The People of the Black Circle

by Robert E. Howard

Contains four of the finest stories of Conan: The People Of the Black Circle, The Devil In Iron, A Witch Shall Be Born, And Jewels of Gwahlur. The People of the Black Circle is one of the original novellas about Conan the (barbarian) Cimmerian. It was first published in Weird Tales magazine in three parts over the September, October and November 1934 issues. It is set in the pseudo-historical Hyborian Age and concerns Conan kidnapping a regal princess of Vendhya (pre-historical India) and foiling a nefarious plot of world domination by the Black Seers of Yimsha. Due to its epic scope and atypical Hindustan flavor, the story is considered an undisputed classic of Conan lore and is often cited by Howard scholars as one of his best tales. It is also one of the few Howard stories where the reader is treated a deeper insight on magic and magicians beyond the stereotypical Hyborian depiction as demon conjurer-illusionist-priests.

Genres: Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Fiction, Pulp, Adventure, Speculative Fiction, Audiobook

293 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1977

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

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of four of Howard's Conan tales, "restored" by editor Karl Edward Wagner to Howard's original versions (or, perhaps, to Weird Tales 1934-'35 versions), rather than the edited iterations presented in the famous and popular Carter/de Camp Lancer/Ace series. I honestly didn't note any differences when I re-read them, but they're fine heroic fantasy tales, among the best the sword & sorcery genre ever offered. Wagner provides an interesting foreword and afterword, and my Berkley edition has a nifty expansion of the Ken Kelly cover (whom they should have been ashamed for not acknowledging) bound within. Good stuff, by Crom!

[Will Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

“ The Devil in Iron”- 4* - formulaic but entertaining
“ The People of the Black Circle” -4*- one of Howard’s best and a “ must read” classic Conan story
“ A Witch shall be Born”- 4 *- Salome was a great villain and one of the most Iconic Conan scenes comes from this story ( do not want to spoil it here). Although I do wish this one was longer. There is enough material here where it could have been expanded to a full length novel
“ The Jewels of Gwahlur” -3 * another formulaic one like “ devil in iron” but not as good. This would be the weakest of the bunch but not bad.

[Michael Sorbello · Rating 4 out of 5]

People of the Black Circle - 4/5

Man, Robert knew how to start a visceral, bloody and blindingly fast fantasy adventure and keep consistent pace. Nothing like a good adrenaline rush from beginning to end. One of the best in the series yet Hour of the Dragon remains my favorite.

***
The Devil in Iron - 3/5

Not even close to the best, but simple Conan fun. It feels like several of the older stories stitched together with a few unrealized new ideas. Not bad, but feels uninspired and doesn’t bring anything new to the expanding universe. Just like Queen of the Black Coast, the villain doesn’t offer much either.

***
A Witch Shall Be Born - 4/5

A queen is dethroned by her evil twin that was once thrown out into the desert and left to die because she was born with the mark of a witch. The outcasted sister builds up her powerful magic and hatred over the years and turns it against the kingdom that left her to die. The sister steals the queen's place on the throne and commits countless atrocities in her name.

Conan comes along to make the evil sister pay for her crimes and restore the glory of the true queen. A thrilling tale of deception and sisterly betrayal. I ended up feeling a bit sorry for the villain this time around, I can't blame her for hating a world that cursed her to such a tragic fate the moment she was born. Salome is one of the most sympathetic villains in the entire Conan the Barbarian series.

***
Jewels of Gwahlur - 3/5

Conan battles his way through Gwahlur in search of ancient jewels and riches but ends up empty handed. Although his original mission ended in failure, he got to experience the thrill of bloodshed and brought a girl that resembled a real goddess back home with him, so perhaps his journey for treasure wasn't a total waste after all. Not the best of Conan, but still a fun and quick read.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can't go wrong with Conan, especially written by Robert E. Howard himself. Plus it has this great color foldout poster.

[Perry Whitford · Rating 3 out of 5]

When a young king pleads with his sister to end his ensorcellment and taking his life, she tearfully does the deed. Heeding his dying words and reading the Book of Skelos, she learns of those whose magic destroyed him, swearing her revenge on the enigmatic Black Seers of Mount Yimsha.

