Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Conan: The Barbarian - Collected Adventures

Rate this book
Join Conan on his many adventures from mercenary and thief to king as he smites demons, fights wizards, battles against all odds, journeys to exotic lands, loves and lusts, uncovers hidden mysteries, and always refuses to yield!

This epic collection contains 20 of Robert E. Howard's stories about Conan the Barbarian.

These stories were originally published in Weird Tales magazine between 1933 and 1936.

The Conan stories included in the collection are:

1. The Frost Giant's Daughter (Gods of the North)
2. The God in the Bowl
3. The Tower of the Elephant
4. Rogues in the House
5. Shadows in the Moonlight (Iron Shadows in the Moon)
6. Black Colossus
7. Queen of the Black Coast
8. The Slithering Shadow (Xuthal of the Dusk)
9. A Witch Shall Be Born
10. The Devil in Iron
11. The People of the Black Circle
12. Shadows in Zamboula (Man-Eaters of Zamboula)
13. The Pool of the Black One
14. Beyond the Black River
15. The Black Stranger
16. Red Nails
17. Jewels of Gwahlur (The Teeth of Gwahlur)
18. The Phoenix on the Sword
19. The Scarlet Citadel
20. The Hour of the Dragon (Conan the Conqueror)

As an added bonus, also included in the set are:

The Hyborian Age—Conan's World (This is Howard's background essay on the world of Conan)

For ease of navigation, the anthology includes an interactive table of contents.

The stories in this collection are ordered roughly in chronological order from Conan's first adventures as a young mercenary adventurer and thief to his final epic clashes as a king and are based on the Rippke chronology.

About Conan:

Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp fiction magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, several films (including Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer), television programs (cartoon and live-action), video games, role-playing games and other media. The character was created by writer Robert E. Howard in 1932 via a series of fantasy stories published in Weird Tales magazine.

Conan the Character:

Conan is a Cimmerian. From Robert E. Howard's writings (The Hyborian Age among others) it is known that the Cimmerians were based on the Celts or Gaels. He was born on a battlefield and is the son of a village blacksmith. Conan matured quickly as a youth and, by age fifteen, he was already a respected warrior who had participated in the destruction of the Aquilonian outpost of Venarium. After its demise, he was struck by wanderlust and began the adventures chronicled by Howard, encountering skulking monsters, evil wizards, tavern wenches, and beautiful princesses. He roamed throughout the Hyborian Age nations as a thief, outlaw, mercenary, and pirate. As he grew older, he began commanding larger units of men and escalating his ambitions. In his forties, he seized the crown of the tyrannical king of Aquilonia, the most powerful kingdom of the Hyborian Age, having strangled the previous ruler on the steps of the throne. Conan's adventures often result in him performing heroic feats, though his motivation for doing so is largely to protect his own survival or for personal gain.

700 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 22, 2016

362 people are currently reading
160 people want to read

About the author

Robert E. Howard

2,979 books2,641 followers
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.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
110 (57%)
4 stars
54 (28%)
3 stars
23 (11%)
2 stars
4 (2%)
1 star
1 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
Profile Image for Guilherme Passos.
Author 2 books32 followers
April 22, 2020
Talvez essa resenha eu fale coisa que não devia, mas vamo que vamo.

Se a galera do Pulp Fiction estivesse hoje, bem provavelmente seria um bando de incel que escreve muito bem. Vamos à obra!

Esse é o tipo de coisa que moldou muito do que foi o século XX. Homens musculosos, de poucas palavras, em que cada gesto é um gesto de virilidade e força e que o simples é olhar é suficiente para derreter a mais dura das mulheres. São heroicos, preferindo agir ao invés de pensar, não ligando para "frescuras' e luxos. Enquanto isso isso, as mulheres, mesmo as em posição de poder maior que do homem, são fracas, submissas, facilmente manipuláveis ou manipuladoras. A todo momento adjetivos como "cobra", "ensandecida" e palavras do tipo descrevem um espírito volátil e impossível de entender, já que os homens são simples e brutos.

Eu me pego pensando quanto Robert E. Howard via ele mesmo em Conan. Pode ser também que Robert mostrava nele uma sátira, mas acho difícil, conheço quase nada do autor, se alguém souber me diga. Conan é indestrutível, enfrentando com a pele o aço e fazendo até mesmo de uma faca uma arma de distribuição em massa. Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Van Dame e todos os brucutus que crescemos assistindo só existem porque existiu Conan. E sua influência não deve ter parado por aí. Essa ideia de alfa man tão perpetuada por influencers, coachs e toda essa galera fã de heróis de ação e Peaky Blinders, do "bom era antigamente", "geração mimimi", todo esse povo recorre a figura mítica de um gigante musculoso com uma tanga, longos cabelos, que seduz mulheres simplesmente puxando-as para perto. Visto tudo isso, agora vamos aos motivo de eu gostar tanto.

