| Title | : | Conan the Conqueror |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0441114660 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780441114665 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Mass Market Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 222 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1936 |
Conan the Conqueror Reviews
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When you think of Conan you think of this...
Then you think of the screaming barbarian...
Whoops, sorry, I meant this...
Fittingly, in reading Robert Howard's original Conan the Barbarian stories, what you soon realize is that Conan is a man of many faces: barbarian, lone wolf, war chief, king, pirate, thief. Ironically, that paradigm shifts somewhat in The Hour of the Dragon, which is a mishmash of, not so much the various Conans, but rather settings and, to steal a D&D term, encounters.
I think the reason for this is that, I believe, this was the only Conan story of novel-length Howard ever wrote. Though later serialized, it was originally sold to a book publisher, rather than Howard's usual sales of short stories to the magazine Weird Tales, which were often no longer than 10-20k words. These shorts were commonly centered around a single conflict and portrayed Conan in just one phase of his colorful career. However, here we have what feels like a collection of stories pressed together in order to fulfill a publisher's minimum word count for a novel. Conan is a king leading human hordes to battle in Medieval fashion and a few pages later Conan is trapped in a dungeon and has to fight his way through ghastly monsters to regain his freedom.
Howard wrote just about as fast as he could. This was during the Great Depression and coming by cash was not always easy. So some of the writing comes off as rushed. For instance, in Conan's world of Hyboria, if you are tall, 9 times out of 10, you will also be gaunt. Tall and gaunt, ad nauseam. By his own admission, he would occasionally turn in first drafts that then went to print. Sometimes it shows.
On the whole, there are some nice details about mythology, ancient tribes, past strategical war practices, and other aspects that purposefully relate to our real world (Hyboria is supposed to be Earth anywhere from 10,000 to 30,000 years ago). And if you're a fantasy fan, who enjoys hack'n'slash adventuring, there's something here for you as well. -
The only full length Conan novel from Howard. I didn't find it quite as compelling as some of his better shorter Conan stories, but still a fine tale brimming with his usual exuberance. The plot in fact is essentially identical to the previously published
The Scarlet Citadel.
There are some large battle scenes not generally found in the shorter Conan stories, plus many of the usual elements including an evil wizard, necromancy, a sinister cult, treacherous nobles, an innocent young girl needing rescue and murderous giant snakes and gorillas. In the course of the story Conan sets out to recover a mysterious magical jewel in order to vanquish the evil wizard and regain his throne, easily shedding his role as king for the familiar one of thief/pirate. Feeling like a bit of a diversion, the hunt for the jewel becomes a full on quest, making up much of the story's bulk. That's not necessarily a turn for the worse, but in general I felt Howard under delivered to some extent on those things that I find most compelling in his writing, i.e. his exquisitely florid prose describing desolate, ghostly landscapes; ancient, eldritch evils; and nameless, unspeakable horrors.
Perhaps my expectations were too high, but bottom line is that Howard didn't really deliver anything new in this longer format, but rather more of what we already know and love about Conan. And if we know anything at all about barbarians, it's that more is always better. -
...the hour of the Dragon has come…
After reading one of Howard's shortstory collections I discovered he'd also written a full length Conan novel. The one and only - originally written in five parts for the magazine Weird Tales under the title The Hour of the Dragon, then eventually published as a book under a new title. Apparently a publishing company looking to fit this novel in with a themed series of Conan stories decided that Conan the Conqueror was more appropriate. Personally, I like the original title better.
In this lengthened tale Conan must escape an ancient sorcerer, track down and steal an artifact of great power and take back the throne of Aquilonia from the "rightful" heir, and his accomplices, who have usurped him and thrown his kingdom and people into ruin.
This was a pleasure to read. I enjoy Howard's poetic writing style and the exotic, yet familiar world in which Conan fights and thrives - a world somewhere betweeen myth and our own ancient histories. My only complaint is the end seemed a bit rushed. After the very last line I expected something more, but it was just...over.
When you hear the name Conan, you may get an image (probably of Arnold in fur trimmed underpants...but that's not where I'm going with this). Conan isn't just an over-muscled sword wielding barbarian. He's intelligent, thoughtful, cunning and much more humane and sympathetic than popular images, or just plain assumptions, might have you believe. As you follow Conan through his many obstacles you discover a character who is hardened, but not without compassion. True, he's mostly hacking his way through obstacles, escaping sorcerers, powers of darkness, and terrible creatures, but in between some of those moments you'll get a glimpse or two of the heart of Conan. Behind those smoldering blue eyes lies a man of heart. I think that's why I like these stories so much. I've mentioned Howard's writing, which I love, but without a character that has something more than the ability to hack his enemies to pieces these stories wouldn't be quite so enjoyable.
Important to mention - this does share some similaries with the short The Scarlet Citadel during the first few chapters of the book. A lot of the details and some of the names where changed or replaced, but the basic concept is still there.
