tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post15831819823203525..comments2024-03-29T07:58:31.156-04:00Comments on GROGNARDIA: Pulp Fantasy Library: Beyond the Black RiverJames Maliszewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-67813800202938661492010-12-01T04:04:54.688-05:002010-12-01T04:04:54.688-05:00The western influence is quite overt, but that is ...The western influence is quite overt, but that is why I like his works, as he is not dishing-out the same style and plot over and over again. He is not afraid to mix in some political theater, buccaneer adventures, western, mystery, archaeological trips, lost world exploration, and supernatural horror.<br /><br />Such diversity is a good change of pace from most of the fantasy writers out there, who are ether like one-trick-ponies with what they write, or just slaves to a style - not willing to step away from their dogmatic paradigm for the sake experimentation. More writers should learn from him!Malcadonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03111796978336546944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-81850310206157301912010-12-01T03:27:23.900-05:002010-12-01T03:27:23.900-05:00Hell of a counter-point, Nagora. I guess you prob...Hell of a counter-point, Nagora. I guess you probably don't dig "The Black Stranger" or "Wolves Beyond the Border" either.<br /><br />I think it has enough western elements to see the influences, but also Hyborian enough to feel like it's part of the same world as "The People of the Black Circle" and "The Tower of the Elephant." Merging multiple time periods into one is what the age is all about. After all, Howard merged Ancient Egypt and Assyria with the High Renaissance in "Black Colossus."<br /><br />At the very least, could you consider it a good story on its own merits, even if you don't think it complements the other Conan stories?Taranaichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02176999342965850175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-21265401663194308902010-11-30T16:50:14.504-05:002010-11-30T16:50:14.504-05:00Just as a counter-point, I hate Beyond the Black R...Just as a counter-point, I hate Beyond the Black River. It reads as a western with the thinnest of Hyborean coats of paint. I don't even personally think of it as Conan canon, it has so little feel of the character or place so beautifully portrayed in Howard's other stories.Nagorahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04934827653905274555noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-56920451689612157352010-11-29T23:01:25.152-05:002010-11-29T23:01:25.152-05:00In my E-mail signature and most of older forum sig...In my E-mail signature and most of older forum signatures, I list:<br /><br /><i>"We are wise in our civilized knowledge, but our knowledge extends just so far — to the western bank of that ancient river! Who knows what shapes earthly and unearthly may lurk beyond the dim circle of light our knowledge has cast?"</i><br />- <b>Beyond the Black River</b>, by Robert E. Howard<br /><br />That Howard has a way with words - even his poetry gives it reader chest hair!Malcadonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03111796978336546944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-50095674186781028162010-11-29T19:44:42.701-05:002010-11-29T19:44:42.701-05:00It had to be, given Gygax's reading habits.
Y...It had to be, given Gygax's reading habits.<br /><br />You can also smell Aquilonia versus the barbarians and monsters in Men & Monsters's law versus chaos alignment chart.Rick Marshallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01707062453047354335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-31830870784185855122010-11-29T19:17:18.005-05:002010-11-29T19:17:18.005-05:00I wonder if that passage about the fort was an inf...I wonder if that passage about the fort was an influence on the Keep on the Borderlands?anarchisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05546197561922726279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-60074523083034555772010-11-29T15:24:33.667-05:002010-11-29T15:24:33.667-05:00Conan is so much more interesting than ersatz-Cona...Conan is so much more interesting than ersatz-Conan.<br /><br />Philosophically, there are a lot of complex and competing subtexts at work in Beyond the Black River, as there are in much of Howard's writing. The story is troubling (in a good way), making the conscious reader ruminate not only on fundamental questions about civilization and its discontents but also on the disadvantages of barbarism as its alternative.<br /><br />To most people life is only about surfaces, so it's no surprise that adaptations of Howard strip out all the philosophy; it is invisible to them and so does not exist. When you accuse them of being fundamentally unfaithful to the source material, they literally cannot conceive of what you're on about.Rick Marshallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01707062453047354335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-28884078827151186352010-11-29T13:40:16.876-05:002010-11-29T13:40:16.876-05:00I must confess that, although, I like this one, my...I must confess that, although, I like this one, my favorites are <i>People of the Black Circle</i> and <i>The Scarlet Citadel</i>. I'm also a huge fan of many of the rarely talked about 'lesser' stores e.g. <i>The Servants of Bit-Yakin</i> and <i>The Pool of the Black One</i>.Aoshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00145284080419502886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-17241423571468028962010-11-29T13:27:11.779-05:002010-11-29T13:27:11.779-05:00Strangely, he makes no mention of his family being...<i>Strangely, he makes no mention of his family being slain by Thulsa Doom or having become a slave lashed the Wheel of Pain -- an oversight on Howard's part, no doubt</i><br /><br />Ho ho, imagine that...Taranaichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02176999342965850175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-28979700007835977782010-11-29T13:21:19.754-05:002010-11-29T13:21:19.754-05:00The cult of Jhebbal Sag makes a wicked antagonist ...The cult of Jhebbal Sag makes a wicked antagonist in a D&D game, too. Cannibal, evil druids with hungry prehistoric animal companions = players scared to go in the forest after dark. And if Howard's story isn't enough, watch "The Thirteenth Warrior".Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08868302412533031659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-59352920628964868582010-11-29T13:11:23.849-05:002010-11-29T13:11:23.849-05:00Geoffrey beat me to it, but I have to agree that t...Geoffrey beat me to it, but I have to agree that this and "Red Nails" are among Howard's best, to which I'd add "The Tower of the Elephant" as a personal favorite.<br /><br />Security word: "flouse," a parasite that bedevils the flumph.Anthonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01254215329246851683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-30667040123954541042010-11-29T11:36:32.459-05:002010-11-29T11:36:32.459-05:00This story and "Red Nails" are my two fa...This story and "Red Nails" are my two favorite Conan tales. In one barbarism destroys civilization, in the other civilization destroys itself.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-34245414346898465612010-11-29T11:11:51.755-05:002010-11-29T11:11:51.755-05:00'Strangely, he makes no mention of his family ...'Strangely, he makes no mention of his family being slain by Thulsa Doom or having become a slave lashed the Wheel of Pain -- an oversight on Howard's part, no doubt'<br /><br />Maybe Crom dislikes the self-pityingAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-86399942296644979302010-11-29T11:05:09.338-05:002010-11-29T11:05:09.338-05:00Well said! Howard's Conan is consistently sma...Well said! Howard's Conan is consistently smarter and deeper than his critics will ever give him credit for. The same must be said for Howard himself.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com