Customer Reviews

And Their Memory Was a Bitter Tree

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

..little else going for this book. Amsterdamaged's review sums up most of my concerns with this book, but I will also add that:

There are 2 errors in the map that should never have made it into print - Venarium (which is also spelled incorrectly on the map) is placed in Vanaheim and Hyperborea is spelled incorrectly as well.

The Frazetta paintings, contrary to what we were told pre-release, were NOT made for the stories included in this book. The depiction of Conan battling Thak from "Rogues in the House" shows up in the story "The Devil In Iron" for example. Seems random and pointless. Some of the color plates aren't even the full Frazetta painting at all - just a zoomed in and poorly cropped version. I do like the inclusion of the Frazetta pencil work though.

The cover painting by Brom is fantastic, and since there is nothing else new (except the intro full of untruths and spurious claims) here, that is really what drew me to the book. Had I been able to peruse the book before buying, I never would have bought it. I am returning my copy and am embarrassed to have even contributed to the sales of something like this in the first place.

If you want Conan, get the Del Rey books. If you want Frazetta, the paintings are available elsewhere too.

Due to the points made here in combination with Amsterdamaged's review, I wouldn't even recommend this to a newcomer to Conan.

*Addendum* - Since I have been accused in another review of being a "rabid REH fan" and the implication is that my review is biased (isn't everyone's? I thought I had stuck to objective criteria as much as possible...), let me point out that I bought the book knowing full well what the intro was. I don't really care, and nor should anyone who simply enjoys the Conan stories, if REH was a great writer or not - such talk is pseudo-intellectual, subjective babble in the first place. The problem with Fenner's intro is NOT his assertion that REH was not a great writer - it is his attack on REH as a person, which is based on untruths and bizarre reasoning that has been disproved by others, that bothers the REH fandom.

Still, my interest lies in Conan stories, and whether I agree with Fenner or not, had this book not had the problems I pointed out above I would have thought differently of it. Intro aside, this is NOT a beautifully designed book (the Frazetta plates aren't even all complete paintings as I mentioned, and they don't match the stories as the initial press releases stated and the map has errors) and there is nothing new here at all except the cover painting. I can see no reason for this book and stand firmly by my rating. But do make up your own mind - look at it in the book store and make your own decision. But know all the facts presented here by both "sides".

Visually and aesthetically, this is quite an impressive book. Underwood quite obviously "borrowed" the Wandering Star model of mixing Howard's original stories with beautiful artwork, which includes most of the famous Conan paintings by Frazetta, and the new painting of Conan and the she-pirate Belit by the artist Brom. The title of the book is taken from a line from Queen of the Black Coast:

"The Tigress ranged the sea, and the black villages shuddered. Tomtoms beat in the night, with a tale that the she-devil of the sea had found a mate, an iron man whose wrath was as that of a wounded lion. And survivors of butchered Stygian ships named Belīt with curses, and a white warrior with fierce blue eyes; so the Stygian princes remembered this man long and long, and their memory was a bitter tree which bore crimson fruit in the years to come."

Despite the fact that it IS a beautiful and impressive book, and at under $25.00, a bargain, I cannot recommend it. For new fans, who've never read Robert E. Howard, the three volume Del Rey set is much, much better when it comes to story content and supplemental essays. This volume contains only eight stories and no essays (except the "In Memoriam" tribute by H.P. Lovecraft in the back, which can also be found in "The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane). The font is very big, which gives the book the appearance of containing more material than it actually does. And judging by the choice of stories that were included, it can't even be considered a "best of" collection. Truly outstanding stories such as "Tower of the Elephant" and "Beyond the Black River" were excluded in favor of mediocre stories like "Jewels of Gwalhur" and "The Devil in Iron". For a first time reader, this is not a good introduction to the character, especially given the introduction.

Given the fact that all of this material can be readily found elsewhere (with the exception of the Brom painting), one would assume that this product would appeal mostly to the die hard Howard fans and completists. Unfortunately, Howard fans are likely to be outraged when they read the introduction by Arnie Fenner, where he makes a number of disparaging remarks regarding both Howard as a writer and a person, including this little gem:

"...while Robert certainly was a tremendously gifted storyteller with a wholly original voice, capable of spinning an exciting yarn in first draft that could capture his reader's imagination...he simply wasn't a great writer.

