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Conan: The Flame Knife
The hills of Hell. His life imperiled by the mistrust of a mad king, hunted by the armies of every nation of the Hyborian Age, the mighty Cimmerian, Conan, and a small band of loyal followers flee to the grim heights of the unmapped - and feared - Ilbars Mountains, in search of a stronghold they can make their own.
Instead, they find the midnight evil of the legendary Magus of the Sons of Yezm and his assassin followers... and even blacker horror spawned by the very hills themselves...
Instead, they find the midnight evil of the legendary Magus of the Sons of Yezm and his assassin followers... and even blacker horror spawned by the very hills themselves...
160 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 1, 1981
1 person is currently reading
150 people want to read
About the author
Robert E. Howard
2,990 books2,651 followersRobert 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
March 30, 2022
When you are reading "Strategies of Containment: A Critical Appraisal of American National Security Policy During the Cold War" you need something a little lighter to balance things out. Well, Conan is about perfect, since his strategy of containment is often a judicious application of extreme violence.
Now, I've read "The Flame Knife" in junior HS. I remember I bought it because I'd seen the movie, started reading Savage Sword of Conan comics and this novel was illustrated throughout by the amazing Esteban Maroto (which is actually how Ace fleshed out a novella into a short novel), best known for Eerie, Creepy and Vampirella, but who definitely had a Savage Sword vibe to his art. This book has stumbled along with me for decades now, through various moves, etc., and I saw it on my shelf and thought why not?
Part of what made me recall it was a recent review complaining about L. Sprague de Camp's "rape" of Howard's story "Three-Bladed Doom" to create "The Flame Knife", as this was originally a story set in early 20th century Afghanistan, and featuring a recurring character, the adventurer James Francis Gordon, called El Borak. Anyone who is a REH fan knows the story -- de Camp started bringing Howard's work back into print in the 1950s and fleshed out the Conan cycle by a) finishing unfinished manuscripts, b) taking unpublished manuscripts by Howard featuring other setting and characters and c) adding pastiche of his own, often with Lin Carter. It's become very vogue to trash de Camp's efforts, not least, perhaps, because of the truly awful biography of the man he wrote that reduced him to a neurotic with an oedipal complex. I don't really want to waste much space on the debate, or the fact that like most fandoms, REH fandom seems increasingly to lack nuance or a sense of context, so I'll leave it at my own summary going into any "posthumous collaboration" between Howard and de Camp.
1. At the time de Camp was doing this, Howard was almost forgotten, and it's largely thanks to him that changed. You can hate his alterations, just as many Lovecraft fans hate August Derleth, but you owe him a debt.
2. Posthumously finishing other writer's work goes at least back to Di0ckens.
3. Howard himself routinely took an historical story that failed to sell and made it into a Conan story, or vice-versa -- he was a pulp-writer who understood the need to sell to an audience, and I doubt this would have bothered him one wit.
4. This particular rewrite is from the 1950s -- there was an interest in CONAN, not HOWARD. All of the El Borak tales are now in print, but the interest in Howard's horror, adventure, historical stories all came from the desire for Conan, that was driven by de Camp's efforts in the 50s and 60s.
In other words -- I don't think rewriting Howard's work today would be kosher, but I think it was more so then, and it wasn't much different than what the author did in life. But is the story any good?
Meh.
Truth is, there is a reason that neither the 25k or the 45k word El Borak story is particularly good. Clearly it was Howard's attempt to emulate Talbot Mundy's "modern" adventure stories in Afghanistan and the Middle East with Harold Lamb's brilliant novella "Alamut" about a relic of the cult of Assassins still surviving in the 17th century. Unfortunately, Lamb did it far, far better, and de Camp's porting of the story to the Hyborian Age and adding two supernatural elements doesn't improve upon what is a serviceable, but hardly brilliant story.
