Customer Reviews (3)

Nine stories...
Nine short stories about the adventures of Sir Reginald Rivers and his time traveling safaris.Big game hunting is done and gone in the present.But in the past there is bigger game than any that was EVER avilable in the modern world.Now let Reggie tell you nine tales from his history, nine tales of hunting millions of years ago, where humans and human behavior sometimes proves more dangerous than any Tyrannosaurus Rex or saber-tooth cat.
Great book for anybody interested in hunting, interested in animals who have been extinct for millions of years or a fan of De Camp's work.

Let's Hunt Dinosaurs
L. Sprague de Camp, one of the masters of the time travel story once wrote a story called A Gun For Dinosaur staring Reginald Rivers and his time safari.Almost thirty-five years later he began writing more stories about Mr. Rivers and dinosaur hunting.These stories were collected into a volume called RIVERS OF TIME.

These stories begin in much the same way with Reginald Rivers explaining company policy to a new client.Rivers then proceeds to narrate a tale of a previous safari to explain his point.The other common thread is that while being surrounded by dinosaurs of all shape and sizes, the real trouble and danger comes from the people.

The first story, A Gun For Dinosaur, was slightly rewritten to bring it more up to date with accepted dinosaur knowledge and theory.One story even has a client wanting to witness the meteor strike that wiped out the dinosaurs while another has a religious team trying to disprove evolution.

So, if you like time travel, dinosaurs and good human interaction, try and pick up this collection.

Collection of short stories
A collection of short stories- starting with A Gun For Dinosaur and continuing with a dozen others or so- this book has only one main theme: Reginald Rivers is a time safari guide. He travels back to various ages--from the near prehistory to before the time dinosaurs roamed the earth, andthe centuries between-- sheperding clients on various adventures. In thisbook you will find out what de Campe considers the best gun to huntdinosaurs with, why motorized transport might not be wise in dinosaurtimes, and why women can confuse more than the simple issues in a hunt. Ifyou are a fan of de Camp, and his studious writing, then this is a book foryou. This is particularly a good read for people interested in hunting, andin dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures, keeping in mind that theauthor writes first and foremost about people. ... Read more

Product Description
L. Sprague de Camp was a master of the time travel and alternate history story. In many respects his novel Lest Darkness Fall founded alternate history, while "Aristotle and the Gun" is probably one of the best stories about tinkering with history ever written. In addition we include stories of time travel both backwards and forwards and de Camp's wonderful essay "Language for Time-Travelers".This is a collection of L. Sprague de Camp's SF best stories and essays dealing with time travel. It is the first volume of a projected series of stories and novels by L. Sprague de Camp. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Collection that is among the best!
L. Sprague de Camp is one of the Grand Masters of Science Fiction.He was the second person to be named to a Grand Master by SFWA. His writing is very much like that of a Big Three, and he started writing before Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, or Arthur C. Clarke.If you read the work of the Big Three, then de Camp is something right up your alley.

Although de Camp did not invent the idea of the Alternate History story, he was most probably the best writer of that sub-genre of SF. This book contains some of his best stories ever in "The Wheels of If", "Aristotle and the Gun", "A Gun for Dinosaur" and "Lest Darkness Fall". Each are among the classics of SF.

As good as an athology gets
De Camp pretty much founded the Alternate History literary genre. These stories were groundbreaking in their time, and their wit and originality has not been surpassed.
De Camp was a learned man and his research is exhaustive. I recommend "Balsamo's Mirror" to anyone who attends Renaissance festivals, and "The Wheels of If" to anyone who worships their Celtic roots. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A collection of unique stories
L. Sprague de Campe has some of the most unique ideas that I have ever run across. In this colection you will find eighteen stories illustrating the strongests points about short stories: good characterization and storywithout a lot of boring, mouthy filler (too many authors seem to get paidby the word rather than the quality of the story). You will find out whathappens if everyone suddenly grew hair like a cat or dog; or what animmortal apeman might think like; or how gunpowder might affect a knight inthe age of dragons; or why a magic fan can create havoc in an ancientcourt. de Campe's stories take place in a wide variety of places and ages,illustrating the versatility of his thought. If you've read any of hisother stories, you will find vague or outright connections to his otherworks in some of these stories. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Super Reader
There are four stories in this book. The Black Stranger, Wolves Beyond the Border, The Phoenix on the Sword and the Scarlet Citadel.

