If you like Fantasy books, try this one, it will keep you on the edge of your looking glass, i would just like more movies to come out on this like the first conan movie. the second one was a laugh. the first movie was done with real swords, people acually went to the hospital with missing fingers and split open chests from acuall cuts. took 5 years to make the first movie, only 1 yr for the second

Robert E. Howard is probably the most entertaining action writer you'll ever find, and Conan is an awesome character (and this is an amazing 3-book series.....)

Finally, the Howard resurgence we (I) have waited for has come to pass....

Amazing that Robert Jordan, L.Sprauge de Camp et al, can even sleep at night after their weakening of the Conan character....

Now it's time to reprint the Cormac mac Art (with Wulfhere the Skull-Splitter)stories

TIGERS OF THE SEA: Swords of the Northern Sea; The Night of the Wolf; The Temple of Abomination - Cormac Mac Art

... as well as the tales of Kirby O'Donnell:
Swords Of Shahrazar

Francis X. Gordon...The Daughter of Erlik Khan (Dodo Press)

and Esau Cairn:

Almuric (Planet Stories)

This is an awesome series...Finally, the Howard resurgence we (I) have waited for has come to pass....

Amazing that Robert Jordan, L.Sprauge de Camp et al, can even sleep at night after their weakening of the Conan character....

Now it's time to reprint the Cormac mac Art (with Wulfhere the Skull-Splitter) and Black Turlogh stories, as well as the tales of Francis X. Gordon and Kirby O'Donnell!

No one can write Conan like Robert E. Howard. This collection of short stories will keep you on the edge of your seat. Conan is the ultimate hero, extremely strong, intelligent, honest, loyal, and violent. The envy of every man and desire of every woman. It is such a shame that Howard cut his own life short without continuing this legend for himself.

This includes three of Howards longer Conan stories, including one that is full novel length, one rough draft of another story, Howards notes on the stories preceding their completion, two essays pertaining to Howard and his writings by people who helped put this book together and on top of all that its full of illustrations throughout the book. Very affordable and the quality of the stories are the top of the heap of the fantasy genre. I count Howard as being one of the my favorite writers. I can't recomend this and the other two Del Ray Conan releases any more. What a shame it was that these great works were out of print for so long. Great primal blood and guts stuff that often resembles horror as much as fantasy!

Nobody can touch Robert E. Howard when he was at the top-of-his-game. The three stories in The Bloody Crown of Conan are not only some of his best, they are some of his best Conan stories and Conan was his greatest creation. Howard was the father of Sword & Sorcery and next only to J.R.R. Tolkien in being the largest influence of fantasy today. His stories have stark imagery that's nothing short of amazing. The action moves at break-neck speed, and despite that they were written as pure adventure "pulps", there's harsh reality that's lying just beneath the surface.

In The People of the Black Circle, a princess and her kingdom are the target of an elite group of evil sorcerers, the Black Circle. Only Conan, the chief of the outlaws ranging her land, can save her.

In The Hour of the Dragon, King Conan is struck down by a resurrected wizard from an ancient evil kingdom. Now Conan must take up a long, dangerous quest to retrieve a relic of great power; the undead wizard's weakness, and rebuild his armies in order to regain his throne and achieve his revenge.

A Witch Shall Be Born is the tale of a evil and beautiful witch, who enslaves her twin sister, the queen of the border-city Khauran and allows merciless Shemite mercenaries reign of the kingdom. However, when they nail the captain of the guard, Conan, to a cross in the desert, they make the mistake of not confirming his death.

Del Rey publishing has done an excellent job putting these; The Fully Illustrated Library of Robert E. Howard, books together. They are chockfull of commentaries, letters and notes that can be appreciated by die-hard Howard fans and newcomers alike. Gary Gianni's artwork for Bloody Crown compliments the story perfectly, as do the artists in the other books. The beautiful illustrations lend a classical feel that's well-worthy of the master that Robert E. Howard was.

This includes three of Howards longer Conan stories, including one that is full novel length, one rough draft of another story, Howards notes on the stories preceding their completion, two essays pertaining to Howard and his writings by people who helped put this book together and on top of all that its full of illustrations throughout the book. Very affordable and the quality of the stories are the top of the heap of the fantasy genre. I count Howard as being one of the my favorite writers. I can't recomend this and the other two Del Ray Conan releases any more. What a shame it was that these great works were out of print for so long. Great primal blood and guts stuff that often resembles horror as much as fantasy!

