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About a year ago, at a library book sale I ran across some collections of Conan stories, which were edited by Karl Edward Wagner. These were labeled as "Authorized." I didn't pay much attention to that, because I thought I had read pretty much all of the Conan stories back in high school. And I may have, but the ones I read were part of a multi volume set that was "edited" by Lin Carter, August Derleth, and L. Sprague DeCamp. The point here is that the stories I read way back when were leavened with Conan stories from other writers. At the time I remember liking them for the most part, but that I noticed a definite difference when reading the real Howard efforts.

Reading some of these stories now, many years later, it's clear I haven't read them all. On the downside, after a life time of reading under my belt, I can't help but notice the crudity with which they are written. They are obviously the product of someone writing quickly, and in a white hot heat. There are times when the plot moves along mechanically, and when dialogue is as wooden as a forest. On top of that these stories are pretty racist in their characterizations of people from other races. It isn't subtle, and from reading Wagner's Afterword, those characterizations fit into Howard's world view, such as it was at age 30. And yet, despite all of that there's this weird, powerful, purple languaged energy that holds it all together. There are passages and scenes that show Howard as the possessor of a first class imagination. After finishing a story, you put the book down and realize this is the real thing. This is Pulp (warts and all) from the Golden Age. If you can deal with these warts, it's pretty obvious why Howard remains so influential. A few comments on the individual stories - along with an occasional Howard nugget below:

"Beyond the Black River." Conan on the Pict frontier. Conan, and a warrior companion, try to warn settlers that an attack from the united Picts is imminent. And the Picts are led by an evil wizard who can command the beasts of the forest. I couldn't help but be reminded of the Western feel of this story. I got all sorts of Comanche vs. Texan vibes going here. Or Last of the Mohicans. Black magic, a saber tooth tiger, a fortress under siege, and extreme carnage. You betcha! Interestingly, Wagner thinks this one of the best of the Conan stories, in part because it cuts against Sword and Sorcery expectations (though it has plenty of that). What does get lost in this story is the damsel in distress bit, which when you look at the bulk of Conan stories, usually make for some of Howard's most clumsy dialogue. I'm inclined to agree that "Beyond the Black River" is one of best of the Conan stories.

Then Conan released him and ran into the building where the skulls hung. Balthus followed him. He got a glimpse of the grim stone altar, faintly lighted by the glow outside; five human heads grinned on that altar, and there was a grisly familiarity about the features of the freshest; it was the head of the merchant Tiberias. Behind the altar was an idol, dim, indistinct, bestial, yet vaguely manlike in outline. Then fresh horror choked Balthus as the shape heaved up suddenly with a rattle of chains, lifting long misshapen arms in the gloom.

"Shadows in Zamboula." The second story in this collection, "Shadows in Zamboula," may be the weakest in the bunch, but it's not without some punch. It also, of all these stories, is the most racist in its characterizations. In this one, our mighty thug decides, against the warnings of a friend, to stay at an inn where travelers have been disappearing. What makes this story memorable is that it has a thrilling duel to the death, via strangulation. Probably the only one I've run across in fiction, or the only one worth remembering. Conan at his badass best.

Conan, you are of the West, and know not the secrets of this ancient land. But, since the beginning of happenings, the demon of the desert have worshipped Yog, the Lord of the Empty Abodes, with fire -- fire that devours human victims.

"Red Nails." The third and final story in the collection is actually a novella. According to Wagner, this was the last Conan story that Howard would write before his suicide. I'm unclear as to where his one Conan novel fits in this chronology, but evidently Howard was having trouble getting paid by editors of "Weird Tales" (it was the Depression), and he was starting to look at other markets while toying with writing different types of stories. Wagner is only so-so with "Red Nails." I like it better than that, but it does start out a bit slow as he engages in a back and forth conversation with a pirate lady named Valeria. As I said above, such scenes make for some really bad dialogue. Anyway, Conan and Valeria get trapped on top of a hill by a dragon. They soon figure out how to deal with the Lizard King, but find themselves trapped in a nearby city called Xuchotl. The city is being fought over by warring clans (see Yojimbo or Last Man Standing) who use both sword and sorcery against each other. Once the reader is in the city, this is a really cool story with a racy subtext of lesbianism that must of been pretty daring for its day.

In the shadows beneath the balcony a ghostly light began to glow and grow, a light that was not part of the fire-stone gleam. Valeria felt her hair stir as she watched it; for, dimly visible in the throbbing radiance, there floated a human skull, and it was from this skull -- human yet appallingly misshapen -- that the spectral light seemed to emanate.

The book concludes with Howard's essay on the Hyborean Age (most Conan fans have already read this), as well as an informative Afterword by Karl Edward Wagner.