Harold Lamb

[Kveto from Prague]

does anybody know if some of Harold Lambs stuff will be re-issued anytime soon. Id really love to get my hands on anything hes written.

thnx

[annis]

Hi Keny
I only recently discovered Harold Lamb, and was very taken with the quality of his writing. I tracked down a copy of "Durandal" (unfortunately not still in print) enjoyed it and wrote a review of it for Margaret's Historical Novels Info website:
http://www.HistoricalNovels.info/Durandal.html
There do seem to be some of his novels currently in print including the "Complete Cossack Adventures" Vols 1-4 and "The Grand Cham"

Back in the 1980s the publisher Donald M. Grant reprinted "Three Palladins" and "Durandal" as a 2 volume set (1. Durandal 2. Sea of Ravens) and I think you can still pick these up around the place.
Try amazon.com and abebooks.com for second-hand copies, though Harold Lamb titles vary a lot in price with some being quite expensive. The original 1931 edition of "Durandal" for example is in the expensive category.

It would be great if more of his writing was re-issued.

[Kveto from Prague]

Hi Keny
I only recently discovered Harold Lamb, and was very taken with the quality of his writing. I tracked down a copy of "Durandal" (unfortunately not still in print) enjoyed it and wrote a review of it for Margaret's Historical Novels Info website:
http://www.HistoricalNovels.info/Durandal.html
There do seem to be some of his novels currently in print including the "Complete Cossack Adventures" Vols 1-4 and "The Grand Cham"

Back in the 1980s the publisher Donald M. Grant reprinted "Three Palladins" and "Durandal" as a 2 volume set (1. Durandal 2. Sea of Ravens) and I think you can still pick these up around the place.
Try amazon.com and abebooks.com for second-hand copies, though Harold Lamb titles vary a lot in price with some being quite expensive. The original 1931 edition of "Durandal" for example is in the expensive category.

It would be great if more of his writing was re-issued.

thanks for the info, annis. ill look for the grant reprints. I had heard that a plan is in the works of re-issueing Lambs short stories in a compolation title by Bison. the same publisher who released "lord of samarcand" by robert howard. im hoping its soon.

good reading to you

[annis]

Keny- I forgot to say that the books I mentioned as being currently in print have been published by Bison Books, so hopefully they may reprint more of Harold Lamb's work in the future.

[Volgadon]

The Cossack stories are great fun!
Anyway, I don't know about reprints, but copies of his 1970s paperback printings aren't hard to come by.

[Kveto from Prague]

can anyone direct me to a site that lists harold lambs collections in book form? ive been trying to research it on the internet but am running in circles. the old "curved sabre" website seems to be finished.

Id like to try some of his stuff but id also like to see whats available to choose from.

any help would be greatly appreciated.
keny

[Margaret]

The Wikipedia entry on Harold Lamb (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Lamb) has lists of his books (without plot summaries) and links to other Harold Lamb sites. A few of Lamb's novels are listed in appropriate sections by time/place of setting at http://www.HistoricalNovels.info, but I haven't got them all up yet.

[annis]

There's a bit about Harold Lamb and his books here (http://www.geocities.com/salgari2000/lamb.htm) as well.

I've just been reading a non-fiction Lamb title, "Hannibal; One Man Against Rome", and really enjoyed it-- his non-fiction writing is as entertaining as his fiction.

It's a pity about the "Curved Sabre" website. I gather that it's been inactive for quite some time now. I guess the person who set it up was no longer willing or able to maintain it for some reason.

[Kveto from Prague]

cheers. ive found that i can get copies of the cossak novels sent here. but i cant find any info on the contents. there are about four of them (the wolf of the steppes, riders of the steppes, etc) all subtitled the complete cossack tales. does anybody have copies of these or can direct me to where i can find whats contained in them?

cheers again

[annis]

There's a bit of a synopsis of the Cossack adventures on the Powells Books website. The Cossack stories are among the Harold Lamb books which have been reissued in recent times.
https://www.powells.com/s?header=Search+Form&kw=harold+lamb

[Ludmilla]

There are summaries (http://books.google.com/books?id=KcVnrCtsYnoC&dq=lamb+wolf+of+the+steppes&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0)of the Cossack Adventures at Google Book Search.