A tale of three brigands, that starts slow, and then rip-roars along. With multiple pirates, you know there has to be a treasure map. This time, to the Treasure of Tranicos.

Add in a mystical demon warrior, a bunch of raiding Picts, a couple of sieges, three pirates that can't trust each other, a beautiful woman, and Conan, and all hell will break loose.

4 out of 5

This is pretty much a Conanless Conan story. Conan is away fighting in Aquilonian and we follow a man in the Westmerck near the Picts as he encounters shapeshifting and beast magic.

2.5 out of 5


King Conan is bored. Politics and statecraft and maps, and all that stuff.

In a dream, a man magically enhances his sword, and that certainly comes in handy later when the odd traitor and demon relieves the tedium of the ruling class.

3.5 out of 5


King Conan's army of Aquilonians has been smashed by a far superior force, led by a wizard. Conan refuses to sign over his kingdom, and the wizard throws him in a dungeon.

He escapes an assassin and a monster, and rescues a wizardly rival that Tsotha had imprisoned. This wizard, please, summons a flying steed to bear Conan back to his kingdom, to take revenge.

4.5 out of 5

The Best of the "Original" Lancer Books Conan Series
When Lancer Books reissued the original Conan stories by Robert E. Howard, they enlisted the aid of L. Sprague DeCamp and Lin Carter to polish Howard's grammar, soften his more "politically incorrect"statements, and fill out the saga with pastiches.DeCamp and Carter wroteseveral stories out of whole cloth, but they also reworked a number ofHoward stories starring other heroes into Conan stories.There was moreDeCamp than Howard in this particular volume, and I am convinced thatDeCamp could write Conan better than Howard could.

Conan finds the accursed Treasure of Tranicos
Conan finds the accursed Treasure of Tranicos, the legendary treasure of the Pirate King Trani- cos, who stole it with his crew from a pyramid in Khemi, Stygia, and meets Tina and Belosa. Exiles with their lord, from Zingara, Valbroso's visited by a rival pirate and then another rival buccaneer shows up. The two rivals want Conan to lead them to the Treasure of Tranicos but Conan refuses. He tells them that it's cursed and he won't lead them to it. When they want him to do it anyway, he takes them on. He escapes to lead the rebellion against the tyrannical king of Aquilonia. Blair Colquhoun @cybertours.com ... Read more

Amazon.com
A reasonably scholarly but nonetheless accessible history of the great engineering feats of the human race up to the Renaissance, including a great chapter on Oriental architecture, a topic often neglected by such surveys.Book Description
The Pyramids of Giza, the Parthenon of Greece, the Great Wall of China, the Colosseum of Rome . . . Today, we stand in awe before these wonders of the ancient world. They hold our history and the deepest secrets of our past in their hidden recesses.

In THE ANCIENT ENGINEERS, L. Sprague de Camp delves into the heart of the mystery. He introduces us to the master builders who had the vision, the power, and the passion to reach for the clouds and touch the heavens. We share in some of the greatest technological triumphs of all time -- triumphs of the human mind, imagination, and spirit. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Concise history of engineering
A 400-page history of the world from the paleolithic till the Renaissance with particular attention given to engineering and technology: civil engineering (irrigation canals, roads, bridges, buildings from Imhotep to Brunelleschi, aqueducts), naval and military engineering (from the triere to Venetian galleys, catapults and cannon) and mechanical engineering (waterwheels, pneumatic temple organs). The more things change, the more they stay the same: medieval English sawyers destroyed waterwheel-powered sawmills, like their Luddite descendants who wrecked mechanical looms, and like their even more remote descendants who stage demonstrations against Wal-Mart. It is telling that Sprague de Camp defines an engineer as someone solving problems involving matter and energy but forgets about information.