If anything, it makes it worse, because de Camp tries to anchor the story in the Conan mythos by making one of the villains a character first seen in Howard's "A Witch Shall Be Born", and by adding a Yeti-like ape, and referring back to Conan's battles with similar creatures ("Rogues in the House" and "Shadows in the Moonlight") and then for good measuring throwing in some Lovecraft-esque ghouls in the last five pages of the story. It doesn't really work -- the addition of a fairly minor villain in a recurring role *should* be fun, but Oldegerd is not terribly impressive, does nothing to advance the story, and is summarily killed off in a paragraph long fight with Conan. He is only interesting because of "A Witch Shall Be Born"; otherwise, he could be "Villain with Sword #2". Mostly, what his presence does is diminish the character of the Magus (obviously the Hyborian "Old Man of the Mountain") who proves to be even less of a character than Oldegerd, and is dispatched even more dismissively.
The encounter with the ape is actually a pretty fun scene and de Camp does a better job of fitting his prose inside of Howard's but let's face it -- we've seen Conan fight apes/ape-men twice before. It's not new and lacks the emotional impact of Conan's strangely poignant encounter with Thak. The ghouls are a cool little final Deus Ex Machina; unfortunately they come on top of two others -- related to a framing device designed to get Conan and his mercenaries into the action, and then forgotten about for 90% of the novel.
This is a fun story with some clever ideas, but just as "Three-Bladed Doom" was not Howard's best work, de Camp's expansions did not make "The Flame Knife" one of the better "posthumous collaborations". It did, however, give me a pleasant night's read.
Now, I've read "The Flame Knife" in junior HS. I remember I bought it because I'd seen the movie, started reading Savage Sword of Conan comics and this novel was illustrated throughout by the amazing Esteban Maroto (which is actually how Ace fleshed out a novella into a short novel), best known for Eerie, Creepy and Vampirella, but who definitely had a Savage Sword vibe to his art. This book has stumbled along with me for decades now, through various moves, etc., and I saw it on my shelf and thought why not?
Part of what made me recall it was a recent review complaining about L. Sprague de Camp's "rape" of Howard's story "Three-Bladed Doom" to create "The Flame Knife", as this was originally a story set in early 20th century Afghanistan, and featuring a recurring character, the adventurer James Francis Gordon, called El Borak. Anyone who is a REH fan knows the story -- de Camp started bringing Howard's work back into print in the 1950s and fleshed out the Conan cycle by a) finishing unfinished manuscripts, b) taking unpublished manuscripts by Howard featuring other setting and characters and c) adding pastiche of his own, often with Lin Carter. It's become very vogue to trash de Camp's efforts, not least, perhaps, because of the truly awful biography of the man he wrote that reduced him to a neurotic with an oedipal complex. I don't really want to waste much space on the debate, or the fact that like most fandoms, REH fandom seems increasingly to lack nuance or a sense of context, so I'll leave it at my own summary going into any "posthumous collaboration" between Howard and de Camp.
1. At the time de Camp was doing this, Howard was almost forgotten, and it's largely thanks to him that changed. You can hate his alterations, just as many Lovecraft fans hate August Derleth, but you owe him a debt.
2. Posthumously finishing other writer's work goes at least back to Di0ckens.
3. Howard himself routinely took an historical story that failed to sell and made it into a Conan story, or vice-versa -- he was a pulp-writer who understood the need to sell to an audience, and I doubt this would have bothered him one wit.
4. This particular rewrite is from the 1950s -- there was an interest in CONAN, not HOWARD. All of the El Borak tales are now in print, but the interest in Howard's horror, adventure, historical stories all came from the desire for Conan, that was driven by de Camp's efforts in the 50s and 60s.
In other words -- I don't think rewriting Howard's work today would be kosher, but I think it was more so then, and it wasn't much different than what the author did in life. But is the story any good?
Meh.