I also like going to Fantastic Fiction for author bibliographies. The entry for Harold Lamb is here (http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/l/harold-lamb/). If you click on the titles, there's a one to two sentence summary for some of them. Oddly enough, I don't see the Cossack Adventures in his bibliography. Looks like it might leave out stories he wrote for Adventure magazine that were later consolidated.

[Volgadon]

I've mostly got his NF.

[Kveto from Prague]

thanks annis, thats pretty much what i was looking for.

and thanks ludmilla. i noticed the same thing about his profile there as well. no summeries of cossak tales. just crusader and NF. strange.

[gyrehead]

I got the four volumes of the Cossack tales in the University of Nebraska reprints when they came out. Nice solid trade paperbacks. Not sure of their availability in Europe.

In case you are still interested, the collection ranges from adventures on the steppes down into Persia, the Turkish highlands and on into India during the Moghuls. Plus adventures into the Gobi and other ancillary areas. They are quite good and lots of fun. I will warn you though that Lamb was definitely a man of his times. And his perceptions of both race and gender are very dated and very closeminded and bigoted for this day and age. On the other hand, I get a sense that Lamb was someone who appreciate the exotic cultures he was writing about in a way that perhaps was not the norm for that time period in the U.S.

I also have hidden away somewhere a tattered copy of his Crusades duology that I simply devoured as a kid. I'm really hoping that Bison Press (U. of Neb. press imprint) picks back up in re-issuing his works as I would love to stock up on some affordable copies that don't threaten to fall apart or turn to dust if sunlight hits them.

[Kveto from Prague]

I got the four volumes of the Cossack tales in the University of Nebraska reprints when they came out. Nice solid trade paperbacks. Not sure of their availability in Europe.

In case you are still interested, the collection ranges from adventures on the steppes down into Persia, the Turkish highlands and on into India during the Moghuls. Plus adventures into the Gobi and other ancillary areas. They are quite good and lots of fun. I will warn you though that Lamb was definitely a man of his times. And his perceptions of both race and gender are very dated and very closeminded and bigoted for this day and age. On the other hand, I get a sense that Lamb was someone who appreciate the exotic cultures he was writing about in a way that perhaps was not the norm for that time period in the U.S.

I also have hidden away somewhere a tattered copy of his Crusades duology that I simply devoured as a kid. I'm really hoping that Bison Press (U. of Neb. press imprint) picks back up in re-issuing his works as I would love to stock up on some affordable copies that don't threaten to fall apart or turn to dust if sunlight hits them.

thnx.

i found those cossak volumes on abe books and am just waiting till xmas is far enoughb behind us that ill feel less guilty about a capital outlay. do the books need to be read in any particular order or can i dive in with vol 3, for instance?

as for the attitudes, hey ill take a little authentic bigotry over the PC nonsense in most modern books. i read Fu manchu a bit ago and it was interesting to see how many "evil yellow men" references Rohmer could squeeze into one book. not that i endorse it, but its a nice authentic "snapshot" of an authors feelings at a time in history. the simple fact that he was writing about different cultures in a non-stereotyped manner puts him ahead of his times (im assuming)

and im waiting for his crusade tales to be reissued right along with you:-)

[Kveto from Prague]

just found this

http://www.amazon.com/Swords-West-Harold-Lamb/dp/0803220359

with as much as im enjoying lambs cossak tales, this looks great. harold lamb, crusades, looks like more fun than you should be allowed to have with a book.

