Carter, Lin
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The Well at the World's End (Wildside Fantasy)
William Morris
Manufacturer: Wildside Press
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ASIN: 1587150891 |
Customer Reviews:
Great Book.......2001-09-05
This is the second volume of William Morris's fantasy masterpiece. One of the very first, and still one of the best imaginary world fantasy novels.
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- Fun Pulpy Read
- Lin Carter, L. Sprague de Camp
- Imitation isn't always flattering
- conan the conqueror
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Sagas of Conan
L. Sprague de Camp , Lin Carter , and Bjorn Nyberg
Manufacturer: Tor Books
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- The Conan Chronicles (Conan)
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ASIN: 0765310546 |
Book Description
Imagine a world of gods and demons, where the fate of kingdoms balances on the bloody blade of a fabulous hero: Conan of the iron thews, the blue-eyed barbarian giant who towers above the savage Hyborian world. Here in one volume for the first time, are three of the Conan works that L.Sprague de Camp created to re-launch Conan: Conan the Swordsman Conan the Liberator Conan the Spider God
Customer Reviews:
Fun Pulpy Read .......2006-12-29
To the other reviewers: Yes, the original Howard books were fantasic (we all know this), but some of the books written afterwards have been exciting too(mostly the Robert Jordan ones). I'm happy authors have kept this character alive after all these years, the books are just fun pulpy reads for me. How about reviewing some of this book though? The Spider God (actually one of the better books) and the Liberator (sokay) are both in this book and I have them as stand alone novels. If you can get the book for under $5 (with shipping) it should a fun read and that is all that matters.
Lin Carter, L. Sprague de Camp.......2006-05-31
This book reprints some of the Conan stories Lin Carter and L. Sprague de Camp wrote from the 1950s (de Camp) to the 1970s (Carter). None are great. De Camp has been revered as the man who kept Conan alive with the Gnome Press editions in the `50s. He has also been vilified as the man who changed Howard's original tales into something else. Carter came along when Lancer Books was reprinting the Conan stores, and added a few of his own, usually with more of a dark magic theme than de Camp.
De Camp always defended his actions, and at one science-fiction/fantasy convention he needed a bodyguard just to walk around.
Fans did not like his heavy-handed edits of the stories, and told him so in person while he was still alive.
But it's all over now, the original stories are back in print, and this book is a curiosity for the avid Conan fan.
Imitation isn't always flattering.......2005-12-28
Conan is one of the great characters from fantasy literature. Immensely powerful physically, keen witted, iron willed, and incredibly audacious... the barbarian from the bleak hills of Cimmeria is the star of many highly entertaining stories.
The bad news is that none of those stories appear in this book. Robert E. Howard was the creator of Conan and none of his stories appear in this volume. What is here is the work of enthusiatic but far less talented individuals who were such big fans of Conan that they were inspired to write their own tales. I have read all of their stories and find that they are immediately recognizable as pale imitations of the original.
In sum, Conan is well worth reading and all of the original Howard stories are now available in paperback. I would highly recommend buying those volumes and forget that this one exists.
conan the conqueror.......2004-04-01
I was 9yrs old when i read this book and it stayed in my mind when ibecame a Docter and recieved my 1st pay ibought all conan books icould find andstill am looking for fantacy books to add to my collaction 1980 to 2004. fantacy nut yes (yes)klang
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- The building of a genra
- Rewarding, yet left me wanting more...
- Seminal heroic fantasy
- Great Story - Not-So-Great Edition
- Will Wonders Never Cease?
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The Well at the World's End: Volume I (Well at the World's End)
William Morris
Manufacturer: Borgo Press
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ASIN: 1587150883 |
Customer Reviews:
The building of a genra.......2006-07-30
I, like many others, came to read this through the influence of C. S. Lewis. Lewis said, and rightly so, that no book could match the titles which William Morris gave to his books, but that he came closer than anyone else could have. This and The Wood Beyond the World are both spectacular, and I look forward to reading his other literature when I get the chance.
