March 2022 Recommended Reading and Viewing

[Coír Draoi Ceítien]

March has begun and spring is around the corner, but it's also bleak days with a way going on in Europe and the ramifications slowly creeping over here. It seems weird to make recommendations now, but I don't want to break the flow, having done it for so long now. I apologize for the lateness, but I was debating on what to talk about this month. Well, I have something now - may it keep you as enthralled as it did me.

Reading: The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian (2003) by Robert E. Howard

After years of editorial interference and controversial rewriting, this book represents the first of three collections of the complete stories of sword-and-sorcery pioneer Howard's most famous character, presented as they were originally written. The thirteen tales within contain classics like Conan's debut, "The Phoenix on the Sword", and perennial favorites like "The Tower of the Elephant", "Queen of the Black Coast", "The Scarlet Citadel", and "Black Colossus", as well as miscellanea like original drafts and synopses of stories, notes on names and places, and the seminal essay "The Hyborian Age", which formed the background around which Howard wrote the chronology of his stories. Filled with swashbuckling action and terrifying mythologies, the adventures of Conan are far better that is led to believe from the glut of knockoffs and capitalizing on the brand name, being a mix of hardboiled prose and epic poetry. For those who have never experienced them, I recommend this book as important to understanding the development of the fantasy genre as a whole.

Trade: https://www.amazon.com/Coming-Conan-Cimmerian-Original-Adventures/dp/0345461517/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1646700851&sr=8-1
Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Coming-Conan-Cimmerian-Barbarian-Book-ebook/dp/B000FBJE24/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1646700851&sr=8-1



Viewing: Conan the Barbarian (John Milius, 1982)

This is the film that first gained Austrian actor/bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger worldwide fame, and though it's not very faithful to Howard's stories, it's important and enjoyable as a fantasy film in its own right, as well as being the initial spark of the "barbarian boom" of films in the 1980's (ultimately a mixed bag). After watching his tribe and family slaughtered by the cult of the sorcerer Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones), Conan rises from gladitorial slave combat to thievery, and when he and his companions are commissioned by an aged king to save his daughter from the same cult, the barbarian warrior is given the chance to exact his long-awaited vengeance. All in all, it's a competently made film from maverick director/screenwriter Milius and a significant boost in popularity for the classic character.

DVD: https://www.amazon.com/Conan-Barbarian-Arnold-Schwarzenegger/dp/0783241895/ref=tmm_dvd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1646700903&sr=1-7
Blu-Ray: https://www.amazon.com/Conan-Barbarian-Blu-ray-Arnold-Schwarzenegger/dp/B00509KXYO/ref=sr_1_7?crid=Z6JV0I8JHXD9&keywords=conan+the+barbarian&qid=1646700903&s=movies-tv&sprefix=conan+the+barbarian%2Cmovies-tv%2C106&sr=1-7
Amazon Prime: https://www.amazon.com/Conan-Barbarian-Arnold-Schwarzenegger/dp/B009CG248Y/ref=sr_1_3?crid=Z6JV0I8JHXD9&keywords=conan+the+barbarian&qid=1646700875&s=movies-tv&sprefix=conan+the+barbarian%2Cmovies-tv%2C106&sr=1-3


That's all for this month. I sincerely hope we have more to celebrate next time.