This article covers some of the major Conan chronologies that have been advanced over the years. From the 1930s onward a number of fans and scholars have analyzed the numerous Conan the Barbarian stories by Robert E. Howard and later writers, and attempted to organize them into a chronological timeline. [1]
Going beyond a simple fan activity, these efforts have had a significant impact on the development of the popular conception of the character of Conan as well as economic consequences on the Conan franchise. As Paolo Bertetti observes, the focus on the creation of a character chronology outside the work of the original author begins a "process that tends to transform the character into a social object of inter-individual construction and public debate, rendering it independent of texts in which it was born," and in the case of Conan, this has led to the exploitation of the character for commercial reasons and perhaps encouraged and justified the proliferation of pastiche stories and novels over the years. [2]
A number of factors have prevented the establishment of a consensus on the order of the Conan stories, most notably the fact that Howard himself apparently had little more than a general idea of the character's career path and intentionally wrote the stories out of chronological sequence.
Clearly, the stories where Conan is a thief are at the early part of his career and those of King Conan – in the later part. But the middle part – the various tales of his being a pirate, brigand, and mercenary at various locations around the world – are more difficult to arrange in neat order. While the earliest (Miller/Clark) timeline had at least partial endorsement from Howard, the addition of stories discovered and published after Howard's death in 1936 are more difficult to place. Fragments and synopses that were never completed are even more problematic and some contain what appear to be internal inconsistencies. [3]
The essay A Probable Outline of Conan's Career (1936) was completed during Howard's lifetime by P. Schuyler Miller and John D. Clark. Howard, who reviewed it in the draft and made a few corrections, stated it followed his vision of Conan's career "pretty closely." [4] The version subsequently published in the Howard fanzine The Hyborian Age (1938) incorporated Howard's corrections.
Over the years, Miller and Clark revised the chronology with L. Sprague de Camp to take into account additional Conan material, including previously unpublished stories by Howard and newly written stories by others. These revised versions of the chronology guided the order in which the stories were arranged when they were compiled into book form in the early series published by Gnome Press (1950–1957), Lancer/Ace (1966–1977), and Bantam (1978–1982), and text from the chronology was used in these series to bridge gaps between the stories.
The subsequent versions include An Informal Biography of Conan the Cimmerian (1952), a revision by Clark and de Camp used to bridge stories in the first hardcover edition of the Conan stories, published by Gnome Press. De Camp's final version of the chronology, Conan the Indestructible (1984), incorporated the first seven volumes of the series of Conan pastiches published by Tor Books. [5]
While the chronology had Howard's general approval in regard to its placement of the stories covered by its earliest published version, such authority is lacking for later versions' placement of stories discovered after Howard's death. Most post-Howard Conan stories were written to conform to it. The chronology has been criticized for missing some in-story chronological indications pointing to a slightly different arrangement (such as "Xuthal of the Dusk" preceding "The Devil in Iron"), [6] [7] for force-fitting posthumously discovered Howard tales into its scheme (e.g. "The Black Stranger," in which Howard has Conan turn pirate between his stints as general and king in Aquilonia, rewritten by de Camp to omit the piratical interlude), [7] and for having Conan wander "all over the Hyborian world in a scattered and illogical pattern, and at a break-neck pace." [6]
All stories added after the earliest version are indented, stories written by people other than Howard are marked with an asterisk, and stories written by Howard but published after his death are marked with a dagger (†).