As far as this particular kindle edition...Not Recommended. There were so many spelling errors it started to become distracting. Words ending in "rn" were spelled with an "m." Names were misspelled, so that I had to look them up for their correct spelling. A couple I wasn't sure the correct word was being used in a sentence. There's no way this saw an editor. -
This Berkley edition of The Hour of the Dragon presents Howard's only Conan novel in as close to the original way as he wrote it as editor Karl Edward Wagner could get it. Ace, Gnome, and Lancer had all printed editions that had been changed or edited by L. Sprague de Camp and perhaps by other hands, all re-titled Conan the Conqueror, but Wagner strove to restore Howard's version, with the original title and even re-numbering the chapters to exclude "twenty" since the original Weird Tales serialization ended one month with a nineteen and began the next with a twenty-one. (I read this edition a few years after the Lancer version, but honestly didn't notice any difference.) It's a good adventure in all forms, and it's possible but definitely not necessary to get caught up in the small details. The other editions may have cleaned up continuity or spelling errors or offensive and unnecessary terms. Wagner contributes some interesting thoughts in his foreword and afterword, such as pointing out that the novel is essentially an expansion of previous story The Scarlet Citadel, and that Zenobia is the only female companion to Conan who doesn't have to be rescued; in fact, she saves him. This "authorized" edition has a couple of the original Weird Tales illustrations and a nice Frazetta-influenced cover by Ken Kelly, with a bound-in fold-out expansion enclosed. (Berkley put a note on the front emphasizing the poster as selling-point, but didn't identify the artist.) It's a sword & sorcery classic and great, heroic pulp adventure fiction under either title.
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Questo primo approccio all'universo di Conan il Barbaro non mi ha affatto deluso. Lo stile di scrittura di Howard risulta essere fresco e attuale, nonostante il romanzo risalga ai primi del '900 ( è invecchiato proprio bene😂). Le descrizioni di personaggi, luoghi ed eventi è molto accurata e precisa. Robert Howard, attraverso il personaggio di Conan, ha voluto trasmettere l'ideale in cui credeva, è forte, infatti, la critica verso vari aspetti sociali della sua (e nostra) epoca. Concludo consigliando caldamente la lettura di questo volume!
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"It is not alone the rebellious lords of Aquilonia and the armies of Nemedia which are arrayed against you," answered Hadrathus. "It is sorcery – grisly black magic from the grim youth of the world. An awful shape has risen out of the shades of the Past, and none can stand before it."
This is one of the best of Howard’s Conan tales. Its rich description and compelling pace took me into a re-imagined Eastern Hemisphere of the past with warring empires and fantastic cities. Conan, a barbarian who has clawed his way to becoming King of Aquilonia, is about to suffer his worst defeat. Within a few pages of the start of this novel his realm is defeated and he is quietly caged and taken to a foreign land. Howard’s longest written piece is full of the language and prejudices that characterized pulp fiction of a hundred years ago. If you can set that aside, there is an adventure that few authors have matched and many of subsequent generations have tried to copy. I have set out below (hopefully, not spoiling the yarn) some selections of his style by topic:
The Dark Ages return
"My lord, it is ill to say, and I fain would say otherwise. But the freedom of Aquilonia is at an end! Nay, the freedom of the whole world may be at an end! Age follows age in the history of the world, and now we enter an age of horror and slavery, as it was long ago."
Mission
"Life is dangerous," rumbled the king. "I won't go as king of Aquilonia, or even as a knight of Poitain, but as a wandering mercenary, as I rode in Zingara in the old days. Oh, I have enemies enough south of the Alimane, in the lands and the waters of the south. Many who won't know me as king of Aquilonia will remember me as Conan of the Barachan pirates, or Amra of the black corsairs. But I have friends, too, and men who'll aid me for their own private reasons." A faint reminiscent grin touched his lips."
Strange Religious Rituals and Practices
"But none knew certainly. They only knew that when a follower of Asura died, the corpse went southward down the great river, in a black boat rowed by a giant slave, and neither boat nor corpse nor slave was ever seen again; unless, indeed, certain dark tales were true, and it was always the same slave who rowed the boats southward."
Sorcery
“He felt that reality and stability were crumbling into an abyss of illusion and sorcery. A wizard was understandable; but this was diabolism beyond sanity.”
Suspense
"At any moment they might return, find the narrower alley and come howling down it. He felt hemmed in by those sheer, unscalable walls, desirous of escape, even if escape meant invading some unknown building. The heavy bronze door was not locked. It opened under his fingers and he peered through the crack. He was looking into a great square chamber of massive black stone. A torch smoldered in a niche in the wall. The chamber was empty. He glided through the lacquered door and closed it behind him. His sandaled feet made no sound as he crossed the black marble floor. A teak door stood partly open, and gliding through this, knife in hand, he came out into a great, dim, shadowy place whose lofty ceiling was only a hint of darkness high above him, toward which the black walls swept upward. On all sides black-arched doorways opened into the great still hall. It was lit by curious bronze lamps that gave a dim weird light. On the other side of the great hall a broad black marble stairway, without a railing, marched upward to lose itself in gloom, and above him on all sides dun galleries hung like black stone ledges. Conan shivered; he was in a temple of some Stygian god, if not Set himself, then someone only less grim."