This is great stuff, utterly action-packed! Howard has a wonderful sense of words, and--though he makes the occasional error in cognate reuse (e.g., "the courier coursed down the corridor")--he describes people, places, and events in jaw-dropping detail. You can faint from the splendor of the fabulously wealthy cities and places he word-paints ('limns', to use a favorite term of his). I could do without the all-too-frequent brutally detailed battle scenes, indicating precisely which archers and pikemen were positioned where and whose horse slipped in whose blood. Just when you're about to lose interest, rest assured that a ferocious dragon or wacky gorilla-monster lurks around the next corner. Oh, and there's some very good black magical humor, e.g., when one wizard, in the guise of an eagle, makes off with the head of a second wizard, whose headless body runs after him, muttering curses. You've got to admit that that's imaginative. I witthold my sixth star because of the uneven nature of some of the stories: indeed, the earlier tales seem to flow better than the later ones (n.b. that Conan's character chronology is unrelated to Howard's authorship chronology). Also, the dialogue occasionally seems silly or stinted: it's hard to believe that a barbarian--even though we know he's thoughtful and good-hearted--would engage in such lengthy monologues (all but monologues, I should say) while supposedly "conversing" with other characters. His words sound like what one would write, not like what one--a barbarian, moreover--would say. But never mind these nickety-pickety nitpicks: this is great, great stuff. After enjoying these, you may want to look into the other volumes (but of course!) and Howard's other works: Bran Mak Morn, Kull, and Solomon Kane. The last of these has adventures such as battling voodoo demons in darkest Africa, chasing vampire queens into forgotten cities, and engaging in swordplay with the enchanted skeletons of murdered sorcerers. Aah! That's the ticket!

My first exposure to Conan literature was "Tower of the Elephant," and, frankly, sadly, no other work lives up to the standard set by that work. It has all the elements of fantasy, moves like lightning, and keeps the reader engaged throughout. Of course, it is hackneyed by today's standards--the various "wow!" plot elements seem all but expected in a fantasy penned nowadays--but that does not detract from the author's style or the atmosphere of excitement that he creates.

That having been said, I find the overwhelming majority of the other Conan works to be disappointing. True, the language is colorful, and, equally true, Howard has considerable power with words to make scenery resplendent, locales luxuriant, and situations trenchant. But, other than that, too many of the plots revolve around battles, a fortiori, around the very details of battle maneuvers. As a fantasy reader, I really couldn't care less where the cavalry lines were placed and why the mace-bearers were positioned uphill from the ax-wielders: indeed, I find those situations to be crashing bores. Also, Conan's behavior is often inconsistent, his language frankly unrealistic, even inapplicable to the situation, and, in a word, he just doesn't command the respect that Howard wishes us to summon for him.

Read "Tower of the Elephant," say, "That was nice," and move on away from Conan to something more tightly written and more exciting (even if it does suffer from far too many story fragments--like, come to think of it, all of Howard's canons), to wit, the Savage Tales of Solomon Kane.

A must read book is "Blood & Thunder - The Life & Art of Robert E. Howard"
by Mark Finn. Best book I ever read! Also, go to your local comic book store and start reading Conan (Dark Horse) and Red Sonja (Dynamite) comics. You'll be glad you did! If you can find the large black & white magazines of Savage Sword of Conan and Conan Saga back in the seventies you're in for a real treat; Stories by Roy Thomas and art by John Buscema.

I've been a Conan fan for over 25 years. The insights alone were worth the purchase price. Excellent!

The second of a series of books from this particular publisher, this contains three longer stories, including the novel length Hour of the Dragon. Here you have The People of the Black Circle, The Hour of the Dragon, and A Witch Shall be Born:

Bloody Crown of Conan : The People of the Black Circle - Robert E. Howard
Bloody Crown of Conan : The Hour of the Dragon - Robert E. Howard
Bloody Crown of Conan : A Witch Shall be Born - Robert E. Howard



Conan is again in a leadership position, and seven of his lieutenants have been captured and are under sentence of death. He goes to see what he can do about it. In a flash, he makes off with their leader, the Devi. She is not all he has to worry about, as spies, plots and the wizardry of the Black Seers will all hinder him, not to mention the odd small army, along with the Devi herself.

