So yesterday’s post on Edgar Rice Burroughs and Harold Lamb and the recent post on the canon, coupled with today is the anniversary of the passing of J. R. R. Tolkien and the seventh anniversary of the death of Frederik Pohl, got me to thinking. I referred to Burroughs and Lamb as giants. In the canon post I quoted Newton talking about his achievements being due to his standing on the shoulders of giants.
So who exactly are the giants in the field? Continue reading
Sir H. Rider Haggard
Today, June 22, marks the birth of Sir Henry Rider Haggard (1856-1925). Haggard was one of the premier adventure writers of the 19th Century. Best known for his character Allan Quatermain, H. Rider Haggard wrote many other novels.
His work has has a major influence on many writers, from his friend and contemporary Rudyard Kipling to such fantasy giants as Robert E. Howard.
These days he’s fallen out of favor because he wasn’t woke enough. I don’t care. I’m smart enough to not judge people from previous centuries by today’s shifting standards. Continue reading
Today (September 1) is the birthday of two literary giants, Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950) and Harold Lamb (1892-1962). Continue reading
Tales Before Tolkien
Douglas A. Anderson, ed.
Print $16.00
Ebook $4.99
Deuce Richardson has been encouraging me to read H. Rider Haggard for quite a while. I’ve been intending to, and this story provided me with the perfect chance.
This story is more historical than fantasy, but there are some fantastic elements. It takes place just before the Zulu uprising of January 1879. Philip Hadden is a ne’er-do-well who is working as a trader. When he kills a man in a fight, he is forced to flee into Zulu territory.
This isn’t the wisest of moves. Continue reading