Rapaz, como é bem escrito. Todas as descrições são primorosas. O que falta de descrição em Lovecraft (contemporâneo), eu encontrei aqui. Muitas vezes criaturas que provavelmente foram influenciadas pelos "Mythos" ou de fontes parecidas (civilizações antigas e civilizações colonizadas por europeus) são tratadas de forma tão magistral que eu me peguei pensando no que seria um Chamado de Cthulhu ou Nas montanhas da loucura na mão do Howard. Quando você suspende sua descrença, um universo inteiro se abre diante da sua mente. E quanto mais se fala desse universo, mais se quer saber sobre.

Essa história só poderia ter sido escrita tão bem, na época que foi. Finalzinho da hegemonia europeia pelo mundo com suas colônias e expansionismo. Todos os povos não europeus eram bárbaros, estranhos, exóticos, mágicos e difíceis de compreender. Várias vezes, depois de muito descrever vilões, Howard apenas fala que "o negro" fez tal coisa, pois naquela época, isso já era suficiente para incomodar europeus e seus filhos preferidos, os norte-americanos. Conan viaja para um passado mítico e longínquo em que esse homem grande, branco e rústico era a última reserva de moralidade em um mundo em chamas. Me pergunto quantos dos incels, no fundo de suas almas, não se enxergam assim, cavalgando por tundras e desertos, levando sua espada e seu pênis enrijecido para os quatro cantos do planeta. Sem impedimentos, o mundo inteiro como um grande parque de diversões para homens que não cresceram.

Vale demais a leitura! E não to sendo irônico. Uma das melhores coisas que já li em questão de fantasia.
Profile Image for Steven Lomas.
83 reviews
December 28, 2021
This took a while to wade through! The Collected works consist of a literal bucket load of mightily thewed testosterone overloaded machismo. If you are a 'Sword & Sorcery' (low fantasy) fan this is the genre defining example of murder, mayhem, dubiously underdressed women, evil magic, theft, scantily clad supporting acts and manly battles. I know it's utter guff but it's definitely 'man-lit'.
Profile Image for Johannes.
2 reviews12 followers
March 6, 2019
Good book

I must say, i have never tried reading of Conan before now, but i thoroughly enjoyed all the stories.

I am generally a big fan of longer books woth more details and plots, but the stories are actually a nice escape from them.
Profile Image for Adam Sams.
7 reviews
September 6, 2018
It was good, but this version has some formatting issues. Would love to read the stories again with a better format/layout sometime in the future.
Profile Image for Tom McNellis.
Author 7 books2 followers
July 28, 2020
Conan has always been my fantasy hero of choice. Though long this collection was very enjoyable and is a great value .
Profile Image for Andy.
89 reviews4 followers
April 22, 2021
Uncomplicated. High adventure. Cults, snake gods, creepy wizards, beautiful women, pirates, ancient cities and nations. It's Conan. You're in or you're not. For 800 pages, I was all in.
Profile Image for J.A. Flynn.
Author 7 books5 followers
March 3, 2025
This was my intro to the Conan stories. During the years of the COVID pandemic, I wanted to escape. I loved Game of Thrones and wanted more fantasy. But I didn't want to get into a 700 page epic with lots of characters.

When I learned the Conan stories were short, I jumped in. I read stories from about 9-11 at night. I was swept away by Howard's prose. I had never read an author like him. I remember running downstairs to my dad, telling him how excited I was.

After reading the stories, I even had the honor to visit Howard's home in Cross Plains.

Conan changed the way I write. Howard showed me new prose and new avenues of inspiration. He became my favorite author quite quickly once I learned more about him. This edition will always have a special place in my heart.
Profile Image for M.A..
118 reviews
June 15, 2022
The rhythmic and hyperbolic tones of Howard's prose spill mellifluously from the page as the epic deeds of the world's greatest barbarian are heralded in this timeless classic. This should be required reading of any fantasy aficionado. I was struck while reading this that the dialogue was perfect for Arnold Schwarzenegger - it was almost as if Howard wrote it knowing that the musclebound actor would one day arise and claim the mantle of Conan for himself.
Profile Image for Chris Vogel.
10 reviews
February 19, 2023
Sometimes we read for knowledge.
Sometimes we read to better ourselves.
And then sometimes that 14 year old teenage boy want to get out and play.
Conan, a true guilty pleasure.
My inner teen wants to give this 5 stars. The "Politically Correct" adult is ranting about 1 being too many. What is great about Robert E. Howard is you know exactly what you are getting.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.