This particular book weaves the story of Ralph of Upmeads, the youngest son of the king of a small nation, who runs away from home to seek adventure. He hears of the fabled Well at the World's End, and decides to seek this Well. On the way he encounters numerous smaller adventures, built into what became the first truly epic fantasy book. Morris was the first to ever create a new world as his setting. Sure, there had been fictional books written before his, but he was the first to leave behind conventional countries and lands as his setting and create new lands and new countries in which to place his story. Tolkien, Lewis, etc. all simply went farther down the path that Morris had begun to blaze before them.
As far as the actual writing goes, I find it superb (for the most part). Many dislike his archaic English, but I very much enjoy it. I actually prefer to read books written like that, as I find that it adds greatly to the general feel of the story. The archaic English makes it really feel old, as if it really did take place ages ago. Morris does not use it quite so skillfully as someone like Howard Pyle, but it is very good, and does not fall flat like it tends to do when many less skilled modern authors try to use it. The only part of his writing style that I disliked is his odd manor of switching back and forth between past and present language. For example, he will be going along writing things like "Ralph looked around and knew not where he was" and then suddenly go a few pages writing things like "Ralph looks around and knows not where he is" for no reason at all. It simply makes no sense to me, and I found it rather annoying. This happened in only a few places, so it is not a major issue or anything. For the most part, Morris' writing is superb.
In all, I highly recommend reading this, as it is one of the most important fictional books ever written. Make sure you get Volume 1 and 2, as it was originally one volume but simply had to be split up when they re-printed it so as not to be so bulky. It is long, but well worth the time. If you like it, I recommend checking out The Wood Beyond the World, as well as Howard Pyle's material.
Overall grade: A+
Rewarding, yet left me wanting more..........2004-12-23
As C.S. Lewis claimed, a story cannot match the wonder and expectation that comes from a title "The Well at the World's End." Indeed, my expectations of a spiritual grail-type quest, the joy of finding another George MacDonald, got in my way of enjoying a fascinating recreation of the medieval romance, an experiment in archaic English, and a materialistic examination of the relativity of culture structure.
Like reading the "Faerie Queene," the characters are shadowy forms whose presence goes beyond simple characterization. Do not look for deep psychosis. Ralph, the hero of this romance, is just that, a hero. Like Ivanhoe or Galahad, Ralph is a luck child and is less interesting than his supporting cast. For example, "the Lady", his first romantic encounter, is a mysterious character, existing beyond good and evil, almost half goddess, a combination of Faerie Queene and Le Belle Dame Sans Merci. Unfortunately, she does not inhabit the whole quest, and her replacement, Ursula, who is confused with "the Lady," is lifeless mirror image her.
The difference between the Well quest and a Grail quest is that the Well quest is attainable. While the Grail lies outside of reach, a spiritual mystery to be claimed at the end of life, more spirit than body, the Well is a material mystery connected to life not death, body as well as somewhat spirit. Being a material possession "The Well at the World's End" is less concerned with spiritual transformation as it is cultural transformation. Therefore, the climax is not the drinking of the well, but the in the life that follows. The relativity of the divergent cultures that Ralph eludes aligning himself with, becomes more black and white after the well. Morris's Marxist optimism shows himself as Ralph retraces his steps and like a revolutionary transform what was a cultural mixed bag into wholly good.
I think my disappointment was a mater of preference and personal expectation. Perhaps my desire for a climax at the end of life reveals my lack of living.
Quick note: this is only part 1. Part 2 is in orange.
Seminal heroic fantasy.......2002-12-06
Morris is the early master of "modern" heroic fantasy.
At the same time, Morris was a socialist and there are many political overtones to his last prose romances. These subthemes are subtle but elevate him above most others in genre. Tolkien and his one-dimensional, and somewhat puerile characters are a far cry from Morris, his literary grandfather.
Check out his other prose romances if you can find them esp. "The Water of the Wondrous Isles"
Great Story - Not-So-Great Edition.......2002-08-26
I first ran into this book by accident in 1975 - it still remains one of my absolute favorites and I encourage anyone interested even remotely in fantasy or heroic romanticism to read it.