I don't know, how accurate is Sprague de Camp's history (the Amazon reviews are not very generous), but in general, nonfiction books written by a professional writer are very readable. Other examples are Len Deighton's books about the Second World War.

literarymagic (LiteraryMagic.com) has a point
I agree with literarymagic: this is a very interesting, entralling and informative books. The Ancient Engineers is similar to other great nonfiction books, such as Gladwell's The Tipping Point. While The Tipping Point teaches us important information about fads, The Ancient Engineers shows us how inventions were made. It starts from the early times to the modern day, explaining that as people started to have more leisure time, it was possible to create more and more inventions, like a rippling or domino effect.
This book is recommended to everyone, especially people interested in intellectual ideas.

--R. Reichman

Literary Magic

The Ancient Engineers is a very informative book. It discusses "Technology and invention from the earliest times to the Renaissance," and is packed with useful information for historians and those who enjoy history. De Camp begins his nonfiction book interestingly, discussing Ancient life and the probability of something being invented. He talks about how when there are more people and more people with more leisure time, the chances of someone inventing something or there being a break-through in science increases dramatically. This book is highly recommended to all, although since it can be boring to those uninterested in history or reading, don't read it unless you're a reading or history maven. If you do like medieval warfare and technology though, this book will be of the greatest use.

How we learned to do things
I thought that this would be a tad bit different since I know this author as a science fiction writer, but he did well and showed that he did his homework for this book.Being forty years old, some fallacies and wrong facts were due to be seen, but he really did a good job surveying the field of engineering from ancient times to the renaissance.He did not know that there was a whole civilization before the Sumerians in the fertile crescent and around the Black Sea, which was then a lake.There is some mention of the ancient Crete civilization that is rather puzzling and is related to the ancient Black Sea culture.
He uses an odd notation system for dates: Roman numerals for centuries, -xx for before common era, and +xx for common era.I found that I was translating the centuries to numbers to make it understandable to me.
The writing is more interesting than Sir Burton’s “The Book of the Sword”.There are quite a lot of good ideas and his explanations for the quirks of the ancient people, is really good.
Tuesday, July 13, 2004

Ancient Engineers by Sprague de Camp
The author provides an outline of history for the engineering
profession. He explains how the first engineers were irrigators,
architects and inventors of simple machines.Memphis,Egypt
is cited as one of the initial engineering project sites.
The engineer, Imhotep is cited as an important architect
and mathematician in the building of the first pyramids. The
author explains how stones were sledded to the building site
over miles of roadways. Next, the author explains how
the Mesopotamian engineers built great temples.i.e. Marduk
The Chinese are credited with inventing cast iron.
The Greeks are extolled for inventing catapults, refinements
to temple architecture and mechanical engineering.
The Helenistic engineers are credited with the lever waterclock,
museums and advanced hulls on ships. The Roman engineers
are credited with their artful use of concrete, lead pipes
and lighthouses. Oriental engineers perfected the first pendentive dome, stone temples, the wheelbarrow and the
curved roof.European engineers improved metallurgical
processes, pirotechnia, statics, mechanics and kinetics.
The work is a good reference for any student contemplating
a science project in the engineering art. The book is
recommended highly for anyone desiring to trace the history
and evolution of the engineering sciences throughout key
periods of human history. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (3)

A Fascinating and well-researched study of Atlantis
Unless your religion requires that you believe in Atlantis, you will find that De Camp presents powerful arguments against the crackpot claims about Atlantis. He tells a compelling history that is supported by the solid scholarship that is often lacking in many books on Atlantis. You will find yourself amazed at the forgotten history that De Camp uncovers, such as the following:

"One contributor to this stream of speculation was Francis Wilford, who in 1805 advanced an Atlanto-Druidic hypothesis according to which the British Isles were a remnant of a former Atlantic continent where the events of the Old Testament had actually taken place (and not in Palestine as most people thought)" (p. 187).

