Art by Frank Cho.
Before we start, I just want to update you on how I’m handling the coronavirus crisis. Simply put, this has been my most productive month for writing; I’ve drafted three 10K+ short stories and am nearly finished drafting a novella. I’ve come up with a method that not only helps me write faster, but also helps me rapidly prototype an idea — I honestly don’t know why I didn’t think of it before.
Now that that’s out of the way, on to today’s topic.
Lately, I’ve been going through a collection of Conan stories written by the original author, Robert E. Howard (I do not intend to go farther than Howard’s Conan, as I consider all non-Howard works to be fan fiction no matter how well-written they are.)
These stories were and are a breath of fresh air. They feel wonderfully unrestrained, just like the barbarian himself. Conan is direct and honest, unlike his lying and scheming opponents. Unbounded by civilized convention, he sees matters clearly. Because my only understanding of Conan before encountering this collection was from knockoffs and parodies, I didn’t know that Conan often faced down monsters as well as men. The Conan tales fired the imagination and boiled the blood.
However, one feature stuck out to me — the sheer amount of sexual polarity in the work.