Traveling up into her kingdoms northern border to meet with the leader of the tribes around the mountains,none other than Conan himself, she plans to enlist the barbarian in her struggle, leading to his furthest flung adventure.

The People of the Black Circle is also the longest of the Conan stories written by Howard up to that point, twice the usual length. He took advantage of the additional room to introduce more plot complications, add some depth to the supporting characters and developing a more pervasive atmosphere of dread.

There is much to enjoy in the longer form, but unfortunately there is almost as much to regret. Sure, each story usually contains at least one passage of excruciating prose, but the second part of this one was positively drenched in them. There's really no excuse for this sort of thing:

'She was a quivering atom of sentiency driven through a black, roaring, icy void by a thundering wind that threatened to extinguish her feeble flicker of animate life'.

Then again, less is more was hardly a mission statement for Weird Tales.

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

A Howard collection...one volume from 1977. I incorrectly referred to these '77 books as novels. They are one volume Narratives. But still good if you can find them.

[Drew Canole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Also contains a mini poster, The Devil in Iron, A Witch Shall Be Born, Jewels of Gwahlur. Should be unaltered from the original stories.

[Dfordoom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sword and sorcery with a large dash of horror, very dark. Pulpy, but wonderfully entertaining.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

These Short Stories of Conan are so interesting. The Author wrote so descriptive and made things so fluid. I have read this book numerous times and never get tired of reading it

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining reading 📘

I read this as part of the Conan: The Barbarian complete collection in 2018

Robert E. Howard is one of my favortite authors. I started reading the Conan paper back novels in the 1960s. I would highly recommended this novel and author to reads of action novels. 2018

[Vämpiriüs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kniha povídek svalnatého Cimmerského barbara s jednoduchou zápletkou v podobě nahé krásky v nesnázích. Trochu mi to připomíná styl psaní Tolkiena, ale to je zřejmě dáno obdobím, kdy byla kniha sepsána. Každopádně jsou povídky velmi zábavné a oddechové. Kniha má rychlý spád bez zdržování s mírně hororovou atmosférou.

[Brick Hardslab · Rating 5 out of 5]

This edition of People of the Black Circle came with a Frank Frazzetta poster on the inside cover. I believe it is still there on my edition I bought back when. My date on reading this is just an estimation. I had read the story before that and after that as well.

This is probably the finest and most 'pure' Conan story. Plot is fast paced but understandable. The action is believable but still heroic in scope and the dialogue is still compelling after decades. Some of the lines have even made it into other works of adventure. It is a classic. I love the Oriental mysticism, martial arts (yes it's in there) and the fiery action.

This is not the Conan of the movies. He's fallible and foolish sometimes and not the shirtless superman of later years. This would actually make a great movie. The story is a novella length but if I remember correctly it is in there with another story.

Well worth the price and if you can find it with the poster it is just a bonus.

[Little Timmy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Robert E. Howard is my all time favorite writer, but for many years much of his work was heavily edited. This is another of the heavily edited collections of Robert E. Howard's stories. I am a purist when it comes to a writers works. I know some of these stories are no longer PC but they should be read as Howard wrote them and understood that he wrote in another time period. Don't read this book unless you just can't find any others of Howard's unedited books to read. Message me if you need a list of what is good from this awesome fantasy and action writer.

[Devowasright · Rating 4 out of 5]

having only read the L. Sprague de Camp editions as a child, it was quite a surprise to find the books in this series, copied verbatim from the original Weird Tales issues. If you are a genre, or Conan, fan, these are a must read, but be forewarned, they are of their time- racially insensitive, violent, and unapologetic, but no worse than Burrough's original Tarzan stories.

[Ray Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely silly as always--Conan and his band of bandits against 4 evil wizards. But the story is entertaining, full of weirdo characters, whose crass motivations always revolve around either revenge or money. And Conan himself is hilarious. Like Beowulf, a constant braggart but a charming and intelligent one as well.

[Debra]

Stephen King recommended book as noted in Chapter 9 of Berkley's 1983 paperback edition of Danse Macabre.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of Howard's original Conan stories presented with minimal to no editing. Excellent.