4.5 out of 5



The novel length Conan work. An aging Conan is now in a position of responsibility, being King of Aquilonia.

His reign is threatened by a very powerful sorcerer, whom Conan is unable to stop by mundane means, and must take himself off hunting for a mystic artifact.

Having done this, there is some wizard smiting to be done.

Top notch work.

5 out of 5




A bad problem to have - how do you tell which of two women is the very evil twin. Luckily, our favorite barbarian is a very pragmatic man. Excellent and evocative, this story.

4.5 out of 5

When these stories were published Conan and his world had developed fully over many stories, and the Hyborean age and its political structures had become intricate and vast. From the plotting of Yasmina in "The People of the Black Circle" to the entertwining plot and subplots of "A Witch Shall Be Born," dark intrigue and the moves and countermoves of individuals and factions are central themes. "The Hour of the Dragon" is an especially impressive work, both in imagination and sharacter developement as well as the fact that it is the only full length Conan novel written by Conan's creator. The "Utitled Draft" on Page 315 is a particularly interesting read, in which Howard gets somewhat more graphic than usual. But the character developement in this particular "unfinished" piece is exemplar, and the story is unique among the three books in this series in that it's the only one that doesn't star or at least co-star. In fact Conan is only mentioned as the protagonists campanion in the past, and the famous barbarian does not appear in an actual "scene" until the last page of the story.

Howard was one of the earliest writers in the fantasy genre, and probably the inventor of its "sword and sorcery" sub-genre, and this is an important tomb for any fan of fantasy.


I have all three in this series, and after having to sift through so much Robert Jordon, L. Sprague D. Camp, and other fanfiction writers and being dissatisfied with previous compilation editions that tried to edit Howard into chronological order, I am glad to now have an original Robert E. Howard compilation in the order that the stories were written. The caliber of the work contained inside these books is jaw-dropping. Not only was howard incredibly imaginative and skilled impressively in submersing the reader's attention, but he also seems to have had an uncanny knowledge of certain things about man's prehistoric past that we are only discovering now to be true in the realm of archeology and science. The only problem with this series is that Del Rey skimped big-time on the glue.
J. Lyon Layden
The Other Side of Yore

When these stories were published Conan and his world had developed fully over many stories, and the Hyborean age and its political structures had become intricate and vast. From the plotting of Yasmina in "The People of the Black Circle" to the entertwining plot and subplots of "A Witch Shall Be Born," dark intrigue and the moves and countermoves of individuals and factions are central themes. "The Hour of the Dragon" is an especially impressive work, both in imagination and sharacter developement as well as the fact that it is the only full length Conan novel written by Conan's creator. The "Utitled Draft" on Page 315 is a particularly interesting read, in which Howard gets somewhat more graphic than usual. But the character developement in this particular "unfinished" piece is exemplar, and the story is unique among the three books in this series in that it's the only one that doesn't star or at least co-star. In fact Conan is only mentioned as the protagonists campanion in the past, and the famous barbarian does not appear in an actual "scene" until the last page of the story.

Howard was one of the earliest writers in the fantasy genre, and probably the inventor of its "sword and sorcery" sub-genre, and this is an important tomb for any fan of fantasy.


I have all three in this series, and after having to sift through so much Robert Jordon, L. Sprague D. Camp, and other fanfiction writers and being dissatisfied with previous compilation editions that tried to edit Howard into chronological order, I am glad to now have an original Robert E. Howard compilation in the order that the stories were written. The caliber of the work contained inside these books is jaw-dropping. Not only was howard incredibly imaginative and skilled impressively in submersing the reader's attention, but he also seems to have had an uncanny knowledge of certain things about man's prehistoric past that we are only discovering now to be true in the realm of archeology and science. The only problem with this series is that Del Rey skimped big-time on the glue.

After years of Howard's Conan "canon" that was rewritten, bastardized and embellished by other hack writers, the real, original Howard texts have been restored and they are indeed a revelation. Howard's writing is rich and evocative. You imagine the barbaric past vividly. If your only exposure to Conan is the watered-down movie version, you owe it to yourself to go back to the source of it all, the real Conan, the real deal.