[annis]

Thanks for the heads up, Keny. Great to see some Harold Lamb being reissued. I see that there is a companion volume coming out as well, called "Swords of the Desert" (http://www.amazon.com/Swords-Desert-Harold-Lamb/dp/0803225164/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b)

[Kveto from Prague]

here are the Lamb books in the works for the next two years

Swords from the West (2009)(Forthcoming)
Swords from the Desert (2009)(Forthcoming)
Swords from the East (2010)(Forthcoming)
Swords from the Sea (2010)(Forthcoming)

I just love that Lamb is getting the attention he deserves. the old harold lamb site the curved sabre seems to be up and running.

http://www.haroldlamb.com/fiction.htm

[annis]

Cool! So good to see the Curved Sabre website is available again - it seemed to be out of action for ages, and I thought it might have died as websites sometimes do - usually the ones that are on your favourites list :(

[Volgadon]

thnx.

i found those cossak volumes on abe books and am just waiting till xmas is far enoughb behind us that ill feel less guilty about a capital outlay. do the books need to be read in any particular order or can i dive in with vol 3, for instance?

as for the attitudes, hey ill take a little authentic bigotry over the PC nonsense in most modern books. i read Fu manchu a bit ago and it was interesting to see how many "evil yellow men" references Rohmer could squeeze into one book. not that i endorse it, but its a nice authentic "snapshot" of an authors feelings at a time in history. the simple fact that he was writing about different cultures in a non-stereotyped manner puts him ahead of his times (im assuming)

and im waiting for his crusade tales to be reissued right along with you:-)

And despite all those yellow peril references, Fu Manchu is still a cracking read.

Harold Lamb's Cossack tales are a very fun read.

[Kveto from Prague]

just some further info on the forthcoming books

Four more volumes will follow by Spring of 2010 -- two are slated for Spring of 2009. These are Swords From the West, a collection of Harold Lamb's thrilling Crusader stories, Swords From the Desert, a set of novellas and short stories with Arabian heroes, Swords From the East, a collection brimming with adventures set deep in Mongolia and high Asia, and Swords From the Sea, a grab bag of stories set on or near the ocean, including two novellas of John Paul Jones, eight Viking yarns, and a short novel of America's war against the Barbary pirates.

[Kveto from Prague]

bumping this old thread up for jack

[Jack]

Thanks, Kenny,
Did you ever get an answer about the order of reading the Cossack Tales?
Jack

[Kveto from Prague]

Thanks, Kenny,
Did you ever get an answer about the order of reading the Cossack Tales?
Jack


Hi Jack,

Actually, nope, but i went ahead and bought the second volume (it was the one most available). As the stories were originally from magazines they are not serial in nature, so each stands on its own (although you wonder how they could pack so many adventures into such a short time)

I reckon ill read the other three at some point, but i think ill try to get "Swords of the west" first since thats really up my alley.

enjoy them.

Keny

[Jonathan]

I have just finished reading "Durandal" and "Sea of Ravens" by Harold Lamb. Thanks to Annis and Keny for getting me started on those. I see there has been discussion on the third book of that series called "Rusudan". Can anyone give me a plot summary of this volume, I'm curious what happens to Sir Hugh after his encounter with the Mongols, does he remain in the Middle East?
By the way, I really enjoyed them.

I'm also interested in his John Paul Jones stories, are they collected anywhere?

[annis]

Be warned: this could prove a major spoiler for anyone who doesn't want to know how Durandal finishes!

Sir Hugh is captured by the Mongol outriders of Genghis Khan's army and impresses Genghis' great general, Subotai (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subutai) . Hugh joins the Mongols and becomes a companion. While on an embassy for Subotai to the Georgians he is taken prisoner by them, and meets Rusudan, a fierce and beautiful Georgian princess. (There really was a Rusudan, who became Queen of Georgia) He witnesses the destruction of Georgian, Armenian and Circassian forces at the hands of the Mongols during a battle in the Kur Valley. There are more devious Byzantines involved, but Sir Hugh eventually gets his revenge and the girl, who is no shrinking violet, btw. Where he goes after that is not stated. We're pretty sure that he becomes Rusudan's consort and stays in Georgia, but who knows where else his path might take him?

