the author and his stories there's this rush by certain posters/Howard fans to shut it down which in turn just makes me more confident there isn't much there worth reading at all

I think there is a case for producing updated versions of the original stories without the racism. I think you could remove it without changing the sense of most of the stories. The rapey sexism would require a little more work. I know purists would hate that though. I think a bigger issue for modern audiences would be the familiarity. Being the cliche-originator doesn’t stop it reading as cliched.

There is a load of un-original stories though, including Marvel comics and an animated series, of variable quality.

 

[TiQuinn]

Most of what I know about Conan comes from the two movies and the Marvel comics, which I liked a lot as a kid. I've never read any of the actual Howard stories.

 

[Reynard]

Our summer vacation is usually going to the beach, and my sole goal is to crank through as many books as I possibly can while sitting there in the sand. It's the most relaxed I am all year long.

I prefer to read one really good one as deeply as possible.

 

[Reynard]

Most of what I know about Conan comes from the two movies and the Marvel comics, which I liked a lot as a kid. I've never read any of the actual Howard stories.

I like Howard's prose a lot, but I think the best way to experience his stories are their adaptations by Dark Horse Comics from the 00s.