"...his writing is more rudimentary than lyrical and there is very little variety in his fiction. His characters are essentially very similar, regardless of the setting or time period...and he often recycled his plots and repeated situations, phrases, and descriptions. Attention to detail never got in the way of the story Howard wanted to tell...."

This little bit, and others, has caused quite an uproar amoung Howard scholars and fans in the blogosphere, and in my opinion, it's entirely warranted. For decades Howard's reputation has been dragged through the mud by those whose job it was to promote him, the charge being led by a certain Mr. L. Sprague de Camp. But since the 1990s, devoted Howard scholars like Rusty Burke and Mark Finn have worked tirelessly to repair Howard's reputation and elevate him to his proper place as one of the great writers of the twentieth century. This introduction represents a MAJOR step backwards. Howard fans should be outraged, and products that simultaneously disparage the author while profiting off his work should be avoided.

For people who really want to read Conan, spend the $15 (less from Amazon) and buy any one of the three collections from Del Rey books of Robert Howard's original Conan tales. From the editiorial and introductory comments to unpublished fragments they really are the best.
This book starts badly, with an introduction by an otherwise decent fellow, Arnie Fenner, who looks to have cribbed from ancient and ill intentioned psycho-babble that was what passed for 'analysis' of the complicated life of Robert Howard. Needless to say I hope people really pay no mind to the introduction. If they do I hope they follow it up with a thorough search of the newer information that's come to light in the last 30 years that paints a much better informed picture of this author, warts and all.
The stories selected are fine, but a few are not very good for the person who is reading the real Conan for the first time. On that note it might be a good idea to save some of the best for another volume, but if this book is supposed to be the best of them, it is not. Again, however, the Del Rey editions have them all and are therefore a better idea.
The package is nice for one reason; the print is large enough for an old guy like myself to read without having to squint.
The downside is as good as the art contained within this book is it deserves full reproductions of the entire images and not the clipping down those paintings received. The purpose of the clipped images appears to be an effort to focus on Conan, but then there are two popular Frazetta paintings, also clipped, which have no relevance to the character, much less the stories. The quality of the reproductions of all the paintings is also lacking.
The paper stock is great. It's nice and heavy with with an easy to read but good font.
The Brom cover art is fine but it doesn't really add to anything here. When compared to even the bad reproductions the new Brom piece is diminished in it's color and composition. It's not a bad painting just not comparable to Frazetta's work. That's too bad because Brom is capable of some impressive imagery and perhaps the better thing to do here was showcase a range of other artists instead of even clipped images of Frazetta's paintings. The other art, vignettes for the most part, are from nonspecific drawings Frazetta had rendered over the years.
This is a middling effort at something grand, and missed.

...but there's nothing really to recommend this title. I'm usually supportive of both Underwood and Fenner, but in this case, one Brom Painting, plus the same Frazetta paintings we've all seen before, and not even ALL of the Conan stories (including the omission of some of the BEST REH Conan stories) does not an attractive package make.

...and on top of that, I really didn't care for the introduction. Only in SF fandom is it acceptable to attack and denigrate someone you allegedly admire. You don't see that kind of thing in Hemingway collections. Only Robert E. Howard gets the short end of the stick in such a fashion from people who supposedly like and admire his work. And even the folks who gave the book favorable reviews thought the intro was flawed, as well.

Go buy the Frazetta books from Underwood. They are gorgeous. Then go buy the three Del Rey Conan books. You'll be infinitely happier.

There are many good things about this volume to be noted and must be noted before coming to its rather MAJOR drawback.

It is an absolutely BEAUTIFUL book. From a graphic design standpoint its an amazing volume. It's great to see Frazetta's artwork finally IN a book of fiction and the new painting by Brom which serves as the cover llustration is equally fine. The typography, display type and overall printing quality are top notch. Terrific production values all around. The basic edition has an illustrated binding (using the same graphics of the dust jacket) instead of cloth which I don't like...it demands a nicer binding. But its probably in keeping with its amazingly low selling point cost. Arnie Fenner designed the book and deserves a big thumbs up for his work here. Its too bad that he's also responsible for the MAJOR problem with this volume...