[Keith B · Rating 5 out of 5]

First, I own every Conan book and story written and also everything written by Robert E. Howard. Prolific and amazing author. Probably 5th or 6th time reading this book.

[Jacob Aitken · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't think People of the Black Circle is as exciting as Red Nails, but it's probably a close second. There is a clever twist at the end and the character build-up is quite good.

[Simon Cressey · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can't beet the classic real good read

[Seth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, enjoyable, but very predictable. The book was a good time, and great for the fun it was. Not incredible though so only recommended for people who want a lighter read in fantasy.

[Анатолій Волков · Rating 5 out of 5]

«Люди Черного круга» Еще один довольно длинный рассказ, или можно сказать повесть о Конане Киммерийском. На этот раз история разворачивается в Виндии (Индия). Правитель этой страны погибает от колдовства страшного братства, называющего себя Людьми Черного круга. Сестра правителя и наследница престола решает отомстить колдунам с помощью варвара Конана который командует горцами в приграничных горах. Однако она не учла, что у варвара могут быть свои взгляды и методы, похитив наследницу Конан хочет обменять ее на своих пленных собратьев, но и тут вмешиваются колдуны черного круга и похищают девушку, этого уже Конан стерпеть не может и горе тем колдунам, которые перешли ему дорогу.
Все антагонисты Конана, так или иначе, будь то колдуны, цари или даже боги не тянут на достаточно сильных соперников для варвара, сразу становится понятно, что Конан одолеет всех и вся, по крайней мере, талант писателя не создал такого хитрого и ловкого персонажа, который своей харизмой и силой мог бы противостоять Конану.

[Ace McGee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic Robert E. Howard, written at the height of his career. This addition contains no emendations, no completed fragments, no pastiches. These stories are reprinted exactly as they were originally in Weird Tales.

Personally, I feel Howard should be required reading for anyone wishing to beef up their lack luster, 21st century vocabulary with some arcane words from the past. Voivode, Hetman, gorget- words that Google spell refuses to identify. Guerdon, debouch, merlon- words your going to secret in your back pocket, just waiting for time you can carelessly toss them out. “Well, for that guerdon, who wouldn’t?” you’ll say to your smart ass brother-in-law and chuckle as he surreptitiously heads to the OED.!

And if that’s not enough don’t forget Conan. Magic, demons, scantily clad heroines in dire need, overwhelming odds, and his trade mark, ‘slash first and talk, well never’, attitude.

[Phortunes Tolde · Rating 2 out of 5]

I knew this was pulp going in but the same woman was referred to as “slut”, “slave”, and “goddess” within three pages and my head spun a little bit.
Could not finish: DNF.
These are well executed pieces of market fodder, good for study: I wanted to study sword and sorcery prose that had been praised by Stephen King.
I felt like a child (specifically a Boy) reading this. Not in a good way.
I expected something different from the covers, wrongfully.

[Steven Lomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the best, in terms of scope and depth, of the Conan stories. Don't get me wrong there's little characterisation, little for the women to wear, plenty of thinly disguised outdated attitudes and loads of mighty thews. Still this is an old school sword & sandals (with plenty of sorcery) adventure.

[Balazs Badics · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is actually a collection of average-quality 4 short Conan stories, all of them have their ratings at the individual story in Goodreads, here is just a summary of the ratings:
1) The People Of the Black Circle: 3 out of 5
2) The Devil In Iron: 3 out of 5
3) A Witch Shall Be Born: 2 out of 5
4) Jewels of Gwahlur: 3 out of 5

[Mike Jennings · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good old romp through a world of sorcerers, villains, heroes and damsels in distress. As a genre it doesn't appeal to me as much as a good western, (perhaps if I had muscles and more of a macho attitude it might have, ha ha).

[Sean Walczak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another very entertaining Conan story with a pleasantly unexpected ending. Lots of action and excitement, but it deftly avoids several opportunities to just be a run-of-the-mill sword and sorcery story. Definitely a recommended Conan story.

[Eric Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's Conan of course it's great.

[Robert Fenske · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of Howard's most unparalleled Conan adventures.