Conan l'avventuriero

Conan the Barbarian

by Robert E. Howard, Gaetano Luigi Staffilano (Traduttore)

a cura di L. Sprague De Camp

Tra i mondi immaginari creati dalla fantasia degli scrittori, l'Era hyboriana di Robert E. Howard è uno dei più coerenti: un mondo provvisto di una sua geografia, di una sua storia e di una sua preistoria, che è nato da un'epoca di forze oscure e minacciose e che crollando ha dato origine alla nostra attuale civiltà. Dodicimila anni or sono - dice Howard - tra la distruzione di Atlantide e i primi documenti storici, quando il Mediterraneo era ancora una distesa di terraferma, il nostro pianeta conobbe l'Era hyboriana: un'epoca di regni dai nomi fantastici e tuttavia familiari, di splendore e di leggende, in cui le tracce di un passato ancora più lontano disputavano il passo all'uomo e alla sua civiltà . In quest'epoca esotica e turbolenta, il grande eroe fu Conan, che, disceso in gioventù dalla gelida Cimmeria, giunse a conquistare nella maturità la corona di una delle nazioni più potenti. Le storie scritte da R.E. Howard seguono a passo a passo la vita di Conan, da mercenario ad avventuriero, a stratega e a conquistatore: una carriera che lo porta a contatto con le principali nazioni civili della sua epoca e con i loro affascinanti usi e costumi. Questo libro descrive le vicende di Conan negli anni in cui pensa di sfruttare per i propri fini l'eterna ostilità tra le città delle pianure e i pastori degli altipiani.

Gli accoliti del cerchio nero (The People of the Black Circle, 1934) Robert E. Howard
L'ombra che scivola (The Slithering Shadow, 1933) Robert E. Howard
I tamburi di Tombalku (The Drums of Tombalku) Robert E. Howard, L. Sprague De Camp
Lo stagno dei neri (The Pool of the Black One, 1933) Robert E. Howard

Genres: Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Fiction, Pulp, Adventure, Short Stories, Science Fiction Fantasy

201 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1966

About the author

Robert Ervin Howard was an American pulp writer of fantasy, horror, historical adventure, boxing, western, and detective fiction. Howard wrote "over three-hundred stories and seven-hundred poems of raw power and unbridled emotion" and is especially noted for his memorable depictions of "a sombre universe of swashbuckling adventure and darkling horror."

He is well known for having created—in the pages of the legendary Depression-era pulp magazine Weird Tales—the character Conan the Cimmerian, a.k.a. Conan the Barbarian, a literary icon whose pop-culture imprint can only be compared to such icons as Tarzan of the Apes, Count Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, and James Bond.

—Wikipedia

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Rodrigo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sinopsis: En una época anterior a la historia conocida, antes de que los continentes adoptaran su forma actual, recorrió el mundo un héroe indómito y legendario, de quién se dice que llegó a él en un campo de batalla. Su nombre era Conan.

El rey Yerzdigerd a logrado aplastar a las huestes de kozacos lideradas por Conan, y éste se une entonces al ejército de Iranistán, uno de los enemigos más poderosos de Turán. Sin embargo, Conan declina seguir al servicio de monarca alguno y, una vez más, emprende el vagabundeo en busca de fortuna. Tiene unos treinta y tres años, está en la cumbre de su potencia física y conoce de primera mano tanto las naciones civilizadas como los reinos salvajes de la Edad Hiboria.

Contiene los relatos:

- El Pueblo del Círculo Negro 8/10
- La Sombra Deslizante 6.5/10
- Los Tambores de Tombalku 6.5/10
- El Estanque de los Negros 7/10
Valoración: 7/10
Me lo sigo pasando genial con mi "compi" Conan con sus aventuras y conquistas.
A por el siguiente...