Terror
"His one thought was to get out of the haunted chamber which had housed that beautiful, hideous, undead fiend for so many centuries. His wanderings through those black, winding tunnels, were a sweating nightmare. Behind him and about him he heard faint slitherings and glidings, and once the echo of that sweet, hellish laughter he had heard in the chamber of Akivasha. He slashed ferociously at sounds and movements he heard or imagined he heard in the darkness near him, and once his sword cut through some yielding tenuous substance that might have been cobwebs. He had a desperate feeling that he was being played with, lured deeper and deeper into ultimate night, before being set upon by demoniac talon and fang. And through his fear ran the sickening revulsion of his discovery."
Strategic vision
"Servius shook his head. "Your staunchest supporters in the eastern and central provinces are dead, fled or imprisoned. Gunderland is far to the north, Poitain far to the south. The Bossonians have retired to their marches far to the west. It would take weeks to gather and concentrate these forces, and before that could be done, each levy would be attacked separately by Amalric and destroyed."
The Barbarian in battle
"His one chance lay in hacking through before they could gather their wits. But there were half a score of them, in full mail, hardbitten veterans of the border wars, in whom the instinct for battle could take the place of bemused wits. Three of them were down before they realized that it was only one man who was attacking them, but even so their reaction was instantaneous. The clangor of steel rose deafeningly, and sparks flew as Conan's sword crashed on basinet and hauberk. He could see better than they, and in the dim light his swiftly moving figure was an uncertain mark. Flailing swords cut empty air or glanced from his blade, and when he struck, it was with the fury and certainty of a hurricane."
Statesmanship from a barbarian
"Let others dream imperial dreams. I but wish to hold what is mine. I have no desire to rule an empire welded together by blood and fire. It's one thing to seize a throne with the aid of its subjects and rule them with their consent. It's another to subjugate a foreign realm and rule it by fear."
Cultural offense
"Aye, white men sell white men and white women, as it was in the feudal days. In the palaces of Shem and of Turan they will live out the lives of slaves." -
The only full-length Conan novel, so that makes it quite unique. But it doesn’t really feel like it. I mean, if you’ve read the short stories that came before it, this novel can come off as a bit familiar. Some things have definitely been borrowed from previous Conan adventures. It’s a bit unfortunate that the bigger word count didn’t translate to some more fresh content. But it’s definitely a solid read. And it does have a bit of everything people associate with a good Conan story.
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"From death to death [ The Heart of Ahriman] came, riding on a river of human blood. Blood feeds it, blood draws it. Its power is greatest when there is blood on the hands that grasp it, when it is wrested by slaughter from its holder. Wherever it gleams, blood is spilt and kingdoms totter, and the forc es of nature are put in turmoil." -- Thutothmes of Khemi (The Hour of The Dragon, by REH)
The Hour of the Dragon (1934-1936), is
Robert E. Howard''s only full length novel of Conan, the barbarian he popularized in short story form.
The text is available on-line for free via the Gutenberg project, but there are reason's to track down a paperback. I read the Berkley Putnam 1977 edition, which has splendid additions to the story: comprehensive foreword and afterwords by Karl Wagner explain how the novel formed prior being serialized in Weird Tales; a map of the Hyborian Age (inspired by REH's own drawings) is essential for the Hyborian ambiances; interior illustrations are bonuses; and cover art by Ken Kelly is stellar.
Hyborian Age: As Wagner details, this book was REH's attempt to break into the UK market that demanded novels (and were not agreeable to his proposals for a collection of his own stories). REH presents Conan as King of Aquilonia. Sorcery and treachery dethrone him, and Conan trots about much of Hyboria, either pursing or being challenged by those who have the magical Heart of Ahriman (which we learn in the opening chapter). This touring of the pre-drowned Euro-Afro-Asia continent begs for a map. The traveling adventure amplifies the Hyborian Age concept; REH's Conan lived in rich pseudo historical land that enabled real ancient cultures to interact with mythical ones. Each chapter has Conan (and his enemies) traversing Aquilonia, Nemeda, Argos, Stygia, and more (these roughly translates to central Europe and Northern Africa). I'm not sure if any othe rtale
Missing Chapter Mystery: A deal was accepted but the UK publisher went belly up, so REH worked with Weird Tales to publish the chapters in serial form. As Wagner explains, there is a possibility that one chapter went missing (#20). Wagner left the numbering of the chapters consistent with the numbering as printed in Weird Tales (#20 is skipped); the original manuscript sent to Denis Archer has 4,000 more words (Pawling & Ness imprint) has 75,000 words. That edition never made it to press, but Weird Tales published the novel in serial form...and it had only 71,000 words. Regardless, the story seems consistent, so there is no obvious loss in plot.
