Features Part One of our comprehensive coverage of the new five-volume set of Howard titles from the Bison Books imprint of the University of Nebraska Press, an article about improving pastiches by Rick McCollum, a special collectible offer for Cimmerian readers direct from Cross Plains, a meaty and contentious Lion’s Den, and more.
Part 1 of 3. Almuric is a science fiction novel by American writer Robert E. Howard. It was originally serialized in three parts in the magazine Weird Tales beginning in May 1939. The novel was first published in book form in 1964 by Ace Books.
The novel features a muscular hero known on earth as Esau Cairn, a complete misfit in modern America who “belongs in a simpler age”. Exploited by a corrupt political boss whom he finally kills with his bare hands, Cairn must flee. A sympathetic scientist helps him get through space to a world known as Almuric, by unspecified scientific methods. There he finds a life to which he is more fitted, encountering both frightening monsters as well as beautiful women. Cairn becomes known as Iron Hand due to his powerful punches and boxing skills. The novel shares similar elements with the John Carter of Mars series by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Part 3 of 3. “Red Nails” is the last of the stories featuring Conan the Cimmerian written by American author Robert E. Howard. A novella, it was originally serialized in Weird Tales magazine from July to October 1936. It’s set in the pseudo-historical Hyborian Age and concerns Conan encountering a lost city in which the degenerate inhabitants are proactively resigned to their own destruction. Due to its dark themes of decay and death, the story is considered a classic of Conan lore while also cited by Howard scholars as one of his best tales.
Part 2 of 3. “Red Nails” is the last of the stories featuring Conan the Cimmerian written by American author Robert E. Howard. A novella, it was originally serialized in Weird Tales magazine from July to October 1936. It’s set in the pseudo-historical Hyborian Age and concerns Conan encountering a lost city in which the degenerate inhabitants are proactively resigned to their own destruction. Due to its dark themes of decay and death, the story is considered a classic of Conan lore while also cited by Howard scholars as one of his best tales.
Old Garfield’s Heart was first published in Weird Tales in December of 1933 and is generally labelled as a “Horror Story”. It takes place shortly after the end of the Wild West, but perhaps it falls squarely into the “Weird West” genre. The story is about an frontiersman, Old Garfield, that has lived as long as anyone can remember. The story is told through the eyes of an unnamed narrator who believes the tales told by Old Garfield are nothing more than whims of fancy or tall tales.
Contains Howard’s poem “Black Chant Imperial”.
Weird Tales from December 1932 was the first issue with a Conan story. It featured ‘The Phoenix on the Sword’ where Conan is King.It is actually a rewritten King Kull story.
