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The Essential Conan
''The Essential Conan'' is a collection of fantasy short stories written by Robert E. Howard featuring his sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. The book was published in 1998 by the Science Fiction Book Club. It collects the editions of the Conan books, edited by Karl Edward Wagner and published by Berkley Books in 1977. Most of the stories originally appeared in the magazines ''Weird Tales'', ''The Phantagraph'' and ''The Howard Collector''. The Wagner editions were the first to virtually reproduce Howard's original stories without any editorial changes other than typo fixes. Contents * ''The Hour of the Dragon'' ** Foreword, by Karl Edward Wagner ** "The Hour of the Dragon" (poem) ** "The Hour of the Dragon" * '' The People of the Black Circle'' ** Foreword, by Karl Edward Wagner ** " The Devil in Iron" ** " The People of the Black Circle" ** " A Witch Shall Be Born" ** " Jewels of Gwahlur" ** Afterword, by Karl Edward Wagner * ''Red Nails'' ** Foreword, by Karl Edw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert E
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honour, praise, renown" and '' berht'' "bright, light, shining"). It is the second most frequently used given name of ancient Germanic origin. It is also in use as a surname. Another commonly used form of the name is Rupert. After becoming widely used in Continental Europe it entered England in its Old French form ''Robert'', where an Old English cognate form (''Hrēodbēorht'', ''Hrodberht'', ''Hrēodbēorð'', ''Hrœdbœrð'', ''Hrœdberð'', ''Hrōðberχtŕ'') had existed before the Norman Conquest. The feminine version is Roberta. The Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish form is Roberto. Robert is also a common name in many Germanic languages, including English, German, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, Scots, Danish, and Icelandic. It c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Devil In Iron
"The Devil in Iron" is one of the original stories by Robert E. Howard about Conan the Cimmerian, first published in ''Weird Tales'' in August 1934. Howard earned $115 for the publication of this story. The plot concerns the resurrection of a mythical demon, the theft of a sacred dagger, and an unrelated trap that lures Conan to the island fortress roamed by the demon. The story's plot loopholes and borrowed elements from "Iron Shadows in the Moon" lead some Howard scholars to call this story the weakest of the early Conan tales.Patrice Louinet. ''Hyborian Genesis: Part 1'', page 452, ''The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian''; 2003, Del Rey. Plot summary The actions of a greedy fisherman awaken an ancient demon, Khosatral Khel, on the remote island of Xapur. Khel resurrects his fortress which once dominated the island, including its cyclopean walls, gigantic pythons, and undead citizens. Meanwhile, an evil governor from Turan, Jehungir Agha, tricks Conan into pursuing Princess ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fantasy Short Story Collections
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 drama. From the twentieth century, it has expanded further into various media, including film, television, graphic novels, manga, animations and video games. Fantasy is distinguished from the genres of science fiction and horror by the respective absence of scientific or macabre themes, although these genres overlap. In popular culture, the fantasy genre predominantly features settings that emulate Earth, but with a sense of otherness. In its broadest sense, however, fantasy consists of works by many writers, artists, filmmakers, and musicians from ancient myths and legends to many recent and popular works. Traits Most fantasy uses magic or other supernatural elements as a main plot element, theme, or setting. Magic, magic practitioners ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1998 Short Story Collections
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently shadowed craters near the Moon's poles. * January 11 – Over 100 people are killed in the Sidi-Hamed massacre in Algeria. * January 12 – Nineteen European nations agree to forbid human cloning. * January 17 – The ''Drudge Report'' breaks the story about U.S. President Bill Clinton's alleged affair with Monica Lewinsky, which will lead to the House of Representatives' impeachment of him. February * February 3 – Cavalese cable car disaster: A United States military pilot causes the deaths of 20 people near Trento, Italy, when his low-flying EA-6B Prowler severs the cable of a cable-car. * February 4 – The 5.9 Afghanistan earthquake shakes the Takhar Province with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (''Very strong''). With up to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Hyborian Age
"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. The essay The essay sets out in detail the major events of Howard's pseudohistorical prehistory, both period before and after the time of the Conan stories. In describing the cataclysmic end of the Thurian Age, the period described in his Kull stories, Howard links both sequences of stories into one shared universe. The names he gives his various nations and peoples of the age borrow liberally from actual history and myth. The essay also sets out the racial and geographical heritage of these fictional entities, making them progenitors of modern nations. For example, Howard makes the Gaels descendants of his own Cimmerians. In addition to its use as underpinning to his Kull and Conan stories, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red Nails