Truth is, there is a reason that neither the 25k or the 45k word El Borak story is particularly good. Clearly it was Howard's attempt to emulate Talbot Mundy's "modern" adventure stories in Afghanistan and the Middle East with Harold Lamb's brilliant novella "Alamut" about a relic of the cult of Assassins still surviving in the 17th century. Unfortunately, Lamb did it far, far better, and de Camp's porting of the story to the Hyborian Age and adding two supernatural elements doesn't improve upon what is a serviceable, but hardly brilliant story.
If anything, it makes it worse, because de Camp tries to anchor the story in the Conan mythos by making one of the villains a character first seen in Howard's "A Witch Shall Be Born", and by adding a Yeti-like ape, and referring back to Conan's battles with similar creatures ("Rogues in the House" and "Shadows in the Moonlight") and then for good measuring throwing in some Lovecraft-esque ghouls in the last five pages of the story. It doesn't really work -- the addition of a fairly minor villain in a recurring role *should* be fun, but Oldegerd is not terribly impressive, does nothing to advance the story, and is summarily killed off in a paragraph long fight with Conan. He is only interesting because of "A Witch Shall Be Born"; otherwise, he could be "Villain with Sword #2". Mostly, what his presence does is diminish the character of the Magus (obviously the Hyborian "Old Man of the Mountain") who proves to be even less of a character than Oldegerd, and is dispatched even more dismissively.
The encounter with the ape is actually a pretty fun scene and de Camp does a better job of fitting his prose inside of Howard's but let's face it -- we've seen Conan fight apes/ape-men twice before. It's not new and lacks the emotional impact of Conan's strangely poignant encounter with Thak. The ghouls are a cool little final Deus Ex Machina; unfortunately they come on top of two others -- related to a framing device designed to get Conan and his mercenaries into the action, and then forgotten about for 90% of the novel.
This is a fun story with some clever ideas, but just as "Three-Bladed Doom" was not Howard's best work, de Camp's expansions did not make "The Flame Knife" one of the better "posthumous collaborations". It did, however, give me a pleasant night's read.
February 19, 2015
Of the Conan books I have read, this may well be my favourite.
To begin with, the presentation is nice. The cover is exciting and well done by Sanjulian, whom I do not know otherwise. Conan seems to fight an ape or ape-like creature in every book, or that has been my experience, and the artists is either nodding at this fact or simply selected it as a cool subject. The interior art is by Esteban Maroto. There are a lot of interior illustrations, making this a semi-comic book (or graphic novel for you highbrow comic book fans). The art is high quality, and the artwork helps bring the novel to life. I generally don’t read comics, so this is experience is novel for me, so I may be ranking it higher than I would if I were familiar with the genre. If you don’t like comics much, think of this as a heavily illustrated book.
This book is by Howard/de Camp, and I find these to be grittier and more “pulp” than some of the other Conan tales by other authors. The story was originally set in the East with different characters, but de Camp reworked it, basically making Conan the protagonist and changing the setting. I’m not sure how I feel about this as I am not a Conan or Howard purist, but I don’t think the end result is bad. There is a lot of action, as is to be expected, and I found this kept my interest while reading. The secondary characters were decently portrayed for the space available, and this kept me interested, as well, because I like secondary characters—they really flesh out a world and story and make the book seem more real.
The title, The Flame Knife, has to do with an assassin cult whose emblem is said blade. Conan is the leader of a band of warriors in the service of the king of Iranistan. He is commanded to capture Balash, chief of a band of men opposed to the king. However, the man is Conan's friend, so the he sets out to warn him about the king’s decree. Both groups are attacked by the cultists, who capture Conan’s chick. The two groups unite to whup cultist tail, and rescue Conan’s love interest. The barbarian tracks them to their stronghold, where he becomes embroiled in a conflict with his old enemy Olgerd Vladislav, whom I like as an antagonist because he seems more three-dimensional that many of the token evil wizards with whom Conan vies in some of the other books. Oh, Conan fights the ape, too. The stronghold of the cultists is successfully assaulted, and everyone lives happily ever after…er, maybe not, but they do achieve their objective.