After years of Howard's Conan "canon" that was rewritten, bastardized and embellished by other hack writers, the real, original Howard texts have been restored and they are indeed a revelation. Howard's writing is rich and evocative. You imagine the barbaric past vividly. If your only exposure to Conan is the watered-down movie version, you owe it to yourself to go back to the source of it all, the real Conan, the real deal.

Nothing in the Conan saga that is written by anyone else compares to Howard's masterwork. While the pulp novels by a slew of Conan writers to come after Howard are enjoyable to read, the original stories are far and away the best. It's interesting to see how much of Conan's personality and other aspects of the character were left out by later writers, whether by lack of understanding or lack of skill. Conan as a beserk warrior appears more readily in the original works than in later stories by other authors. And Conan at his most berserk, with the mighty pen of Robert E. Howard guiding his sword, is simply riveting.

Even in his middle-aged years, Conan the Cimmerian is the ultimate adventurer and swordsman, and Robert E. Howard was (and is) the ultimate writer of adventure fiction, bar none!

This collection, unexpurgated and restored to Howard's most original texts (before editorial tamperings over the last several decades), opens up new aspects to Conan's personality for the initiated and unitiated alike!

Don't miss this one, or any of the companion volumes from the same publisher!

Also recommended: The Dying Earth by Jack Vance, all of the Conan books by Robert E. Howard (ONLY the ones by Howard himself), all of Clark Ashton Smith's tales of Zothique and Hyperborea, and Pulsifer: A Fable by Wm. Michael Mott.

In their second volume of the complete Conan Wandering Star/DelRey deliver a magnificent volume including three of Howards best tales of Conan "People of The Black Circle", "The Hour of The Dragon" and "A Witch Shall Be Born" (In which our hero survives being crucified!) All that plus the amzing art of Garry Gianni (Who also illustrated both their Solomon Kane volume and their Bran Mak Morn)Add to that the wonderful insight we are given into REH's creative process through early drafts of these works included as apendices,

Top rate a real treat.

In my youth I read the Conan stories of Robert Jordan and his contemporaries, mostly in the late 80's and early 90's. They were pretty good, and I thought one of those guys must've been the creator of Conan. How wrong I was. Howard's original stories blow every other Conan book I ever read out of the water. The man was a true master of sword and sorcery. Hell, he basically invented the genre! Every barbarian hero since Howard's time owes something to Conan. The stories are gripping and intense, and I even enjoyed reading the commentaries and analysis presented by the editors. All around an excellent compilation of some of Howard's best Conan stories. I highly reccommend picking up the other two books in this series, which round out all of Howard's original work.

In this second collection of unexpurgated Conan stories by Robert Howard, Conan ranges from a hill chieftain to a king to a mercenary captain. Certainly by the time he was writing these, Howard was hitting his stride with his most famous character and was churning out some of his most memorable--and, indeed, longest--stories. The strongest story herein is the first, People of the Black Circle, in which Conan establishes a love-hate relationship with an eastern queen even as he fights to protect her kingdom from being overrun by a tyrannical warlord. The villains are suitably loathsome (with one being more weak and misguided than outright malevolent) while the action scenes are superb and both Conan and Yasmina are well fleshed out. After this comes Howard's only novel about Conan, The Hour of the Dragon (foolishly retitled by the hackwork L Sprague de Camp/Lin Carter team that nearly ruined the character in the '60's and '70's as Conan the Conqueror). While many of the trappings of the novel are familiar, being in part retreads of previous stories the Phoenix on the Sword and The Scarlet Citadel, Howard nonetheless shows his mighty barbarian's kingship in full swing and gives us a more complete view of what the Cimmerian is like as a ruler. (He cuts taxes and crushes those who dare attack his country, much like a greatly maligned head of state today.) We finally also get a (potential) queen for Conan in the strong-willed and resourceful but underutilized Zenobia. Unfortunately, while Conan clearly plans to make her his queen at the end of the novel, Howard never tells us if he does. (De Camp and Carter did, but their work is at best apocryphal, so it doesn't count.) The intrigue and twists in the book are greatly done too and lead up to a very satisfying climax. While not the best of Howard's Conan stories, this is surely one of the best. Finally comes A Witch Shall Be Born, the story featuring Howard's most famous scene for his most famous character--I'm of course referring to the crucifixion scene where Conan bites a vulture's head off. The story featurs more explicit sex (including a rape scene) than most of Howard's work and is probably aimed at being more traditional in the pulp vein so as to increase sales than some of the more personal stories that preceded and succeeded it. Here Conan is not only ironhard and almost a Nietzschean superman but also crafty and calculating. Much of the story works on prefiguration in a way many Howard stories do not. Constantius' rape of Taramis prefigures his soldiers' broader rape of her kingdom while Conan's foiling of Constantius' plans to have the vultures rip the barbarian apart on the cross also prefigures Conan's ultimate triumph through sheer determination and craft. While this is only about average for a Conan story as a whole, the various parts of it can at times be positively mesmerizing. After the stories, we have some fragments and outlines of various uncomplete stories as well as synopses of the completed works. It must be argued the editors have a great love for Howard and his work and have done painstaking labor to return his iconic Dark Barbarian to the vision the master had of him. While a previous reviewer made the asinine statement that this means the editors are hubristic and too overly faithful to the author, I can't see how they did anything they shouldn't have done. Which is more arrogant, restoring a writer's creation to his view of it and removing the garbage that have come to define it long after the author died or creating arbitrary timelines, recasting other characters into the mold of this singular achievement, and writing so-called pastiches that stray far from the original logic of the man responsible for bringing the character to life. I say the latter is. Thus, this collection deserves the full five stars. Kudos to the editors and thanks to Del Rey for bringing us the untampered with Conan so we can enjoy his adventures over and over.

