“I try to write as true to the actual facts as possible, at least, I try to commit as few errors as possible,” he commented to H. P. Lovecraft, in a letter from September or October, 1933. “I like to have my background and setting as accurate and realistic as I can, with my limited knowledge; if I twist facts too much, alter dates as some writers do, or present a character out of keeping with my impressions of the time and place, I lose my sense of reality, and my characters cease to be living and vital things; and my stories center entirely on my conceptions of my characters. Once I lose the ‘feel’ of my characters, and I might as well tear up what I have written.”

Unfortunately, only seven of the stories collected herein saw print in Howard’s lifetime; the rest he no doubt submitted to Farnsworth Wright, but the ravages of the Depression – the tightened belts and failing markets – meant any tale Wright passed on had little chance for life thereafter. Howard consigned the unsold stories to his trunk and moved on. By 1933, Oriental Stories (which by then had been saddled with a ridiculous new name, Magic Carpet Magazine) was on its deathbed. It would cease publication in January of 1934.

With the demise of his primary historical market, the question becomes, then, why didn’t Howard submit his tales to the premier historical pulp of the day, Adventure? It was in the pages of Adventure that a young Robert E. Howard first encountered the works of Harold Lamb and Talbot Mundy; on at least two occasions, in February and July of 1924, Howard submitted lists of research questions to the magazine’s Ask Adventure column. But from 1921 onward, his every attempt to break in as a writer met with rejection – sometimes silent, but often with the added encouragement of the editor wanting to see more of his work (for most writers, the latter kind of rejection is golden … it tells us we’re not far from the mark and should persevere just a little longer).