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the fifth volume of Lancer's editions of the Conan saga. (It was the first to be printed but is the fifth chronologically.) L. Sprague de Camp, with the help of Lin Carter, expanded Howard's original Conan stories and edited them into chronological sequence in a twelve-volume series in the late 1960's, and the controversy has never quite died off completely. Many people believe that only Howard's original versions of the complete stories are acceptable, and many believe that the Lancer series with the original Frazetta covers (this one has my favorite Frazetta) are canon, and then there are those who accept or reject the Bantam titles, the Robert Jordan series (and/or/or not the other Tor titles), the comics versions, and on and on and on... They're all right and all wrong.... This Lancer series is the one I read while growing up, so I'm all for it. I can accept comics hero stories by different writers, and pulp heroes frequently had different writers under a house name, so... This one features a quickly maturing Conan and has three of Howard's originals: The People of the Black Circle, The Slithering Shadow, and The Pool of the Black One, though I believe de Camp edited some racially insensitive portions, which is for the best. These show the influence of Lovecraft and Howard's ability to incorporate good horror in his adventure tales. It also has a good story that was written by de Camp, Drums of Tombalku, from a fragment and outline left by Howard. The three Howards first appeared in Weird Tales in the 1930's and then in the Gnome Press series in the 1950's. Howard was the consummate pulp adventure writer, and I think de Camp (and Carter, though his work does appear in this one) enhanced his legacy without tarnishing it. They helped Conan become one of the most universally recognized literary characters of all time. Swords & sorcery at its best, by Crom!

[Edward Gwynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection and probably my favourite book cover ever.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0 stars. An excellent collection of Conan stories by Robert E. Howard. This is classic pulp sword and sorcery at its best and done by the master himself. Of the four stories in this collection, my favorites were "The Slithering Shadow" (aka Xuthal of the Dusk) and "The Pool of the Black One", both of which have a very Lovecraftian feel to me (especially Slithering Shadow which features an Elder God right out of the Cthulhu mythos). The descriptions are vivid and exotic and the plots are dense with action and fast-paced. The very definition of a classic fun read.

[Johan Haneveld · Rating 4 out of 5]

To start with: I know these are not the Conan stories in the way Howard wrote them, being edited for publication in this editon by L. Sprague de Camp. Also one of the four stories is written by De Camp from an outline by Howard. Even so, these were the pocketbooks I found at a second hand book sale, and as I knew I had to try out these classics of the 'sword and sorcery'-genre one day, I bought a couple. Of course I was familiar with Conan the Barbarian from the Arnold Schwarzenegger movies (and the recent Jason Momoa one), and several comic books I read. He has become an archetype, being skewered by Terry Pratchett in the form of Cohen the Barbarian. Conan being reduced to a clichè kept me from seeking out the original stories, but now I find it is worthwile to return to the source and find out the undiluted waters from which the clichè draws its strength. Of course this is no high literature. And it's of its time, with its gender dynamics and race relations sometimes cringeworthy. Even so I found a lot to enjoy here. I myself like to write action and I found that in spades here. Swordfights and battles described with vigor, and a lot of adjectives ;-) - Howard was a great adventure writer and I was swept up in the stories. Also interesting how Howard used themes of cosmic horror (popularised by Lovecraft) and gave a lot of these stories a very eery aspect. There are old gods here with madness inducing and unexplained powers that would drive Lovecrafts protagonists mad. But they form a great contrast with Conan who is so full of life (and of himself) that he remains unfazed, not letting his grasp on life be threatened by something he does not understand. It gives just the right amount of tension - because, well, human antagonists wouldn't stand a chance against Conan, so that would not lead to excitement. And all without slipping into horror. I read these stories with a huge grin plastered on my face and will seek out more. If you like action filled stories with swords, wizards, old gods, ladies with lithe limbs and supple forms and lots of body parts flying around (the sword and sorcery genre), this is a classic you mustn't miss. Alsof if you're interested in the history of the fantasygenre and the influences on it, this is an important source. Sad to realise Howard only lived to the age of 30. One wonders how his style would have devoloped over another ten, twenty years, and what classics he would have wrote if he had had the chance to grow older. Still, his legacy will remain for aeons to come ...

[Florin Pitea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good.

[Jim Kuenzli · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember picking up a copy of this at a used bookstore around the time the Robert Jordan Conan Tor books were on the shelves. The first thing I noticed was how much more vivid the writing style seemed. Night and day. It was my first real introduction to Howard's work. I will always remember reading The Slithering Shadow, better known as Xuthal of the Dusk. Nice collection of stories here. Classics. I think I bought about 25 Howard books from the used bookstore right after reading this. This was well over 30 years ago. I still have them all, and have added many more.

[Josh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Conan The Adventurer is a collection of four short stories, each showcasing Conan’s brute strength and penchant for violence; The People of the Black Circle (wizardry mixed with a dangerous sojourn across a troubled land), The Slithering Shadow (fantasy pulp with a twist of the supernatural), The Pool of the Black One (a departure from traditional Conan tales featuring a ‘side-kick’ as the main character), and Drums of Tombalku (a story which offers a change of scenery, pitting Conan on a tropical island to duke it out with the murderous inhabitants).

