The Barbaric Triumph: A Critical Anthology on the Writings of Robert E. Howard

by Don Herron (Editor), Charles Hoffman (Contributor), Scott Connors (Contributor)

The Barbaric Triumph examines all aspects of the life and work of Robert E. Howard -- the originator of the sword-&-sorcery fantasy genre and the creator of Conan the Barbarian. Featured are essays by Leo Grin, Edwrad A. Waterman, Charles Hoffman, Paul Spencer, Mark Finn, Steven R. Trout, Lauric Guillaud, Scott Connors, George Knight, Don Herron, and more. From the phantoms of Hate simmering beneath Howard's blood-drenched prose to Howard's lifelong interest in philosophy, from Howard's visionary use of the American Frontier Myth to his tales of boxing, The Barbaric Triumph builds on the pioneering research of Herron's previous book on Howard, The Dark Barbarian, and takes it to new levels.

200 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

In depth coverage via criticism and analysis on the works of Robert E. Howard with added information on other Weird Tales writers and as Leo Grin states "At the root of Howard's theology lies hate as the key to strength and power". A lot of the writer's come back to Howard's heroes being hell bent on revenge and retribution as the driving force of strength as the prime motivations driving them on.
Lovecraft did state "Life has never interested me so much as the escape from life" (p.163).
I did laugh when finding out that Lovecraft would refer to Clark Ashton Smith as Klarkash-Ton ( p.165).
The span of Howard's characters are covered from Conan to Kull to Solomon Kane and even boxer Steve Costigan. More often than not each has more than a bit of Howard imbued in them.