De Camp gives the following caution that the crackpots will never accept:

"Myths and legends, then, do often have a basis of fact. But the factual part of the myth may be so small and muddled that you cannot possibly reconstruct history from the legend. As the historian Grote said: `The lesson must be learnt, hard and painful thought it may be, that no imaginable reach of the critical acumen will of itself enable us to discriminate fancy from realty, in the absence of a tolerable stock of evidence" (p. 250).

See also my five-star reviews of "Lost Tribes and Sunken Continents: Myth and Method in the Study of the American Indians," by Robert Wauchope, and "The Mound Builders: The Archaeology of a Myth," by Robert Silverberg. Click on the following links and scroll down:Lost Tribes and Sunken Continents Myth Method in the
Mound Builders

Your comments--positive or negative--on my reviews are appreciated. Thanks.

Doesn't quite live up to it's reputation...
This is a crabby book that attempts to refute the legend of Atlantis and other lost continents with whatever method it can muster - geology, geography, literature and "scientific."It doesn't quite live up to it's reputation, although it has a lot of interesting maps in it and makes some good points about continental drift and other scientific theories.On the one hand, de Camp has done a lot of research for it and brings to light, although I am sure unintentionally, some valuable history on how the Atlantis story came into being (mainly references to it before and after Plato).His conclusions on what scholars knew and thought at the time are subjective at best, though and, since the book was written back in 1954 and only slightly revised in 1970, according to the jacket, much of the points he makes abour scientific research are now dated.

The main fault in the book lies in the title itself.De Camp's main points are that a continent as big as Atlantis was reputed to be couldn't have sunk, but the original account from Plato didn't clearly call Atlantis a continent, and there is plenty of evidence of similar land masses of this smaller type sinking (some brought up by de Camp himself in the book, like the island ofKrakatow).Since none if us were alive in the past, how can any of us be certain what the land masses looked like then..?His other point isthat people were not even advanced enough to have built Atlantis back in 9,600 b.c. (he describes our ancestors as "sitting on a branch and scratching" at that time).De Camp, at the time anyway, seems to have bought wholesale into the Darwin theory of evolution, which, we know now, has plenty of holes.These days, as more discoveries have been unearthed, the date for human civilization is being pushed back more and more.Ruins have been found on Malta that date to 8,000 b.c. and even the Sphinx has been redated, albeit not by everyone, to 10,000 b.c.Underwater ruins discovered off of Cuba have been dated to 15,000, even 30,000 b.c. Also, I am shocked by how little research was done when trying to dispute the most popular theory of Atlantis- the Atlantis sinking beneath the Atlantic theory (a scientist friend of his lowered his camera down by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge with a camera and didn't see any ruins there) ...

His evidence to dispute linguistic evidence of Atlantis, as well as Atlantis and the Mayans connection, all needs more time to answer than I care to give here, other than to say, he is very selective about the examples he gives to prove his case. His research into the almost equally legendary isle Antillia actually proves it's existence rather than disproves it the closer one looks atit. And there are many other parts where de Camp simply dismisses a whole researcher's body of work by calling them loonies (this from a guy who for the most part made his name writing Conan the Barbarian novels, some of which starts out "before the oceans drank Atlantis...").

A cynical work that brings forth the occasional good point about Atlantis, perhaps the bible for the anti-Atlantis people.

Geography, myth, and history!
L. Sprague de Camp does a masterful job of refuting the Atlantis legend.His descriptions of geography are easily understood by the average reader. ... Read more

Book Description
The Mathematics of Magic was probably the greatest discovery of the ages - at least Professor Harold Shea thought so. With the proper equations, he could instantly transport himself back in time to all the wondrous lands of ancient legend.But slips in time were a hazard, and Shea's magic did not always work - at least, not quite as he expected . . . This omnibus volume of all of the Magical Misadventures of Harold Shea contains The Incomplete Enchanter, The Wall of Serpents and Castle of Iron ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Do you like to laugh...
Yes, magic works by specific laws, but not always as you expect it to, especially if you, like Harold Shea, are new to the art.Harold trying to hold his own among the Norse Gods... the prison guard with huge, huge nose... Harold's first time on a flying broom... the laughing until your sides ache and tears are running down your face.If I had a criticism of these wonderful novels, it would be that in my opinion, the second and third are not quite as good as the first.But that would be a splitting of hairs that are already quite fine to begin with.These books are simply splendid. ... Read more