Style: REH did not change his writing style, so each chapter maintains a very pulpy feel. Chapters are over saturated with conflicts to maintain a frenetic pace. An over reliance on chance encounters detracts from the enjoyment, but it remains a fun read on the whole. Written in the 1930's, the tone has some racial and misogynistic aspects of the time. Despite the use of the word "negro," Conan appears as a champion/friend to many and even freed many slaves. Woman on the other hand were represented terribly; the few featured are concubines who are cheer leaders of Conan requiring rescue. Here are some examples:
Example 1: Concubine saves Conan and is glad to have him put a knife to her "Walk beside me," [Conan] instructed her softly, passing his massive arm about her lithe waist. "You've played me fair so far, and I'm inclined to believe in you; but I've lived this long only because I've trusted no one too far, man or woman. So! Now if you play me false you won't live to enjoy the jest." She did not flinch at sight of the reddened poniard or the contact of his hard muscles about her supple body.
"Cut me down without mercy if I play you false," she answered. "The very feel of your arm about me, even in menace, is as the fulfillment of a dream."
Example 2: Conan relishes in his obvious manliness "All right," [Conan] muttered. "I'll trust you; though, by Crom, the habits of a lifetime are not easily put aside. Yet I wouldn't harm you now, if you brought all the swordsmen in Nemedia upon me. But for you Tarascus's cursed ape would have come upon me in chains and unarmed. Do as you wish, girl." Kissing his hands, she sprang lithely up and ran down the corridor, to vanish through a heavy double door.
He glanced after her, wondering if he was a fool to trust her; then he shrugged his mighty shoulders and pulled the satin hangings together, masking his refuge. It was not strange that a passionate young beauty should be risking her life to aid him; such things had happened often enough in his life. Many women had looked on him with favor, in the days of his wanderings, and in the time of his kingship.
Example 3: Conan thanks the concubine who saves him by taking his sexual due "A horse is hidden for you in a thicket beside the road that runs westward, a few hundred paces to the south of the fountain of Thrallos. You know where it is?"
"Aye! But what of you? I had meant to take you with me."
A flood of joy lighted her beautiful face.
"Then my cup of happiness is brimming! But I will not hamper your escape. Burdened with me you would fail. Nay, do not fear for me. They will never suspect that I aided you willingly. Go! What you have just said will glorify my life throughout the long years."
He caught her up in his iron arms, crushed her slim, vibrant figure to him and kissed her fiercely on eyes, cheeks, throat and lips, until she lay panting in his embrace; gusty and tempestuous as a storm-wind, even his love- making was violent.
The over arching plot is engaging, as is Conan's adventures as he meets up with past friends/foes/allies of his pre-King days. The titular Dragon refers to the antagonist's standard (there are many other bad guys, often associated with serpents); Conan and his allies have Lion icons. Conan is dethroned in the very beginning, and it is nigh impossible not to read on to see how he can win it back. That said, the constant, intense adventure indicative of pulp fiction doesn't work well in a novel form. There is a chaotic, accumulating silliness: our "wilderness-bred", panther-stalking hero trips in a curtain while attacking his major foe; he routinely stumbles across key foes in random places, encounters that push any bounds of coincidence; he is saved too often by random characters/events; there are too many evil-dude-explains-his-ways scenes; every few pages he comes across new, crazy conflicts that would work well in short story form (ghouls, vampires, etc.). The in-your-face misogyny and high-frequency-chance-encounters/saves is distracting.
The Hour of The Dragon is good adventure and represents Conan and REH's Hyboria well. The story is best when it focuses on the grand battles and weird descriptions of necromancy. A map and context (i.e. from Wagner's essays) make it more enjoyable.
2016/2017 Movie? : Seems like this may be the basis for the next Arnold movie of Conan (to be called Conan the Conqueror ...or King Conan). I could see that going really well.... or really poorly.
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My edition is from Berkley. This is Howard's novel of Conan with minimal editing.
Howard's only full length novel about Conan, and it contains some sections that are loose rewrites of a few of the Conan stories. This is a really enjoyable novel, with great atomsphere and action. -
It is the first book of Conan that I have read. I did it thanks to Brandon.
It is Epic and a classic of the genre. Perfectly written I enjoy very much the humanity of Conan, I mean with that: during the book I saw how he has fears, hopes, weaknesses...
It is a mature Conan and I love how is becoming from a loner to a king full of nobility ... Highly recommended -
This ends up as kind of a "greatest hits" of mighty Conan's career, in his most expansive adventure and the only full-length novel by Howard starring the iron-thewed Cimmerian. This is late-career Conan, King of Aquilonia, beloved by his subjects for his natural sense of justice and inimitable presence. Over the course of events, we get a taste of the many faces of Conan: war leader, bane of sorcerers, pitter of his mettle against vicious beasts, wanderer, pirate, friend and foe. His success, as usual, depends frequently on luck as much his panther-like reflexes, animal magnetism, skill with a blade, and the raw power of his thews (which are mentioned at least three times). It's often surprising that he survives, given the number of times that he is knocked unconscious and lay helpless over the course of this tale.