However, some caveats should be observed. The ORIGINAL story was published by Kelmscott Press which used "gothic" fonts and unconventional design. Ballentine used this as the source for the 1970 edition and a lot of textual errors crept in - not all of which have been corrected in this new version. (For example "A garth of pound" should read "A garth OR pound.")
But this does not excuse the omission of several paragraphs which are dropped from the bottom of page 308. It looks almost as though a whole page is missing.
I still highly recommend this book regardless. But if a better edition makes its way into the market I would buy that one instead.
Will Wonders Never Cease?.......2002-01-26
I read this book when I was 15, in 1975. I still have the 1st paperback edition from Ballantine Books. It was a bit of a daunting read when I was a teenager. After reading this book I was hooked. I have never looked back, and have been reading this type of literature ever since. I remember spending hours in the forbidden alcove in the back of the local bookstore perusing all of Ballantine's Adult Fantasy series: E.R.Eddison, Lord Dunsany, James Branch Cabell, Tolkien, H.P.Lovecraft. My mother cut off my allowance because I spent too much money on these types of books. So I got a job. As a teenage artist I spent many days and nights depicting scenes from this gorgeous work of imaginative fiction. I even started writing my own fantasy. This is a work of the highest order and tradition. This is not for everyone being as how this book was penned in the 19th Century. But for those who are patient readers looking for romantic fantasy, I highly recommend this book and other books by authors I have mentioned in this article. BE WARNED: This is not your usual swords and sorcery fare. THIS IS LITERATURE. I'm ordering a copy as soon as possible because I'm still reading my dog-eared 1st Edition. I can't believe these marvels are being reprinted again! Thank The Gods someone is reviving this seemingly dying genre. THERE IS STILL A LIGHT IN THE WORLD!
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Kai Lung's Golden Hours
Ernest Bramah
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000BBP9QI |
Product Description
The mannered, polished irony of Bramah's style is as unique as the fictitious creation of a remarkable mind--for certainly no "China" remotely like Braham's existed outside his imagination. Yet his work is spiced with wry humor and studded with earthy realities. The ultimate test of adult fantasy is that it speaks to us of ourselves. And this Ernest Brahah does through the delicious medium of his anti-hero, Kai Lung.
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- How Conan Became a King
- Chance lost
- Boring
- exciting sword and sorcery
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Conan The Liberator (Conan)
L. Sprague de Camp , and Lin Carter
Manufacturer: Tor Books
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0765300702 |
Book Description
In marketplace and roadside inn, in village and hamlet, its whispered across the land: the Liberator comes!onan the barbarian leads an army of warriors to smash the tyrannical reign of King Numedides. Conan and his rebels thought their battles would be fought with spear and sword, axe and dagger. In this they were mistaken, for their greatest foe remains: the vile sorcerer Thulandra Thuu.Dark clouds loom ahead for the people of Aquilonia and only Conan can save them.
Customer Reviews:
How Conan Became a King.......2005-08-07
In this novel, DeCamp and Carter tell the story of the Cimmerian's oft-mentioned revolt agains King Numedides of Aquilonia. Manipulating the madness of the king is Stygian wizard, Thulandra Thuu. (For those of you familiar with the works of Lin Carter, you gotta know that name was from Lin). Carter and DeCamp find a way to maintain the suspense even though any Conan fan knows the outcome of the story. The story shifts between Conan's inexorable march to Aquilonia and Thuu's attempts to stop the rebel army. Numedides is an excellent character, nasty and pitiful at the same time, every character in the book knows what's going on except him.
Chance lost.......2003-03-22
This book was a great chance to tell a super part of Conan's life. It misses the mark by being too boring and not enough action.
Boring.......2002-08-12
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. We've all heard that statement before, right? In most cases, it may even be true. Something tells me it isn't so with this book. The two authors of this book point out in the introduction (which, along with the map of Howard's fantasy world, is the only interesting thing about this book) that great care has been taken to carefully reconstruct Howard's prose style while maintaining character continuity with his original stories. Even though I've never read a Howard book before--and I will seek some of them out after this--I don't doubt that the prose and descriptions match the original stories. Unfortunately, in their careful attempts at mimicry, these two authors forgot to craft an engaging story.
