King Conan

King Conan

King Conan by Robert E. Howard, Gnome Press, 1953
Author Robert E. Howard
Country United States
Language English
Series Conan the Barbarian
Genre Sword and sorcery Fantasy novel
Publisher Gnome Press
Publication date
1953
Media type Print (Hardback)

King Conan is a collection of five fantasy short stories written by Robert E. Howard featuring his seminal sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian, first published in hardcover by Gnome Press in 1953. The stories originally appeared in the 1930s in the fantasy magazine Weird Tales. The collection never saw publication in paperback; instead, its component stories were split up and distributed among other "Conan" collections.

Contents:

Chronologically, the five short stories collected as King Conan are the fourth in Gnome's Conan series; the novel Conan the Conqueror follows.

In 2011, Dark Horse started a new Conan comic book, named King Conan; the Cimmerian, now old and alone on his throne of Aquilonia, recalls his previous years adventures with the young royal scribe; his tales are set after he got the throne. Dark Horse adapted several Howard's short stories plus The Hour of the Dragon Until now, the list includes, in the following order:

Reception

P. Schuyler Miller received the collection favorably, praising Howard's ability "to make the preposterous doings of his superhuman hero so real."[1]

Everett F. Bleiler found that the original text of "The Black Stranger" "is much superior to the adaptation" provided here. He characterized the collection overall as "a weak selection", although singling out two scenes as effective.[2]

References

  1. "The Reference Library", Astounding Science Fiction, February 1954, pp.155
  2. Everett F. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction, Kent State University Press, 1983, pp.260-61
Preceded by
The Sword of Conan
Gnome Conan series
(chronological order)
Succeeded by
Conan the Conqueror


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