Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy" discussion

REH-Character Pastiche: Conan one's like Conan the Rebel, Conan: Sword of Skelos Conan and the Emerald Lotus....OR.... any of Offutt's Cormac Mac Art....Ramsey Campbell's Solomon Kane, etc.

S.E. wrote: "
REH-Character Pastiche: Conan one's like Conan the Rebel, [book:Conan: Sword ..."

Ok, despite the banner....any REH pastiche is fair game (i.e., Solomon Kane)

I am enjoying Hocking's Conan and the Emerald Lotus

I chose to read (Re-read) the best Conan pastiche: Roy Thomas penned Savage Sword of Conan.

I've got Poul Anderson's Conan the Rebel lined up.

Joy and Clint, cool. Keep us updated.

I wrapped up Conan and the Emerald Lotus by John C. Hocking, and then read Hocking's 12-part serialized novella "Black Starlight" that spanned the recent Conan the Barbarian comic--this is a direct sequel to "Emerald Lotus" and tracks Conan's adventures as he returns from Stygia.

In short, Hocking treats sorcery like a drug and/or disease. It's a refreshing take on antagonists since (in addition to humanoid villains) there are also conflicts vs. self-control and vegetable matter (three cheers for Shambling Mounds!).

I'll get a review together soon. It's a great pastiche, but paperbacks of Emerald Lotus are insanely expensive now (i.e. >$500 on Amazon). The 2019 publishing debacle from Perilous Worlds teased fans with a rerelease of Emerald Lotus and a new novel by Hocking called Conan and the Living Plague (these were printed but the cover was so poorly done, most copies were scrapped right after release....portion of a press release below; these two books seem have slipped through the cracks of publishing-doom).

By good fortune, a rare copy of Living Plague found its way to me. I'm working on a review of Hocking's Conan pastiche that includes some appropriate reveal of this sacred tome.

BTW, Hocking has been cranking out "King's Blade" stories featuring his hero Benhus; these appear in Tales from the Magician's Skull. Highly recommended.



2019 Conan the Barbarian Comics





Press Release from 2019

Los Angeles, August 1st 2019
PERILOUS WORLDS POSTPONES RELEASE OF FIRST CONAN NOVEL

The transmedia publisher Perilous Worlds has decided to postpone the release of its first original Conan novel, the much anticipated Conan and the Living Plague. A new release date will be announced in the near future, through Perilous Worlds online channels, as well as on the official website for all things Conan, Conan.com.

Conan and the Living Plague is the sequel to Conan and the Emerald Lotus, both written by John C. Hocking.

The release of both books has been pushed due to changes in format and distribution.

Mr Hocking had revealed a small portion of Living Plague online at the Conan group, and I quite enjoyed the sample of a chapter he shared. But it only fueled my desire to track down a complete copy of the tale! I have a pristine copy of Emerald Lotus, but I really WANT a copy of Living Plague! You are very lucky Seth!

Darrel Schweitzer treats his sorcery in the Mask of the Sorcerer in a similar fashion.

I’ve never liked how some authors are super free with the terms for their magic practitioners. There is a definite difference between these individuals.

I was majorly disappointed about Conan and the Living Plague. I pre-ordered a copy just to have Amazon pull it. I would have treasured a copy whatever the cover looks like. (I would have certainly derided it tho :D )

Could Hocking change Conan’s name and release it as his own book set in the Hyborian age? I’ve seen others get away with something along those lines.

Richard wrote: "Darrel Schweitzer treats his sorcery in the Mask of the Sorcerer in a similar fashion. I’ve never liked how some authors are super free with the terms for their magic practitioners. There is a de..."

Actually, Schweitzer's The Mask of the Sorcerer was originally written as a Conan pastiche called "Conan the Deliverer", but it was repackaged into a separate series.

@Stan, I do feel lucky for being able to peruse The Living Plague. I hope to find a way to draw attention to it in an appropriate way--any way that John Hocking is cool with. I believe Funcom owns all of the Conan IP now, but I am not aware who is pulling the strings re: novels. If there is some way of reviewing/posting articles that can draw attention to the novel in a way that provides hope for future (re)publication, then I plan to do that. For now, I plan to read it and then connect with John C. Hocking for advice.

I did not know that he shared some of it on the Conan group. I'll have to look into that.
Do you have a link to that?

