This book is the third and final volume collecting all of the stories penned by Conan's creator, Robert E. Howard. The series, which opened with "The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian" and "The Bloody Crown of Conan," claims to have accomplished something all of the other collected books and paperbacks have never done in the 70 years since Howard's death. The Ballantine-Del Rey series has published Howard's Conan stories in the order they were published by 1920s-30s pulp magazine "Weird Tales" rather than the chronological order built for Conan's life and career for the 12-volume paperback Conan series of the 1960s-70s. The 12-volume series also featured new Conan stories written primarily by L. Sprague De Camp and Lin Carter, as well as presented the stories with other authors' manipulating Howard's texts to fit the career track created for Conan in the years following Howard's death. For example, "The Treasure of Tranicos," in that past series, was presented as a Howard tale with pastiches added, most notably the inclusion of Thoth-Amon, a sorcerer who appeared in one Howard Conan tale but was made a recurring, arch-enemy for Conan in the later volumes and in the Conan comics. "Conquering Sword" presents the "Tranicos" tale as it was originally written by Howard, under its original title, "The Black Stranger," with no Thoth-Amon. Like Howard, this series has presented Conan's tales as if he were an adventurer sharing tales around a campfire, not in a chronological order of a life lived but rather in the style of "that reminds me of the time ..." As Howard did himself, this series saves the best Conan tales for last. In Conquering Sword," there is "The Black Stranger" which pits Conan's wits and brawn against savage Picts, back-stabbing pirates, horrific magic, and a mad "Tempest"-type count. "The Man-Eaters of Zamboula's" terrifying cannibals and its strangler and the terrible revenge Conan metes out to a treacherous innkeeper. "Beyond the Black River" and its tale of civilized lands trying to pioneer savage climes and its oft-quoted concluding line of "Civilization is unnatural. It is a whim of circumstance. And barbarism must always ultimately triumph." And "Red Nails," which is arguably the best Conan story ever written and is also the last Conan story penned by Howard. Like the other volumes of this series, "Conquering Sword" includes insightful essays on Howard and Conan as well as Howard's rough drafts, synopses, etc., for included tales. This series also presents Howard's unadulterated tales with all of the un-PC and biases of his era. With the recent release of "Conquering Sword" in trade paperback, this series proves the ultimate Howard Conan collection for newcomers and for long-time Conan readers.
Books
December 19, 2005
The Conquering Sword of Conan/Robert E. Howard
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