In terms of overall quality, it's middle-of-the-road, better than many of the original stories but lacking the primalcy and poetry of Howard's best Conan prose. BUT... if you are picking this up for the first time, you should know in advance: Chapter 20 is possibly the most mind-blowing thing ever written. For sheer brilliance, gore, pulse-pounding action, romance, daring-do, Chapter 20 is where it's at! -
I'm reading an online version on Wikisource. I think this is the original that was published as a serial in the pulps.
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Hou...
This is a great Conan adventure that winds up showing us a lot of his previous life, so that makes it a lot of fun. All the convenient elements got to me, though. One or two in a short story are fine, but an entire novel was too much.
Still, it was a fun, quick read. Well worth it, especially if you're a REH or Conan fan. This is the only Conan novel he ever wrote, one of three. The others are
A Gent From Bear Creek, which is actually just a bunch of short stories tied together, &
Almuric. -
Just to be honest upfront:
3 stars for the content that I read.
1 star for the nostalgia that really hit hard.
Having grown up on the tales of Conan and also watching Arnold immortalize the visual representation of the King through those 3 movies he was The Ultimate BadAss of my early childhood.
Usually Conan stories are short stories, and this is is a decently sized novel and so I was excited to re-read it. (Especially since this would be the first time I’ve actually read it in English.)
Sadly, it didn’t read the same. I did not feel the same fervor and just straight adrenaline pumping while reading it now, as an adult.
Then I caught myself and applied the same tactic I learned with my Tarzan novel re-reads: don’t read this critically. Don’t think too much. Just pretend I am 15 again, and delve into the heroic exploits of the King.
All of a sudden the world gained colors, every move of Conan became heroic, all surroundings hostile, dark and threatening. And I almost felt the same sense of wonder and excitement as I did reading it back then. The Nostalgia did it.
I thought what was really cool, we’re all the reminders of how many adventures Conan has had, and how many different “career” hats he has successfully worn over his lifetime of adventures. (Not unlike Arnold, in a way).
Seeing him flexing his barbarian muscles as a King was awesome. No matter what evil things Stygian sorcerers come up with, Conan is right there to spoil their plans! With a giant cudgel. Or an axe. Or a fist. No matter what happens, skulls are getting crushed.
Much like with almost all classics, I think this serves better as a re-read.
I’m curious if anyone still proactively takes up classic books for fun for the first time? Not just pulp classics, but any.
Like, does anyone wake up and go: “Today, I will begin reading Balzac’s “Father Goriot” for fun.
Oh well!
Farewell until the next time I manage to finish some book and come here to share random thoughts about the life, the universe and everything.
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In this final (chronologically) Conan story, Howard demonstrates why he was one of the best adventure writers of all time. In the only novel he ever produced, Howard is able to maintain the blistering pace he is known for, while still weaving a complex and interesting tale. The story is set during Conan's time as King of Aquilonia, which is a period in the hero's life often overlooked (I'm looking at you, Hollywood.) In act one, King Conan is defeated and the kindom is wrested from his grasp. We follow the hero on his quest to defeat an ancient wizard and reclaim his crown. Conan's travels take us through many kingdoms of hyboria, and show the depth of Howard's world building skill and imagination. Undead wizards, priests of mad gods, exotic assasins, and (of course) giant snakes seek to thwart our hero, but the man who rose from his barbarous roots to claim the throne of the greatest kingdom in the west will not be denied. This book is a must read for every adventure fantasy fan, and if (like me) you aspire to write fantasy adventure of your own, it will give you a high mark to strive for. I'll leave you with a quote from the book which sums up why Conan is the greatest fantasy hero of all time.
"His surcoat was gone, his armor splashed with blood and battered with strokes of sword, mace and ax. He loomed gigantically against a background of blood and slaughter, like some grim pagan hero of mythology." -
"Another Conan story", I thought, "I can knock this one out relatively quickly and not fall behind on my yearly.". Ha ha, joke's on me. Alternating this with Ulysses is an strange and diverting contrast, and I think it might have actually increased my enjoyment of this novel. It's got all the usual elements, expanded of course in scope, and just plain numbers - armies, sorcerers, and death. There are some lengthy sections in which Conan isn't even present, and a lot of the time he is the giant in black armor, becoming more a force of death and destruction rather than a character. It's all quite entertaining if one likes that sort of thing.
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Another of the heavily edited collections of Robert E. Howards 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 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.
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The only full length Conan novel written by REH is much the better for the expanded scope allowed by the greater page count. Although some of the situations in the novel are very similar to early short stories, there is much to be enjoyed including numerous supporting characters with fleshed out motives and often shifting allegiances, a lengthy quest to new locations, and a deeper exploration of Conan's character.
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The problem with a lot of genre classics is that their ideas have been ripped off so often they end up reading like they're full of cliches even though they were the originators of those familiar tropes.
But when it comes to the best of the pulp writers there's an electric vibe that runs through them that doesn't fade. Like the stories of Raymond Chandler or Lovecraft or even Poe, they're just very entertaining and fun.