"Conan the Liberator" tells the story about a revolution mounted against the evil Numedides, King of Aquilonia, by Conan the Cimmerian, a former general of Numedides. People are fed up with the debaucheries of Numedides, and the high taxes that go along with them. But Numedides is under the spell of the evil Lemurian sorcerer Thulandra Thuu, a man who wishes to further his own interests through the king. Conan has other ideas, and assembles an army with the help of Count Trocero, a nobleman of Poitain; Dexitheus, a priest of Mitra; Publius, a rebel tax accessor; and Prospero, another exiled general. The army assembles in nearby Argos, where spies keep watch on their activities, and a beauty by the name of Alcina, in the employ of Thuu, watches Conan. The entire book is a painfully detailed account of the grinding excursion north to a showdown with Numedides and Thuu.
"Conan the Liberator" is the worst fantasy book I've ever read. Page after page is loaded with meaningless dialogue and politics. I always felt the name Conan was synonymous with action. This book showed me the error of that type of thinking. NOTHING happens in this book. Sure, there are a couple of short battles during the course of the story, and Thuu manages to cast a couple of spells against Conan and his army. But overall, these few scenes are not enough to justify writing this book, let alone reprinting it. Almost every scene manages to land with an earth-shattering thud
Character development is criminally, excruciatingly flat. I've seen better character development in industrial training films. Not one character ever rises above simple human traits such as breathing and moving. It will be a miracle if I remember anything about any of them in a few days.
What is good about this book pertains directly to the creator of Conan, Robert Howard. The introduction is good, and the map of Howard's fantasy world is fascinating. According to the introduction, Howard created a world with a mix of ancient, medieval, viking, and biblical place names. Howard placed his world between the sinking of Atlantis and "the emergence of the cities." Our gods and mythologies, according to Howard, are fragmentary memories of this forgotten age.
Avoid this clunker at all costs. Go out and find the original stories, or rent the Conan movies. Learning Esperanto or cleaning the lint out of your navel would be more fun than diving into this cesspool. I suspect Howard would be quite testy if he was still alive today to witness what others have done with his ideas.
exciting sword and sorcery.......2002-06-21
A fortyish Conan leads an army trying to overthrow the maniacal tyranny of king Numedides of Aquilonia. Conan believes his rebel force has a great chance of defeating the king's forces led by General Procas and consequently expects to topple a monarch who abuses children and kills concubines on some of mad whim.
Conan and his advisors anticipate and plan a war they expect fought in which blade goes against blade. Instead, the evil sorcerer Thulandra Thuu and his servant Alcina intercede. Soon a mysterious illness threaten to do what the king's forces have failed to do, destroy the rebel army unless Conan can find some way of saving himself, his soldiers and ultimately the people of Aquilonia.
This is a reprint of an exciting sword and sorcery tale released over two decades ago. The story line is fast-paced and loaded with non-magical and esoteric action as expected from the novels starring the pre-history hero. Conan remains dauntless while trying to do what he believes is right while his deadly foe Thuu will return for another day (or is that novel - if this reviewer's memory holds see CONAN THE SWORDSMAN).
Harriet Klausner
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Over the Hills and Far Away
Lord (Carter, Lin: Editor) Dunsany
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
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Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OBGDF6 |
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DON RODRIGUEZ; CHRONICLES OF SHADOW VALLEY
Lord (Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett) (introduction by Lin Carter) Dunsany
Manufacturer: Ballantine
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Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0345022440 |
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The Disciples of Cthulhu (Nine Original H.P. Lovecraft Mythos Stories)
Edward P. (Ed.) Fritz Leiber; Brian Lumley; Eddy Bertin; Ramsey Campbell; James Wade; Walter C. DeBill, Jr.; Joseph Payne Brennan; Lin Carter; Robert Bloch (Intro) (H.P. Lovecraft) Berglund
Manufacturer: Daw Books, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OCQ45E |
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- It fell apart in my hands
- An above-average non-Howard Conan novel
- The Final Adventure
- While not the best...