I think that this book is fine for what it is—an action, low fantasy tale set in the quasi-realistic Hyborean Age. It’s nice for a casual evening’s read. I am neutral about the “lavishly illustrated” (as the cover proclaims) aspect of the book, but I think, overall, it is worth your time to read.
To begin with, the presentation is nice. The cover is exciting and well done by Sanjulian, whom I do not know otherwise. Conan seems to fight an ape or ape-like creature in every book, or that has been my experience, and the artists is either nodding at this fact or simply selected it as a cool subject. The interior art is by Esteban Maroto. There are a lot of interior illustrations, making this a semi-comic book (or graphic novel for you highbrow comic book fans). The art is high quality, and the artwork helps bring the novel to life. I generally don’t read comics, so this is experience is novel for me, so I may be ranking it higher than I would if I were familiar with the genre. If you don’t like comics much, think of this as a heavily illustrated book.
This book is by Howard/de Camp, and I find these to be grittier and more “pulp” than some of the other Conan tales by other authors. The story was originally set in the East with different characters, but de Camp reworked it, basically making Conan the protagonist and changing the setting. I’m not sure how I feel about this as I am not a Conan or Howard purist, but I don’t think the end result is bad. There is a lot of action, as is to be expected, and I found this kept my interest while reading. The secondary characters were decently portrayed for the space available, and this kept me interested, as well, because I like secondary characters—they really flesh out a world and story and make the book seem more real.
The title, The Flame Knife, has to do with an assassin cult whose emblem is said blade. Conan is the leader of a band of warriors in the service of the king of Iranistan. He is commanded to capture Balash, chief of a band of men opposed to the king. However, the man is Conan's friend, so the he sets out to warn him about the king’s decree. Both groups are attacked by the cultists, who capture Conan’s chick. The two groups unite to whup cultist tail, and rescue Conan’s love interest. The barbarian tracks them to their stronghold, where he becomes embroiled in a conflict with his old enemy Olgerd Vladislav, whom I like as an antagonist because he seems more three-dimensional that many of the token evil wizards with whom Conan vies in some of the other books. Oh, Conan fights the ape, too. The stronghold of the cultists is successfully assaulted, and everyone lives happily ever after…er, maybe not, but they do achieve their objective.
I think that this book is fine for what it is—an action, low fantasy tale set in the quasi-realistic Hyborean Age. It’s nice for a casual evening’s read. I am neutral about the “lavishly illustrated” (as the cover proclaims) aspect of the book, but I think, overall, it is worth your time to read.
May 12, 2010
I gave this book a 4-star rating only because the illustrations are fabulous. This book is worth owning because, of all artists, Esteban Maroto draws the best Conan. This, of course, is my own simple opinion. I've been a Cimmerian fan for a long time, and Maroto is the only artist who draws Conan exactly the way I have always envisioned him... with the exception of Frank Frazetta, of course.
May 10, 2025
I bought this paperback as a teenager at the old Renaissance Books in Milwaukee. I mainly got it for the Esteban Maroto illustrations which are lovely. The text itself went unread for thirty years, even though the book followed me from city to city, continent to continent.
Now I have read it, and I can say the Maroto illustrations are still the best part and why I rated this as highly as I did.
Perused through the desert, Conan comes across a hidden city, home to an ancient cult. He is captured and spends the rest of the novella allying himself with beautiful women and hairy warriors, fighting a yeti, and escaping the dungeons.
De Camp took an unsold el Borak story by Howard and reshaped it into this. I spent the first third of the book trying to figure out what bits were Howard and which were de Camp, but I eventually abandoned this and just let the story go.
It's not a very good story, though. It certainly has its fair share of thrills and swashbuckling, but I feel like it needed an editor's care in making all the parts really come together. There's a number of out-of-nowhere surprises that really could have used some foreshadowing to help their believability.