The Slithering Shadow was by far the best story in the collection, followed closely by The People of the Black Circle; both of which had more depth and deviation from the sheer brutality the Conan stories are renowned for. I couldn’t get into the last two stories, mostly because of the prolonged fight sequences which grew ever more tiresome the longer the collection went on. The ridiculousness of Conan steadily defeating near entire armies was just too repetitive for me.

Never without a wanton woman caught in a perennial cycle of role-playing the damsel in distress, Conan’s sexual prowess is as much on display throughout this collection as is his proficiency on the battlefield; to summarise, this collection is pure sword and sorcery with a heavy serving of pulp.

[Κεσκίνης Χρήστος · Rating 5 out of 5]

ΜΟΝΟ ΚΟΝΑΝ! Όσο υπάρχουν βιβλία του, ακόμη και αν δεν είναι γραμμένα από τον Howard, το Sword n Sorcery δε θα πεθάνει!

[Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

L. Sprague de Camp's CONAN anthologies are notorious for de Camp's meddling with the original Conan stories - he often finished unfinished tales, for instance. However, these books were my first exposure to the king of heroic fantasy, so they'll always have a special place in my heart.

DRUMS OF TOMBALKU is the weakest story here, which comes as little surprise as it's one of the stories that de Camp finished. The beginning of the story is very similar to that of THE SLITHERING SHADOW, also collected here, and Conan doesn't seem to be around for a great deal. There's one set-piece, with our hero battling a glowing-eyed god, which is tremendous fun though.

THE SLITHERING SHADOW fares better, a familiar story absolutely packed to the gunnels with action. Conan and a female companion face death by dehydration in a scorching desert - until they find a walled city, seemingly deserted, which hides an awful secret. Shadowy gods, our hero cutting dozens of the enemy to pieces, a final encounter with the villainous Thog and a whipping scene - it's all present.

The other two stories collected here are among the best of the canon. THE PEOPLE OF THE BLACK CIRCLE begins somewhat muddled, with dozens of different tribesmen vying for the reader's attention. It soon picks up, offering great action and a superb climax in which Conan, an ally and an army of hill-men venture into the Castle of the Black Seers to face off against some gruesome black magic.

THE POOL OF THE BLACK ONE is a seafaring yarn, as Conan and his fellow sailors find a remote island inhabited by black men who worship voodoo magic. Conan is at his most primal and Howard at his bloodiest, and the culmination is blood-drenched tale of epic adventure.

[George K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Πρόκειται για ένα βιβλίο που περιέχει τέσσερις ιστορίες μέσα, μια μεγάλη νουβέλα 100 σελίδων και τρεις μικρότερες 35-40 σελίδων η καθεμία. Είναι το τρίτο βιβλίο του Χάουαρντ που διαβάζω, και πραγματικά χόρτασα δράση, μακελειά, τσεκουριές, σπαθιές, μαχαιριές, μπουνιές, κλωτσιές, σκοτεινά και τρομερά τοπία, τρομακτικά κτίρια, πλάσματα βγαλμένα από την κόλαση, και δεν συμμαζεύεται. Σίγουρα ένα αξιολογότατο έργο της καλής παλπ λογοτεχνίας.

Αυτό που έχω να πω είναι ότι διάβασα τέσσερις συναρπαστικές ιστορίες, που είχαν μέσα πάρα πολλά πράγματα, εκτός από την δράση και τα τρομερά τοπία, είχαν και αρκετό τρόμο και μυθολογία κθούλου. Η ατμόσφαιρα φυσικά γαμάτη και οι περιγραφές τοπίων, ανθρώπων και σκηνών δράσης εξαιρετικές, με την επιλογή των λέξεων για να περιγράψει κάτι να είναι τρομερή. Ήδη δηλώνω φαν του κυρίου Χάουαρντ.

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the Lancer Conans. Some of you will hate them because they are not only NOT the pure Howard stories, but they also include stories made from notes and pastiches by other authors. I enjoyed them, maybe not so much as the pure Howard stories, but they are good. I don't have all of them anymore and they are hard to find...if you can find them they are worth a try. Wish someone would reissue them.

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard to beat the original Conan. The character never dies... Conan is forever.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some Conan stories edited by L. Sprague de Camp. It's not bad but many of the stories would have been better without the editing. The Frazetta cover is one of the best on the Conan series, though.