Product Description
Harold Shea is a psychologist who dreams of adventure, but never gets beyond learning to fence and occasionally showing up at staff meetings dressed in horseback riding garb. But when he learns that his boss, Dr. Reed Chalmers, has developed a theory which allows a person to transport himself to any world he can imagine, Harold Shea decides to give it a whirl. This volume includes all the De Camp and Pratt Enchanter stories. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Harold is a psychologist who dreams of adventure
Harold is a psychologist who dreams of adventure, but when his boss develops a theory which lets a person transport himself into any world he can imagine, he finds himself on the adventure of a lifetime - one in which he travels through mythology's finest gods and adventurers. DeCamp and Pratt's 'Enchanter' stories follow his fantasy encounters and makes for engrossing, fun reading especially recommended for fantasy libraries also holding DeCamp's works. ... Read more

Book Description
Imagine a world of gods and demons, where men are warriors, women are beautiful, life is a fantastic adventure, and the fate of kingdoms balances on the bloody blade of a fabulous hero: Conan of the iron thews, the blue-eyed barbarian giant who towers above the savage Hyborian world.For the very first time in trade, this is the work that re-launched Conan in both the 1970s and 80s, back in print after more than a decade. Come live the adventure again. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

terrific work
Many of the pastiche works are letdowns in comparison to Howard's immortal stories, though there are exceptions. What most of the books miss is faithful adherence to the established character of Conan, as opposed to some fellow who does X, Y, and Z and happens to be named Conan. This is not the case with these delightful tales by de Camp, Carter, and Nyberg. By sticking to a shorter length tale, they have succeeded in packing more emotional punch into the individual adventures. I was most struck by the entry called "Shadows in the Dark"--because it represented the real Conan, the one I know, better than any other non-Howard work. In the span of only a few short pages, Conan (in addition to the major plot elements) abuses an arrogant young king; knocks said king senseless because he blabbers and could thus disclose their position to the enemy; considers murdering him (but relents); steals his purse, minus a handful of coins; and, finally, leaves the king stranded on a ship to Lord-knows-where. Now, that's the Conan we all love!

Super Reader
This book includes these pastiche stories, de Camp, Carter and Nyberg in various combinations :

Legions of the Dead
The People of the Summit
Shadows in the Dark
The Star of Khorala
The Gem in the Tower
The Ivory Goddess
Moon of Blood

and also a piece by De Camp on the naming strategies that Howard used in his work, and also gives an dictionary style listing of them, and where they are used.

A young Conan is fighting in the North, and against the Witchmen. He rescues his jarl's daughter from captivity, but the Queen sends an undead band of their former warriors to stop them. He manages to get the girl to freedom before being taken captive.

3 out of 5


Conan and companions are attacked by weird apes with ropes, killing one of them. He fakes being strangled, and is drawn up to the remants of a strange people with no irises. He manages to save the girl, and kill the many legged monster.

2.5 out of 5


After Black Colossus, Conan is still serving Yasmela. Not servicing her enough is his problem, even though he has a general. She is too busy with the duties of a queen. If Conan can get her captive brother back, this may change.

After betrayal by a travelling companion and rescue of the king, who doesn't think much of a barbarian in the family, and offers Conan a lesser post. Conan takes money in payment, and starts to go back. He changes his mind, and decides to leave, and seek adventure elsewhere.

3 out of 5


After Shadows in Zamboula, Conan arrives in Ophir. He sees things are not right, and soon finds out why. The king and others plot against the queen, and problems abound. Conan rescues the female noble head, but ends up under siege.

