It’s summer reading time and I remain pleasantly surprised by the pen of Robert E. Howard, as presented by Del Rey in their compilation of the complete Conan stories that Howard wrote in the 1930s. Howard was no literary genius, but compared to the hacks passed off in today’s sword and sorcery market, his prose soars. Much as I appreciate what J.K. Rowling has done with her Potter books, she could’ve learned a thing or two from this Texan.