Howard Jones says on his Curved Saber website: "Bison has recently printed two new volumes: Swords From the West, a collection of Harold Lamb's thrilling Crusader stories, and Swords From the Desert, a set of novellas and short stories with Arabian heroes. 2010 will bring us Swords From the East, a collection brimming with adventures set deep in Mongolia and high Asia, and Swords From the Sea, a grab bag of stories set on or near the ocean, including two novellas of John Paul Jones, eight Viking yarns, and a short novel of America's war against the Barbary pirates."

[Jack]

I have just finished reading "Durandal" and "Sea of Ravens" by Harold Lamb. Thanks to Annis and Keny for getting me started on those. I see there has been discussion on the third book of that series called "Rusudan". Can anyone give me a plot summary of this volume, I'm curious what happens to Sir Hugh after his encounter with the Mongols, does he remain in the Middle East?
By the way, I really enjoyed them.

I'm also interested in his John Paul Jones stories, are they collected anywhere?


Jonathan,
Lawrenced Schoonover wrote a book on JPJ. The title escapes me right now
and I didn't read it, but his other works are fantastic. This one has been recommended to me by several people.

[Kveto from Prague]

just got "swords of the west" in the post. im chuffed!

[Marc]

Fortunately, I have gone through the Cossack Stories and they are great.I am trying to read more of Harold Lamb.

[Kveto from Prague]

Fortunately, I have gone through the Cossack Stories and they are great.I am trying to read more of Harold Lamb.


youd probably like robert E howards crusader tales (in the collection "lord of Samarkand" ). he and Lamb had very similar styles.

[Ludmilla]

I finally picked up Lamb's biography of Charlemagne. This is written more in the tradition of narrative biographies that read like a story rather than a dry assimilation of facts and deeds, often speculating what characters might have thought or felt. I think he does a good job of capturing the feel and mindset of Charlemagne's time, and am enjoying it so far.

I wouldn't mind finding other narrative biographies by him. Looks like he's tackled such figures as Hannibal, Ghenghis Khan, and Tamerlane.

[annis]

I've got a copy of his book about Hannibal, and thought it rather good in the way that you describe his book about Charlemagne. It woulld have been great if he'd written a novel about Charlemagne, though. Given that he was such a larger-than-life character, it seems surprising that there's been so little HF written featuring him.

[Ludmilla]

Charlemagne's life and times does seem to be an underutilized period in HF. I can think of quite a few episodes from his life that would make good stories, such as his determination to subdue the Saxon menace and convert them to Christianity (something focused around Widukind, e.g.). Most of the HF I can think of about Saxons takes place in Britain and not in Western Europe at all (though I'm sure there are some). His conflict with Tassilo of Bavaria would also make a good subject for HF, too. Irene of Byzantium is another interesting historical contemporary who led an interesting albeit very dysfunctional life.

[Chris Little]

While waiting for his Cossacks to arrive, I borrowed Harold Lamb’s "Theodora and the Emperor" from the regional community college library. Quite informative and enjoyable fiction, it’s a pleasant companion to Gillian Bradshaw’s "Bearkeeper’s Daughter." Here’s a scene:

“Very quickly all those who wore the propoloma—the tower-like hairdress with floating veil of the court ladies—realized that in the new Augusta they had a protectress. More, they could bring their friends to her, to complain of a husband, to appeal for a divorce, or demand acknowledgment of a child. In these women who served her Theodora found her first following, and a most loyal one. The girls of the new Augusta spied for her, warned her of hidden enmity, confided in her, and never, in all that followed, betrayed her.

Before long the outer city heard about ‘Theodora and her women.’ A fantastic story went the rounds. It made some of the hearers laugh, but most of them grew red with indignation. It was about the patrician Timothaeus, who appealed to the new Augusta to aid him in collecting debts from some of her people.

Timothaeus, at that time, did not know the risk he was running. In his own opinion he had a just claim, and he fancied himself a much put-upon, well-meaning man. But he had the reputation of squeezing even obols out of those who dealt with him, and Theodora’s following had taken pains to acquaint their mistress with their view of the case.

