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10/20/2015 4:58 am  #1


Hadon of Ancient Opar

Again, never heard of these until reading about them on the Black Gate blog: Philip Jose Farmer's spin on Opar (an ERB city referred to in the Tarzan books), contemporary of Atlantis. Just started it, no comments other than cheap copies can be had on Amazon.


"It is all very well to point out that the man lacks facility; as he asserts, sheer force can overpower sophistication."
Jack Vance, Rhialto the Marvellous
 

10/20/2015 10:22 pm  #2


Re: Hadon of Ancient Opar

I like Farmer a lot, but I've not read any if his Tarzan pastiches thus far.

 

10/21/2015 3:54 am  #3


Re: Hadon of Ancient Opar

This is my first foray into Opar: I've read World of Tiers and Riverworld, but oh so long ago...I will post some impressions and opinions when I'm done.


"It is all very well to point out that the man lacks facility; as he asserts, sheer force can overpower sophistication."
Jack Vance, Rhialto the Marvellous
     Thread Starter
 

11/06/2015 4:39 pm  #4


Re: Hadon of Ancient Opar

So this passage ought to inspire some sort of unique item:
"The axe was indeed a curious one, one which Hadon might have coveted if he had not been a swordsman. Its head was massive, so heavy that only a very strong man could use it effectively. It was crudely fashioned from a lump of iron and some other metal, but it had a sharp edge. The handle, according to Paga, had been made from the solid lower leg bone of some kind of antelope* that was found only in the northern part of the lands beyond the Ringing Sea...He had worked out a deep slot at one end for receipt of the neck of the ax, and he had bound it with strips from the hide of something like the giant antelope but smaller. After the haft and the ax had been lashed together with these, he had knotted the ends and poured the resin of heated amber over the lashings. The bone haft was also lashed with strips of hide. At the other end of the bone, which has as hard as elephant ivory, was a knob, the knuckle joint. Paga had rubbed this down to make a smooth sphere."
Philip Jose Farmer, Hadon of Ancient Opar
*The giant Irish elk.


"It is all very well to point out that the man lacks facility; as he asserts, sheer force can overpower sophistication."
Jack Vance, Rhialto the Marvellous
     Thread Starter
 

11/06/2015 9:03 pm  #5


Re: Hadon of Ancient Opar

Ok, I need this book! eBay is my friend...


HYPERBOREA- A Role-Playing Game of Swords, Sorcery, and Weird Science-Fantasy
 

11/07/2015 6:16 am  #6


Re: Hadon of Ancient Opar

Don't rush to eBay just yet...yesterday I received the Gods of Opar edition (compilation of Hadon of Ancient Opar, Flight to Opar and The Song of Kwasin)...I'm sure we could work something out. 


"It is all very well to point out that the man lacks facility; as he asserts, sheer force can overpower sophistication."
Jack Vance, Rhialto the Marvellous
     Thread Starter
 

11/09/2015 6:52 am  #7


Re: Hadon of Ancient Opar

rhialto wrote:

Don't rush to eBay just yet...yesterday I received the Gods of Opar edition (compilation of Hadon of Ancient Opar, Flight to Opar and The Song of Kwasin)...I'm sure we could work something out. 

Too late! Perhaps someone else here at this fine forum might be interested . . .
 


HYPERBOREA- A Role-Playing Game of Swords, Sorcery, and Weird Science-Fantasy
 

11/09/2015 8:13 am  #8


Re: Hadon of Ancient Opar

Ghul wrote:

rhialto wrote:

Don't rush to eBay just yet...yesterday I received the Gods of Opar edition (compilation of Hadon of Ancient Opar, Flight to Opar and The Song of Kwasin)...I'm sure we could work something out. 

Too late! Perhaps someone else here at this fine forum might be interested . . .
 

Sure: I'm mere hours away from the next step in my Master Plan to Secure S&S Tomes, and will have available other worthies for a pittance of sequins. 


"It is all very well to point out that the man lacks facility; as he asserts, sheer force can overpower sophistication."
Jack Vance, Rhialto the Marvellous
     Thread Starter
 

11/09/2015 10:19 am  #9


Re: Hadon of Ancient Opar

rhialto wrote:

Ghul wrote:

rhialto wrote:

Don't rush to eBay just yet...yesterday I received the Gods of Opar edition (compilation of Hadon of Ancient Opar, Flight to Opar and The Song of Kwasin)...I'm sure we could work something out. 

Too late! Perhaps someone else here at this fine forum might be interested . . .
 

Sure: I'm mere hours away from the next step in my Master Plan to Secure S&S Tomes, and will have available other worthies for a pittance of sequins. 

Do tell . . .

 

11/10/2015 3:27 pm  #10


Re: Hadon of Ancient Opar

Handy Haversack wrote:

rhialto wrote:

 Sure: I'm mere hours away from the next step in my Master Plan to Secure S&S Tomes, and will have available other worthies for a pittance of sequins. 

Do tell . . .

I secured Gods in Darkness, and so have available 5 Kane paperbacks, plus the two Opar books. I was thinking a contest here, winner(s) simply pay shipping...
 


"It is all very well to point out that the man lacks facility; as he asserts, sheer force can overpower sophistication."
Jack Vance, Rhialto the Marvellous
     Thread Starter
 

11/10/2015 3:30 pm  #11


Re: Hadon of Ancient Opar

Shall we say pistols at dawn?

 

11/10/2015 5:02 pm  #12


Re: Hadon of Ancient Opar

I was thinking something cerebral, but that works: when you have shot your foe, let me know. 


"It is all very well to point out that the man lacks facility; as he asserts, sheer force can overpower sophistication."
Jack Vance, Rhialto the Marvellous
     Thread Starter
 

11/12/2015 4:50 am  #13


Re: Hadon of Ancient Opar

Final spoiler-free impressions of Hadon of Ancient Opar:

Very interesting world-building, with some basis in fact: two inland seas in the heart of ancient Africa, with the Sahara as a vast savannah, the Ice Age retreating in Europe, etc.
Anachronisms such as Bronze-Age technology existing 12,000 years ago (but with an explanation), Caucasians in Africa, etc.
Good Swords & Sorcery feel, if light on the "sorcery" part
Typical attitudes of the day, but easily overlooked if you understand that some day readers will be railing against writers of now for their blindness too

Looking forward to the next in the series, Flight to Opar. Contest for my two superfluous paperbacks coming up...


"It is all very well to point out that the man lacks facility; as he asserts, sheer force can overpower sophistication."
Jack Vance, Rhialto the Marvellous
     Thread Starter
 

11/13/2015 11:50 pm  #14


Re: Hadon of Ancient Opar


HYPERBOREA- A Role-Playing Game of Swords, Sorcery, and Weird Science-Fantasy
 

11/14/2015 5:42 am  #15


Re: Hadon of Ancient Opar

Enjoy! Both the books and the libation...


"It is all very well to point out that the man lacks facility; as he asserts, sheer force can overpower sophistication."
Jack Vance, Rhialto the Marvellous
     Thread Starter
 

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