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A Conan Chronology by Robert Jordan (1987) was the attempt of Conan writer Robert Jordan to create a new Chronology including all Conan material written up to that point, including fifteen of the first sixteen volumes of the series of Conan pastiches published by Tor Books (omitting the eighth, Conan the Valorous ). It was first published in Conan the Defiant , by Steve Perry (Tor Books, 1987). It was heavily influenced by the Miller/Clark/de Camp chronology, though deviating from it in some respects, and covers more of the Tor series. Jordan seldom provided his reasoning on his departures from the earlier chronology. [8]
Timeline of Conan's Journeys (1997, rev. 2004), was William Galen Gray's attempt to create "a chronology of all the stories, both Howard and pastiche." It is based on a close reading of all the stories and drawing on the earlier Miller/Clark/de Camp and Jordan chronologies. Where the earlier chronologies differ Gray sometimes adopts one's placement, sometimes the other, and occasionally departs from both, in each case explaining his reasons for the placement. The Gray chronology incorporated all then-published Conan stories, including all the Tor volumes, but treated inconsistently Tor pastiches whose portrayals of Conan's early life contradict Howard's account of it. Three of these, the movie adaptations Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer and the John M. Roberts novel Conan the Bold, Gray rejected as apocryphal "Legends." The fourth, Harry Turtledove's Conan of Venarium, he accepted. [9] [2]
Apocryphal:
Joe Marek's chronology is limited to stories written (or devised) by Howard, though within that context it is essentially a revision of the Miller/Clark/de Camp tradition. Noting Howard's general approval of the Miller/Clark chronology, he tends to follow it when it does not contradict the internal evidence of the stories or force Conan into what he perceives as a "mad dash" around the Hyborian world within timeframes too rapid to be credible. [7] [2] Marek considers four changes from this chronology as central to his own:
Marek provides arguments for his story placements, though he fails to incorporate into his scheme the chronologically wide gap between "Beyond the Black River" and "Wolves Beyond the Border" he admits to being indicated by Howard's version of "The Black Stranger" as he believed doing anything more to filling the hole would require a major reordering of the stories that would take attention away from his four primary changes. Additionally, Marek divided his timeline into five parts that would constitute about 250 paperback pages each. [6]
The Coming of Conan
Conan the Barbarian | The Sword of Conan
King Conan
Conan The Conqueror
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In 2003 Dale Rippke published The Darkstorm Conan Chronology, a completely revised chronology, including only those stories written (or devised) by Howard. Completions of Howard works by other hands and post-Howard works are not included. Rippke bases his story placements on the texts as Howard wrote them, which leads him to some of the same conclusions as Marek. Most of his differences with Marek fall in the middle of their respective efforts. [7] This is used as the basis for the Conan Dark Horse comic series, which mostly follows this chronology. [10]
Story | REH's writing order | Rippke | Marek | de Camp | Jordan | Gray | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Hyborian Age, Part One | – | – | 01 | – | – | – | historical essay, portion covering the period before Conan's time |
Cimmeria (poem) | – | – | 02 | – | – | poem establishing, describing and meditating on Conan's birthplace; placed before the stories in the collection The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian | |
Conan the Barbarian (2011 novel) (part 1) | – | – | – | – | – | – | film adaptation; chapters 1–11 cover Conan's early life from birth to the eve of Venarium |
Conan of Venarium | – | – | – | – | – | 01 | final chapters contradict Howard's account (and all others) of Conan's first entry into the civilized countries – Conan was about 14/15 at the Battle of Venarium per the Miller/Clark/de Camp chronology |
Conan the Bold | – | – | – | – | – | A | contradicts Howard's account (and all others) of Conan's first entry into the civilized countries; would go between Conan of Venarium and "Legions of the Dead" if anywhere |
"Legions of the Dead" | – | – | – | 01 | 01 | 02 | |
