Conan (books)

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The Conan books are sword and sorcery fantasies featuring the character of Conan the Cimmerian originally created by Robert E. Howard. Written by numerous authors and issued by numerous publishers, they include both novels and short stories, the latter assembled in various combinations over the years by the several publishers. The character has proven durably popular, resulting in Conan stories being produced after Howard's death by such later writers as Poul Anderson, Leonard Carpenter, Lin Carter, L. Sprague de Camp, Roland J. Green, John C. Hocking, Robert Jordan, Sean A. Moore, Björn Nyberg, Andrew J. Offutt, Steve Perry, John Maddox Roberts, Harry Turtledove, and Karl Edward Wagner. Some of these writers finished incomplete Conan manuscripts by Howard, or rewrote Howard stories which originally featured different characters. Most post-Howard Conan stories, however, are completely original works. In total, more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories featuring the Conan character have been written by authors other than Howard. This article describes and discusses notable book editions of the Conan stories.

Contents

Gnome Press series, 1950-1957

The Gnome Press edition of Conan was the first hardcover collection of Howard's Conan stories, including all the original Howard material known to exist at the time, some left unpublished in his lifetime. Not published in order of previous publication, Gnome's volumes were organized to present the stories in order of their internal chronology, the sole exception being Tales of Conan, which skipped around to present random episodes from various points in the protagonist's career. Some stories in two of the later volumes (The Coming of Conan and King Conan) were completed or revised by L. Sprague de Camp; another (Tales of Conan) consisted of non-Conan Howard stories that de Camp rewrote as Conan yarns. The last published volume of the Gnome edition was the first Conan story by an author other than Howard, namely Björn Nyberg, and was revised by de Camp.

  1. The Coming of Conan (1953)
  2. Conan the Barbarian (1954)
  3. The Sword of Conan (1952)
  4. King Conan (1953)
  5. Conan the Conqueror (also known as The Hour of the Dragon; 1950)
  6. The Return of Conan (1957; by Björn Nyberg and L. Sprague de Camp)
  7. Tales of Conan (1955; originally non-Conan Howard stories rewritten as Conan stories by L. Sprague de Camp)

Lancer/Ace paperback series, 1966-1977

The cover of Conan the Usurper (1967); art by Frank Frazetta. Conan usurper.jpg
The cover of Conan the Usurper (1967); art by Frank Frazetta.

This was the first comprehensive paperback edition, which compiled the existing Howard and non-Howard stories together with new non-Howard stories in order of internal chronology, to form a complete account of Conan's life. Lancer Books initially numbered its volumes in order of publication, switching to a chronological numbering for volumes published later and reprints of the earlier volumes. Lancer went out of business before bringing out the entire series, and publication was completed by Ace Books.

This edition of the stories was the one that introduced Conan into popular culture. Undertaken under the direction of de Camp and Carter, it includes all the original Howard material, including that left unpublished in his lifetime and fragments and outlines. De Camp edited much of the material and he and Carter completed the stories that were not in finished form. New stories written entirely by themselves were added as well. In the following list, volumes 6 and 11–12 do not contain any material by Howard. Of the thirty-five stories in the other eight volumes, nineteen were published or completed by Howard during his lifetime, ten are rewritten or completed from his manuscripts, fragments or synopses, and six are the sole work of de Camp and Carter. Eight of the eventual twelve volumes published in this series featured cover paintings by Frank Frazetta.

  1. Conan (1967, by Robert E. Howard, L. Sprague de Camp, and Lin Carter)
  2. Conan of Cimmeria (1969, by Robert E. Howard, L. Sprague de Camp, and Lin Carter)
  3. Conan the Freebooter (1968, by Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp)
  4. Conan the Wanderer (1968, by Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp)
  5. Conan the Adventurer (1966, by Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp)
  6. Conan the Buccaneer (1971, by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter)
  7. Conan the Warrior (1967, by Robert E. Howard)
  8. Conan the Usurper (1967, by Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp)
  9. Conan the Conqueror (also known as The Hour of the Dragon; 1967, by Robert E. Howard)
  10. Conan the Avenger (also known as The Return of Conan; 1968, by Björn Nyberg, L. Sprague de Camp, and Robert E. Howard)
  11. Conan of Aquilonia (1977, by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter)
  12. Conan of the Isles (1968, by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter)

Donald M. Grant series, 1974-1989

A series of illustrated limited editions of the Howard Conan stories only, containing one or two stories per volume. The series lapsed before publishing the last five of the stories and three of the fragments.

Berkley series, 1977

Edited by Karl Edward Wagner, this series, like the Grant edition, included only the Howard Conan stories in their original published form, and included all the Conan stories in the public domain at the time (though their copyright status was not widely known). Wagner's introductions are openly dismissive of the editorial revisions done by de Camp and Carter on the Lancer/Ace editions.