Conan stories vary in quality, but this one, the only full-length novel, has everything you'd want in a ridiculous over-the-top swords and sorcery epic. Undead wizards, giant snakes, vampires who live in pyramids, brave but terrified harlots, and thundering through battles, sword drenched in blood, Conan the Barabarian—risen to king and fighting to reclaim his throne. Plus a little casual racism. What more could you want?
This won't convince anyone who finds this kind of thing juvenile and pointless that they're wrong (if anything it will probably do the opposite), but for anyone who's ever been a 14 year old boy (or still is) this is a great read and its entertainment value has not diminished over the decades.
Spoiler: there are no actual dragons in this story. -
Some wicked dark sorcery in this one.
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It was fun to read a longer Conan tale which managed to squeeze in everything we love about the character.
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I could read this many times (three, so far) and pick out some new facet each time. F'instance:
* Howard touches several times on the theme that Conan's lone-wolf nature is both strength and weakness. He is dedicated to his kingdom, but is not committed to it: he neither married nor produced an heir. Upon his presumed death, the barons cannot rally around an heir and thus the center of the kingdom will not hold.
* A foozle quest--in this case the Heart of Ahriman--is required to save the kingdom, but the need for it is strongly justified. As in, the characters run down the list of alternatives and the reasons why they will not work. The magic device really is the last resort.
* And, unlike many imitators, the Heart is not (now) buried in a eldritch-guarded labyrinthine tomb in some forgotten land. He must chase after the merchant who bought it, and those who stole it from him.
* The image and set piece of the city of Tarantia in misrule by foreign invaders and a puppet king is one that I keep returning to as an idea never fully done, but done here first . The land is despoiled, the oppressor's excesses drain what is left, and a lack of governance will end everything. The puppet king wishes everyone to suffer, to thoroughly ruin and beggar the country, spoiling it for the conquerors.
* The turn of fate at the climax of the book is not decided by Conan. A group of broken refugees conspire and enact their own plan. Conan is barely present, only seen in the distance in the battle while the secondary support crew gets it done.
* The opening battle is described in dialog, as a squire narrates events to a stricken Conan. This is a peculiar choice, though it allows the characters to comment and react. I can't think of another author who would dare to do it this way. -
For people that don't know, Howard is the Father of Modern day Sword and Sorcery. For people that think he invented it, all I can say is see the King Arthur legend and even that isn't the first.
As for this particular story. If you think Lord of the Rings etc. are the centerpieces for fantasy fiction, well you're mistaken. This right here should and is in my opinion, the crown jewel of fantasy fiction.
An evil wizard with power beyond belief. Treacherous rulers who plot against the hero. Epic battles. Sneaking into hidden and forbidden lairs. Taking to the high-seas, swashbuckling brawls. Oh yea and a magic item which when used against the evil-wizard spells his doom. Don't let the stereotypes from the movies fool you, this is a masterpiece. -
I will call it "surprisingly good".
Howard's whole appeal is you can't put his stories down. No matter how corny they get, you keep turning the pages because his writing is so crisp and evocative that you need to know who Bronan the Insanian is going to decapitate next, and why, although the why is rarely fleshed out.
I didn't figure he would've been able to keep this up for a full novel, but he did, and it breezed by like one of his short stories. It was a Conan story, so talking about the plot would be redundant, and yet here I go: A necromancer mummy is resurrected by stupid people who hate Conan and don't understand necromancy or mummies. The necromancer mummy promptly takes over all of the stupid people's armies and crushes Conan, keeping him alive for some reason.
You're a necromancer, dude. If you killed him and brought him back, you'd still be unliving right now.
The necromancer mummy gloats about how subservient Conan will be, then leaves him alone in his cell with four inept guards. Conan immediately kills one, probably with his teeth. The other three piss off for a while, until some randomly generated female protagonist shows up and gives him the keys to some (but not all) of his cell doors because she saw him riding a horse once and fell in love. I swear to Crom, that was the line.
Conan breaks out, stabs an evil gorilla to death, escapes yet another dungeon, gets ambushed by tertiary treasure hunters who give him a skull fracture and decide not to kill him, for some reason. He wakes up aboard a slave galley, where he is expected to row forever. Conan shrugs off the skull fracture and murders thirty slaver-pirates, freeing their slaves and then being like "HEY YOU GUYS WANNA ROW SOME MORE? I GOTTA DO A WAR" and of course they're all like "OH MAN YOU KILLED THOSE SLAVERS SO GOOD WE'RE TOTALLY GONNA ROW SOME MORE FOR YOU."
A war happens, and the necromancer mummy would've won if not for the joint efforts of suicidally heroic commoners who love Conan so much they will HAPPILY die for him, and also a friendly wizard he recruited to Tap 2 Blue Mana and Counterspell everything the necromancer mummy tries to do. He is violently and summarily dispatched in classic less-than-a-paragraph Conan fashion, and then everyone's like, "Well gee Conan, what're you gonna do now?"
And Conan looks into the camera and says "I gotta go get that girl who freed me out of the dungeon because I am gonna fuckin MARRY HER and she is gonna be QUEEN OF HYBORIA." Roll credits.
