Conan the Unconquered

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Conan the Unconquered
Conan the Unconquered.jpg
Cover of the first edition.
Author Robert Jordan
Cover artist Kirk Reinert
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Series Conan the Barbarian
Genre Sword and sorcery
Publisher Tor Books
Publication date
1983
Media typePrint (Paperback)
Pages286
ISBN 0-523-48053-9

Conan the Unconquered is a fantasy novel by American writer Robert Jordan, featuring Robert E. Howard's seminal sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in paperback by Tor Books in April 1983 and reprinted on a number of occasions. The first British edition was published by Sphere Books in February 1988. The first trade paperback edition was published by Tor in 1991. It was later gathered together with Conan the Invincible and Conan the Defender into the omnibus collection The Conan Chronicles (Tor Books, 1995). [1]

Contents

Plot

An evil sorcerer Jhandar wishes to raise an army of undead slaves, and his meddling with chaos brings him into conflict with Conan, who must battle his deadly ninja henchmen who can kill with a touch, and retrieve a weapon from a dent in reality created by the sorcerer's earlier botched experiments. A whirlwind of adventure ensures.

Reception

Reviewer Ryan Harvey feels "[t]he book has a feeling of comfort food: neither challenging nor surprising, but providing decent sword-and-sorcery entertainment." He considers Jordan's writing style "like an over-imitation Howard," but "isn't bad despite its flawed approach to evoking old pulp prose ... [and] it still moves forward steadily and takes the reader along with it." He identifies "[o]ne of the book's biggest weaknesses [as] its women. They're basically trivial." [2]

Don D'Ammassa notes "This was pretty good but a chunk of the climax involves one of [Conan's] companions whose staff turns out to be magic ... a convenient development just as it appears that Conan will fail." [3]

Related Research Articles

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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 Liberator</i> 1979 novel by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter

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<i>The Road of Kings</i> 1979 novel by Karl Edward Wagner

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<i>Conan the Guardian</i> Novel by Roland J. Green

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<i>Conan the Hunter</i> Book by Sean A. Moore

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<i>Conan the Valiant</i> Novel by Roland J. Green

Conan the Valiant is a fantasy novel by American writer Roland Green, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in trade paperback by Tor Books in October 1988; a regular paperback edition followed from the same publisher in August 1989, and was reprinted in July 2000.

<i>Conan the Renegade</i> Novel by Leonard Carpenter

Conan the Renegade is a fantasy novel by American writer Leonard Carpenter, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in paperback by Tor Books in April 1986. The first British edition was published by Sphere Books in August 1988.

<i>Conan and the Treasure of Python</i> Book by John Maddox Roberts

Conan and the Treasure of Python 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 November 1993; a regular paperback edition followed from the same publisher in August 1994.

<i>Conan and the Amazon</i> Book by John Maddox Roberts

Conan and the Amazon 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 paperback by Tor Books in April 1995. It was reprinted by Tor in April 1999.

<i>Conan the Bold</i> Book by John Maddox Roberts

Conan the Bold 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 paperback by Tor Books in April 1989 and reprinted in June 1997.

<i>Conan the Rogue</i> Book by John Maddox Roberts

Conan the Rogue 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 November 1991; a regular paperback edition followed from the same publisher in August 1992, and was reprinted in January 1999.

<i>Conan the Marauder</i> Book by John Maddox Roberts

Conan the Marauder 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 paperback by Tor Books in January 1988, and reprinted in 1992. The first British edition was published in paperback by Orbit Books in February 1991.

<i>Conan the Champion</i> Book by John Maddox Roberts

Conan the Champion 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 paperback by Tor Books in April 1987 and reprinted in January 1989. The first British edition was published in paperback by Sphere Books, also in January 1989.

<i>Conan the Valorous</i> Book by John Maddox Roberts

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.

<i>Conan the Indomitable</i> Book by Steve Perry

Conan the Indomitable 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 1989; a regular paperback edition followed from the same publisher in September 1990.

<i>Conan the Defiant</i> Book by Steve Perry

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.

<i>Conan the Fearless</i> Book by Steve Perry

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.

<i>Conan the Victorious</i> Book by Robert Jordan

Conan the Victorious is a fantasy novel by American writer Robert Jordan, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in trade paperback by Tor Books in November 1984; a regular paperback edition followed from the same publisher in December 1985 and was reprinted in March 1991 and August 2010. The first British edition was published in paperback by Sphere Books in April 1987. The novel was later gathered together with Conan the Magnificent and Conan the Triumphant into the hardcover omnibus collection The Further Chronicles of Conan.

<i>Conan the Invincible</i> Book by Robert Jordan

Conan the Invincible is a fantasy novel by American writer Robert Jordan, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in paperback by Tor Books in June 1982 and reprinted in July 1990; a trade paperback edition followed by the same publisher in 1998. The first British edition was published in paperback by Sphere Books in September 1989; a later British edition was published in paperback by Legend Books in August 1996. It was later gathered together with Conan the Defender and Conan the Unconquered into the hardcover omnibus collection The Conan Chronicles.

References

  1. Conan the Unconquered title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
  2. Harvey, Ryan (December 15, 2009). "Pastiches 'R' Us: Conan the Defender". Black Gate. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  3. D'Ammassa, Don (September 28, 2017). "Fantasy Reviews: Conan the Unconquered". Critical Mass. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
Preceded by Tor Conan series
(publication order)
Succeeded by
Preceded by Complete Conan Saga
(William Galen Gray chronology)
Succeeded by