Conan the Barbarian (1982 novel) | – | – | – | 02 | – | A | film adaptation contradicting Howard's account (and all others) of Conan's early life; treated by de Camp as an alternative account |
"The Thing in the Crypt" | – | – | – | 03 | 02 | 03 | |
Conan the Defiant | – | – | – | – | 03 | 04 | |
Conan the Hunter | – | – | – | – | – | 05 | |
Conan the Indomitable | – | – | – | – | – | 06 | |
Conan the Free Lance | – | – | – | – | – | 07 | |
Conan the Formidable | – | – | – | – | – | 08 | |
"The Tower of the Elephant" | 04 | 03 | 04 | 04 | 04 | 09 | |
Conan and the Sorcerer | – | – | – | 11 | 05 | 10 | Conan's age and internal references in the story fit Jordan's placement; de Camp argues Conan's behavior is too mature for his depicted age and places it later – – Conan was about 17 according to Offutt and 23 according to de Camp, per the Miller/Clark/de Camp chronology |
Conan the Mercenary | – | – | – | 12 | 06 | 11 | Conan's age and internal references in the story fit Jordan's placement; de Camp argues Conan's behavior is too mature for his depicted age and places it later |
Conan: The Sword of Skelos | – | – | – | 13 | 07 | 12 | Conan's age and internal references in the story fit Jordan's placement; de Camp argues Conan's behavior is too mature for his depicted age and places it later |
Conan the Destroyer | – | – | – | 05 | 08 | A | film adaptation; sequel to the 1982 Conan the Barbarian novel and a poor fit chronologically as anything but that, though de Camp and Jordan work it into their schemes regardless |
Conan the Outcast | – | – | – | – | – | 13 | |
Conan the Magnificent | – | – | – | 06 | 09 | 14 | |
Conan the Invincible | – | – | – | 07 | 10 | 15 | |
"The Hall of the Dead" | * | 04 | 05 | 08 | 11 | 16 | early fragment not published in Howard's lifetime |
Conan the Fearless | – | – | – | – | 12 | 17 | |
"The God in the Bowl" | 03 | 02 | 06 | 09 | 13 | 18 | |
Conan the Warlord | – | – | – | – | 14 | 19 | |
"Rogues in the House" | 11 | 05 | 07 | 10 | 16 | 20 | |
Conan the Victorious | – | – | – | 14 | 17 | 21 | |
Conan the Unconquered | – | – | – | 15 | 18 | 22 | |
"The Hand of Nergal" | * | 06 | 08 | 16 | 19 | 23 | early fragment not published in Howard's lifetime |
"The City of Skulls" | – | – | – | 17 | 20 | 24 | |
Conan the Hero | – | – | – | – | – | 25 | |
"The People of the Summit" | – | – | – | 18 | 21 | 26 | |
"The Curse of the Monolith" | – | – | – | 19 | 22 | 27 | |
Conan the Valiant | – | – | – | – | 23 | 28 | |
Conan and the Spider God | – | – | – | 20 | 27 | 29 | |
"The Blood-Stained God" | – | – | – | 21 | 24 | 30 | |
Conan the Valorous | – | – | – | – | – | 31 | |
"The Frost Giant's Daughter" | 02 | 01 | 03 | 22 | 25 | 32 | |
"The Lair of the Ice Worm" | – | – | – | 23 | 26 | 33 | |
Conan the Relentless | – | – | – | – | – | 34 | |
Conan the Savage | – | – | – | – | – | 35 | |
Conan the Defender | – | – | – | 24 | 28 | 36 | |
Conan the Triumphant | – | – | – | 25 | 30 | 37 | |
Conan the Guardian | – | – | – | – | – | 38 | |
"Queen of the Black Coast" (chapter 1) | 06a | 09a | 10a | 26 | 31 | 39 | |
Conan the Rebel | – | – | – | 27 | 32 | 40 | |
"Queen of the Black Coast" (chapters 2–5) | 06b | 09b | 10b | 28 | 33 | 41 | |
Conan at the Demon's Gate (main narrative) | – | – | – | – | – | 42 | |
"The Vale of Lost Women" | 12 | 17 | 19 | 29 | 34 | 43 | |
"The Castle of Terror" | – | – | – | 30 | 35 | 44 | |
"The Snout in the Dark" | * | 10 | 11 | 31 | 36 | 45 | early fragment not published in Howard's lifetime |
Conan the Barbarian (2011 novel) (part 2) | – | – | – | – | – | – | film adaptation; chapters 12–33 set in the wake of Conan's piratical career on the Black Coast and subsequent sojourn in the Black Kingdoms |
Conan the Gladiator | – | – | – | – | – | 46 | |
Conan and the Emerald Lotus | – | – | – | – | – | 47 | |
"Hawks Over Shem" | – | – | – | 32 | 37 | 48 | |
"Black Colossus" | 07 | 08 | 09 | 34 | 38 | 49 | |
"Shadows in the Dark" | – | – | – | 35 | 39 | 50 | Conan was nearly 30 at this time per the Miller/Clark/de Camp chronology |
Conan: The Road of Kings | – | – | – | 33 | 29 | 51 | |
Conan the Renegade | – | – | – | – | 40 | 52 | |
"Shadows in the Moonlight" | 08 | 07 | 12 | 36 | 41 | 53 | |
Conan of the Red Brotherhood | – | – | – | – | – | 54 | |
Conan, Scourge of the Bloody Coast | – | – | – | – | – | 55 | |
Conan the Champion | – | – | – | – | 15 | 56 | |
"The Road of the Eagles" | – | – | – | 37 | 42 | 57 | |
"A Witch Shall be Born" | 16 | 12 | 13 | 38 | 43 | 58 | Conan was about 30 at this time per the Miller/Clark/de Camp chronology |