Bantam series, 1978-1982

A series of non-Howard material continuing and supplementing the Lancer/Ace series. Bantam numbered their volumes in order of intended publication, but volume 5 was actually issued after volume 6, and volume 7 was issued without numbering. Volumes 1-6 were later reissued by Ace Books in 1987 and 1991 and Tor Books from 2001 to 2002.

  1. Conan the Swordsman (Aug. 1978) (by L. Sprague de Camp, Lin Carter, and Björn Nyberg)
  2. Conan the Liberator (Feb. 1979) (by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter)
  3. Conan: The Sword of Skelos (May 1979) (by Andrew J. Offutt)
  4. Conan: The Road of Kings (Oct. 1979) (by Karl Edward Wagner)
  5. Conan and the Spider God (Dec. 1980) (by L. Sprague de Camp)
  6. Conan the Rebel (Jul. 1980) (by Poul Anderson)
  7. Conan the Barbarian (May 1982) (adaptation by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter of the film of the same title)

Sphere series

Reprints of the Lancer/Ace and Bantam editions (not including the film tie-in), as a single series.

Ace Maroto series, 1978-1981

A series of new material by Andrew J. Offutt and old Howard/de Camp collaborations, all illustrated by Esteban Maroto. The Offutt stories, in combination with his Conan: The Sword of Skelos from the Bantam series, form a linked trilogy.

Tor series, 1982-2004

A series of new stories by various hands; after a pause from 1998 to 2000, Tor also reissued most of the previous non-Howard volumes originally published by Bantam, followed by one more original novel; in addition, it published a few omnibus editions of previously published volumes at various times. The Tor editions were not published in chronological order, but skipped around to present random episodes from various points in Conan's career. Occasional chronological essays included in some of the earlier volumes (initially by L. Sprague de Camp and later by Robert Jordan) assisted readers in placing the episodes in their proper context; later volumes did not include such aids. De Camp provided chronological fixes for the first seven volumes (Conan the Invincible through Conan the Victorious), and Jordan for the first sixteen (Conan the Invincible through Conan the Valiant), with the odd exception of the eighth, Conan the Valorous. As both efforts also covered the earlier Lancer/Ace and Bantam Conan series, they also in effect provided fixes for the Bantams afterwards reissued by Tor (though they disagreed on the placement of three of these). Tor's listings in various volumes of books published in the series to date were in neither chronological nor publication order, but alphabetical by title.

Tor originals

Tor reprints

Tor omnibuses

Russian series, 1993-1996

In the early 1990s the Russian publishers Troll and North-West (Severo-Zapad) hired local authors to write additional adventures of the Cimmerian. [1] [2] The authors took appropriately sounding pen names like Michael Manson, Douglas Brian, Duncan McGregor, and Paul Winlow (Nick Perumov), the titles, numbering at least 46 volumes, as of 2012 still unavailable to the rest of the world, include new adventures like Blue Poppies, Mithra's Gift, The Heart of Ahriman, Ghost of the Past, A Tiger at the Gates of Shadizar, and others. [3] The author Mikhail Akhmatov participated not only as author "Michael Manson", but also in working out the logistics of the project, so that Conan never appears in different places at the same time in the books of the various authors. [4]

Polish edition, 1992

A Polish book about Conan by Jack de Craft, Conan: Pani Śmierć ("Conan: Lady Death" in English), was published in 1992 by the publisher Camelot. Jack de Craft is a pen name of Polish fantasy writer Jacek Piekara. [5]

Gollancz series, 2000-2006

A new edition of Howard's original stories featuring a complete collection of only Howard's writings. Includes all the classic stories in their unrevised form; uncompleted or fragmentary tales have been left in that state. The two parts were put together in 2006 to form one stand alone Centenary Edition to celebrate the 100 years since the birth of Howard.

Wandering Star/Del Rey series, 2003-2005

A three volume collection of Howard's original stories, published by Wandering Star in the United Kingdom and Del Rey (a division of Random House) in the United States. These editions contain notes, rough drafts, and other miscellanea by Howard. Each volume is illustrated, by Mark Schultz, Gary Gianni, and Greg Manchess, respectively.

Age of Conan, 2005-2006

Four trilogies have been released based on the MMORPG Age of Conan by Funcom. These do not directly involve Conan himself, but take place against the same background.

2011 movie tie-ins

Both Del Rey Books and Berkley Books have issued Conan books as tie-ins with the 2011 remake of the 1982 Conan the Barbarian film.

Titan series, 2022

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conan the Barbarian</span> Fictional character created by Robert E. Howard

Conan the Barbarian is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films, television programs, video games, and role-playing games. Robert E. Howard created the character in 1932 for a series of fantasy stories published in Weird Tales magazine.