[Drew Canole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Contains:
The People of the Black Circle
The Slithering Shadow (AKA Xuthal of the Dusk)
The Pool of the Black One

Drums of Tombalku (written from a REH draft) also adapted in Savage Sword 21

[Robert Mckay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't remember, now, whether this was the first Conan book I ever read. I think it was, but after 40+ years I just can't be sure. What I do know is that it's my favorite, and that it contains my favorite Conan story, "People of the Black Circle." That story to me encapsulates the essence of Conan the barbarian.

And yet it's not a typical story. Though Conan did spend several years, off and on, in the eastern part of the Hyborian world, corresponding to our Middle East and Far East (this story involves analogs of India and Afghanistan, something that struck me the first time I read it), his strongest associations are with the western realms, in what corresponds to our Europe and Africa. Knowing Conan as I do now, it seems slightly strange for him to be fighting with the hill tribes, when I know that he fits in better in western armies and settings.

Nevertheless, I do love that story, and I do love this book. Here we have the very best of Conan, whether by Robert E. Howard alone, or with the help of posthumous collaborations (which isn't a new concept - August Derleth did it with H.P. Lovecraft...and both Derleth and Howard were members of what we know as the Lovecraft Circle, other writers who corresponded regularly with the Providence master of horror; as a matter of fact - and yes, I'm digressing - Howard wrote a great horror story called "Pigeons From Hell").

I think that if you enjoy sword and sorcery fiction, you'll love this book. If, on the other hand, the idea of mere entertainment, without any attempt to promulgate profound social ideas, turns you off, then probably you ought to steer far clear of Conan, whether in this book or any other.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Premesso che è sempre un piacere leggere Howard, nello specifico le avventure del Cimmero, anche quelle che ho letto tante volte da impararle quasi a memoria, devo dire che ho apprezzato questo secondo volume più del primo: leggendo quest'ultimo infatti avevo avuto una sensazione di "confusione" e mi ero sentito un po' un pesce fuor d'acqua, forse per l'ordine diverso in cui i racconti sono stati disposti, forse per il primo impatto con i pastiche. Ad ogni modo, qua i pastiche sono solo due, il racconto "Il pugnale di fiamma" e l'ultima parte del volume, il lungo racconto intitolato "Conan il bucaniere". Mi capita spesso di pensare, se Howard avesse continuato a vivere, come si sarebbero evoluti i suoi personaggi, quante storie ancora sarebbero state scritte - di suo pugno quantomeno, dato che di collaborazioni postume ce ne sono state eccome - e come avrebbe preso Howard stesso il successo che ha graziato personaggi come Conan sopra ogni altro, ma anche Kull, Solomon Kane e altri. Ho avuto qualche perplessità sulle traduzioni, forse perché abituato a quelle dei vecchi volumi della Newton Compton, ma ogni tanto lo sguardo mi è caduto su parole che suonavano un po' stonate in bocca al buon Conan, o anche nelle descrizioni di luoghi, ambienti e personaggi. Al di là di tutto questo, è sempre bello per me poter pensare che uno dei miei eroi è sempre pronto a saltare in sella, o imbarcarsi, o finire nel bel mezzo di qualche nuova storia.

[Cesare Bartolini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Questo libro, come la maggior parte di quelli di Conan, è una raccolta di racconti completamente autonomi (ancorché scritti in periodi abbastanza vicini uno all'altro), e solo successivamente integrati in una cronologia coerente della vita di Conan. Uno dei racconti è anche apocrifo, completato non da Howard ma da Sprague de Camp.

In generale, i racconti sono molto belli. Howard, come al solito, ha liberamente saccheggiato mezzo mondo per scrivere le storie di Conan. Il primo racconto è ambientato in una versione immaginaria del Medio Oriente, tra i monti della Turchia e l'Iran; i successivi due in ambientazioni ispirate al deserto africano; e l'ultima in una qualche isola di stampo ritualistico, forse caraibica.

In ogni caso si tratta di racconti dalla trama piuttosto complessa ed elaborata, in particolar modo il primo, con parti di azione ma anche storie di intrigo.

Conan si mostra qui come un personaggio più ambiguo rispetto ad altri libri, non sempre positivo, ma anche privo di scrupoli e senza troppe remore a prendersi quello che vuole in maniera violenta.

[Joe Santoro · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is my favorite cover of the series... not that any of them are bad.. but this one is just awesome.

