From the Wish List: Ballantine Adult Fantasy

 

“The Ballantine Adult Fantasy series was an imprint of American publisher Ballantine Books. Launched in 1969 (presumably in response to the growing popularity of Tolkien's works), the series reissued a number of works of fantasy literature which were out of print or dispersed in back issues of pulp magazines (or otherwise not easily available in the United States), in cheap paperback form—including works by authors such as James Branch Cabell, Lord Dunsany, Ernest Bramah, Hope Mirrlees, and William Morris. The series lasted until 1974.

“Envisioned by the husband-and-wife team of Ian and Betty Ballantine, and edited by Lin Carter, it featured cover art by illustrators such as Gervasio Gallardo, Robert LoGrippo, David McCall Johnston, and Bob Pepper. The agreement signed between the Ballantines and Carter on November 22, 1968, launched the project. In addition to the reprints comprising the bulk of the series, some new fantasy works were published as well as a number of original collections and anthologies put together by Carter, and Imaginary Worlds, his general history of the modern fantasy genre.” – Wikipedia.

As it was, this wave of Fantasy was published just a little too early to gain my immediate attention (I was only 10 in 1973, after all), but I benefitted from its fall-out for years to come, snapping up random volumes at used bookstores whenever they grabbed my attention. I’m sure there were many that I passed by over the years, no doubt repelled by their strange and sometimes off-putting appearances to my past sensibilities (often judging a book by its cover). Some volumes in the series I bought in other editions; some I bought and later sold. These are selections in the series I would like to check out; they range from about $10 - $50. I used to have the first volume of The Night Land, and I know I passed by the Orlando Furioso because it was the only volume and therefore incomplete. Not quite sure how or why this whim has overtaken my morning today.

Out of the Shadow Library and Back Into the Archive

 

I re-ordered Lin Carter Presents The Year's Best Fantasy Stories 6 for one reason alone. That was Brian Lumley's short story, Cryptically Yours. Not only because I enjoyed that tale back in 1980, but because it was the inspiration for a little writing project my brother John and I worked on, the letters between two wizards, John Craft and Scramasax. Each letter was a short story in itself; three of these still exist. So the volume is rather entangled with my memories. It might be a gas to reread the other stories and see what I think of them now.

Middle Earth: The World of Tolkien Illustrated (Art by David Wenzel, with text by Lin Carter) 1977

Wow. 1977. The very same year of my own Tolkien flowering (the seed had already been planted in 1973). I wonder if I may even have seen it advertised in the same places I saw The Land of Froud (also 1977), but put it from my mind because we were not a mail-ordering family just yet (certainly not to risk the princely sum of $6.95 plus shipping and handling), or because it didn’t look like it could match the Hildebrandt calendar that year, or even because I was not then so confirmed a fanatic.

To put some things in perspective, it came out forty years after The Hobbit’s first printing (in comparison, it has now been approximately 45 years since this art album was released), four years after Tolkien’s death, and twelve years before David Wenzel went on to publish (along with Chuck Dixon and Sean Deming) his graphic novel adaptation. The text by Lin Carter consists of a preface talking about Tolkien’s literary importance and then a paragraph explaining the action in each picture.  At that time, David Wenzel had been mainly a comic book artist (penciller) for such Marvel productions as The Savage Sword of Conan and The Avengers; later he illustrated the 1980 book Kingdom of the Dwarfs by Robb Walsh (see elsewhere in this blog), for which his Middle-earth work had well-prepared him.  

Although the term Middle-earth looms large in the title and might lead one to expect a broader range of subjects, including scenes from The Lord of the Rings, the drawings are confined to the story of The Hobbit, illustrating the tale more or less in order. Due to the size of several double-page pictures and printing constraints, that order is not always maintained. The pictures tend to alternate evenly between black-and-white and colored, until near the very end. But such things need only concern the very obsessively compulsive.

Wenzel’s art is very engaging, and tends to emphasize the humorous, childlike nature of The Hobbit rather than the ‘epic fantasy’ aspect so many want to read back into it once they have discovered The Lord of the Rings. An example of this would be his depiction of Smaug, still menacing, but on an elephantine and not dinosaur-like scale. One can easily see the comic book roots in such things as Bilbo’s stance and attitudes, and even without the publishing history it would be possible to date it smack-dab in the Seventies, I think. Wenzel’s later complete graphic novel adaptation shows how he evolved into a more natural and painterly approach without losing his personal style.