"The Hyborian Age" is an essay by Robert E. Howard pertaining to the Hyborian Age, the fictional setting of his stories about Conan the Cimmerian. It was written in the 1930s but not published during Howard's lifetime. Its purpose was to maintain consistency within his fictional setting.

<i>Conan and the Spider God</i> 1980 novel by L. Sprague de Camp

Conan and the Spider God is a fantasy novel by American writer L. Sprague de Camp featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in paperback by Bantam Books in December 1980; later paperback editions were issued by Ace Books and Tor Books. The first hardcover edition was issued by Robert Hale in 1984, and the second by Tor Books in 2002. It was later gathered together with Conan the Swordsman and Conan the Liberator into the omnibus trade paperback collection Sagas of Conan.

<i>Conan the Barbarian</i> (1982 novel) Novel by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter

Conan the Barbarian is a 1982 fantasy novel written by L. Sprague de Camp, Lin Carter and Catherine Crook de Camp featuring Robert E. Howard's seminal sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian, a novelization of the feature film of the same name. It was first published in paperback by Bantam Books in May 1982. The first hardcover edition was issued by Robert Hale in 1983, and the first British edition by Sphere Books in April 1988. A later novel with the same title by Michael A. Stackpole was issued by Berkley Books in 2011 as a tie-in with the 2011 remake of the 1982 film.

<i>Conan of the Isles</i> Novel by Lin Carter

Conan of the Isles is a fantasy novel by American writers L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published October 1968 in paperback by Lancer Books, and reprinted in July 1970, 1972, and May 1973; publication was then taken over by Ace Books, which reprinted the novel in May 1977, May 1979, April 1980, July 1981, April 1982, November 1982, November 1983, June 1984, September 1986, February 1991, and May 1994. The first British edition was published in paperback by Sphere Books in December 1974 a number of times since by various publishers. It has also been translated into French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Spanish, Russian and (supposedly) Japanese.

<i>Conan the Avenger</i> 1968 paperback book

Conan the Avenger is a 1968 collection of two fantasy works written by Björn Nyberg, Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in paperback by Lancer Books, and has been reprinted a number of times since by various publishers. It has also been translated into Japanese, German and Spanish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Björn Nyberg</span> Swedish writer (1929–2004)

Björn Emil Oscar Nyberg, was a Swedish fantasy author best known for his additions to the series of Conan stories begun by Robert E. Howard. His primary contribution to the series was The Return of Conan (1957), which was revised for publication by L. Sprague de Camp. He lived in France.

<i>The Return of Conan</i> Fantasy novel by Björn Nyberg and L. Sprague de Camp

The Return of Conan is a 1957 fantasy novel written by Björn Nyberg and L. Sprague de Camp, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in hardcover by Gnome Press and in paperback by Lancer Books as part of the collection Conan the Avenger in 1968; in this form it has been reprinted a number of times since by various publishers. It has also been translated into Japanese, German and Spanish.

<i>Conan of Aquilonia</i> Book by Lyon Sprague de Camp

Conan of Aquilonia is a collection of four linked fantasy short stories by American writers L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. The stories were originally published in Fantastic in August 1972, July 1973, July 1974, and February 1975. The collected stories were intended for book publication by Lancer Books, but this edition never appeared due to Lancer's bankruptcy, and the first book edition was issued in paperback by Ace Books in paperback in May 1977. It was reprinted by Ace in July 1981, April 1982, November 1982, August 1983, July 1984, 1986, June 1991, and April 1994. The first British edition was published by Sphere Books in October 1978, and reprinted in July 1988. The book has also been translated into French.

<i>Conan of Cimmeria</i> Collection of short stories

Conan of Cimmeria is a collection of eight fantasy short stories written by Robert E. Howard, L. Sprague de Camp, and Lin Carter and featuring Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. Most of the stories were originally published in various fantasy magazines. Lancer Books first published the paperback collection in 1969, and reprinted the book in 1970, 1972, and 1973. After Lancer's bankruptcy, Ace Books took over publication. Ace published its first edition in May 1977 and reprinted it in August 1977, 1979, 1980, 1982 (twice), 1984, 1985, 1990, and 1993. Sphere Books published the first British edition in 1974 and reprinted that edition in 1976 and 1987. The book has also been translated into German, Japanese, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish and Italian. It was gathered together with Conan and Conan the Freebooter into the omnibus collection The Conan Chronicles.

<i>Conan</i> (short story collection) Short story collection

Conan is a 1967 collection of seven fantasy short stories and associated pieces written by Robert E. Howard, L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter featuring Howard's seminal sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. Most of the stories were originally published in various pulp magazines. The book was first published in paperback by Lancer Books in 1967, and was reprinted in 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972 (twice) and 1973. After the bankruptcy of Lancer, publication was taken over by Ace Books. Its first edition appeared in May 1977, and was reprinted in 1979, 1982 (twice), 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, and 1990. The first British edition was issued by Sphere Books in 1974, and was reprinted in 1977. The book has also been translated into German, Japanese, French, Spanish, Italian, Swedish and Dutch. It was gathered together with Conan of Cimmeria and Conan the Freebooter into the omnibus collection The Conan Chronicles.

