Robert E. Howard had a definite pattern for his characters that culminated in his wandering barbarian in an age undreamed of. Howard’s literary hook was using hard men who physically dominated situations they were placed in, especially in civilized realms.
Read MoreIn 1939 two novels would appear in Unknown that were such sturdy examples of the genre that in the 1970s they would be adapted by Marvel Comics as further tales of none other than Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Cimmerian. These stories, however, started out as something much different and the author behind them was The Spider’s Norvell W. Page. The hero in both stories was Wan Tengri, aka Prester John.
Read MoreRegular readers of the DMR blog should be well acquainted with A. Merritt, whose 137th birthday we celebrate today. In his heyday from the late teens of the twentieth century to the early 1950s, he was arguably the most popular fantasy author in America. His novel, The Ship of Ishtar was voted by the readers of Argosy as the most popular story to have appeared in the pages or Argosy or All Story, consigning Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan of the Apes to second place.
Read MoreThe Ship of Ishtar is a thorough and beautifully-written exploration of one man’s journey in search for honor, courage, and love, after living in a world that has forgotten them. You’re going to want to place it proudly alongside your well-loved copies of Robert E. Howard, J.R.R. Tolkien, and other timeless fantasists.
Read MoreI’ve long been fascinated with the issue of a dead author’s uncompleted works. What should be the fate of the half-finished novels and hardly-started short stories that so many leave behind? Though not a lot of people know it, no less a literary eminence than Edgar Allan Poe left behind an unfinished work—the first few handwritten paragraphs of a short story composed in the last months of his life.
Read MoreVirgil Finlay died of cancer at the age of 56 on this date in 1971. He left behind him one of the greatest portfolios in the field of SFF art.
Read MoreIn February DMR Books will publish The Empress of Dreams, a collection of sixteen of Tanith Lee’s tales of swords and sorcery.
Read MoreThis week: Conan, Kull, Clark Ashton Smith, Edgar Rice Burroughs films, Heavy Metal magazine, and more.
Read MoreHorror author, Graham Masterton, turned seventy-five today. With nearly one hundred novels under his belt and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Horror Writers' Association on his mantel, Mr. Masterton can look back on quite the career.
Read MoreJason Christopher Tarpey and DMR Books have a long history together. His story “Vengeance of the Insane God” appeared in the very first DMR release Swords of Steel back in 2015. Jason took the time to answer my questions about his music, his fiction, and his career as a blacksmith.
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