The Robert E. Howard Reader

by Darrell Schweitzer, Fritz Leiber, Darrell Schweitzer (Editor)

This anthology presents a wide range of analysis, criticism, and opinion about one of the most influential fantasy authors of the twentieth century, with contributions by such well-known writers and critics Poul Anderson, Fritz Leiber, George H. Scithers, L. Sprague de Camp, S. T. Joshi, Howard Waldrop, Steve Tompkins, Darrell Schweitzer, Leo Grin, Robert Weinberg, Mark Hall, Charles Hoffman, Don D'Ammassa, Robert M. Price, Gary Romeo, and Scott Connors. A "must have" for every fan of Robert E. Howard.

Genres: Essays

212 pages, Paperback

First published November 18, 2007

About the author

Darrell Schweitzer is an American writer, editor, and essayist in the field of speculative fiction. Much of his focus has been on dark fantasy and horror, although he does also work in science fiction and fantasy.

Schweitzer is also a prolific writer of literary criticism and editor of collections of essays on various writers within his preferred genres.

Reviews

[Walt O'Hara]

Just picked this up at Balticon last weekend. Consists of several essays on Robert E. Howard (of Conan fame), basically rehashing the sentiment: "We should have taken this guy more seriously when he was alive, he would have been greatly respected had he lasted a little longer" and "history short-changed Howard, he was far more skilled than he is given credit". There's a lot of Same-old, Same-old here, but I'm enjoying the older essays by Leiber and De Camp quite a bit. Darrell Schweitzer can do literary criticism and editor chores fairly well. I have an old chapbook entitled "Discovering H.P. Lovecraft" that he did a yeoman's job on. I think I like the earlier one better but this is a decent read so far.