This is actually the first time I've put up a post about a website. I've referred to many during the time I've been blogging and listed some of my favourites in the sidebar, but this is the first time I've been enthused to actually write specifically about one.
Arrived in the post this morning is an anthology of stories by Robert E. Howard entitled Conan's Brethren. It features a selection of stories about three of Howard's other well-known characters -King Kull (low budget crap movie with Kevin Sorbo), Solomon Kane (disappointing decent budget movie with James Purefoy) and Bran Mak Morn (bleak Pictish stuff, no movie to date), plus a selection of stories featuring similar characters. Looking through the book, I was curious to find out how many stories about the three had been omitted and googled Robert E Howard bibliography. The very first entry was this one-
The works of Robert E Howard at http://howardworks.com/howard.htm
And it's simply amazing. At the end of this post is what's on the home page. Each link takes you to an enormous resource. Now what it doesn't do is provide biographical information. It is, pure and simple, a bibliography of the works of Howard and of sources of information about him. It's impossible to imagine anything else of this kind about the author improving on this site. It's a true labour of love and a model of what a single-author bibliographical web site should be.
Todd Woods, the compiler, started it in 2000 and states that it's a work in progress. All I can say is that it includes Conan's Brethren which was only published this year (2011). Over a decade on and it's still being updated.
(NB and that's despite the indicia of CB claiming 2009 as a publication date. It was supposed to have been published then and, presumably, it was even printed, but I only stumbled across it a few days ago in Waterstones. My original order on Amazon was delayed so often that Amazon cancelled orders for the book. I've just found out that the pages were indeed printed in 2009 but a trademark dispute delayed publication. Also above the title on the unpublished edition is The Complete Collection, which it most certainly isn't. The RRP is £20.00, Amazon are flogging it for £14.00, but I got it for £7.50, including postage, new from an Amazon Marketplace dealer which is a pretty good deal.)
Mr Woods, I salute you for an outstanding achievement.
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