tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post9184267058798895384..comments2024-03-28T06:20:47.668-04:00Comments on GROGNARDIA: Pulp Fantasy Library: The Dweller in the TempleJames Maliszewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-2984822788550513602023-05-01T09:19:16.551-04:002023-05-01T09:19:16.551-04:00Definitely tongue-in-cheek, if you are familiar wi...Definitely tongue-in-cheek, if you are familiar with the style of his Appalachian tales.Roger G-Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08594440701279968693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-4594375593011078542023-05-01T09:18:36.038-04:002023-05-01T09:18:36.038-04:00Wellman follows Howard in writing heroic character...Wellman follows Howard in writing heroic characters through different milieux who bear obvious similarities to each other. The practice must have come to Michael Moorcock's attention, because he both engaged in it and created a self-aware in-multiverse rationale for it: the "Eternal Champion" incarnated in each of his tragic action heroes (along with the "Eternal Sidekick" who sometimes gets his own show).Roger G-Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08594440701279968693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-40388985480174539952023-04-25T00:08:08.113-04:002023-04-25T00:08:08.113-04:00As always, it's the execution not the story.As always, it's the execution not the story.Sir Harrokhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11064391207365006286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-46772847290787014442023-04-24T17:16:35.016-04:002023-04-24T17:16:35.016-04:00"Their rich, clinging costumes were as brief ..."Their rich, clinging costumes were as brief as the very soul of wit."<br /><br />This is either so-terrible-it's-good-again writing, or intentionally self-parodic. Hard to say without knowing Wellman's style better.Jesse Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10802754799848483493noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-52343017723328512242023-04-24T15:58:36.455-04:002023-04-24T15:58:36.455-04:00REH did more than enough for fantasy literature. ...REH did more than enough for fantasy literature. jdh417https://www.blogger.com/profile/14541882649762424101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-78558177601443013722023-04-24T15:28:35.661-04:002023-04-24T15:28:35.661-04:00I imagine Howard probably would have made a mark d...I imagine Howard probably would have made a mark doing westerns and similar historicals for a bit, and I wouldn't be too surprised if during or after WWII he did military stories for men's magazines and the like. I assume for this thought experiment that Howard would die some time in the '60s, so he'd be around for the beginning of the paperback fantasy boom and we might see an all to brief return to the genre. <br /><br />Also I'll definitely agree that it's a shame how difficult it is to find Wellman, by the time I was tuned onto him, the Planet Stories collections were super expensive.doccarnbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13406919373469437352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-89241994079439677242023-04-24T14:35:00.857-04:002023-04-24T14:35:00.857-04:00Indeed. It's not especially original, let alon...Indeed. It's not especially <i>original</i>, let alone unpredictable, but Wellman tells the story in a fun, charming way.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-61941981046538047382023-04-24T14:13:27.106-04:002023-04-24T14:13:27.106-04:00I can guess where this tale goes. It sounds a roll...I can guess where this tale goes. It sounds a rollicking tale.Jacob72https://www.blogger.com/profile/17268402292420473229noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-18993433589452732752023-04-24T12:08:09.714-04:002023-04-24T12:08:09.714-04:00'Beyond the Black River' was a Conan story...'Beyond the Black River' was a Conan story but read like a western, and a great one!<br /><br />REH and HPL went out at the top of their game, when Weird Tales was at the top of its. I think it helped how they are remembered, compared to CAS who was arguably just as good, but experienced the long slow decline of an industry.Etrimynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12412524174369676893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-40498608744767366912023-04-24T11:53:44.711-04:002023-04-24T11:53:44.711-04:00Lovecraft apparently felt that Howard would eventu...Lovecraft apparently felt that Howard would eventually write a great work of historical fiction set in the American southwest.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-24669339402882661862023-04-24T11:08:48.466-04:002023-04-24T11:08:48.466-04:00I've seen it suggested that, had he lived, REH...I've seen it suggested that, had he lived, REH might well have abandoned pulp writing for more lucrative markets. He had apparently had some success with sports-related fiction prior to his death.<br /><br />And it is a damn shame that Wellman's works are almost all out of print.Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13467431641317104916noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-29854762801614344312023-04-24T07:26:19.452-04:002023-04-24T07:26:19.452-04:00Wellman's heroes are pretty much universally l...Wellman's heroes are pretty much universally likeable people - unless you're the bad guy, at which point you're going to hate their guts on sight most of the time.<br /><br />I seem to recall Conan singing along with the crowd in a tavern on a couple of occasions, but that's hardly the same as being an actual bard who composes their own stuff impromptu.<br /><br />A longer-lived REH isn't so much interesting for what impact he might have on the current state of things as it is for imagining what else he might have written, and how it might have changed if he'd had more life experiences than he did. His death came just before WW2, which changed everyone who lived through it in some way or another. What his every-changing subjects might have shifted to if he'd lived is fascinating to speculate on, whether he served in the military or remained at home for some reason. He might not even be thought of as a primarily fantasy author if he'd gone on to write military memoir stories, or transitioned to some other genre that he hadn't touched on yet. Somewhere there's an alternate timeline where Howard went on to write hard-boiled detective fiction and is spoken of in the same breath as Hammett and Chandler.Dick McGeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14521293874696659063noreply@blogger.com