''The Flame Knife'' is a 1955

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

novella by American writers Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp, featuring Howard's sword and sorcery hero

Conan the Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films (including '' Conan the Barbarian'' and '' Conan the Destroyer'') ...

. It was revised by de Camp from Howard's original story, a then-unpublished oriental tale featuring Francis X. Gordon titled " Three-Bladed Doom".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 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 word "Hyborian" is derived from the l ...

. The story was first published in the hardbound collection ''

Tales of Conan ''Tales of Conan'' is a 1955 collection of four fantasy short stories by American writers Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp, featuring Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. The tales as originally written by Howard were a ...

'' (

Gnome Press Gnome Press was an American small-press publishing company primarily known for publishing many science fiction classics. Gnome was one of the most eminent of the fan publishers of SF, producing 86 titles in its lifespan — many considered classic ...

, 1955), and subsequently appeared in the paperback collection ''

Conan the Wanderer ''Conan the Wanderer'' is a 1968 collection of four fantasy short stories by American writers Robert E. Howard, L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter, featuring Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. Most of the stories were origina ...

'' (

Lancer Books Lancer Books was a publisher of paperback books founded by Irwin Stein and Walter Zacharius that operated from 1961 through 1973. While it published stories of a number of genres, it was noted most for its science fiction and fantasy, particularl ...

, 1968), as part of which it has been translated into German, Japanese, Spanish,

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

, and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

. It was published by itself in paperback book form by Ace Books in 1981, in an edition profusely illustrated by

Esteban Maroto Esteban Maroto (born 1942) is a Spanish Comics, comic book artist. Career Born in Madrid, he began his career in the 1960s with series like ''Cinco por infinito'', published in English by Continuity Comics as ''Zero Patrol'' (heavily retouche ...

Plot summary

Conan, leader of a band of Kozaki mercenaries in the service of King Kobad of Iranistan, quarrels with his employer over the king's command to capture Balash, chief of the Kushafi nomads and Conan's friend. Instead, Conan has his men warn the Kushafi. In the Gorge of Ghosts, the two armies are attacked by members of the Sons of Yezm, a cult of assassins whose symbol is the Flame Knife. The cultists kidnap Nanaia, Conan's current girlfriend. The Cimmerian tracks them to their stronghold, where he becomes embroiled in a conflict with his old rival Olgerd Vladislav, an opponent first encountered in Howard's story " A Witch Shall be Born".

Sources

* 1955 American novels Conan the Barbarian novels Novels by L. Sprague de Camp Conan the Barbarian novels by Robert E. Howard American novellas Ace Books books {{1950s-fantasy-novel-stub