At first I thought that was moving a little fast, considering all she did was give him a key and then wait for him to protect her from everything in the dungeon, but then I remembered Conan's wife turnover rate. Every short story, his most recent love interest is messily disemboweled by someone who Conan must, in turn, messily disembowel, then broodingly stare at a fire and swear further revenge on whatever's available.
Life is short; life is even shorter for those who have any contact whatsoever with Conan, so I guess it makes sense. Good book, if you can get past all the dated casual racism and hokey fantasy cliches. Considering this is where those cliches originated, I got past 'em. -
Puhas tükk iidsetest ulmekirjanduse katakombidest pärit kulda. Kaetud kummaliste graveeringute, ammu unustatud keeles kirjutatud ruunide ning paljude seda näpata üritanud fantaasiakirjanike aastakümneid tagasi kuivanud vereplekkidega. Salapärane kuju aga särab edasi ja teeb seda ka kaua peale meie surma. Las barbarid uputavad maailma young-adulti või vampiirikroonikate alla, vana artefakt elab kõik nad oma varjatud peidupaigas üle ja särab endiselt kirkalt ka palju aega peale kõigi nende loendamatute fantasytriloogiate põrmuks pudenemist.
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If you can find them, these Berkely editions are essential for your bookshelf. Great Ken Kelly artwork with informative intrdouctions by Karl Edward Wagner. As well as the original WEIRD TALES texts they also feature the original illustrations that accompanied them.
As for the novel itself though, I risk losing my Conan fan club card by announcing that this is not Howard at his best. The are some well written passages but overall it lacks atmosphere and relies too much on coincidence instead of a proper plot mechanation. Conan vanquishes everything that comes across his path all too easily. Tension, something which Howard excelled at, is largely missing. At times the writing borders on parody. The scene with Zenobia when she discovers our Cimmerian King chained in the dungeons below Belverus, for instance, is like a badly written Harlequin romance. She professes her undying love for him because she saw him brielfy when he was riding his horse on a state visit to the city. 'Here's the keys I stole from the jailer!' 'Here's a big knife you'll undoubtedly need to kill the giant man-ape that's lurking in the corridors!' 'Ive managed to procure you a horse and it's waiting for you at a fountain at the side of the city!' All this in one night from a simple slave-girl who never thought to do this for herself the whole time she was there. The whole sequence is just awkwardly put together. She's nothing more than a cipher in order for Conan to escape. So Conan escapes, kills a mercenary (who was conviently waiting by the horse), dons his sword and armour then rides off disguised as a free companion. Later on, he's knocked unconcious, wakes up on a ship then literally seconds later, he's killed the captain, freed the slaves from their oars (who sailed with him in the good old days) and killed the crew. 'On to Stygia!' Arrives in Stygia, kills a giant snake that's wandering the streets with a single slash of his knife.
There's a lot of padding and stitching together to make up the important scenes which are made up from two earlier Conan novelettes, 'Black Colossus' and 'The Scarlet Citadel'. It's not surprising Howard used these as a springboard from which to work as they are both fantastic stories. Originally he intended the novel for the British hardback market. But both those earlier stories are excellently written—full of tension and atmosphere, things I find mostly lacking in THE HOUR OF THE DRAGON. For all my misgivings it does have some good moments but overall I see it as a 'Conan's Greatest Hits' compilation that actually misses some of Howard's better writing. -
There's really nothing like reading a good Conan book. So far, in my reading of all things Conan, I've only read the original stories, written by creator Robert E. Howard. I haven't ventured out and read any Robert Jordan, Steve Perry, Leonard Carpenter, or any other Conan authors out there, due to the fact that I want to read the originals first to obtain what Robert E. Howard envisioned.
Conan the Conqueror was an excellent book, probably the best Conan book I've ever read. There was only one story presented, unlike the other previous original eight Conan books out there, consisting of four or five short stories per book. No, it was just one epic, glorious adventure of a king on a mission to regain his kingdom.
The Nemedian rulers raised a necromancer from the dead, by the name of Xaltotun of Acheron, to use for their benefit to fight against King Conan and the Aquilonians. War wages, and the Nemedians and Aquilonians believe they witness the death of King Conan in battle. Unbeknownst to both warring parties, Conan survives and is taken prisoner to Belvarus, a city in Nemedian country. The Nemedians trample the Aquilonians and set up their own king, King Valerius, in Conan's place.
After fighting a giant ape, Conan escapes Belvarus and runs into a priest of Asura, Hadrathus. The priest then informs Conan on how to kill Xaltotun... with the Heart of Ahriman, a jewel of powerful magic, the same jewel that rose Xaltotun from the grave three thousand years after his death. Conan sets out on a journey to obtain said jewel, which has been stolen from one person to the next. The last known person to have the Heart of Ahriman is a priest of Set, Thutothmes. And the only way for Conan to get him and the jewel is to travel to Stygia, the home of the priests of Set and Thoth-Amon, Conan's former foe. After an small battle in the temples and streets of Stygia, Conan regains the Heart of Ahriman.