- The final adventures of Conan
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Conan of the Isles (Conan #12)
Robert E. Howard , L. Sprague De Camp , and Lin Carter
Manufacturer: Ace
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Binding: Paperback
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- Conan the Freebooter (Conan, No 3)
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- Conan The Liberator (Conan)
- Conan of Cimmeria (Conan No. 2)
ASIN: 044111623X |
Customer Reviews:
It fell apart in my hands.......2003-11-12
No, not the story. The story was good. I'm talking about the book itself. It was so old that the glue holding it together dried out. I came late to the stories of Conan. That was in the early 1980s. 1982 if I'm not mistaken. It even inspired me to write my own stories about a barbarian of my own.
In this book, Conan's 60. The ghost of his guardian angel,
Epimeterius the Sage, comes to him in his sleep and tells him to abdicate in favor of his son, Prince Conn, who's Conan's heir. Conan writes the letter of abdication and sets
out to fight the Red Terror, a magical plague that's spread across the world by the sorcerer priests of the remnants of
Atlantis. Conan fights them but we don't know if he wins or loses.
An above-average non-Howard Conan novel.......2003-09-04
When Lancer set out to produce the complete Conan saga in the 1960s, it called upon L. Sprague de Camp, Lin Carter, and Bjorn Nyberg to fill in the gaps and complete the saga. For the most part, they comported themselves well.
This is the final tale in that series, and for a non-REH story, it's pretty good. Carter and de Camp both had been around Conan enough by the time they produced this that they get the general flavor of what makes Conan, well, Conan. I probably should give it more stars, simply because of all the pure pablum that has been produced by would-be REH imitators over the past 20 years or so, but its still not quite anything more than an above average book.
Regardless, its well written and clearly attempting to honor REH's Conan tales. In this book, Conan is in his twilight years and is still looking for one final adventure, or adventures, as the case may be. Clearly, Conan has no intention of dying of old age in a bed surrounded by grandchildren.
The early chapters of the book are probably the best as Conan evenutally sets off sailing and finds himself in a new, unknown world (presumably America). Naturally, this being a Conan tale, he soon finds himself enmeshed in adventures in this new world. And, relying on not only muscle but guile, Conan naturally triumphs.
Given the fact that I am now in my 40s, this tale may resonate more with me. The fact that a 60-ish Conan is still vital and more than willing to fight kind of inspires me. The ending actually leaves the door open for further adventures, even though this was to be the final tale in the Conan saga (of course, others decided there was still money to be made off the poor guy, so all kinds of junk is still being written about Conan today).
Stick to the Lancer series and its reprints and ignore all that other junk.
The Final Adventure.......2000-06-30
Back in the mid-60's, when Lancer Books reissued the original Conan stories by Robert E. Howard, they enlisted the aid of L. Sprague DeCamp and Lin Carter to polish Howard's grammar, soften his more "politically incorrect" statements, and fill out the saga with pastiches. This, the last of the stories, is 100% pastiche, but it still has the flavor of Howard's barbarian. I first read it as a teenager, but now that I have passed the half century mark, the story has new resonance. In this adventure Conan anticipates George Foreman by several millenia. He may be old; he may not be the man he once was; but he can still outmuscle most foes, and those he can't outmuscle, he can outfox. At the conclusion of the book you might just get a little misty-eyed when Conan ends his adventure and sails off into the mists of time, never to be heard from again.
While not the best..........2000-01-21
The book starts extremely well with one of the best scenes ever written about Conan (The tavern scene). It's forever burned into my brain. Burn it into yours. The second half lags a bit but over all it's very entertaining. The Isles is an important book in the Conan series because it's the last Conan story. Conan shows that even at 60+ he's still got more than it takes. Great ending.
The final adventures of Conan.......1999-09-28
Chronologically this IS the last adventures of Conan. He's an old man now, and after this adventure he doesn't return to his homeland; prefering to let his son Conn rule Aquilonia.
A decent read, and better than most crappy Conan-novels not written by Robert E. Howard, though still lacking that certain pulp feeling.
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