Happily, the stories inside do it justice.. only one non-Howard one (and it's from an outline), and at that Drums of Tombalku is easily my favorite on de Camp's work. Sakaumbe is a great contrast to Conan, and Almaric makes a great sidekick. I would have like to have seen a bit more of the 'brother kings' thing explored, but, as is every situation when Conan gets to the top of a heap, it never lasts long.

It's funny reading People of the Black Circle after all the various and sundry comic adaptations of things... Yasmina is really far more deep as created by Howard as some of the others that Marvel did better with (like Belit).

[Marcus de Babilonia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nunca había leído a Conan, al final ha sido justo lo que me esperaba, aventuras desordenadas en tierras lejanas, muy entretenido, sobre todo por el mundo, rico en personajes y descripciones, pero por como está escrito no apasiona demasiado y está lleno de clichés, esperable de un clásico de aventuras

[Leonardo Paterno · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, with a lot of different adventures of Conan. The People of Black Circle best chapter ever!!

[DJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I prefer Dogs over Lads. still good.

[David Sarkies · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first taste of an original Conan story
30 June 2012

This is the first proper Conan books that I have read with the previous one simply being a novelisation of the John Milius movie. I guess I enjoyed the novelisation because I love, and still love, the movie, but with this book we pretty much go back to the 1930s (in some cases) to experience the original Conan stories that appeared the the pulp magazine Weird Tales. The book contains four stories, not short stories but novellas, three of them original Howard works and one of them written by de Camp from some of the notes that Howard left behind.
After reading this collection I now understand why my friend, and others, make mention of the difference between the two authors. In a way de Camp was never going to be able to truly replicate Howard's work simply because he was not Howard and as such was only able to attempt to reproduce Howard's unpublished works, so when he sat down to create the stories from Howard's original notes, there was always going to be a substantial difference. Further, Howard wrote pre-Tolkien while de Camp was writing post Tolkien so the influences on each of the authors was going to no doubt be different.
One thing that I have to do before continuing is to quote from the opening of the Slithering Shadow, the quote that pretty much describes the Conan novels, particularly those of Howard:

He stood like a bronze image in the sand, apparently impervious to the murderous dun, though his only garment was a silk loin-cloth, girdled by a wide gold-buckled belt from which hung a sabre and a broad-bladed poniard. On his clean-cut limbs were evidences of scarcely healed wounds.
At his feet rested a girl, one white arm clasping his knee, against which her blonde head drooped. Her white skin contrasted with his hard, bronzed limbs; her short silken tunic low-necked and sleeveless, girdled at the waist, emphasised rather than concealed her lithe figure.

Well, that pretty much sums up what Conan is about, both with the original Howard stories and the de Camp re-edits. The world is a harsh and barren world set before recorded history, populated with scantily clad men and women, with the woman being powerless without the protection of a powerful warrior. A friend of mine suggested that Conan was more like a Cthulu novel than a fantasy adventure story, and having read three of Howard's stories I am now inclined to agree. However they can be confusing because with the way Howard drafted the stories there is almost an implied knowledge of the world that the reader should have and despite the world being based on our own, and the many countries he visits based on our own, unless you are aware of that then there are going to be difficulties in following the story.
As mentioned, there are four stories in this book, the first dealing with the abduction of a princess from Afghanistan after the king of India is killed. The second involved Conan travelling through the desert with a woman looking for water and stumbling on a lost city with some very nasty surprises inside. The third is one of de Camp's stories, and seems to be very similar to the second story (which is also set in a desert) however for half of the story Conan isn't even around and we are following one of his friends. The final one I quite liked where Conan joins a pirate ship where the captain has decided to attempt to cross the Western Ocean, and in doing so finds himself on a tropical island which holds a dark secret.
In a way this last story reminded me a lot of parts of the Odyssey. In this story the crew run onto the island and gouge themselves with fruit which causes them to fall asleep. While Conan is exploring the island (after killing the captain so that he can take command of the crew) he discovers some humanoids taking the crew back to their city to sacrifice them to some horrid beast. As mentioned, these stories sound very Lovecraftian, particularly when they are being chased by demonic beasts that cannot be killed, however Conan is not a horror story, but rather a tale of high adventure set in a world lost in the mists of time.