Seth:
It appears the portion of Living Plague posted by Mr. Hocking was in fact at the old REH fan site, not the latest active site. It no longer exists, so I cannot even look at it myself. I recall being very excited to read it, and immensely disappointed when the publication went on hold. I still have faith that Perilous Worlds is going to get it print one day, along with some new and exciting REH pastiche. One day…

S.wagenaar wrote: "Seth:
It appears the portion of Living Plague posted by Mr. Hocking was in fact at the old REH fan site, not the latest active site. It no longer exists, so I cannot even look at it myself. I recal..."

Thx for checking.

S.E. wrote: "I believe Funcom owns all of the Conan IP now, but I am not aware who is pulling the strings re: novels."

Steve Saffel at Titan Books. I'm not sure what they plan with Hockings' work, but they are the new publishers of Conan pastiche. Their line will get underway sometime in 2022.

Scott wrote: "S.E. wrote: "I believe Funcom owns all of the Conan IP now, but I am not aware who is pulling the strings re: novels."
Steve Saffel at Titan Books. I'm not sure what they plan with Hockings' work..."

Hail Scott Oden! Thanks for clarifying.

BTW, for those who do not know... but Scott has at least two pastiche Conans out in the wild (“The Shadow of Vengeance" serialized in Marvel’s The Savage Sword of Conan and “Conan Unconquered”, which was part of the video game Funcom/Petroglyph Studio.)

And since this groupread is about pastiche, one may want to peruse his blog: https://scottoden.wordpress.com/2021/...

I didn't quite have it in me to read an actual Conan pastiche, so I'm going to cheat and read Darrell Schweitzer's The Mask of the Sorcerer (which, as mentioned above, started life as a Conan pastiche) for the first time in some years.

Joseph, did you see the new Sekrene short story? I think its in the HFQ 50th issue

S.E. wrote: "Joseph, did you see the new Sekrene short story? I think its in the HFQ 50th issue"

I remember hearing about it; I'll definitely have to check it out!

here it is:
https://www.heroicfantasyquarterly.co...

The Reprieve, by Darrell Schweitzer, with artwork by Andrea Alemanno.  A new story of Sekenre the Sorcerer!  Riverland is a world full of wandering gods, decadent kingdoms; and in the lands of the dead, an ancient scholar and a cunning prince are embroiled in the centuries-long plots of sorcerers.

S.E. wrote: "here it is:
https://www.heroicfantasyquarterly.co...

The Reprieve, by Darrell Schweitzer, with artwork by Andrea Alemanno.  A new story of Sekenre the Sorcerer!  Riverland is a world full of..."

Thanks!

I'm finally wrapping up a review of Hocking's Pastiche (Emerald Lotus and "Black Starlight"):
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Expect an interview with him in 2022 that covers the content of the Living Plague.

S.E. wrote: "I'm finally wrapping up a review of Hocking's Pastiche (Emerald Lotus and "Black Starlight"):
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Expect an interview with him in 2022 that covers the ..."

Excellent! Thanks for the information.

Today I finished reading Conan and the Emerald Lotus. Adventures like this are the reason I am in love with Conan. Also being a Lovecraft universe fan, I am pleased to see story woven with elements from his Mythos.
I hope "Conan and the Emerald Lotus", "Black Starlight" and "Conan and The Living Plague" are printed (again) so that we can add them to our libraries. I have Conan comics with "Black Starlight" story so I will read that one but I guess we all have to wait till The Living Plague story is published officially.
BTW I think Goodreads site has an error at Conan and the Emerald Lotus page which is repeated by Mr. S.E. Lindberg in his review of the book. In the below paragraph, name of the sorcerer should be Shakar the Keshanian because it was sorcerer Shakar whom Conan refused to help and so curses him with the amulet.
------
One wizard is bad. Two are a disaster...And a deadly disaster, too. For Conan, after refusing to help the evil wizard Ethram-Fal, has been cursed with a spell that is slowly, inexorably squeezing the life from his mighty frame. The only person who can banish the spell--besides Ethram-Fal, of course--is the sorceress Zelandra: a raven-haired beauty who practices only white magic...or so she says.
------

Devrim wrote: "Today I finished reading Conan and the Emerald Lotus. Adventures like this are the reason I am in love with Conan. Also being a Lovecraft universe fan, I am pleased to see story woven with elements..."

Damn good eyes you have, Devrim! I had simply cut and pasted that blurb.

BTW, that blurb is actually the official on the back of the book too! So the error has propagated from Tor. Eh gads.

The blurb indicates that "One wizard is bad. Two wizards are a disaster".... but this book has three! That's even worse! They kinda spoiled a bit of the intrigue by simplifying the conflict to 2 wizards.