No mean shot with an arbalest, the queen uses the Star of Khorala to summon aid, allowing Conan, the Guard Captain and herself freedom. She leaves for Aquilonia with her military man, and Conan goes on his way.

3.5 out of 5


Following Drums in Tombalku, Conan ends up serving under another Captain. One night, he dreams of a bat-man, only to awaken and find he is real, the product of a dead sorcerer.

3 out of 5


Conan is still travelling with the actress Muriela after Jewels in Gwahlur. He thinks that her skills could be put to use in a similar scam.

However, an actual goddess has a suse for her body in a lot more pragmatic a manner than impersonation.

She spares the Cimmerian and says she will look after the girl when she is finished.

3.5 out of 5


Conan is still beyond the Black River, fighting the Picts with the Aquilonians. Serpent sorcery and a traitorous General are causing lots of problems.

Conan's axework and fast thinking puts paid to this, and gets him a promotion.

In fact, he does so much damage with the aforementioned weapon that both Kull and Druss the Legend would be more than a little impressed.

4 out of 5

Howard Fans Will Enjoy This Homage To The Master
Though nothing compares to Robert E. Howard's original Conan stories, these additions to the canon by Carter and de Camp and Nyberg are welcome newcomers to the mythology.Those unfamiliar with Conan should begin by reading the originals-- several good editions now exist of Howard's seminal stories.Once competed, there are lots of these volumes of stories based on the originals, and this is among the best.de Camp and Carter have a real flair for mimicking Howard, and they clearly revel in the fun of creating new fixes for the barbarian to escape from.

The book also includes a nearly 70-page (!) addendum with all the names Howard made up in his stories, everything from Abdashtarth to Zyras, with notes from de Camp on their derivation.Fun stuff for fans!

strong anthology reprinting legendary 1970s-1980stales
CONAN THE SWORDSMAN, the latest reprint of the now legendary 1970s-1980s Conan revival, is a marvelous short story collection.Each story holds its own with the overall Conan mythos and most add depth to the celebrated character and his world.The delightful eight stories are well written with each tale co-authored by L. Sprague de Camp (had to be a Howard clone) with either Lin Carter or Bjorn Nyberg.Especially good is "Legions of the Dead" that Robert E. Howard would have believed he authored because it reads so much like his original works.Equally fascinating to readers is a seven-page essay that provides plenty of insight into Conan and his world as well as Robert E. Howard from the late L. Sprague de Camp's perspective.Fans of Conan will want to read this wonderful anthology that showcases one of fantasy's most endearing and enduring protagonists.

Harriet Klausner ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

A valuable read
de Camp is always catching hell about something he wrote especially about REH and HPL.Dark Valley is highly readable.The text contains facts.de Camp does make judgments about his subject.This day in age we're trained not to judge anyone, so the book is refreshing.de Camp does succeed were many biographies fail and that is he makes the reader sympathetic about REH.REH is not just the subject about you can appreciate his life's difficulties.Any the book is highly readable.But I must add I'm biased toward de Camp . . . I've got an autographed copy.

The DEFINITIVE Bio on REH until a new one appears :)
L. Sprague de Camp's biography of REH is a very credible (if admittedly somewhat opinionated) account.Frankly, I don't understand the nonsense that some reviewers spout about this book.It is plainly evident that de Camp conducted a good deal of research, being especially diligent to seek out and interview virtually everyone that had known REH.All in all, de Camp based his research on oral and literary sources as well as visiting and studying the places where REH had lived.The value of such was recognized long ago.One need only read Herodotus, Thucydides, or the greatest historian of antiquity, Polybius, to appreciate this.Ultimately, de camp's bio reaches tenable conclusions based upon his research.

At this point in time, a more definitive bio seems somewhat questionable.There are probably very (if any) acquaintances of REH still living. This of course doesn't mean that future bios cannot be written, only that they will find it incredibly difficult to obtain any new material.Very few can ever approach an understanding of REH as de Camp did.After all, he spent a large part of his career as a fiction writer in editing and expanding the Conan series.Instead, future biographers will be sifting among the stones that de Camp has already quarried for them.