[Andrew Caldwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like many this was my first taste of Conan and RE Howard, way back in 1988. I didn't totally get it then. Until then my fantasy diet had been mostly epic high fantasy, JRR Tolkien, Raymond Feist with the Dragon-Lance novels thrown in. My only taste of heroic fantasy was David Gemmel. I found Conan too gritty, too dark. I could not as a teenager get to grips with a hero who could cold-bloodily kill a man who'd rescued him in order to steal his ship, his woman and his crew - this was no clean cut hero, no paladin. But that I later realised is the point. He's a barbarian! Nearly thirty years later these are the stories I come back to again and again. The shades of grey, the 'weird' 'pulpy' language and the world so close to ours yet not is a place I love to frequent.

'The Pool of the Black One' is one of my very favourite stories of all time, gripping, terrifying and utterly fantastic.

The other three stories are all excellent, Drums of Tombalku is interesting in that it's written pretty much from another character's perspective, with Conan Stepping in. The first half of this story is all REH from an unfinished draft, second half is finished by SLC and it's good - I genuinely don't understand the critical comments.

The other two stories are superb classic REH. 'The Slithering Shadow' (sometimes called 'Xuthal of the Dusk') is a fairly 'racy' story of a lost culture in decline and decay. While the opener, (which is also the longest story in this collection), 'The People Of the Black Circle' is a full on adventure of magic, violence and passion.

The cover of course has to be mentioned .... This is Conan!

[Redsteve · Rating 3 out of 5]

One novella and three short stories. "The People of the Black Circle" (the novella) is set in the Hyborian equivalents of India and Afghanistan and features magic, intrigue, and battle. It's a good story and has a fairly complicated plot by Conan standards. Strangely "The Slithering Shadow" and the first half of "The Drums of Tombalku" (one of Howard's uncompleted tales, finished by de Camp using the original outline) are essentially the same story, featuring the last survivor or a great battle finding an ancient lost city of dreamers who are being gradually killed off by a Lovecraftian-type god, and, of course, a girl in peril. Interesting, the first of these stories is straight-up Conan, while the entire lost city part of the second tale focuses on Amalric of Aquilonia, with Conan not even appearing until later. The last story in this collection "The Pool of the Black One" is generic Conan, but does provide a connection between the earlier short stories and CONAN THE BUCCANEER (#6), the first full length novel in the series. I enjoyed the "The People of the Black Circle"; the rest of the stories were only so-so.

[Al · Rating 4 out of 5]

Conan is great, but there is no substitute for the original, Conan by Robert E. Howard. Three out of these four stories are the original Robert Howard, and boy, can you tell the difference from those who tried to finish his unfinished stories, much less write new ones. No comparison. This is life the way it never was, but should have been-- at least, if you were Conan. Anyway, that's it for me and the Conan canon, and a great ride it was.

[Karen-Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

ntroduction-L. Sprague de Camp
The People of the Black Circle-Robert E. Howard-Weird Tales 9/34
The Slithering Shadow-Robert E. Howard-Weird Tales 9/33
Drums of Tombalku
The Pool of the Black One-Robert E. Howard-Weird Tales 10/33

[Harold · Rating 4 out of 5]

GREAT read!

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

First read this book when I was a teen. Conan set the stage for Game of Thrones and the whole sword and sorcery thing.

[Stuart Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Conan, what will we do if they keep coming back to life?"
"Then I will keep killing them until they stay dead."
Pure Conan. The Cimmerian continues his adventures, and for a man of the Northern mountains spends a great deal of time in the desert. He follows his normal path, either joining a standing army as a mercenary captain or leading a band of brigands in looting and stealing. Conan, as can also be seen in his gambling, isn't the luckiest of men. He invariably ends up on the losing side and is generally the lone survivor of his massacred band. But he gets through it, finds another group to link up with, and along the way picks up a comely wench or beauteous queen or sexy witch who crave the embrace of his steely thews. Then he dumps them before the next story.
Noteable this time is that Conan actually achieves his goal and becomes a king. It is just his kind of kingdom, full of murder and mayhem and violence and Conan is living the happiest days of his life. Even then he can't be satisfied. In a revealing dialogue, Conan, when he has all the wine, women, and gold he could ever ask for, seeks to attack the Western tribes. Asked what he would do after conquering them Conan states he would conquer the Eastern tribes. Then the South, and finally the North. Then he might consider retirement.
There are demons and magicians and unclimbable mountains and endless deserts, large scale battles and individual combat, mythical cities and an ocean cruise to an unknown isle. All along Conan is at his best and, except the part where he is nearly flayed to death, exceptionally cheery throughout. He only worries about the next source of plunder and adventure, not letting the little troubles of life get in his way.
"He was my friend and a good man. Now he's dead and we're alive. Let's move."