So Timothaeus, entering confidently to the private audience hall, prepared to play his part of a defrauded benefactor. He did not know that he entered upon a stage prepared for him—with eunuchs and the girls of the propoloma ranged in attentive lines, and ladies of honor gathered about the throne. It surprised him when the Chamberlain made him advance on his knees to the step before the throne and kiss the slender foot of the empress instead of merely inclining before her. But Theodora made a lovely picture, smiling as if enjoying his salutation. And Timothaeus fancied he could beg effectively on his knees, although the position was painful.

’Most Clement August,’ he began, ‘hear the plea of a devoted servant, who is, as Your Omniscience knows, also a patrician.’ He paused, but Theodora said neither yea or nay. ‘It is hard, in these trying times, to be a patrician, and poor—

‘Close to him the girls sighed in concert, murmuring, ‘Poor Patrician Timothaeus!’

This chorused assent surprised the nobleman but rather encouraged him. ‘May it please the Most Magnificent to remember that a patrician must spend money to maintain his station in life. Moreover, I have had certain dealings—‘

'What a big hernia you have,’ intoned the eunuchs, as if making response in church.” …

The patrician continues, receiving another chorus from propoloma and eunuchs before backing out to laughter. The page with this scene ends with the following sentences: “The revolt came without warning. It came from the streets of the city and it attacked the Sacred Palace.”

[Chris Little]

From the Author's webbed site, one learns that "Theodora and the Emperor"
is a biography; however, Worldcat labels it fiction, as does the lending library. It's a wonderful hybrid; a conservative librarian would likely label it fiction. (Annis the email Shipway I sent to Howard was returned as one of those undelieverable daemons...)

The borrowed library's copy of Lamb's "Alexander" is NF, but Worldcat still claims fiction. The Charlemagne, Hannibal, Ghengis, y'all mentioned do get the NF call from Worldcat.

[annis]

I've seen quite a bit of cataloguing confusion surrounding older narrative biographies like Lamb's.

Howard Jones has "Theodora and the Emperor" listed amongst Lamb's NF biographies, and he probably knows more about Lamb than just about anyone, but like you, when I first went looking for HL's books I found it listed elsewhere as fiction. (At that stage the Curved Saber website wasn't running)

http://www.haroldlamb.com/history.htm

If the contact on the Curved Saber website isn't working and you still would like to ask Howard Jones how he went about getting HL's work republished, I have reached him at this email address in the past, though it is a while since I used it.

joneshoward@insightbb.com

[Ludmilla]

In case you find this helpful, my book on Charlemagne contains a list of other books written by Lamb (as of 1954) and categorizes them this way:

Biographical Narratives:
Charlemagne
Theodora and the Emperor
Suleiman the Magnificent
Genghis Khan
Tamerlane
Nur Mahal
Omar Khayyam
Alexander of Macedon

Novel:
A Garden to the Eastward

Historical Narratives:
The March of the Barbarians: The Mongol Dominion to the Death of Kubilai Khan
The Crusades: Iron Men and Saints
The Crusades: The Flame of Islam
The March of Moscovy: Ivan the Terrible and the Growth of the Russin Empire
The City and the Tsar: Peter the Great and the Move to the West

And for Older Children:
Durandal
White Falcon
Kirdy: The Road Out of the World

[hajones]

Justinian and Theodora, like Lamb's Alexander and to some extent Cyrus the Great, is an odd animal. These books are not quite biographies, not quite novels. When I set up the Lamb site some 12 or 13 years ago I decided that since they weren't really novels in the modern sense I would list them as non-fiction. Perhaps when I redesign the site this year I should reconsider my earlier decision and classify them as they were originally, as "narratives."

The site has disappeared from time to time, once because I got distracted with grad school and forgot to re-up the web site (whoops!), once because CompuServe just up and lost it. No explanation. Now the software I used to create the thing is so old that it only runs on a computer that no longer has internet access. Later this year I hope to have time to redesign the thing with more modern, and less finicky, software. I am not sure how I'll spread the word that Swords from the Sea and Swords from the East are back from the printer without being able to update the web site, but I will try. They should be available for ordering now.

