Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Happy Birthday, Robert E. Howard!

Well, like every other fan in REH-dom, I feel obliged to note the anniversary of the birth of Robert E. Howard, 108 years ago.

It's probably preaching to the choir at this blog, but I'll do it anyway.

It is cold here. So, this evening, instead of a beer I might look up a Hot Toddy or some other warm rum drink recipe.

That I shall imbibe whilst I read a historical fiction tale from REH, preferably one I have not yet read.

I might have been over this territory before, but I came to REH very late compared to most who discovered him as teenagers.  I had read some of his Mythos horror when I was in my Lovecraft phase.  REH didn't get on my radar that time around.

But later, in a used bookstore, this cover caught my attention and would not let go;

Eons of the Night.
Having always had an interest in the Vinland Sagas and the Viking exploration of North America, you can only imagine how "Marchers of Valhalla" grabbed me, too and wouldn't let go.

I came to Conan, et al, a bit after that.

So there, in the mid-to-late 1990s, in my early thirties, my fervent acquisition of books by and/or related to Robert E. Howard began.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Happy birthday, Bob!

4 comments:

  1. Nice! I hear you about coming late, I was a fan of the Conan movies and comics but didn't read actual REH until I was 29 and boy was I hooked!

    Funny, EONS OF THE NIGHT was the last REH book for me to get my completest hands on.

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  2. I discovered Conan during spring break my freshman year of college, and I was hooked. About a decade later, those Baen paperbacks were a godsend at a time when REH was scarce on the shelves. And they had fantastic covers.

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  3. Amen, brother. I've got that one. Good collection but all his are really.

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  4. My dad was a fan so I read Conan the Warrior in 8th grade. Marchers is still one of my REH favorites.

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