Finally, while de Camp was not a professional pyschologist, that in itself does not necessarily disqualify him in analyzing REH's state of mind.The fallacy of expert opinion comes to mind here.Most biographers hold an area of expertise in only one or two fields, and often their subjects will carry them into sundry fields of exploration.That's one reason why professionals published their work, so that others can benefit from the fruits of their research. Geez, excuse my getting off track here a bit, but some people have the lamest, sorriest reasons for not enjoying de Camp's work and appreciating it for the fine work of scholarship that it is. (Accusing de Camp of writing articulate prose with the intention to deceive, as one reviewer suggested, only demonstrates that they are unfamiliar with his prose style.)

Is D.V.D. perfect and without the occassional error found in most bios?By no means, but de Camp isn't trying to hoodwink anyone, and anyone with any critical faculties can disagree with some of his conclusions.That in itself is a sign of scholarship as de Camp has provided enough material to allow the reader to independently verify whether or not s/he agrees.

NOT the ýdefinitiveý biographyý merely opinion
To say it politely, approximately 90% of Dark Valley Destiny is pure, subjective opinion. In fact, this book is not a biography at all (regardless of the author's claims), but is a pseudo-Freudian interpretation of Robert E. Howard's psychological state or mental "life" based on assorted, incomplete, and (in some cases) erroneous facts. De Camp's credentials as a psychologist, or even an amateur psychologist, are not only in question, but non-existent. Dr. Jane Whittington Griffin, whose name is presented as co-author and whose association seems to lend the book an air of respectability and authority, in fact had little to do with the writing of this book due to her untimely death while the book was in the process of being researched and written. Further, Dr. Griffin's credentials as a legitimately licensed psychologist have recently come into question as well.

In his own autobiography, de Camp refers to this book as a "psycho biography," and elsewhere de Camp admits that he had tried to sell the idea of writing a biography on Robert E. Howard to the publisher who considered the subject too dry and suggested that instead de Camp should spice it up a bit by writing a psychological examination and evaluation of Howard's work and life. This de Camp did, and the result is the eminently sensationalistic and yellow-journalistic commentary known as Dark Valley Destiny.

To top it all off, we find that de Camp is not remotely sympathetic toward his subject matter, and he takes pains to use his own moral and intellectual values and positions to criticize and condemn Howard at every step, while at the same time offering appeasing praise. The reader ought to be warned that de Camp's writing style is quite skilled and is meant to be persuasive. Meaning, de Camp will pull the wool over your eyes with statements of "opinion as fact" and unsupported leaps of logic unless you carefully read the book with a detached, critical eye. As a book that presents itself as a factual and authoritative biography, it is a farce and all but worthless. If you read this book, read it with a HUGE grain of salt, and be skeptical.

Although Dark Valley Destiny is not a definitive biography (or even a good one), it is unfortunately the only book yet published which claims to be a biography of Robert E. Howard. The memoir ONE WHO WALKED ALONE, by one of Howard's girlfriends, Novalyne Price-Ellis, is far more reliable and informative, but even this must be read with the understanding that the writer is drawing conclusions based on her own views and biases, which were sometimes made without complete information. Mrs. Ellis, however, had the good fortune of actually knowing Robert E. Howard and the information in her book is first hand knowledge, unlike that in Dark Valley Destiny. It therefore carries much more weight.

The suggestion below that all is opinion and the truth shall never be known is, in part, true. As de Camp mentioned, but quickly ignored, posthumous biography is a somewhat foolish endeavor. There are many points about Howard's life which will simply never be known. Yet, to state that all is opinion and therefore equal is specious and misleading. There are conclusions and opinions which hold up to and are supported by the known facts, and then there are conclusions and opinions which are not. There are conclusions which adhere to standards of validity, and there are conclusions that do not. The task of scholars, and a definitive biography, is to achieve the highest level of factual reliability possible - not to present one's own views or opinions. Where a conclusion is uncertain, its uncertainty must be noted and alternatives offered and explored. In all this, Dark Valley Destiny fails miserably.