Earlier on someone in the thread talked about Lamb being "dated" in his attitudes, and while that is true to some extent, he was light years ahead of his contemporaries, his predecessors, and many who came after. Certainly you will almost never find "yellow peril" or "white man's burden" outlooks in his fiction. He often features Muslims and Asians as protagonists, and villains can be found on either side of the cultural divide. His women, too, were usually shrewd and intelligent. Sometimes they were damsels to be rescued, but frequently they were smarter than the male characters and, again, a far cry from those untouchable and useless figures of virgin purity and darkly dangerous who came in adventure fiction the generation before.

Right, well, that's what I remember after digging through all these threads. Does anyone have any Lamb questions they want answered?

Warm Regards,
Howard Andrew Jones

[annis]

Thanks for posting, Howard! I only discovered Harold Lamb relatively recently- from a mention on this thread a it happens. It was quite frustrating trying to find out what was which in relation to Lamb's fiction and non-fiction, so I was very pleased to discover your very useful Curved Saber website. As you can tell, I've been suggesting it as a resource to everyone else- hope you don't mind me taking your name in vain :)

The narrative biography is not currently very fashionable, so I suspect cataloguers are not quite sure what to do with them. I recently came across a book from the 1930s about Anglo-Scandinavian resistance to the Normans in eleventh century Cumbria which was described everywhere as a novel, but when I read it, it was clear that it was a narrative biography. Harold Lamb's style is very readable, and he resists the temptation to use deliberately archaic language which can be a bit of a trial to the modern reader.

[Kveto from Prague]

hallo Howard, thanks for stopping by. Im glad i get to thank you directly for your great reissuings of harold lambs great short stories. Im currently reading "swords of the west" and its definately one of the best collections ive ever read.

i discovered lamb through robert e howard and im surprised how little attention lamb gets nowadays. but thats all changing thanks to your collections, which are clearly a labour of love for you (and i hope selling well enough to continue to put his stuff back into public)

I hope to eventually read all of the collections and im looking forward to "swords of the sea" in particular. not that easy for me to get here in central europe so i have to take opportunities as they arrise.

I havent detected any "dated"ness in his attitudes either. he seems extemely progressive towards different races (the only thing that someone might say is that he uses "negroes" to describe black characters, which was the PC term to use at the time. If thats what makes him seem dated, then we can write off any pre-1970s literature). his stuff is so "readable" its hard to believe it was written nearly a hundred years ago.

I know its a bit early but do you have plans for further lamb reprints after "swords of the sea" and "swords from the east"?

[hajones]

Annis, thank YOU for all your work on Lamb's behalf.

Keny, I'm delighted to hear you enjoy the collections so much. I just received my "author" copies of Swords from the Sea and Swords from the East. They're not quite the same size as Swords from the West, but they're close. I hope you'll be able to latch on to your own copies soon. You can always order them through Amazon U.S., I suppose, though I guess there'd be a shipping charge.

Further plans for reprints, well, I've supplied Donald M. Grant with the text of Rususan and an appendix featuring all the linking bits that were added for the 1931 version of Durandal. I hope that will be going to press this year, but I'm not actually sure. Through Grant it should then be possible to have all three of the Durandal books, Durandal, Sea of Ravens, and Rusudan.

I may yet talk to Bison about reprinting Nur Mahal and Omar Khayyam, perhaps in one large volume, but I'm pretty busy working on book contracts for my own fiction right now, so I'm not sure when that would happen. A lot of Lamb's non-fiction seems to be getting reprinted, and I'm not sure it's getting reprinted legally -- I need to check with the estate and see what's happening there. I WOULD like to see one of his best books, March of the Barbarians (bad title, I know) get back into print, and I will definitely push for that some day with Bison.

But I think I've just about got the historical fiction end of things covered, at this point. Nur Mahal and Omar Khayyam are actually still easy to latch hold of through libraries and even used book services, so I'm not sure there's the same urgency to get them between covers again. The fiction from the pulps was a different animal, as it was scattered through many different magazines, all difficult to find.

[Ludmilla]

The narrative biography is not currently very fashionable, so I suspect cataloguers are not quite sure what to do with them. I recently came across a book from the 1930s about Anglo-Scandinavian resistance to the Normans in eleventh century Cumbria which was described everywhere as a novel, but when I read it, it was clear that it was a narrative biography. Harold Lamb's style is very readable, and he resists the temptation to use deliberately archaic language which can be a bit of a trial to the modern reader.

This is something I've noticed, too. This seemed to be a much more common practice when I was growing up. I can remember quite a few biographies for adolescents that were narrative biographies. Moderns are being brought up to be prejudiced against this kind of approach to NF (very similar to the current taboo against allowing protagonists in historical fiction to display cultural and ethnic prejudices), but I think like anything else there are good and bad examples of how to do it. Lamb did it very well. I also like that these aren't bogged down by deliberate use of archaic language (which I believe to be a legacy of the Victorians and Edwardians who were quite fond of this). Lamb was very good at weaving in words and terminology that defined the age he was writing about in a way that felt natural and easy to absorb.

[Kveto from Prague]

Annis, thank YOU for all your work on Lamb's behalf.

Keny, I'm delighted to hear you enjoy the collections so much. I just received my "author" copies of Swords from the Sea and Swords from the East. They're not quite the same size as Swords from the West, but they're close. I hope you'll be able to latch on to your own copies soon. You can always order them through Amazon U.S., I suppose, though I guess there'd be a shipping charge.

Further plans for reprints, well, I've supplied Donald M. Grant with the text of Rususan and an appendix featuring all the linking bits that were added for the 1931 version of Durandal. I hope that will be going to press this year, but I'm not actually sure. Through Grant it should then be possible to have all three of the Durandal books, Durandal, Sea of Ravens, and Rusudan.

I may yet talk to Bison about reprinting Nur Mahal and Omar Khayyam, perhaps in one large volume, but I'm pretty busy working on book contracts for my own fiction right now, so I'm not sure when that would happen. A lot of Lamb's non-fiction seems to be getting reprinted, and I'm not sure it's getting reprinted legally -- I need to check with the estate and see what's happening there. I WOULD like to see one of his best books, March of the Barbarians (bad title, I know) get back into print, and I will definitely push for that some day with Bison.

But I think I've just about got the historical fiction end of things covered, at this point. Nur Mahal and Omar Khayyam are actually still easy to latch hold of through libraries and even used book services, so I'm not sure there's the same urgency to get them between covers again. The fiction from the pulps was a different animal, as it was scattered through many different magazines, all difficult to find.


Thanks for your replies, Howard. It would be great to have the durandal books in a single volume.

And ill order my books though one of the UK suppliers. Im about to finish "west" so ill probably pick up "desert" to fill the interim before "seas".

If you dont mind I had a quick question or two. Just curious about the ordering of the stories in "Swords from the west". They werent ordered by publisher or publication date, nor chonological. They seem to be randomly interspersed (which is the best way, im just curious if you had a reasoning behing the ordering of the tales)

Also, there is some great info on adventure magazine in your forward. im curious do you think we could see more reprints from other authors in the publication? Id really love to sample some of Lambs contemporaries (ive read talbot mundy and d howden smith)

Lastly, id just like to mention what a great story "the grand Cham" is. Thats been my favourite of the volume so far.

cheers.

[hajones]

Hi Keny,

Thanks for your note. Re: Durandal, maybe some day it would be possible to have "the complete Durandal" with all the pieces in a single volume. Right now, though, once Grant prints Rusudan, it will be possible to have all three pieces and the linking bits with the three books.

Swords from the West ordering -- I tried to intersperse them by my own sense of flow. Stories that might have too many similarities I broke up a bit, and I tried to intersperse the long ones amongst the short ones.

Grand Cham IS a terrific page turner, isn't it? The main character just never lets up.

Other reprints, well, there ARE some fine writers from Adventure. I dug deeply, thinking that I could find many more talented writers in there, but in truth, while there are some good writers in there, none of them produced work as consistently good as Lamb. A small press outfit has been reprinting Arthur Friel's Amazon stories (Amazon Stories 1 and 2, by Arthur O. Friel). Friel's one I haven't tried as steadily -- David Drake prefers him to Lamb.

Other, rarer guys, well, Arthur D. Howden Smith can be brilliant or just dead dog dull. He wrote about 18 Viking stories and I was set on collecting them all until I started noticing how many of them were boring. Have you read any of the Swain stories? Gilchrist and Brodeur could be brilliant or dull, but one or two of theirs really ought to see reprint. Brodeur, solo, wrote a cracking good Harald Hardrada serial for Argosy that's too good to be forgotten. I might try to get that into print some day. But this is all really time consuming -- finding the stories, scanning them, proofing them... so I will probably not be messing with it for a bit. The Lamb project took many years.

More on D. Howden Smith -- have you read the 1931 version of Gray Maiden? The goods ones in there are REALLY good. It's a short story series about a sword that gets passed down through the ages. The '31 version is complete except for the origin story, The Forging, where the blade is created for an Egyptian Pharoah. Then there's one collection of his with five of his Swain Viking stories in it, also from the '30s.

[Kveto from Prague]

Hi Howard, thanks for your reply.

I know very little about the Adventure authors, only that Adeventure fiction seems right up my alley.

I have a copy of the grey maiden stories from avon(?) from the 70s i think. It reprints 4 of the grey maiden stories (3,4,5,6, i think) and Ive read the first one on-line somewhere. I really enjoyed them all. and the concept of the grey maiden is a lot of fun.

I'd be up for any type of Adventure reprints (oriental stories, or the like as well). Maybe a grab bag of good stories from a variety of authors (i imagine a lot of the stories are public domain by now, but i dont know anything about the legal angle of reprints). but im not sure if anybody else would.

finished up "Swords from the west" so im off to look for "desert".

[hajones]

Hi Keny,

Do let me know what you think of Desert.

If you can find a copy of the '31 Grey Maiden, perhaps through interlibrary loan, there are more good stories to enjoy. I'd say about two-thirds of them are good, and three or four are excellent. I particularly enjoyed Hanno's Sword, Thord's Wooing, The Gritti Luck, and Marathon. Statement for the Queen was pretty good as well.

best,
Howard

[Kveto from Prague]

im midway through "swords from the sea" just finished up the john paul jones stories. really interesting to see that americas first naval hero had a second carreer under cathrine the great in the black sea.

man, this book is good

[Kveto from Prague]

well, i didnt think id read anything better than "swords from the west" this year but "swords from the sea" might have even been better. probably mostly due to its eclectic subject matter. one of the best things about lambs short stories are learning where the next story is set.

Ill start on "swords of the desert" this summer.

I found an ancient copy of "durandal" in a used bookshop in Florida last week. It was a beat to hell copy and whoever cut the pages did a poor job. unfortunately the owner knew Lamb and loved his work so was asking 45 dollars for the copy. thats the price ive seen it for online. Id love to read it but i just couldnt justify spending 45 on a old beat up copy.

Pity.

[chuck]

As much as I dislike E-Books...maybe this is an opportunity to get those hard to find copies of H. Lamb; transferred to electronic books.....would love see the Durandal and the rest of his collection...That also goes for some of Frank Yerby novels....

[Kveto from Prague]

As much as I dislike E-Books...maybe this is an opportunity to get those hard to find copies of H. Lamb; transferred to electronic books.....would love see the Durandal and the rest of his collection...That also goes for some of Frank Yerby novels....


true. the best option would be to reissue the trilogy but from what i remember taking to Howard Jones that didnt seem an option at the moment.

Its starting to feel like a quest. Ill read those books someday, somehow....

:-)

[Kveto from Prague]

As much as I dislike E-Books...maybe this is an opportunity to get those hard to find copies of H. Lamb; transferred to electronic books.....would love see the Durandal and the rest of his collection...That also goes for some of Frank Yerby novels....


true. the best option would be to reissue the trilogy but from what i remember taking to Howard Jones that didnt seem an option at the moment.

Its starting to feel like a quest. Ill read those books someday, somehow....

:-)