Before effeminate elves, hairy dwarfs, and other child-like characters became all the rage in fantasy literature, Robert E Howard's Conan was King. Conan was the hard drinking killer with a strange northern accent. Women loved him and men feared him. He broke a bull's neck while still a boy. He raided a fort as a mere teen. He took the throne of the world's mightiest nation before he was done. He embodied hard boiled power, action, and heart-pounding, knuckle-cracking, skull-splitting grit. Conan is fantasy the way it was, is, and should always be. Pick it up and wear it out. Then buy another copy.

"The Bloody Crown of Conan" is the second collection of Robert E. Howard's classic character published by DelRey. It contains three stories, including the only Conan novel "The Hour of the Dragon", as well as the novella "The People of the Black Circle", and the shorter "A Witch Shall be Born." While I'm not sure if any of these rank highly as personal favorites, they are all entertaining, rousing, and even chilling.

Because there are only three stories, it's relatively easy to critique each story, as opposed to the first collection.

Naturally, "Hour of the Dragon" is the centerpiece of this collection: nearly 200 glorious pages of intrigue, fantasy, horror, and war. Conan, king of Aquilonia, finds himself unseated from his thrown when a group of plotters, led by Valerius, a Aquilonian duke, resurrect Xalotun, a long-dead wizard, who uses his powers to defeat Conan. Taken prisoner, Conan escapes, and sets upon a quest for a magic amulet with the power to destroy Xalotun. Through the course of this episodic novel, Conan encounters evil in various forms, especially in the dark land of Stygia, where he meets giant snakes, vampire women, and evil priests. Through this, he comes to understand the importance of his tenure as king to the people of Aquilonia, as they are subject to tyranny by the gang of usurpers. Indeed, "The Hour of the Dragon" represents an interesting level of growth in the character. Even though Howard did not write these stories with any sort of chronology, he have taken into consideration how the character would have changed throughout his life. Stories that take place early in Conan's life reveal a basic callowness. He's a thief and adventurer, essentially thumbing his nose at so-called civilization. However, by the time of "The Hour of the Dragon", a more mature Conan has emerged, one who acts in the interests of justice and altruism as much as in his own self-aggrandizement.

Don't worry, the young Conan is present in the other two pieces, particularly in the creepy "The People of the Black Circle." Here, Howard tells the story of Conan in his free-booting days. After the death of the king of Vendhya by black magic, his sister Yasmina ascends the throne. However, she soon finds herself under the power of Conan, whose bandits have been plaguing the kingdom. Initially seeking to ransom the queen, Conan instead finds himself in an uneasy alliance with Yasmina when the evil sorcerers who murdered her brother seek to kill her as well.

