conan books publication order (gnome press)
chronological order of the conan books (gnome press)
conan books publication order (lancer/ace)
conan (donald m. grant) books publication order
conan the cimmerian books publication order
“conan the barbarian” is a series of novels starring conan the barbarian (also called the cimmerian). he is a hero of sword and sorcery stories that appeared in different pulp fiction publications (one of which is weird tales, where many of the stories were first published). Robert E. Howard created the sword and sorcery subgenre by writing these stories. this is the work for which he is best known.
The impact and popularity of this character has been compared to that of Sherlock Holmes, Tarzan, Count Dracula, James Bond and Batman. these stories were later adapted into comics, books, TV shows, and movies.
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Many authors have written novels or short stories for this series. This includes Robert E. Howard (who created the series and the character), Robert Jordan, Poul Anderson, Harry Turtledove, Lin Carter, Steve Perry, and John Maddox Roberts.
some of the authors reworked some of howard’s work or completed some stories that howard had started but never finished. There are about seventeen stories that Howard published in his day, and four that were not; with other story fragments. other authors did much more work on conan. Some fifty novels and dozens of stories have been written about Conan by people other than Howard.
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howard wrote a story that showed someone remembering their past lives. One was a black-haired barbarian named Conan and held Crom (who was a deity) in high regard. this is where this conan is the origin of the famous character, some feel. while he was on vacation in a border town near the rio grande, he worked a little more on the character of conan. he decided to create the character so he could market the work to the new pulp outlets that were coming in the early 1930s.
When the latest “kull” story was rejected by a couple of pulp magazines, he rewrote it and it became the first conan story. it was originally called “by this sword I rule!” and the rewritten version is “the phoenix on the sword”. some passages are identical in the two stories.
Conan, despite his appearance (fiery, sullen blue eyes, a giant-sized, furry chest stronger than any other human being, and a mane of square-cut black hair) has considerable intelligence. he is unmatched in swordsmanship and has become good, through experience, at being a thief. he is a born leader, gifted at commanding and excellent with tactics. he even has a great sense of humor (at least in howard’s stories about the character), but the comics and movies don’t feature this aspect of the character. he is a Cimmerian, a race that is based on the Gaels or Celts. His father was a blacksmith in the town where he lived, and Conan was born on the battlefield. At fifteen, he was a respected warrior who participated in the destruction of an Aquilonian outpost called the Venarium. this is after he matured very quickly. Because of the way the stories start, with Conan as king, he makes sure that no matter what he does in the other stories, he will become king.
The series is set before the known ancient civilizations arose, but after the city of Atlantis was destroyed. It’s called the hyborian era. it’s a specific point in the timeline that howard created. Howard loved history, but he didn’t like all the research that was required to get it right. that’s why he created a fictional timeline that he could put whatever he wanted into the stories. he didn’t have to stick to the truth.
Different people have put together timelines to try to organize the events in the different stories. however, none incorporate all the stories, so none are complete.
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Arnold Schwarzenegger played the character twice in the films “Conan the Barbarian” (released in 1982) and “Conan the Destroyer” (released in 1984). The first film was Schwarzenegger’s breakout role in acting. It was also based on some of the directors’ original ideas and some stories written by other Conan authors like L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter. The sequel was less popular, as it was more of a fantasy genre film and was even less faithful to Howard’s stories. In 2011, another film was made, which moved away from the movies with Schwarzenegger, and a new mythology was found in them. this conan was played by jason momoa.
There have also been three television series. two were animated and one was live action. Conan the Adventurer ran for exactly two years, with 64 episodes airing in that time. “conan and the young warriors” lasted only thirteen episodes. In the live-action series (called “Conan the Adventurer”), Ralf Moller played Conan and the show ran for 22 episodes. Once again, the story deviated a lot from Howard’s version, as Conan is nice and a member of a group of adventurers, not the loner Howard wrote about.
“the phoenix on the sword” is the first novel in the “conan the barbarian” series and was published in the year 1932. when readers first see conan, he is the king. he took the crown from King Numedides, after he strangled him while the king was sitting on his throne. Conan is better at swinging broadswords than he is at signing documents. his people in aquilonia have turned against him, though they rejoiced that he delivered them from the tyranny of numedides. and they were originally welcoming him at the beginning. this is because he is a foreigner and has Cimmerian blood. people burn incense before a statue that has been built in memory of countless numbers.
“The Scarlet Citadel” is the second novel in the “Conan the Barbarian” series and was published in the year 1933. In this story, Conan is a wiser, middle-aged king of Aquilonia. Amalrus (ruler of Ophir, the neighboring town of Aquilonia) asks Conan for help. he says that strabonus (who is the king of koth) is threatening his border. Conan rushes to Amalrus’ aid, with five thousand of his knights to help him. it is a trap, as strabonus and amalrus try to destroy conan with the help of tsotha-ianti (who is a wizard from koth).
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