That is what this novel really is, a grand piece of fan lit that says much about why we fans sometimes write the stuff, and why it generally suffers such a low reputation for quality. By the 70s Howard and a lot of his contemporaries were all but forgotten, save for a small number of loyal fans. Carter and de Camp were just such fans, and when the 70s saw a Tolkien-driven boom in the adult demand for fantasy, they used that boom to bring R. Howard back into print.
Sadly, they also indulged in that classic fan urge to emulate the master, and so wrote a number of their own Conan stories. Unlike most of us fans of a particular author or genre, can rarely bring our efforts before more than a handful of eyes, they were industry insiders able to get their work published. Most of their Howard pastiches suffer from the three biggest flaws of fan lit. Conan the Liberator is merely the most high profile. The most predictable flaw is that the quality of writing is not up to that of the original master, in this case Howard.
Carte is a fine example of how some of us fan writers are simply not as good as we would like to be. The kindest thing I can think to say of his efforts as a writer is that he will be most fondly remembered for is contributions as an editor and anthologist. De Camp, who has written well when not writing Conan, demonstrates that most often those of with talent exhibit it better when we are pursuing original ideas, not when are copying our literary heroes.
A more heinous flaw is that they put the protagonist, Conan, on a heroes pedestal, atop fo which he can do no wrong. This kind of hero admiration is endemic to fan literature, adn it constrains the hero from doing much of anything at all. In the case of Conan it prevents him from displaying any of his moody, darker side as he did so enjoyably when in Howard's hands.
There is little more dull than a hero on a pedestal, and this alone is why most fan literature stinks. Finally, like many fans Carter and de Camp are bound by too many cliches of the day.
The late 70s was a time when very nearly every fantasy paperback had a blurb on the cover to the effect "The greatest insert verbiage here since Lord of the Rings! They found it desirable to try build Conan's life story into a grand epic by first arranging the original Howard tales along some imagined timeline, and then designed their own stories to fill in the numerous gaps.
This particular novel, a story of how Conan claimed the crown of Aquilonia, is surely a product of this kind of Tolkien-think, which also makes it soemthing Howard, himself, would probably never have written. His methodology was to write stories as they came to him with now thought to chronology, more as random snapshots from this character's chaotic life. I also suspect that if by some chance he had lived to write such a tale, it would have been far shorter, more lurid, and more violent than this rather pale and constrained piece these fan writers produced.
If you want to check out Conan the Liberator in a form that can be finished more quickly it can be had in graphic novel form. Look for The Savage Sword of Conan, volume 6. Or, if you have never read any Conan at all, start with reprints of the original Howard tales, not the stuff by later writers.
Ballantine publishes a very nice collection in three volumes. Juho Pohjalainen. But in his forties, he finally succeeds in becoming king of Aquilonia, the most powerful kingdom of the age, having strangled the previous ruler, Numedides, on the steps of the throne. Aquilonia is the most advanced and powerful of the Hyborian kingdoms. Its people are proud and comparatively well-off. This is the story of how he died.
He rids the world of an evil and powerful wizard. He also looks super cool, which is important. Conan is darkly tanned, has "sullen" or "smoldering" blue eyes, a "mane" of long black hair, and is scarred - Howard mentions most often the scarring on his face.
Contrary to many modern illustrations, Conan is hairy:. He is exceptionally tall and strong. Howard is never explicit in his stories, but in a letter to P. Schuyler Miller he wrote:. Conan's height and weight as an adult are subject to speculation - some estimates make him 6' 6" 1. This tallies with a comment Howard wrote in another letter [citation needed] that his crusader character Cormac Fitzgeoffrey is a double of Conan and that Cormac is 6' 2" and pounds. It is also of note that the blade of Conan's sword is described as being 5 feet long, likely making for a 6 foot sword including the grip, in the earlier story, " The Scarlet Citadel ".
He uses it with one hand as well as both hands with ease, therefore it is possible that Howard imagined him quite taller at the character's beginning. Or simply he used different swords during his adventures. In Howard's tales no human is ever described as stronger than Conan, although several are mentioned as taller such as the strangler Baal-Pteor or of larger bulk. Although Conan is muscular, Howard frequently compares his silence, suppleness, agility, way of moving to that of a panther - see, for instance, " The Servants of Bit-Yakin " "Jewels of Gwahlur" , Beyond the Black River or " Rogues in the House " - or another feline:.
His garb is very often a loincloth or breeches and sandals, and his weapon a sword of some description, depending on his fortunes and location.
During his reign as King of Aquilonia , Conan was:. He loses none of his vigour with age with the above description coming when he is in his mid 40's. Though several later authors have referred to Conan as "Germanic-looking," Howard imagined the Cimmerians as a proto- Celtic people with mostly dark hair and blue or grey eyes. Racially the Cimmerians to which Conan belongs are descendants of the Atlanteans , though they do not remember their ancestry. In his pseudo-historical essay " The Hyborian Age ", Howard describes how the people of Atlantis the land where his character Kull originated had to move east after a great cataclysm changed the face of the world and sank their island, settling where northern Scotland and Norway would eventually be located.
In the same work, Howard also described how the Cimmerians eventually moved south and east after the age of Conan. Despite his brutish appearance, Conan uses his brain as well as his brawn. The Cimmerian is a talented fighter who overpowers most men with his strength and skill, and his endurance allows him to fight with unfailing ferocity long after most would have collapsed in exhaustion.
Due to his travels abroad, he also has vast experience in other trades. He is a talented commander, strategist, thief, as well as a born leader. In some stories, he's able to recognize, or even decipher, certain ancient or secret signs and writings, such as when he uses the sign of Jhebbal Sag in Beyond the Black River. However, Howard never has him reading Stygian, although he can speak it. Another noticeable trait is his sense of humour, largely absent in the comics and movies, but very much a part of Howard's original vision of the character, particularly apparent in " Xuthal of the Dusk " "The Slithering Shadow".
He is a loyal friend to those true to him with a barbaric code of honour and chivalry that often marks him as more civilized than those more sophisticated people he meets in his travels. Indeed his straighforward nature and barbarism are constants in all the tales. One fact that is often emphasized is that Conan is very difficult to defeat in hand-to-hand combat.
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