"Red Nails" is the last of the stories featuring Conan the Cimmerian written by American author Robert E. Howard. A novella, it was originally serialized in '' Weird Tales'' magazine from July to October 1936, the months after Howard's suicide. It is set in the pseudo-historical Hyborian Age and concerns Conan entering a lost city whose degenerate inhabitants are entangled in a murderous blood feud. Due to its dark themes of decay and death, the story is considered a classic of Conan lore while also cited by Howard scholars as one of his best tales. The story was republished in the collections ''The Sword of Conan'' ( Gnome Press, 1952) and '' Conan the Warrior'' ( Lancer Books, 1967). It was first published by itself in book form by Donald M. Grant, Publisher in 1975 as volume IV of their deluxe Conan set. It has most recently been republished in the collections ''The Conan Chronicles Volume 2: The Hour of the Dragon'' (Gollancz, 2001) and ''The Conquering Sword of Conan'' ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shadows In Zamboula
"Shadows in Zamboula" is one of the original stories by Robert E. Howard about Conan the Cimmerian, first published in ''Weird Tales'' in November 1935. Its original title was "The Man-Eaters of Zamboula". The story takes place over the course of a night in the desert city of Zamboula, with political intrigue amidst streets filled with roaming cannibals. This story also introduced a fearsome strangler named Baal-Pteor, who is one of the few humans in the Conan stories to be a physical challenge for the main character himself. By present-day sensibilities, the story is marred by including a racial stereotype - blacks as cannibals - though Howard strove to lessen this by making it clear that the cannibals in Zamboula are only the specific blacks from Darfar, other blacks being untainted. A white character, Aram Baksh, proves to be a more sinister antagonist by facilitating, exploiting, and profiting from the cannibalism of the Dafari slaves. Plot summary Despite the warning he rec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beyond The Black River
"Beyond the Black River" is one of the original short stories about Conan the Cimmerian, written by American author Robert E. Howard and first published in '' Weird Tales'' magazine, v. 25, nos. 5-6, May-June 1935. The story was republished in the collections ''King Conan'' ( Gnome Press, 1953) and '' Conan the Warrior'' ( Lancer Books, 1967). It has more recently been published in the anthology '' The Mighty Swordsmen'' ( Lancer Books, 1970), and the collections '' The Conan Chronicles Volume 2: The Hour of the Dragon'' (Gollancz, 2001) and '' Conan of Cimmeria: Volume Three (1935-1936)'' ( Del Rey, 2005). It's set in the pseudo-historical Hyborian Age and concerns Conan's battle against a savage tribe of Picts in the unsettled lands beyond the infamous Black River. Plot overview The story takes place in Conajohara, a newly established Aquilonian province recently annexed by King Numedides from the Picts. Balthus, a young settler on his way to Fort Tuscelan at the Black River, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red Nails (collection)
''Red Nails'' is a 1977 collection of three fantasy short stories and one essay by American writer Robert E. Howard, featuring his sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. The collection was edited by Karl Edward Wagner. It was first published in hardcover by Berkley/Putnam in 1977, and in paperback by Berkley Books the same year. It was reprinted in hardcover for the Science Fiction Book Club, also in 1977, and combined with the Wagner-edited '' The Hour of the Dragon'' and '' The People of the Black Circle'' in the book club's omnibus edition ''The Essential Conan'' in 1998. The stories originally appeared in the fantasy magazine '' Weird Tales'' in the 1930s. The pieces in ''Red Nails'', in common with those in the other Conan volumes produced by Karl Edward Wagner for Berkley, are based on the originally published form, of the texts in preference to the edited versions appearing in the earlier Gnome Press and Lancer editions of the Conan stories. In contrast to the ea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jewels Of Gwahlur
"Jewels of Gwahlur" is one of the original short stories starring the fictional sword and sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian, written by American author Robert E. Howard. Set in the pseudo-historical Hyborian Age, it concerns several parties, including Conan, fighting over and hunting for the eponymous treasure in Hyborian Africa. The tale was first published in the March, 1935 issue of '' Weird Tales''. Howard's original title for the story was "The Servants of Bit-Yakin". Plot summary Robert E. Howard set his story in Hyborian Africa. The ''Teeth of Gwahlur'' are legendary jewels, kept within the ancient city of Alkmeenon, in the country of Keshan "which in itself was considered mythical by many northern and western nations". Conan, following rumors of this treasure, journeys into Keshan and offers his services in training the local army against their rival, Punt. However, Thutmekri, a Stygian thief with similar intentions, and his Shemitish partner, Zargheba, also arriv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The People Of The Black Circle
"The People of the Black Circle" is one of the original novellas about Conan the Cimmerian, written by American author Robert E. Howard and first published in '' Weird Tales'' magazine in three parts over the September, October and November 1934 issues. Howard earned $250 for the publication of this story. It's set in the pseudo-historical Hyborian Age and concerns Conan kidnapping an exotic princess from Vendhya (prehistoric India), while foiling a nefarious plot of world conquest by the Black Seers of Yimsha. Due to its epic scope and atypical Hindustan flavor, the story is considered an undisputed classic of Conan lore and is often cited by Howard scholars as one of his best tales. It is also one of the few Howard stories where the reader is treated a deeper insight on magic and magicians beyond the stereotypical Hyborian depiction as demon conjurer-illusionist-priests. Plot summary This Conan story is set in mythical Hyborian versions of India, Pakistan, and Afghani ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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