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Summary: This Thread is about discussing Conan the Barbarian. It is to focus on the works themselves as well as their relations to then-contemporary works and author and modern works and authors. It can also be used to discuss other works by the author, Robert E Howard. For example, this would be the place to discuss how Conan the Barbarian relates to the works of HP Lovecraft. It would also be a place to discuss your favorite short story of the character. What is Conan the Barbarian?  Conan the Barbarian is a series of short stories written by Robert E Howard in 1932. The stories were pulp sword and sorcery. They followed the adventures of the titular character. The works were an anthology, with the stories written to be read in any order. Conan the Barbarian himself was a powerful, barbaric warrior from the Hyborian Age, an invented age set between the fall of Atlantis and the Rise of the Sons of Aryas. If you're thinking that "Sons of Aryas" refers to the Nazi concept of the "Aryan race, you'd be correct. Due to the time period the stories were written in, problematic elements do exist in the works. However, the stories of Conan often manage to avoid more racist elements of the period and even exalt aspects of non-white culture. Conan's race, for example, is actually disputable and its very likely he is a non-white individual and was more likely intended by Howard to be Mediterranean. It is worth noting that, from an academic standpoint, it is okay to like media with problematic elements as long as you recognize and do not let them color your world view. That said, there are some elements that come from that time period that are problematic, even if more egregious examples of the era are not ever-present. Despite being described as a Barbarian, Conan was depicted as very intelligent, thoughtful, and wise. His physical attributes were as useful to him as his mental aspects. The moniker "barbarian" was simply to denote his place outside of society. His heroic, in the classical sense, nature was due to his barbarism as Howard was critical of many aspect of society and civilization. The character has since taken off from his initial works and has appeared in many forms of media since then. Such as the movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Who was Robert E. Howard?  Robert E. Howard was an American author from Texas who worked on pulp fiction. He is often considered the father of the Sword and Sorcery sub genre. Raised in Texas, Howard lived in a small town where he grew an interest in boxing and ancient history and myth. He had interest in being a pulp fiction, but did not see success for quite some time. His works, during his lifetime, only featured in magazines, but would end up having a big impact on future generations and the genre. He tragically committed suicide at the age of 30 after finding out his mother was dead. His wide range works and his iconic character continue to thrive in the sphere of pop-culture and literature. I admit the OP is a little anemic at the moment. I plan on improving it later. Covok fucked around with this message at 06:42 on Jul 1, 2017 |
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May 25, 2017 00:27
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What's the best omnibus of Conan works? Realized I gave my old collection away to one of my nieces. Also, is Conan public domain yet?
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May 31, 2017 07:43
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Considering Conan is from 1920, you probably can make a story about Conan, but someone may try to sue you because copyright trolls are scum suckers.bloom posted:This one has all the original REH stories(including unfinished ones) with no additions from other authors. Comes with a few illustrations, though nothing at the level of Frazetta. Thanks!
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May 31, 2017 22:05
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I hope this isn't rude to ask, but I decided to try my hand at writing a story in a sword and sorcery style after I couldn't find a book the story collection of Conan the Barbarian at the book store nearby me. It's a little rough. This is just the first draft. It's called Sebastian The Swordshatterer and it's kind of an anthology thing where Sebastian travelers across the land, comes across some people who are dealing with a supernatural thing, gets into a series of obstacles to overcome it, and ultimately succeeds due to his wits more than his brawn. If anyone is willing to give it a read and give me some honest critique, I'd be deeply appreciative.
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Jan 15, 2018 23:53
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BravestOfTheLamps posted:I can't provide full commentary yet, but sword-and-sorcery parodies like this are pretty played out. Well, the fact you took it as parody says a lot. Might need to go back to the drawing board, then. It must have been too exaggerated. Edit: To be clear, I appreciate what you said and I'm not trying to make you feel bad for giving me honest criticism: I welcome that and I thank you. Covok fucked around with this message at 02:27 on Jan 16, 2018 |
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Jan 16, 2018 01:35
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Epicurius posted:So, I'm wincing a little bit at the term "the Faraway". Maybe I'm looking too much into it, but it seems like when writers use terms like that, they're trying very hard to tell their readers, "Look, this is a fantasy story." Also, Sebastian seems not to do very much in the story. He visits the Tribal village, they say, "Hey, we've got a Wendigo problem because this guy's kid got killed and he's not dealing well.." Then he meets the kid from the other tribe. Then the Wendigo shows up, is about to kill the other tribe's kid, Sebastian says, "Hey, don't grieve for your dead kid by killing other kids! That's not cool!", and the Wendigo dissolves. So not very much happens in the story. Sebastian doesn't really face any obstacles or trouble in stopping the Wendigo, and he only stops it because the kid from the other tribe happened to show up to get menaced, which let Sebastian appeal to the guy's conscience. I just think the story needs more, but that could just be because the story is so short. Hm, that's a very good point. I didn't think about that. Seriously, thanks! Laying out the issues like this really helped me find out a big problem: there isn't enough conflict and there isn't enough that really shows the heroes strengths and weaknesses. I am working on a second draft and this will definitely help!
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Jan 18, 2018 03:07
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MrMojok posted:Has anyone played the new Conan 2d20 game? I was thinking about getting back into D&D but then I heard about this, and the Hyborian Age would probably be my ideal setting for a fantasy RPG. This is really more about the Conan the Barbarian stories. Like the books themselves. While there is no thread specifically about it, the traditional games chat thread is probably a good space to discuss that game.
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Mar 29, 2018 01:54
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