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John C. Hocking | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1960 |
| Occupation | Novelist, short story author |
| Genre | Fantasy |
| Notable works | Conan and the Emerald Lotus |
John C. Hocking (born 1960) is an American fantasy writer, the author of a Conan novel published by Tor Books and a number of short stories. One of his stories, "The Face in the Sea", won the 2009 Harper's Pen Award for Sword and Sorcery fiction. [1]
According to Hocking, he wrote his Conan novel Conan and the Emerald Lotus out of dissatisfaction with the Conan novels being published in the early 1990s, "trying to put into the story all the things I thought were missing from Conan pastiche at that time." After taking three years to write it, he was proud enough of the result that he "didn't want to just drop it into a drawer ....[s]o I sent out a handful of letters, and L. Sprague de Camp responded ...that if I sent him my book he'd look it over. He liked it a lot and LOTUS was published." [2] After its success he spent two years writing a second Conan novel, Conan and the Living Plague, under contract with Conan Properties, which was "sufficiently pleased with the book that they wanted to use it to attract a new publisher for Conan and try to break into hardcover." Publication of it and a third Conan novel Hocking had started were canceled due to a change in ownership of Conan Properties. [2]
Hocking has since published a number of fantasy stories, most forming a series featuring the original character Brand the Viking.
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Sword and sorcery (S&S) is a subgenre of fantasy, characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent adventures. An element of romance is often present, as is an element of magic and the supernatural. Unlike works of high fantasy, the tales, though dramatic, focus mainly on personal battles rather than world-endangering matters. Sword and sorcery commonly overlaps with heroic fantasy.
The Hour of the Dragon, also known as Conan the Conqueror, is a fantasy novel by American writer Robert E. Howard featuring his sword and sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian. It was one of the last Conan stories published before Howard's suicide, although not the last to be written. The novel was first published in serial form in the December 1935 through April 1936 issues of the pulp magazine Weird Tales. The first book edition was published by Gnome Press in hardcover in 1950. The Gnome Press edition retitled the story Conan the Conqueror, a title retained by all subsequent editions until 1977, when the original title was restored in an edition issued published by Berkley/Putnam in 1977. The Berkley edition also reverted the text to that of its original Weird Tales publication, discarding later edits. Later editions have generally followed Berkley and published under the original title. The 1997 film Kull the Conqueror is loosely based on The Hour of the Dragon, replacing Conan with Kull but otherwise keeping the same basic plot.
Conan and the Spider God is a fantasy novel by American writer L. Sprague de Camp featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in paperback by Bantam Books in December 1980; later paperback editions were issued by Ace Books and Tor Books. The first hardcover edition was issued by Robert Hale in 1984, and the second by Tor Books in 2002. It was later gathered together with Conan the Swordsman and Conan the Liberator into the omnibus trade paperback collection Sagas of Conan.
King Conan is a collection of five fantasy short stories by American writer Robert E. Howard featuring his sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian, first published in hardcover by Gnome Press in 1953. The stories originally appeared in the 1930s in the fantasy magazine Weird Tales. The collection never saw publication in paperback; instead, its component stories were split up and distributed among other "Conan" collections.
Conan the Rebel is a fantasy novel by American writer Poul Anderson, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in paperback by Bantam Books in July 1980. It was reprinted once by Bantam (1981) and twice by Ace Books. The first hardcover edition was published by Tor Books in 2001; a trade paperback followed from the same publisher in 2003. The first British edition was published by Sphere Books in 1988.
Conan and the Sorcerer is a fantasy novel written by Andrew J. Offutt and illustrated by Esteban Maroto. Featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian, it is the first in a trilogy continuing with Conan the Mercenary and concluding with The Sword of Skelos. It was first published in paperback by Sunridge Press in October 1978, and reprinted in May 1979, 1982, and March 1984 by Ace Books.
The Conan books are sword and sorcery fantasies featuring the character of Conan the Cimmerian originally created by Robert E. Howard. Written by numerous authors and issued by numerous publishers, they include both novels and short stories, the latter assembled in various combinations over the years by the several publishers. The character has proven durably popular, resulting in Conan stories being produced after Howard's death by such later writers as Poul Anderson, Leonard Carpenter, Lin Carter, L. Sprague de Camp, Roland J. Green, John C. Hocking, Robert Jordan, Sean A. Moore, Björn Nyberg, Andrew J. Offutt, Steve Perry, John Maddox Roberts, Harry Turtledove, and Karl Edward Wagner. Some of these writers finished incomplete Conan manuscripts by Howard, or rewrote Howard stories which originally featured different characters. Most post-Howard Conan stories, however, are completely original works. In total, more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories featuring the Conan character have been written by authors other than Howard. This article describes and discusses notable book editions of the Conan stories.
Mention My Name in Atlantis, being, at last, the true account of the calamitous destruction of the great island kingdom together with a narrative of its wondrous intercourses with a superior race of other-worldlings, as transcribed from the manuscript of a survivor, Hoptor the Vintner, for the enlightenment of a dubious posterity is a humorous fantasy novel written by John Jakes purporting to give the "true" history of the sinking of the lost continent of Atlantis. It was first published in paperback by DAW Books in October 1972, and reprinted by the same publisher in September 1975 and August 1976; the later printings featured new cover art by Michael Whelan. A new paperback edition with an added introduction by the author was published by Bart Books in January 1988, and an ebook edition was issued by Open Road Integrated Media in December 2014. The book has also been translated into German and Italian.
Conan the Renegade is a fantasy novel by American writer Leonard Carpenter, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in paperback by Tor Books in April 1986. The first British edition was published by Sphere Books in August 1988.
Conan and the Treasure of Python is a fantasy novel by American writer John Maddox Roberts, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in trade paperback by Tor Books in November 1993; a regular paperback edition followed from the same publisher in August 1994.
Conan the Marauder is a fantasy novel by American writer John Maddox Roberts, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in paperback by Tor Books in January 1988, and reprinted in 1992. The first British edition was published in paperback by Orbit Books in February 1991.
Conan the Champion is a fantasy novel by American writer John Maddox Roberts, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in paperback by Tor Books in April 1987 and reprinted in January 1989. The first British edition was published in paperback by Sphere Books, also in January 1989.
Conan the Valorous is a fantasy novel by American writer John Maddox Roberts, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in trade paperback by Tor Books in September 1985; a regular paperback edition followed from the same publisher in September 1986, and was reprinted in January 1992. The first British edition was published in paperback by Sphere Books in September 1987.
Conan of Venarium is a fantasy novel by American writer Harry Turtledove, edited by Teresa Nielsen Hayden, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in hardcover by Tor Books in July 2003; a regular paperback edition followed from the same publisher in July 2004.
Conan and the Emerald Lotus is a fantasy novel by American writer John C. Hocking, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in trade paperback by Tor Books in November 1995; a regular paperback edition followed from the same publisher in September 1999.
Conan and the Grim Grey God is a fantasy novel written by American writer Sean A. Moore, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in trade paperback by Tor Books in November 1996; a regular paperback edition followed from the same publisher in November 1997.
Conan and the Gods of the Mountain is a fantasy novel by American writer Roland Green, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in paperback by Tor Books in May 1993 and reprinted in November 1998.
Conan and the Death Lord of Thanza is a fantasy novel by American writer Roland Green, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in paperback by Tor Books in January 1997.
Conan, Lord of the Black River is a fantasy novel by American writer Leonard Carpenter, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in paperback by Tor Books in April 1996.
Conan of the Red Brotherhood is a fantasy novel by American writer Leonard Carpenter featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in paperback by Tor Books in February 1993, and reprinted in 1998.