Still...those Maroto illustrations are sumptuously detailed, sensual, and dynamic, just like a Conan story should be.
Now I have read it, and I can say the Maroto illustrations are still the best part and why I rated this as highly as I did.
Perused through the desert, Conan comes across a hidden city, home to an ancient cult. He is captured and spends the rest of the novella allying himself with beautiful women and hairy warriors, fighting a yeti, and escaping the dungeons.
De Camp took an unsold el Borak story by Howard and reshaped it into this. I spent the first third of the book trying to figure out what bits were Howard and which were de Camp, but I eventually abandoned this and just let the story go.
It's not a very good story, though. It certainly has its fair share of thrills and swashbuckling, but I feel like it needed an editor's care in making all the parts really come together. There's a number of out-of-nowhere surprises that really could have used some foreshadowing to help their believability.
Still...those Maroto illustrations are sumptuously detailed, sensual, and dynamic, just like a Conan story should be.
May 28, 2024
«Кинжалы Джезма» Конан опять не находит общего языка с правителями мира Хейборейской эры, на этот раз он наступил на хвост правителю Иранистана. Спасаясь бегством Конан и, его верные «казаки» + прихваченная из сераля, девушка попадают в загадочную страну Дружестан где орудует братство убийц под предводительством Великого магистра ордена Джезма.
Общие черты этой повести, как и многих других историй о Конане. Это наличие очередной новой, сексуальной барышни (что случилось с прошлыми история умалчивает). Также постоянные битвы и сражения, сначала одни бьются против одних, потом включаются третья сила, потом четвертая, все с друг другом объединяются и дерутся уже против других захватчиков, как правило призраков. В общем сплошная резанина. А еще есть, конечно, монстры, куда уж без них, у Говарда это обычно либо гигантские обезьяны, либо змеи, либо драконы, реже бывают тигры и пр.
Некоторые рассказы, включая этот были дописаны уже после смерти Говарда – Лайамом Спрэгом де Кампом. Вот интересно насколько в них осталось оригинального виденья Говарда, и насколько были переработаны другим автором.
Общие черты этой повести, как и многих других историй о Конане. Это наличие очередной новой, сексуальной барышни (что случилось с прошлыми история умалчивает). Также постоянные битвы и сражения, сначала одни бьются против одних, потом включаются третья сила, потом четвертая, все с друг другом объединяются и дерутся уже против других захватчиков, как правило призраков. В общем сплошная резанина. А еще есть, конечно, монстры, куда уж без них, у Говарда это обычно либо гигантские обезьяны, либо змеи, либо драконы, реже бывают тигры и пр.
Некоторые рассказы, включая этот были дописаны уже после смерти Говарда – Лайамом Спрэгом де Кампом. Вот интересно насколько в них осталось оригинального виденья Говарда, и насколько были переработаны другим автором.
July 18, 2024
Another day, another '50s Conan pastiche. Sorry, not a pastiche: a De Camp rewrite/re-vamp of a non-Conan Howard piece into the Conanverse. I've read a few of these now, this being the longest, more or less a novella, and, I have to say, they are *fun*. Revelatory they are not, but fun indeed. I'll spare any summarizations, but think: secret city of the Assassins, which Conan, well, doesn't exactly stumble upon, but, I'd say...tracks down. And a fun city it is. Other reviewers and scholars can clue you to the original specs of the Howard piece, which sure, I may read some day, but I have faith in De Camp's fun alterations, which include the requisite supernatural and/or Man-Ape. (Did I just say Man-Ape? I did, I did...) Dated? Certainly. A pulpy sort of fun? Yessir.
July 30, 2023
I rather liked this Conan book quite a bit even though it is one of those that was "finished" by Sprague De Camp. I'm not generally a fan of De Camp's work, so this one was a pleasant surprise to me. Pretty standard Conan affair up until the VERY last moment. That being said, there is no fat to be trimmed from this story. It is as efficient a Conan story as they come, and with the pictures, this one becomes the perfect quick read for a plane/train/automobile ride if you don't get motion sick.
