"Three-Bladed Doom" is an adventure short story by American writer

Robert E. Howard Robert Ervin Howard (January 22, 1906 – June 11, 1936) was an American writer who wrote pulp magazine, pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. He created the character Conan the Barbarian and is regarded as the father of the sword and sor ...

, featuring his character

El Borak El Borak, otherwise known as Francis Xavier Gordon, is a fictional character created by Robert E. Howard. Gordon was a Texan gunfighter from El Paso who had travelled the world and settled in Afghanistan. He is known in Asia for his exploits in ...

. It was not published within Howard's lifetime. There are two different versions of this story. The first is shorter (24,000 words) than the second (42,000) words. The short version was printed first, in issue #4 of the magazine ''REH Lone Star Fictioneer'' (Spring 1976). The long version was printed the following year in the Zebra

paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, also known as wrappers, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, ...

''Three-Bladed Doom'' (July 1977). Both of these versions, however, had their beginning and ending substantially re-written by Byron Roark, editor of ''REH Lone Star Fictioneer''. The restored version was printed in issue #10 of the

fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleas ...

''REH: Two-Gun Raconteur'' (Winter 2006).

Other versions

This story was re-written by

L. Sprague de Camp Lyon Sprague de Camp (; November 27, 1907 – November 6, 2000) was an American author of science fiction, Fantasy literature, fantasy and non-fiction literature. In a career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, both novels and works of ...

into the Conan story '' The Flame Knife''. This was first printed in the

hardback A hardcover, hard cover, or hardback (also known as hardbound, and sometimes as casebound (At p. 247.)) book is one bound with rigid protective covers (typically of binder's board or heavy paperboard covered with buckram or other cloth, heavy ...

''Tales of Conan'' (1955). This version was adapted in "Savage Sword of Conan" #31-32.

References

External links

List of stories and publication details at Howard Works
Short stories by Robert E. Howard 1976 short stories Short stories published posthumously {{1970s-story-stub