"Black Tears" | – | – | – | 39 | 44 | 59 | Conan was about 32 at this time per the Miller/Clark/de Camp chronology |
Conan and the Manhunters | – | – | – | – | – | 60 | |
"Shadows in Zamboula" | 20 | 15 | 14 | 40 | 45 | 61 | |
Conan the Raider | – | – | – | – | 46 | 62 | |
"The Star of Khorala" | – | – | – | 41 | 47 | 63 | |
Conan and the Death Lord of Thanza | – | – | – | – | – | 64 | |
Conan and the Amazon | – | – | – | – | – | 65 | |
"The Devil in Iron" | 13 | 13 | 16 | 42 | 48 | 66 | |
"The Flame Knife" | – | – | – | 43 | 49 | 67 | |
Conan and the Shaman's Curse | – | – | – | – | – | 68 | |
"The People of the Black Circle" | 14 | 14 | 17 | 44 | 50 | 69 | Conan was in his early 30s at this time per the Miller/Clark/de Camp chronology |
Conan the Marauder | – | – | – | – | 51 | 70 | |
Conan and the Mists of Doom | – | – | – | – | – | 71 | |
"The Slithering Shadow" | 09 | 11 | 15 | 45 | 52 | 72 | |
"Drums of Tombalku" | * | 16 | 18 | 46 | 53 | 73 | fragment not published in Howard's lifetime |
"The Gem in the Tower" | – | – | – | 47 | 54 | 74 | Conan was about 35 at this time per the Miller/Clark/de Camp chronology |
Conan and the Grim Grey God | – | – | – | – | – | 75 | |
"The Pool of the Black One" | 10 | 18 | 20 | 48 | 55 | 76 | Conan was about 37 at this time per the Miller/Clark/de Camp chronology |
Conan the Buccaneer | – | – | – | 49 | 56 | 77 | Conan was in his late 30s at this time per the Miller/Clark/de Camp chronology |
"Red Nails" | 21 | 21 | 21 | 50 | 57 | 78 | |
Conan and the Gods of the Mountain | – | – | – | – | – | 79 | |
"Jewels of Gwahlur" | 17 | 22 | 22 | 51 | 58 | 80 | |
"The Ivory Goddess" | – | – | – | 52 | 59 | 81 | |
Conan and the Treasure of Python | – | – | – | – | – | 82 | |
Conan, Lord of the Black River | – | – | – | – | – | 83 | |
Conan the Rogue | – | – | – | – | – | 84 | |
"Beyond the Black River" | 18 | 19 | 23 | 53 | 60 | 85 | Conan was about 39 at this time per the Miller/Clark/de Camp chronology |
"Moon of Blood" | – | – | – | 54 | 61 | 86 | |
"The Treasure of Tranicos" "The Black Stranger" | 19 | 20 | 24 | 55 | 62 | 87 | |
"Wolves Beyond the Border" | * | 23 | 25 | 56 | 63 | 88 | draft not published in Howard's lifetime |
Conan the Liberator | – | – | – | 57 | 64 | 89 | Conan was in his early 40s at this time per the Miller/Clark/de Camp chronology |
"The Phoenix on the Sword" | 01 | 24 | 26 | 58 | 65 | 90 | |
"The Scarlet Citadel" | 05 | 25 | 27 | 59 | 66 | 91 | |
The Hour of the Dragon | 15 | 26 | 28 | 60 | 67 | 92 | Conan was about 45 at this time per the Miller/Clark/de Camp chronology |
The Return of Conan | – | – | – | 61 | 68 | 93 | |
Conan the Great | – | – | – | – | – | 94 | time setting indicated in-piece to be between The Return of Conan and "The Witch of the Mists" |
"The Witch of the Mists" | – | – | – | 62 | 69 | 95 | Conan was in his late 50s at this time per the Miller/Clark/de Camp chronology |
"Black Sphinx of Nebthu" | – | – | – | 63 | 70 | 96 | |
"Red Moon of Zembabwei" | – | – | – | 64 | 71 | 97 | |
"Shadows in the Skull" | – | – | – | 65 | 72 | 98 | |
Conan of the Isles | – | – | – | 66 | 73 | 99 | Conan was in his 60s at this time per the Miller/Clark/de Camp chronology |
Conan at the Demon's Gate (frame sequence) | – | – | – | – | – | – | time setting stated in-piece to be six years after Conan's abdication from the Aquilonian throne and into the reign of his successor |
Death-Song of Conan the Cimmerian (poem) | – | – | – | – | – | – | time setting indicated in-piece to occur at Conan's death |
The Hyborian Age, Part Two | – | – | 29 | – | – | – | historical essay, portion covering the period after Conan's time |
Notes On Various Peoples of the Hyborian Age | – | – | 30 | – | – | – | |
Letters | – | – | 31 | – | – | – |
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 a fictional period of Earth's history within the artificial mythology created by Robert E. Howard, serving as the setting for the sword and sorcery tales of Conan the Barbarian.
"The God in the Bowl" is one of the original short stories featuring the sword and sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian, written by American author Robert E. Howard but not published during his lifetime. Set during the fictional Hyborian Age, the plot sees Conan robbing a temple museum only to become the prime suspect in a murder mystery. The story first saw publication in September 1952 in Space Science Fiction and has been reprinted many times since.
