I'll answer anyway... :-) This is an "REH fans" list after all, not a
"Conan fans" or "pastiche fans" list.
Ill bet REH would have liked to read and have enjoyed many of the stories written in his honor. Please dont say that they are all worse than his Kull stories because they are not by what to me seems most basic standards. It seems to me that any material linked to REH is acceptable for discussion, and Conan stories are definitely linked to REH for without him there would be none. I believe that Howard wrote some Cthulu stories in honor of Lovecraft. Should we berate him for this? I think not. To show honor to a great writer by attempting to give people who cant get enough of the world he/she created more to read seems fine to me, especially if it is done with the original spirit of the writer at heart, and especially if the writer died at such an untimely age that his great works were brought to an early conclusion. I read the other writers because i enjoy the world of Conan and if i limited my time to reading only REH i would hav! e to read the same few stories over and over again. The new books also give me some lovely meditations upon Howard such as: is this work true to Howards spirit or how would Howard have written this scene? It is not how it is with some fan fiction where the original writer is being deprived of royalties from new work by others. Alas, Howard is no longer with us to reap the benefits of even his own work. I think this man from an obscure town in Texas would have felt great happiness that so many quite talented writers would wish to honor him in this way.
Quixote