Anyway, thanks for the call-out! I will consider how to fix/update my review with a note.

Yeah, the back cover copy on the pocket book was inaccurate and kind of annoying.
The back cover copy on the earlier trade paperback edition is -ahem- much better/more accurate/more shamelessly melodramatic because Tor let me write it.

Sweet, John C. is here!

Via Google searching, I grabbed an image of the original Tor publication back-cover blurb from a 2013 blog review. (http://davycrockettsalmanack.blogspot...)

I cornered John C. Hocking in an interview about Conan pastiche on Black Gate, and we teased some info. about the Living Plague as we discussed his writing & weird muses:
https://www.blackgate.com/2022/01/29/...

Also, a companion interview focusing on his Benhus and Archivist series posted on the Skull Blog:
https://goodman-games.com/blog/2022/0...

Great interview.

Great interview ! Thank you Mr. Lindberg for creating this opportunity for us readers to get some insights about this particular Conan pastiche and also raising our situational awareness regarding what goes on behind the scene.
In 2017, from a secondhand book store of Ankara, Turkiye, I bought Conan and The Emerald Lotus along with other books. Because I had so many books waiting their turn, I could not lay my hands on it for l a long time.
Come 2021, when our group mentioned Conan pastiches as group read, I finally decided to read Emerald Lotus and that was when I regretted waiting for so long. Because it is such a beautiful Conan adventure. I found all the elements one can hope from a Conan story; wizards (quite a few of them), monsters, beautiful ladies, soldiers, undead, even Vendhyan kaokao and whatnot. I always enjoyed Conan stories (comics) set in Stygia and incidentally this story takes place in this unholy lands. What more can I actually ask for ? I can hear some avid readers ask about Thoth-Amon. Well, he is in there, not doing anything particular but still you can still hear people whisper his name.
I have the Conan comics with Black Starlight story and I will surely read it soon. As mentioned in the interview, I hope to read The Living Plague story if it is (hopefully) printed.
Below are my notes from the interview (some parts might include light spoilers so readers who have not completed the book yet might want to skip following text);
1. I am not surprised to hear that Mr.Hocking is also keen on Lovecraft universe because I could feel the cosmic horror notion/narration at Emerald Lotus. I particularly like Conan stories which look like basically Mythos at dark ages and Emerald Lotus has that trait. (In this regard I have to admit I am obsessed with Conan and the Midnight God story. I found it to be the best example of Conan/Mythos collaboration and read it every now and then.)
2. I am saying a word about it : I pretty much like the final fight where Conan/Heng Shih duo take out Ethram-Fal, his henchmen and even the lotus itself. I personally assure Mr.Hocking gets points for trying and succeeding the climax battle. As a side note, when I learnt lotus had a weakness against fire, I could figure out the approaching solution.
3. If I am asked about my favorite battle scene, I would vote for fight between Conan’s group and desert bandits.
4. I agree with Mr.Hocking that evil wizards must have their henchmen to do their bidding.
5. “I am frightened by the immensity of history, the cosmos, and the endless catalog of all the things I can never know or understand. The incomprehensively vast expanse of the unknown scares me, but it is coldly, distantly beautiful.” To me, this is a very nice explanation of cosmic horror.
6. At some point in the interview, the IP of Conan is mentioned. I really do not understand why Conan universe does not get its rightful attention at the entertainment sector worldwide. Maybe it has not been done properly in the movies or maybe owners could not manage it well. I do not know. But seeing titles like Game of Thrones, Vikings etc. making headlines, I believe Conan also should prosper.
7. I am interested in other works by Mr.Hocking and hope to read them in the future.
8. All in all, a very interesting interview. I can recommend everyone interested in the topic to read it.

Devrim wrote: "Great interview ! Thank you Mr. Lindberg for creating this opportunity for us readers to get some insights about this particular Conan pastiche and also raising our situational awareness regarding ..."

Devrim, great feedback. Super cool you could find a copy of Emerald in Ankara!

The IP issue is a bit complicated, especially for novels. I am no expert. Funcom owns it all now. Fredrik Malmberg is the CEO of the Cabinet group under them (which seems to have been the point of contact over Perilous Worlds and Titan Books.... and now Heroic Signatures). So there has been some continuity behind the scenes.

Recently, the Monolith board game company made a Conan game with stories written by Matt John (one rogue of several from the Rogues in the House S&S podcast). That was a recent use of the Conan IP that seemed to go well. Of course, there is the current Marvel comics too.

Anyway, there is some hope the pastiche novels will come back.