As always, I have to note my friend Cliff who passed this book on to me. Thanks, buddy.
As always, I have to note my friend Cliff who passed this book on to me. Thanks, buddy.
May 7, 2021
A good old classic Conan tale written by Howard himself. I'm pretty sure I had read this one before in another book. Still, a very good, short book with a single story.
Spoilers for me to remember later : It's the one with the hidden city in the mountains ruled by a mage where Conan gets thrown out in a ravine where he is attacked by a big ape.
Evidently, he kills all his enemis, saves the girl and lives to fight another day. Good stuff :)
Spoilers for me to remember later : It's the one with the hidden city in the mountains ruled by a mage where Conan gets thrown out in a ravine where he is attacked by a big ape.
Evidently, he kills all his enemis, saves the girl and lives to fight another day. Good stuff :)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 25, 2022
Do tohoto kousku bylo složitější se začíst z důvodu častého přeskakování a propletenosti. Každá povídka totiž začíná tam, kde jiná žel v této knize nezveřejněná skončila. Je to zajímavé doplnění ostatních povídek pokud je již máte přečtené. V opačném případě se zde ztratíte a nebudete vědět pořádně oč jde. To je i důvod proč až po dočtení drtivé většiny povídek jsem se k tomuto kousku vrátil a to už bylo reálné si jej vychutnat.
March 20, 2024
The illustrations are what really bring this all together in this pastiche Conan tale. The story is a forgettable one, but IMO it is one of the handful of pastiche Conan stories that feel like Howard wrote it -- probably because 75%+ of the text is by Howard.
It's a VERY quick read and I will undoubtedly revisit it.
It's a VERY quick read and I will undoubtedly revisit it.
January 9, 2023
Another rousing Conan adventure.
August 20, 2009
The book was actually written in 1955 by L. Sprague De Camp, based on Howard's original Conan. Conan is the ultimate primitive. He's strong as several oxen & smart too, plus he's honorable. I like that combination. This is the 1981 edition, which includes lavish illustrations by Estaban Maroto, depicting bosomy maidens & brawny barbarians. The story's not important. There's lots of action & adventure. Another plus is that muscles always triumph over magic. This is perfect when requires a mindless escape.
February 16, 2016
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.
January 14, 2013
I loved the ending of this adventure. the young Nanai battles alongside of Conan disobeying his orders of fleeing to safety. So he congratulates her with a hard kiss and a spanking on the ass. One for being a great swordswoman and the other for not following his orders. Though with her disguising herself as a fighter, she saves him the time in having to go back to the tower and save her from the demons. :)
That is an amazing woman. She saved herself, without needing the muscles of a man.
That is an amazing woman. She saved herself, without needing the muscles of a man.
January 1, 2009
This originally was not a Conan story but was rewritten by De Camp from a story Howard wrote about another character. It wasn't terribly bad, though, perhaps because there was a decent Howardian feel. The illustrations by Maroto are also pretty good.
January 28, 2011
Certainly not one of the better Conan books, but it was a very quick read, perfect for a sunny afternoon. This edition is also "lavishly illustrated" with very good pen and ink illustrations on practically every other page. Sword-slashing fun.
January 20, 2015
I love the way writers told stories in the early half of the 1900's. Their writing style and language use is so much more descriptive and amusing. The Robert E. Howard books are the best Conan stories written.
February 14, 2011
LOTS OF ACTION AND THE ILLUSTRATIONS BY ESTEBAN MAROTO ARE AWESOME!
January 1, 2015
Great book. I like this better than the El Borak story it was adapted from. And the artwork is great
May 8, 2015
Lots of fun
May 3, 2016
reread sometime in 2006 under a different name, the title of which escapes me
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews