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“Let my spirit carry me” Photo by Mathew Schwartz on Unsplash Capton
Hither came Conan. I enjoyed this blog post in praise of the Lancer paperback editions of Robert E. Howard’s Conan stories: Defending the Lancers
There were a few Robert E. Howard books published between 1937 – 1965. None of them had the success of the Lancer Conan series. For better or worse, the Lancer Conan series introduced millions of readers to the works of Robert E. Howard.
This is 100% true for me. The Lancer editions, republished by Ace Science Fiction were how I discovered the Conan character in the late 70s, along with the Marvel Comics Conan the Barbarian which adapted many of the same stories.
What I didn’t quite grasp then was that these were not entirely REH’s original stories. They had been edited by L. Sprague de Camp and some of the stories were Howard’s non-Conan stories that de Camp or Lin Carter rewrote to be about Conan instead of some other Howard character. None of that really mattered to me — they were great sword & sorcery tales and I enjoyed them.
I have since read Howard’s versions of the Conan stories as originally published in Weird Tales in the 1930s as reprinted by Ballentine books. If you’re a big Conan and/or REH fan I strongly recommend those, starting with The Coming of Conan.
They’ve also collected Howard’s Solomon Kane, Kull, Bran Mak Morn, El Borak, and other stories, all worth a read.
Airport Hacks Every Traveler Should Know Yes, it’s a listicle, but it’s not the kind you have to keep clicking on to get to the next item. I wouldn’t do that to you. These are good tips for air travel, now that the world is opening up again a little bit. I actually was doing some of these already, like bringing an empty water bottle to fill up and rebooking cancelled flights online instead of standing in the line with all the angry passengers at the airline counter waiting to talk to a stressed out agent. Here are the first few tips:
Bring your own headphones
Don’t be afraid to ask for a free upgrade
[Not giving you this one. I do this naturally as a left-handed person]
Don’t forget to bring a portable charger
Read the article for all 75 travel tips!
Neanderthal cave art is greatly underrated. This Controversial Cave Art Really Was Painted by Neanderthals, Study Confirms
Neanderthals, long perceived to have been unsophisticated and brutish, really did paint stalagmites in a Spanish cave more than 60,000 years ago, according to a study published on Monday.
The issue had roiled the paleoarchaeology community ever since the publication of a 2018 paper attributing red ocher pigment found on the stalagmitic dome of Cueva de Ardales to our extinct "cousin" species.
The dating suggested the art was at least 64,800 years old, made at a time when modern humans did not inhabit the continent.
Honestly, it’s much better than a lot of modern art I’ve seen.
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