The Bloody Crown of Conan (2003)

fantasy, adventure ( )

The Bloody Crown of Conan - Robert E. Howard
The second of a series of books from this particular publisher, this contains three longer stories, including the novel length Hour of the Dragon. Here you have The People of the Black Circle, The Hour of the Dragon, and A Witch Shall be Born:

http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0600941.txt

Conan is again in a leadership position, and seven of his lieutenants have been captured and are under sentence of death. He goes to see what he can do about it. In a flash, he makes off with their leader, the Devi. She is not all he has to worry about, as spies, plots and the wizardry of the Black Seers will all hinder him, not to mention the odd small army, along with the Devi herself.

4.5 out of 5

http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0600981.txt

The novel length Conan work. An aging Conan is now in a position of responsibility, being King of Aquilonia.

His reign is threatened by a very powerful sorcerer, whom Conan is unable to stop by mundane means, and must take himself off hunting for a mystic artifact.

Having done this, there is some wizard smiting to be done.

Top notch work.

5 out of 5

http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0600921.txt

A bad problem to have - how do you tell which of two women is the very evil twin. Luckily, our favorite barbarian is a very pragmatic man. Excellent and evocative, this story.

4.5 out of 5

http://freesf.strandedinoz.com/wordpress/2007/01/the-bloody-crown-of-conan-rober... ( )

Oh, REH. You are, most definitely, the most satisfying escapist author I have ever read. This collection includes "The People of the Black Circle," "The Hour of the Dragon," and "A Witch Shall Be Born," along with a collection of miscellany which was too in-depth for me to read (although I'm pleased that someone has exerted so much scholarly attention on Howard's work). ( )

For Sword and Sorcery, it doesn't get much better than this.

Three of the longer Conan tales are gathered here, from the typewriter of Robert E. Howard. There are, in fact, copious notes in the back that detail exactly where these manuscripts came from. This is important because of all the revisionism and editorial license taken with REH's tales since the 70's. You aren't going to find Conan the Governator or comic relief sidekicks in here, folks.

This also contains some excellent artwork by Garry Gianni. It's not illustrated to the point of being a comic, but there are illustrations probably one every 10-20 pages or so. They really capture the mood of what is going on in the stories.

The People of the Black Circle
One of my favorites. There is a nice cast of characters, treachery, vile sorcery, the pace of this story is fast and furious.

The Hour of the Dragon
Conan is king of Aquilonia in this tale. At least, in the beginning. This one covers a lot of hyborean lands, with strange religious cults, evil wizards from Khitai, evil priests from Stygia, political intrigue amongst those who would rather not have a barbarian on the throne of Aquilonia.

A Witch Shall Be Born
Another one of my favorites. In this one, an evil twin seizes the throne of a small kingdom from her sister. Of course, she uses treachery and a foreign mercenary to help. The torments and violence she inflicts on the people of this kingdom are as bad, if not worse, than what happened in The Hour of the Dragon. ( )

Where the Coming of Conan had many shorter pieces, this consists of three of the longer Conan stories. 'The People of the Black Circle' and 'The Hour of the Dragon' are both very strong offerings and fairly epic in scope, particularly the latter which is also notable for being the only Conan novel Howard ever wrote (although several previous Conan stories were cannibalized in the making of it, most noticeably 'The Scarlet Citadel'). Rounding out this volume is 'A Witch Shall Be Born'; while not as memorable a story, it features one of Howard's most unforgettable images in the crucifixion of Conan. ( )