"Black Colossus" is one of the original short stories starring the fictional sword and sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian, written by American author Robert E. Howard and first published in Weird Tales magazine, June 1933. Howard earned $130 for the sale of this story.
John Drury Clark, Ph.D. was an American rocket fuel developer, chemist, and science fiction writer. He was instrumental in the revival of interest in Robert E. Howard's Conan stories and influenced the writing careers of L. Sprague de Camp, Fletcher Pratt, and other authors.
Conan the Liberator 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 in paperback by Bantam Books in February 1979, and reprinted in 1982; later paperback editions were issued by Ace Books. The first hardcover edition was published by Tor Books in June 2002; a trade paperback followed from the same publisher in 2003. The first British edition was from Sphere Books. The novel was later gathered together with Conan the Swordsman and Conan and the Spider God into the omnibus collection Sagas of Conan.
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.
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.
Conan the Usurper is a 1967 collection of four fantasy short stories by American writer Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp, featuring Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. Most of the stories originally appeared in the fantasy magazine Weird Tales in the 1930s. The book has been reprinted a number of times since by various publishers, and has also been translated into German, Spanish, Italian, Swedish and Dutch.
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.
The Flame Knife is a 1955 fantasy novella by American writers Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp, featuring Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was revised by de Camp from Howard's original story, a then-unpublished oriental tale featuring Francis X. Gordon titled "Three-Bladed Doom". De Camp changed the names of the characters, added the fantastic element, and recast the setting into Howard's Hyborian Age. The story was first published in the hardbound collection Tales of Conan, and subsequently appeared in the paperback collection Conan the Wanderer, as part of which it has been translated into German, Japanese, Spanish, Dutch, and Italian. It was published by itself in paperback book form by Ace Books in 1981, in an edition profusely illustrated by Esteban Maroto.
The Conan Reader is a 1968 essay collection by L. Sprague de Camp, published in hardcover by Mirage Press. The essays were originally published as articles in George H. Scithers' fanzine Amra. Mirage subsequently published two companion volumes of essays from The Conan Swordbook (1969) and The Conan Grimoire (1972). 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).
The Conan Swordbook is a 1969 collection of essays 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 other two volumes of material from Amra, The Conan Reader (1968) and The Conan Grimoire (1972). 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).
The Blade of Conan is a 1979 collection of essays edited by L. Sprague de Camp, published in paperback by Ace Books. The material was originally published as articles in George H. Scithers' fanzine Amra. The book is a companion to Ace's later volume of material from Amra, The Spell of Conan (1980). Most of the material in the two volumes, together with some additional material, was reprinted from three previous books issued in hardcover by Mirage Press; de Camp's collection The Conan Reader (1968), and the de Camp and Scithers-edited anthologies The Conan Swordbook (1969). and The Conan Grimoire (1972).
The Coming of Conan is a collection of eight fantasy short stories by American writer Robert E. Howard, featuring his sword and sorcery heroes Kull and Conan the Barbarian, together with the first part of his pseudo-history of the "Hyborian Age" in which the Conan tales were set. It was first published in hardcover in the United States by Gnome Press in 1953 and by Boardman Books in the United Kingdom in 1954. 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 and distributed among other "Kull" and "Conan" collections.
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.
Cormac Fitzgeoffrey is a fictional character created by Robert E. Howard. He is a half-Norman, half-Gael Knight who is taking part in the Third Crusade. Howard wrote two short stories featuring the character and a synopsis that was later completed by another author. Although Howard was most famous for his fantasy fiction, especially Conan the Barbarian, the Cormac stories have for the majority a purely historical setting, albeit the second one involves Lovecraftian elements.
Conan the Valorous is a fantasy novel by American writer John Maddox Roberts, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in trade paperback by Tor Books in September 1985; a regular paperback edition followed from the same publisher in September 1986, and was reprinted in January 1992. The first British edition was published in paperback by Sphere Books in September 1987.
Conan the Defiant is a fantasy novel by American writer Steve Perry, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in trade paperback by Tor Books in October 1987, with a regular paperback edition issued simultaneously by the same publisher, and was reprinted in August 1988. A British edition was published in paperback by Orbit Books in January 1990.
Conan the Fearless is a fantasy novel by American writer Steve Perry, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in trade paperback by Tor Books in February 1986; a regular paperback edition followed from the same publisher in January 1987, and was reprinted at least once. The first British edition was published in paperback by Sphere Books in January 1988.