Looooove this. Of course, my mind went back to the Odyssey reading this, but I like the update and the tentacle monster addition -- it's an interesting wrinkle that in the Odyssey, the lotus-eating was horrible in and of itself, but by Conan time, readers need a tentacle monster to add to the horror. And like yourself, I've often found a joy in extracting nuggets of an interesting story, or a callback, from an old piece of fiction that has its, um, moments :).
I also like what sounds like the episodic nature of this story. The problem of being Extremely Online doesn't sound like an existential one for All of society, but just for this city of weirdos. The desert of the real sounds like the status quo. It's a very interesting perspective to compare to contemporary fiction, which I feel increasingly places the desert of the real as some place outside the protagonist's realm of experience.
The Odyssey reference is clear—the difference for me is the technological angle. The Lotus Eaters just found this cool lotus plant; the people of Xuthal reached a high level of technological sophistication—and used it to disappear into their own dreams.
For Howard / Conan AFAICT it's not that Extremely Online-ness is an existential problem for all society, it's more that 'civilization' (in these books opposed to Conan's 'barbarism') is a self-terminating process. Civilizations fail—through climate change (Queen of the Black Coast), moral transgression (Iron Shadows on the Moon), treachery (The Phoenix and the Sword), or the simple pursuit of pleasure (Xuthal). The stories propose a sort of answer in the person of Conan, barbarian, lusty for life, adventure, experience, but is that answer *attainable*, or can it be realized in practice... that's the rub.
CURSE YOU, Max, I ran to the library and checked out The Hour of the Dragon.
Weirdly, I read some Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser and Fred Saberhagen and other later sword & sorcery back in the day, but somehow never made it to Conan before. :D :D :D
My brain keeps going "Ahriman...Xaltotun...where have I heard that in a zillion pulp fantasy mashups...oh wait this is WHERE THE TROPEY NAMES COME FROM." :D :D :D
Looooove this. Of course, my mind went back to the Odyssey reading this, but I like the update and the tentacle monster addition -- it's an interesting wrinkle that in the Odyssey, the lotus-eating was horrible in and of itself, but by Conan time, readers need a tentacle monster to add to the horror. And like yourself, I've often found a joy in extracting nuggets of an interesting story, or a callback, from an old piece of fiction that has its, um, moments :).
I also like what sounds like the episodic nature of this story. The problem of being Extremely Online doesn't sound like an existential one for All of society, but just for this city of weirdos. The desert of the real sounds like the status quo. It's a very interesting perspective to compare to contemporary fiction, which I feel increasingly places the desert of the real as some place outside the protagonist's realm of experience.
Thank you for the post as always!
The Odyssey reference is clear—the difference for me is the technological angle. The Lotus Eaters just found this cool lotus plant; the people of Xuthal reached a high level of technological sophistication—and used it to disappear into their own dreams.
For Howard / Conan AFAICT it's not that Extremely Online-ness is an existential problem for all society, it's more that 'civilization' (in these books opposed to Conan's 'barbarism') is a self-terminating process. Civilizations fail—through climate change (Queen of the Black Coast), moral transgression (Iron Shadows on the Moon), treachery (The Phoenix and the Sword), or the simple pursuit of pleasure (Xuthal). The stories propose a sort of answer in the person of Conan, barbarian, lusty for life, adventure, experience, but is that answer *attainable*, or can it be realized in practice... that's the rub.
CURSE YOU, Max, I ran to the library and checked out The Hour of the Dragon.
Weirdly, I read some Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser and Fred Saberhagen and other later sword & sorcery back in the day, but somehow never made it to Conan before. :D :D :D
My brain keeps going "Ahriman...Xaltotun...where have I heard that in a zillion pulp fantasy mashups...oh wait this is WHERE THE TROPEY NAMES COME FROM." :D :D :D