The SINGLE drawback is the introduction by Fenner. Prior to publication word leaked out regarding the nature of Fenner's intro and it caused quite a stir on the net. I adopted a wait and see attitude myself to give Fenner the benefit of the doubt, thinking maybe the quotes were taken out of context, etc, but was surprised to see the situation was worse than I expected it to be.

Although an admitted labor of love for the publisher, the introduction is hardly a sympathetic one, where Fenner has stated clearly that in his estimation REH was "simply not a great writer" that his work was apparently reliant on editorial input from Farnsworth Wright and that his work was basically repetitive and pedestrian. On a personal level he paints a picture of REH as a neurotic man who manufactured a "he-man" persona that cannot be substantiated as one cannot trust the validity of the info in REH own letters, etc. Fenner is most certainly entitled to his opinions but it's an odd approach for a volume extolling REH's talent. Based on the intro and postings by Fenner on the net seem to show this as just apparent literary snobbery. He is certainly entitled to be a snob but why would anyone want an intro filled with it when one is attempting to sell a book on the virtues of said writer? But worst of it is, Fenner actually gets the facts wrong, as many scholars have pointed out. This major guffaw keeps the book from being what it should be. It's a shame.

In a volume whose dust jacket is filled with praising quotes by other notable writers regarding REH's talents, the approach taken in the intro is incredibly odd. The intro is even stranger when compared to the now famous "In Memoriam" by H. P. Lovecraft that is also included in the book. Too bad it cannot balance out the truly ugly intro.

It could have been the premier REH "art book" and I wish I could simply overlook the intro misstep and write it off. But I'm finding it hard to do so. A HUGE editorial mistake by the publisher....its really unfortunate.

Unfortunately, this collection does not live up to it's potential. Conan plus Frazetta should equal five stars, but in this case the Frazetta art is presented poorly and the Howard stories, while excellent, are not among his best. If you want Howard, look to the Del Rey books. As for Frazetta, the Legacy/Icon titles are terrific.

This book is exactly what it appears to be: a truly beautiful book containing Conan tales together with evocative artwork, in both colour and ink. It is weighty and impressive and constantly draws me back to it. At the price, it is a steal.

It is not, and does not purport to be, a complete collection of all Conan tales, or even of those commonly judged to be REH's finest work. I can only hope an additional volume or two follows to complete the collection in this form.

"And their memory was a bitter tree" has only two flaws: the first, which is obvious from all other reviews, is the introduction. That jars with the book itself in places: why buy a book when you are told the author of these tales "simply wasn't a great writer". Despite that, there is nonetheless some interesting information in the introduction.

The second flaw is the reproduction of some pulp-era Margaret Brundage Conan covers only as thumbnail-sized prints in the introduction itself. These pictures would have been better served (full-sized) added to the Frazetta and Brom artwork scattered throughout the book.

As stated above, the praise I can give this book is best reflected in the fact that if Underwood/Black Bart produce further volumes in the same format to add more tales to the collection (hopefully with some full-size Brundage as well as Frazetta and a modern addition by Brom) then I will certainly buy them.

Robert E Howard is the father of Sword and Sorcery genre, and his barbarian Conan is still vivid and powerful since first published in 1932.

The Frazetta cover paintings for the Lancer paperbacks of the 1960s are published here, though not always associated with the original Lancer stories. These powerful images and superb occult adventures helped launch the 1970s Fantasy & SF wave.

The afterword is by HP Lovecraft, with an amateurish and ill informed forward by Arnie Fenner, which has drawn angry criticism from dedicated Howard experts and fans.

Eight Conan stories, just less than one third of the stories, are here with Frazetta art. I had to buy this, even though I have the art & stories in other books.

It still is a must buy.

I read many comments before buying this book which did not really rate it, but as REH fan and a FRazetta fan I decided what the hell. In my humble opinon it is good value for money and a fantastic book, if you are just starting out or not as a fan of REH a nice book for the collection, nicely bound with dust jacket and fantastic artwork and yes some images are cropped from the original work by frazetta but his work is so great it still worked for me, I say buy it and enjoy it, I did. I opened it and went wow.
for all those who slatted it, get a life, your too criitical.

Howard was a fun, exciting author but he wasn't a 'great' author. There's nothing wrong with enjoying this book or any Howard book on it's own terms.