All along the way, Conan runs into bands of men who want to help him win back his kingdom of Aquilonia. When the armies of Nemedia and Conan's army of Aquilonians and all the surrounding countries meet in battle, Conan wins by strategy and magic, thus winning back Aquilonia and setting up a queen by his side.
Such a good book! I can't wait to read the next book in the original series, Conan the Avenger. So much depth was added to Conan's character, and the political intrigue kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. I definitely recommend this book. -
Book 9 in my re-read of the Conan series. Spoilers ahead!
Conan the Conqueror picks up two years after the events in The Scarlet Citadel, and is essentially the same story expanded into novel length. Luckily, I enjoyed The Scarlet Citadel, so I didn't mind the extended do over. And really, if you've made it this far in the series, you should be no stranger to treading familiar ground. Much of the story is comprised of Conan in pursuit of an ancient jewel, the Heart of Ahriman, that will allow him to reclaim his stolen kingdom. The jewel is basically the MacGuffin that takes Conan all over the map so he can slaughter a variety of opponents, and get knocked unconscious every few chapters by black magic, a fall from a horse, and a club to the head. His most notable excursion is into the mysterious lands of Stygia, whose people are ruled by sorcerers and they worship the serpent god, Set. This is also the story in which Conan encounters a slave girl named Zenobia, his future bride and Queen of Aquilonia.
One of the highlights of the story for me was Conan's encounter with the vampire, Princess Akivasha, in a Stygian temple, especially when she shares her origin.
"I am the woman who never died, who never grew old! Who fools say was lifted from the earth by the gods, in the full bloom of her youth and beauty, to queen it forever in some celestial clime! Nay, it is in the shadows that mortals find immortality! Ten thousand years ago I died to live forever!"
I also liked the imagery that followed soon after, as Conan is led out of the temple by an undead Stygian priest that had been resurrected by the Heart of Ahriman. The jewel not only provides the only light as they make their way out of a maze of tunnels, but keeps Akivasha and all manner of inhuman things at bay.
And the climactic battle is every bit as good as the one depicted in The Scarlet Citadel.
"Up on the slopes the forest of lances dipped, leveled. The ranks of the Gundermen rolled back to right and left like a parting curtain. And with a thunder like the rising roar of a hurricane, the knights of Aquilonia crashed down the slopes.
They were coming downhill and they came like a thunderbolt. And like a thunderbolt they smote the struggling ranks of the Nemedians- smote them, split them apart, ripped them asunder, and dashed the remnants headlong down the slopes." -
The only Conan novel written by Howard, The Hour of the Dragon delivers everything a fan of the Cimmerian would want - beautiful women needing rescue, several evil wizards to defeat, and a well-paced adventure that has Conan striving to recover the Aquilonian throne and thwart the efforts of Xaltotun to restore the empire of Acheron. This is the umpteenth time I've read the novel since acquiring this Sci-Fi Book Club edition almost 30 years ago and it's still great fun.
I like to believe the following reflects a certain emotional maturation on my part but at this point in my life I can't help but wish some author would write a Conan novel (or short) from his victims' point of view. After all, all of our "knowledge" about Conan comes from him. Reflect - the kozaki and Zuagir didn't just ride around waving swords and yelling. They descended on defenseless villages, killing men, raping women and leading off captives to be sold as slaves. And Conan led them. And just how "willing" were all those women who shared his bedrolls?
Maybe that's why all my favorite Conan stories nowadays either have a strong female foil ("Red Nails"), no female at all ("Beyond the Black River") or Conan doesn't get the girl ("People of the Black Circle" or "A Witch Shall Be Born"). -
aka Conan the Conqueror. This is exactly what you would think, which wasn't what i expected . I really wasn't sure Howard's writing would create the same sort of atmosphere as the films but it is pretty similar and Howard has a nice descriptive style. Although conan is definitely a little bit smarter than the film version.
The middle portion started to lose me, it felt like it was meandering too much and there are a few too many coincidences and lucky escapes. However it picked up steam again towards the end.
This clearly had a big impact as i can see its influence in many places, for example Uncanny X-Men issues 189-191.
There's also a brief appearance by an immortal princess called Akivasha, clearly based on Ayesha from the book 'She', but in this case Akivasha is a vampire and in her turn clearly the inspiration for 'Akasha' from the Anne Rice vampire books.
Also Khemi is mentioned, very similar to 'Khemri' a land in the Warhammer wargaming world. -
Howard's only novel-length tale of the redoubtable Cimmerian. When serialized in Weird Tales, it was titled 'Hour of the Dragon,' which de Camp said had little to do with the story. As if "Conan the Conqueror" does.
To me this is the last truly worthwhile book in this series. The tales after this are almost wholly not Howard's work (unless you count some vague notes), and it shows.
This was my first exposure to Conan, other than Marvel Comics. I preferred this to the comics, but I prefer the earlier short stories even more. I think Howard was at his best in the short story, although he does keep things fairly intense even in this longer work.
