I suppose this comes up occasionally. Poul Anderson, some years ago, wrote
an essay called "Thud and Blunder", which analyzes what is (or was) wrong
with fantasy fiction at the time he wrote the essay. I would guess this
dates from the late 1970s or early 1980s.
Anyway, I don't agree with him. That is, he admits a number of things have
been pointed out to him, but he seems to want to strip the fantasy out of
fantasy and still call it fantasy. I think he's describing more a
misplaced historical fiction in an obviously fictional milieu.
How much realism do you think Howard put into his worlds, and would more of
it have helped or hindered? Should anyone care that 20 peasants would have
supported every one of those guys the heroes kill in the stories?
http://www.sfwa.org/writing/thud.htm
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