If you're interested in reading one author's distorted and biased OPINION of another author, then this book is for you. If, on the other hand, you want to read about the life of Robert E. Howard, look elsewhere. To start, I'd recommend the "Short Biography" of Howard on the REHupa web site, ... and then I'd recommend reading Howard's "Selected Letters" (which are unfortunately out of print but can be found in used book stores). For additional biographical sources on Howard, try The Barbarian Keep web page. ...

The Truth About REH is Unknown
DeCamp describes Howard in his "Dark Valley Destiny" book, and Novalyne Price describes him in her "One Who Walked Alone" book.

Both are probably right and probably wrong. Read both.

If you want to understand REH, read his writings (and those of his biographers) and make up your own mind.

His was a tortured soul.

I could defend or criticize Howard on many different levels. The truth is (and I hope you agree)is that we've all lost something because his potential had never been fully realized.

Revisiting Dark Valley Destiny
It has been almost two decades since L. Sprague de Camp (hearafter referred to as LSdC) collaborated with his wife Catherine, and Jane Whittington Griffin to write the Robert E. Howard biography Dark Valley Destiny.De Camp has been vilified, ideologically pilloried, and even had his gravesite threatened in the last decade of Howard fandom.This biographical look at REH has been one main target of reaction.After a period of almost twenty years it is time for it to be reexamined.

The de Camps make plain their intentions for this book at the end of the first chapter."To investigate the relationship between Robert Howard's life and his art is the purpose of this book." (p. 17)The authors way of examining that relationship relies on a lot of (mostly amateur) psychoanalyzing that is controversial, to say the least.

LSdC's opinions are his to make.One can agree or disagree.By cataloging REH's attitude towards his teachers, fellow townspeople, boomtown oilmen, and especially his employers LSdC does make a case for a person of emotional immaturity, unrealistic attitudes, and strong anti-social feelings.

In several ways "Dark Valley Destiny" is choppy and inconsistent.Several times LSdC will put forth an idea, i.e. first saying that Howard had the essence of a poet, but then later contradicting himself saying that REH was a storyteller first and foremost.This is only a minor (and in this instance, mostly explainable) example.Other times the contradictions are more severe, i.e. indicating in one chapter that Howard was a loner and in the next chapter telling us of REH's numerous Cross Plains friends.A possible reason for this is that different parts of the book were written over a stretch of time.The copyright dates for the book indicate this to be the case.LSdC should have edited this work more closely.It appears that he didn't always revise his earlier comments to jibe with newer facts that he learned.Nevertheless a discerning reader can get a decent picture and overview of REH's life.

"The Transcendent Barbarian" chapter deals with Conan.This is an interesting chapter.LSdC is a Conan fan but he feels motivated to downplay the unsold Conan stories and suggests that his posthumous collaborations improved them.For a story like "The God in the Bowl" that is arguably true but when de Camp calls "The Frost Giant's Daughter" a plotless little sketch he is asking for derision.The chapter ends with what may well be REH's finest praise though."[...] all these criticisms fade like morning mist before Howard's headlong rush of action, his rainbow-tinted prose, the intensity with which he wrote his own feelings into his stories, and, above all, his Hyborian world - that splendid creation - which ranks with Burrough's Barsoom and Tolkein's Middle Earth as a major fictional achievement." (p. 295)

The latest reprint collection of Conan stories (published in Great Britain) is dedicated to L. Sprague de Camp.While plenty of REH fans writhe and moan about this it is good to see that others recognize the reality of history and give LSdC his due.For whatever reasons, he promoted Conan AND Bob Howard.It is hoped that the publishers at Wandering Star will also dedicate one of their Conan collections to Mr. de Camp.It would do a lot to apologize for fan behavior that was often despicable. ... Read more

Book Description
Three short poems from SF and Fantasy grandmaster L. Sprague de Camp. ... Read more