Ken Kelly is a titan in the field of fantasy illustration. He’s done original paintings for a few classic metal albums, such as Manowar’s Kings of Metal and Rainbow’s Rising, but a good deal more records feature his work, especially those depicting Conan and other Robert E. Howard characters.
Read MoreIf you’re a fan of the type of content featured here on DMR Blog--whether or not you’ve ever heard of his name prior—today you should pour a libation for Steve, and honor a man whose passion for fantasy fiction in general and sword-and-sorcery literature in particular was second to none.
Read MoreSteve Tompkins died ten years ago today. I and a few other bloggers will be posting blog entries in tribute to Steve, whom I consider the best “genre” blogger of the first decade in this twenty-first century. This post is intended to function as a one-stop guide to Steve's online legacy.
Read MoreWhen Lin Carter casually remarked that Tolkien “rather enjoyed” the Conan stories, I doubt he expected that decades later Howard fans and Tolkien fans alike would still be curious about the specifics. Which Conan stories did Tolkien read? Let’s find out!
Read MoreRung Ho! was Talbot Mundy’s first novel. The story moves right along, with flashing swords (a knife too), an encounter with a tiger (at close quarters) and even a number of cavalry charges.
Read MoreSince Robert E. Howard was a master at story openings, it pays to take a look at some of the ways he begins his own yarns to catch a glimpse of what he may possibly have advised us had he spoken on the topic at greater length.
Read MoreThe merits of Robert E. Howard’s fiction have long been overshadowed by public perception of him as a one-dimensional writer of simple-minded adventure and fantasy stories. Despite the fact that Howard’s work was roundly praised by readers during his lifetime, postwar awareness of the man and his works consisted of faintly damning praise.
Read MoreHoward distilled the proud, heroic tradition of works like the Iliad and the Odyssey into pulse-pounding, blisteringly-paced novelettes, novellas, and shorts. Nowhere is this more obvious than in "Spears of Clontarf" and "The Grey God Passes."
Read MoreJack London was born on this date in 1876 and we should be damned glad of it. His intense and gritty prose, imbued with the bleak lyricism of a street poet, inspired admiration not only in Robert E. Howard, but also other sword and sorcery authors as well as a few of his fellow "forefathers."
Read MoreIt’s not immediately clear where these two very different men developed such similar lines of thought and expression. The most likely answer is a revolt against modernity. But another is their literary influences. Tolkien and Howard shared a common interest the works of H. Rider Haggard.
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