A slightly more mature Conan is present in "A Witch Shall Be Born". The story itself is pretty basic, as another queen, Taramis of Khauran, is replaced by her evil twin sister, Salome, a witch. The real centerpiece of this story is the crucifixion of Conan (here, the captain of Tarmis' guards) by Salome's ally Constantius. Naturally, Conan survives the grisly death (although he at one point rips out a vulture's throat with his teeth), and he raises an army of bandits, while inside, people subject to Salome's degrading rule quickly realize that their queen has been replaced. While most critics tend not to give this story too much credit, I found it fascinating that this story, much like "The Hour of the Dragon" concerns itself with the theme of good leadership and the dangers of arbitrary rulers. "A Witch Shall be Born" also sees Howard experimenting with narration, including a lengthy letter by a diplomat to Khauran describing the horrors under the rule of Salome. So I would argue the story has more value than perhaps the critics give it.

The various illustrations and plates by artist Gary Gianni are excellent and add to the pleasure of the collection. Also, the various editorial material, including essays examining Howard's creative process and business concerns as he wrote the stories, as well as various rough drafts and summaries, are interesting insights into the stories, and thus, greater enjoyment.

I eagerly await the next (last?) volume in the series. Howard was first-rate, and it's terrific that DelRey is making these stories available.

This series seems to be attempting to be the definitive Robert E Howard collection, and is, I think, succeeding. This is a beautiful volume with plenty of primary sourcing. Two quibbles: the editor seems to have a personal problem with L Sprague de Camp, who heavily edited previous Howard stories (amongst others like Lester Del Rey). Ths leads me to the larger point, that perhaps the treatment of Howard is a bit too reverent. Certainly those involved with the publication take Howard, and thus themselves, very seriously. But in the end they have done a great public service publishing Howard in these very nice trade editions, so a bit of opinionation and pomposity is of little note in the end. Highly Recommended.

The second volume of Del Rey's definative collection of Robert E. Howard's Conan stories contains three of the best ones, The People of the Black Circle, The Hour of the Dragon, and A Witch Shall Be Born.

The People of the Black Circle: Its obvious early on that Howard was really starting to hit his stride with the character by the time he wrote this . It was, at the time, the longest Conan story he ever wrote, and contains multiple plotlines which converge. It also contains some great black humor which would be right at home in today's cinema. My favorite line is, "I think I'll have your heart, Kerim Shah!", at which point the evil wizard telekenetically rips the heart out from the victim's chest. This is basically an oriental adventure story. The geographical names are changed just enough so that the reader will immediately identify with its historical counterpart. India is Vendya, etc. Many people consider this the finest Conan story that REH ever wrote. While its not my personal favorite, its definately in the top five.

The Hour of the Dragon: The only full length Conan novel that Howard ever wrote. Yes, while its true that certain plot elements are derivative of earlier Conan stories (particarly "The Scarlet Citadel" and "Black Colossus"), this is nevertheless a remarkable achievement, and one of the best fantasy adventure novels of all time. Chronologically, its the last Conan story in the saga. Here we have a Conan that is less reckless, and more mature and responsible than his younger counterpart. After he loses his kingdom, he's driven to regain it, not for personal wealth and glory, but to bring justice back to the land on behalf of his subjects. King Conan is depicted as a wise and just ruler craves peace and prosperity, rather than war and conquest, for his kingdom. As its noted in the essay inside the book, whoever renamed this "Conan the Conqueror" missed the point entirely. Don't be fooled though. There's plenty of slaying for even the most die-hard REH fanatic. Let's just say that Conan doesn't kill anyone who doesn't have it coming to them.

A Witch Shall Be Born: Basically, the story itself is pretty forgettable. What makes this story stand out is the one scene that everyone remembers, which is Conan being crucified (this scene was depicted on film very faithfully in the first Conan movie). Was Howard, perhaps on a subconsious level, expressing his views on Christianity? Its an interesting thought. Conan, even after being crucified, is not one to "turn the other cheek". As you'll see, he remains defiant even in the face of certain defeat.

I can't wait for the third and final volume to come out, "The Conquering Sword of Conan".