Even though I ‘discovered’ this volume only a few short years ago, I still wonder why I waited so long to get it. Of course, part of the answer was my comparative poverty and its comparative expense – both of which have been somewhat ameliorated. With Amazon’s The Rings of Power looming on the horizon, I am glad to have today finally got this reminder of a simpler time and of at least the related, alternative milieu of my own Tolkien past. 

Robert E. Howard and Conan: The Shadow Library Re-Organized

 

Stan Lee Presents Conan the Barbarian: Volumes #2 and #5

The Hills of the Dead; The Hour of the Dragon; Worms of the Earth; Conan; Conan of Cimmeria; Conan of the Isles … Robert E. Howard, L. Sprague de Camp, Lin Carter

The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian; The Best of Robert E. Howard Vol. I: Crimson Shadows; The Best of Robert E. Howard Vol. II: Grim Lands; Bran Mak Morn: The Last King; The Conquering Sword of Conan; The Bloody Crown of Conan; The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard; Kull: Exile of Atlantis; The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane … Robert E. Howard

The Riot at Bucksnort and Other Western Tales; The Black Stranger and Other American Tales; El Borak and Other Desert Adventures; Boxing Stories … Robert E. Howard

The Blade of Conan … L. Sprague de Camp (ed.)

The Spell of Conan … L. Sprague de Camp (ed.)

Oh, Robert E., Robert E., the one authentic classical Texas fantasist. Fantasist almost by accident; he tried his hand at all sorts of pulp writing, so long as it was red-blooded adventure. He had his most lasting success with his character Conan and the Hyborian Age, though by the end of his short, tragic life he had turned from ‘weird tales’ to Westerns. He had more or less invented the Sword and Sorcery subgenre of Fantasy, but the appreciation of his work came too late to help him.

And how did I find him? “In 1966, [L. Sprague] de Camp made a deal with Lancer Books to republish the Conan series, which led to the "First Howard Boom" of the 1970s; their popularity was enhanced by the cover artwork of Frank Frazetta on most of the volumes. Many of his works were reprinted (some printed for the first time) and they expanded into other media such as comic books and films. The Conan stories were increasingly edited by de Camp and the series was extended by pastiches until they replaced the original stories. In response, a puristic movement grew up demanding Howard's original, un-edited stories. The first boom ended in the mid-1980s. In the late 1990s and early 21st century, the "Second Howard Boom" occurred. This saw the printing of new collections of Howard's work, with the restored texts desired by purists.” – Wikipedia.

By the late Seventies I was really into Fantasy, and Howard was pretty popular in the neighborhood. I was mostly engaged by the Marvel comics and later The Savage Sword of Conan comic magazines. I collected a smattering of the Lancer novels but on the whole did not find Sword-and-Sorcery as engaging as more ‘High Fantasy’ works, such as Tolkien. During that “Second Howard Boom” I tried getting all the Del Rey collected works and some of the Howard published by Bison Books. This led me to a realization: I did not really much care for his writing, even if purged of the additions of later editors. With a bit of a sentimental qualm and the regrets of a ‘student of fantasy’, I sold most of my Robert E. Howard materials, although I retain all my original comic magazines.

Amazing Anthologies: The Shadow Library Re-Organized

 

Isaac Asimov’s Magical Worlds of Fantasy (9 Vols.): Wizards; Witches; Cosmic Knights; Spells; Giants; Mythical Beasties; Magical Wishes; Devils; Atlantis

Lin Carter Presents the Year’s Best Fantasy Stories: 6

The Year’s Finest Fantasy; The Year’s Finest Fantasy Vol. 2 … Terry Carr

Don’t Open This Book! … Marvin Kaye (ed.)

Heroic Fantasy ... Gerald W. Page & Hank Reinhardt, (eds.)

Wandering Stars … Jack Dann (ed.)

Unicorns! … Jack Dann & Gardner Dozois

Sorcerers! … Jack Dann & Gardner Dozois

Wizards and Warriors: Flashing Swords #3 … Lin Carter (ed.)

Alchemy and Academe … Anne McCaffrey

In one of these anthologies was a short story, by Lin Carter I believe (or possibly L. Sprague de Camp), in which two sorcerers exchange letters. I cannot remember the title of the story either, or which anthology it was (I lean toward one of the Carters, or Carrs, or even the McCaffrey). Anyway, it was the inspiration for an effort between John and me to write a series of short stories in the form of letters between two wizards, John Craft and Scramasax. A few of these tales survive.