Getting back to sword and sorcery, we know that Robert E. Howard named HRH among his "favorite authors." The volumes of Haggard in Howard's personal library that were recorded or have survived until today probably represent a fraction of the HRH that Bob actually read. In the early twentieth century, Haggard's fiction was ubiquitous, appearing in pulps as well as being bought by public libraries. I've only read around twenty of Haggard's novels and I've spotted an astonishing number of elements from them that REH likely borrowed. All of that rates another post(s) at some point.

While we know just the basic fact that C.L. Moore and Clark Ashton Smith were HRH fans, it turns out that Henry Kuttner was actually working on a master's thesis devoted to Haggard when he died. Leigh Brackett was a Haggard fan and Manly Wade Wellman likely was as well. Poul Anderson admired HRH. We also know that Moorcock admires Haggard's work. John Maddox Roberts based his novel Conan and the Treasure of Python upon King Solomon's Mines. As I said: inescapable.**

I'm sure many of you out there are getting nervous, wondering if Haggard's fiction reads "all Victorian and old and stuff." Fear not, gentle readers. Sir Henry's prose reads surprisingly modern--though with a much better command of the English language than one usually sees nowadays. About the worst thing I can say about the average Haggard novel is it generally requires two or three chapters of setup before things start rockin'. After that, HANG ON. Would you rather spend a couple chapters letting HRH light the fuse for an explosion of adventure, or slog through a doorstopper chocked-full of the so-called protagonists examining their feelings for hundreds of pages? Haggard delivers the goods.

For S&S fans wanting to get into Haggard for the first time, it's hard to nail it down to just one novel. King Solomon's Mines, Eric Brighteyes, The Wanderer's Necklace and The People of the Mist all tend to be cited by HRH fans I know. I'm also very partial to She and Allan. Deadtree editions of Haggard are cheap and plentiful from online sellers. For those who want to digitally dip their toes into the Wellspring of Exotic Adventure, I heartily recommend Roy Glashan's online HRH archive.

*Though the argument can be made for one other, perhaps.

**As it turns out, Fritz Leiber was a big fan of HRH: H. Rider Haggard and Fritz Leiber

Other installments in the "Forefathers" series:

Harold Lamb

H.P. Lovecraft

A. Merritt

Robert W. Chambers

Jack London

James Branch Cabell

Talbot Mundy

Arthur Conan Doyle

Arthur Machen

Sax Rohmer

Rudyard Kipling

Rafael Sabatini

Gustave Flaubert