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The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian
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"The Pool of the Black One" by Robert E. Howard
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Third story in a row where I felt like all the Sword & Sorcery elements are present, but the story never comes together well. I did laugh out loud at the introduction of Conan as a guy who just emerges from the ocean and pulls himself over the railing of the pirate ship. His subsequent beating of the crew member was very Schwarzenegger-esque. Lots of action in this one at least kept it from getting too boring.
Randy wrote: "I did laugh out loud at the introduction of Conan as a guy who just emerges from the ocean and pulls himself over the railing of the pirate ship..."
"I found it necessary to leave the rendezvous at Tortage..." :)
Howard has a good foreshadowing line in Conan's introductory exchange with Capt. Zaporavo:
"He hesitated, and doing so, lost his ship, his command, his girl, and his life. But of course he could not see into the future."
It's nice to see that even Conan knows when to cut & run.
This is, by the way, the 4th story in a row in which Conan ends up with a surviving female companion,... none of who seem to ever show up again. (I guess I could say the same about his pirate ships. :)
"I found it necessary to leave the rendezvous at Tortage..." :)
Howard has a good foreshadowing line in Conan's introductory exchange with Capt. Zaporavo:
"He hesitated, and doing so, lost his ship, his command, his girl, and his life. But of course he could not see into the future."
It's nice to see that even Conan knows when to cut & run.
This is, by the way, the 4th story in a row in which Conan ends up with a surviving female companion,... none of who seem to ever show up again. (I guess I could say the same about his pirate ships. :)
I actually really liked the poem at the start of this - I did know that Howard was a poet but hadn't really seen the influence till now and I thought it was neat. Again another giggle worthy beginning. And damn good foreshadowing line. Another mysterious island :) I think I definitely prefer the adventurer Conan rather than any of the other aspects of him we see. I kinda wish we'd seen some pirate-y Conan too
The Pool of the Black One by Robert E. Howard (1933)
From the anthology The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian by Robert E. Howard. See The Coming of Conan the Cimerian discussion hub for more info on the anthology and pointers to discussion of its other stories.
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