<i>Conan the Swordsman</i> 1978 Bantam Books short story collection

Conan the Swordsman is a collection of seven fantasy short stories and associated pieces by writers L. Sprague de Camp, Lin Carter and Björn Nyberg featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in paperback by Bantam Books in August 1978, and reprinted in 1981. Later paperback editions were issued by Ace Books. The first hardcover edition was published by Tor Books in December 2002. The first British edition was issued by Sphere Books in 1978. The book has also been translated into Italian and French. It was later gathered together with Conan the Liberator and Conan and the Spider God into the omnibus collection Sagas of Conan.

<i>Sagas of Conan</i>

Sagas of Conan is a 2004 omnibus collection of three previously issued fantasy books written by L. Sprague de Camp, Lin Carter and Björn Nyberg featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in paperback by Tor Books.

<i>The Conan Chronicles</i>

The Conan Chronicles is a 1989 omnibus collection of three fantasy collections by American writers Robert E. Howard, L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter, featuring Howard's seminal sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian, published by Sphere Books. The component collections had originally been published by Lancer Books in 1967, 1968 and 1969, and later reissued by Ace Books. The omnibus collection was followed by The Conan Chronicles 2.

<i>The Conan Chronicles 2</i>

The Conan Chronicles 2 is a 1990 omnibus collection of two previous fantasy collections and one fantasy novel by American writers Robert E. Howard, L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter, featuring Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian, published by Orbit Books. The component books had originally been published by Lancer Books in 1966, 1968 and 1971, and later reissued by Ace Books. The omnibus collection was preceded by The Conan Chronicles.

<i>The Conan Grimoire</i> Book by Lyon Sprague de Camp

The Conan Grimoire is a 1972 collection of essays, poetry and fiction edited by L. Sprague de Camp and George H. Scithers, published in hardcover by Mirage Press. The essays were originally published as articles in Scithers' fanzine Amra. The book is a companion to Mirage’s previous two volumes of material from Amra, The Conan Reader (1968) and The Conan Swordbook (1969). Most of the material in the three volumes, together with some additional material, was later reprinted in two de Camp-edited paperback anthologies from Ace Books; The Blade of Conan (1979) and The Spell of Conan (1980).

Bibliography of science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction and nonfiction writer L. Sprague de Camp:

<i>The Mighty Swordsmen</i> Anthology edited by Hans Stefan Santesson

The Mighty Swordsmen is a 1970 anthology of fantasy short stories in the sword and sorcery subgenre, edited by Hans Stefan Santesson. It was first published in paperback by Lancer Books in December 1970, and was a follow-up to the earlier Lancer anthology The Mighty Barbarians. Robert M. Price edited a later-day homage to both anthologies called The Mighty Warriors (2018).

"The Lair of the Ice Worm" is a fantasy short story by American writers L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter, featuring the fictional sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian created by Robert E. Howard. It was first published by Lancer Books in the paperback collection Conan of Cimmeria (1969), which was reprinted several times, first by Lancer and later by Ace Books through 1993. It has also been published by Sphere Books in the omnibus paperback collection The Conan Chronicles (1989).

"The People of the Summit" is a short story by Swedish writer Björn Nyberg, subsequently revised by L. Sprague de Camp, featuring the fictional sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian created by Robert E. Howard. Nyberg's version of the story was first published by Lancer Books in the paperback anthology The Mighty Swordsmen in December 1970. The revised version was first published by Bantam Books in the paperback collection Conan the Swordsman in August 1978. Later paperback editions of the collection were issued by Ace Books. The first hardcover edition was published by Tor Books in 2002. The book has also been translated into Italian. It was later gathered together with Conan the Liberator and Conan and the Spider God into the omnibus collection Sagas of Conan.

References

  1. ↑ Yuri Kotilevskis. "Yuri Kotilevski Conan Saga Textography". lib.ru. Archived from the original on 2012-03-29. Retrieved 2012-04-02.
  2. ↑ ozon.ru. "Conan Saga 51 books". ozon.ru. Retrieved 2012-04-02.
  3. ↑ wiki.cimmeria.ru. "Conan Saga Authors". wiki.cimmeria.ru. Retrieved 2012-04-01.
  4. ↑ Dmitri Zaitsev. "Conan The Barbarian and Other Things". akhmanov.ru. Retrieved 2012-04-02.
  5. ↑ "Conan. Pani Śmierć". LubimyCzytać.pl. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
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