I've read practically everything that Robert E. Howard has ever written, from Conan, Kull, Kane, and Bran Mak Morn to Kirby O'Donnell, El Borak, Sailor Steve Costigan, Pike Bearfield and most of his other weird menace, horror, boxing, and adventure stories in the middle. But I never tire of reading them again, especially when they are in handsome, lavishly illustrated editions such as the Bloody Crown of Conan. The book contains only three Conan stories but they are among the longest and best.

"A Witch Shall Be Born" written in 1934 contains among the most powerful images in all of Conan Lore as Conan is crucified in the desert and left to the pickings of the vultures. It is among the most vivid testaments to his strength and fortitude to have survived where any other man would perish.

"The Hour of the Dragon" was Howard's longest Conan tale and the only true Conan novel that REH ever wrote. Having just become King of Aquilonia, intrigue from neighboring Nemedia where the exiled Valerius had fled, results in the ressurection of one of Acheron's most powerful wizards Xaltotun, dead for some 3,000 years.

Conan is deposed from the throne and tossed into the dungeons to rot but is saved by a salve named Zenobia, who Conan would later re-pay by making her his wife and Queen. Conan then goes on a quest to find the Heart of Ahriman, the one item that can destroy the wizard. A truly epic Conan story and one where he must admit that his sword cannot win the day without help. Some make undue comparisons to Tolkien but Hour of the Dragon was written LONG before Lord of the Rings and there's no evidence that Howard was even aware of Tolkien.

The last story is another Classic, The People of the Black Circle. the plot involves a group of wizards on Mount Yimsha who kidnap the Devi Yasmina to their mountain stronghold. Conan must join up with another ruffian and rescue her. While all the characters are remarkably multifaceted, I particularly liked Khemsa, a novice wizard who is talked into rising above his station (and defying his masters) by his beautiful, scheming girlfriend.

Best of all these tales are not the edited versions you may have read in the old Ace and Berkely paperbacks, but pure, unedited Howard. Great stuff!

Most people think that People of the Black Circle is one of the best sword and sandals fantasy stories out there. I agree, but Hour of the Dragon is,IMO, OVER THE TOP! The plot fairly smacks of something by Tolkien, but really it is a revisiting of Conan in all his various incarnations. We see him as monarch, then as vagabond/rogue/thief, then buccaneer, then general-crushing his enemies, seeing them driven before him and hearing the lamentation of their women. Howard depicts Conan as this implacable force of nature and that is precisely what he is in this story. I so hope the writers rumored to be writing a screenplay for another movie read this story. Absolutely AWESOME!

I was unaware that an editing process took place with the books. I always believed that the stories were always printed in their original form. This wasn't the case. If you are a Conan and Robert E. Howard fan; these are the best editions ever. I only wish there were more beautiful chapter illustrations. They really add a quality to the book that otherwise wouldn't have been there. If you want to see a good movie about the real Robert E. Howard I'd get "The Whole Wide World" ...it has lots of insight as to the type of person he was...

"The People of the Black Circle". Due to Himelians' black sorcery King Bhunda Chand of Vendhya dies. His grieving sister who had to kill her sibling to give him peace wants revenge. None of her warriors want to deal with the evil seers except for Conan who fears nothing, neither sword or sorcery.

"The Hour of the Dragon". Defrocked priest Orastes brings back to life High Priest Xaltotuan, who died three thousand years ago to teach him how to use the Heart of Ahriman. They plan to kill the ruling family of Nemedia through "natural" means, place an ally on the throne, and attack Aquilonia ruled by barbaric King Conan.

"A Witch Shall be Born". Beloved Queen Taramis of Khauran is stunned when her twin sister Salome visits. Salome was left to die in the desert at birth, but being born a witch she survived. Salome impersonates her sister and uses mercenaries to take over. Conan survives warwounds, an attack by a vulture, and a tying to a cross to lead the counter insurgency.

Miscellanea and Appendices. These segments include intriguing manuscripts and story synopsis by Robert E. Howard that show the development of Conan as a character and much of his age. The appendices further provide insight into the hero, the kingdoms, and his age.

The well written stories by Mr. Howard bring out the best of Conan in an era of sword and sorcery and by themselves would make an ideal gift for aficionados. The miscellanea adds icing to an already delightful collection. Making this a winner for anyone who follows the Barbarian especially the opportunity to read what his originator scribed.

Harriet Klausner