Chris Achilleos did jaw dropping wraparound covers for one of the re-issues of the 1920s’ Tros
Chris Achilleos did jaw dropping wraparound covers for one of the re-issues of the 1920s’ Tros of Samothrace series. Tros of Samothrace is a Greek sea captain who loves his personal freedom and the sea above all else, who can best be described as “Conan, but woke.” A member of the deeply morally advanced religious minority known as the Cult of Samothrace, portrayed as a continent-wide secret society that anticipated the Freemasons, he helped the Druids oppose the power of Caesar and the Roman Empire, who Talbot Mundy portrayed as absolute villains: materialistic frauds who’s claim of “spreading civilization” was humbug meant to cover their true motives of rapaciousness and exploitation of native people. The implicit critique of other empires with pretentions to “civilizing missions” was overt and the stories were deeply controversial to a 1920s audience, far more politically charged than one would expect adventure stories set in Roman times to be. The letters pages in response were absolutely lively. Robert E. Howard, of Irish descent and who despised the British Empire, loved the Tros of Samothrace stories, and they are the single biggest inspiration for Conan the Barbarian. -- source link
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