The Conquering Sword of Conan

Not as consistently brilliant all the way through as the stories collected in Volume 1, but Volume 3 does contain three of the absolute top best Conan tales (Red Nails, Beyond the Black River, The Black Stranger), one okay story (The Servants of Bit-Yakin), and the second worst, trashiest pile of overtly racist garbage Howard ever put to pen outside 'Children of the Night' (Man-Eaters of Zamboula), easily the worst Conan story and a story so bad it made me stop reading the book for a few weeks. It doesn't feel like the same man wrote that one that wrote almost-progressive (for the 30's) fiction like the anti-colonialist tract that is Beyond the Black River.

When Howard is at his best, his stories are mesmerizing, effortlessly placing you show more right there in his richly described, thrilling world. You can't read just one of these volumes. show less

Some more good blood and thunder type stuff, if you're already familiar with the character and know what you're getting into and want it you wouldn't be disappointed with what you get here. The Black Stranger in particular in particular is a favorite of mine, with four or five different factions of rogues plotting against each other and Conan at his most cunning in playing against them, lurking in the background for a good chunk of the story. Unfortunately those (like me) who hoped to get a female counterpart to the character in Valeria would be disappointed in Red Nails. She gets a food good whacks in but is consistently treated as another damsel in need of saving, her agency undermined by her reliance on Conan and the way she's show more targeted by her story's antagonists. show less

This volume in the series features Conan in more of a mid point during his travels across Hyboria. The stories such as Beyond the Black River and Red Nails blaze across the page with action and our hero taking charge of situations he probably could have avoided but winds up in the middle of them anyway due to his personality. Red Nails features Valeria and Beyond the Black River puts the reader in the midst of a wilderness chock full of blood thirsty Picts.
As a fan of Conan and if you as readers find yourself inclined. It is highly suggested reading (ALL) the Conan material in chronological order. This includes everything written from Howard to Jordan and all in between. There are websites out there which place every story in order. show more From his teenage years (Conan of Venarium) to (Dreams of R'LYEH) which features his death. This joy of venture puts you in the shoes of a character that cracks the imagination. Be warned...reading them in order may have you reading a TOR novel from 1985 one day to reading a Howard original the next. show less

Here's Conan in all his gloriously unedited best written by the originator Robert E. Howard. Not only do you get the final volume of Howard's Conan compilation, but contained within are "Beyond the Black River", "The Black Stranger, and "Red Nails", which many claim are the three best Conan pieces written by Howard. I'll vouch for "Red Nails" because of the strong characters. There's no doe eyed female goggling over Conan or overblown villain just pure purpose set to pen.
Conan is the ultimate action character who truly knows how to live in the moment. So kick back and let the warrior in you live through the conquering sword of Conan.

I've really enjoyed these 3 volumes of Conan stories. There have been the more average stories amongst them all, but on the whole all 3 volumes have been a delight. This 3rd volume had some great stories and I know I'm going to miss Robert E Howard's Conan. I'll look forward to re-reading a lot of the stories from these volumes at various points in the future. I've seen it said that this 3rd volume is the best, and maybe it is, but to be honest after having read all three I'd be hard put to choose between them.

A great read, just like all the rest.

http://fireandsword.blogspot.com/2007/01/conquering-sword-of-conan-by-robert-e.h...

This is the third and final volume of the Conan series from Del Rey (though Wandering Star had a hand in it too). The critical aspect of these books is that they present the Conan tales in the order REH wrote them using the words he put into them, without heavy-handed editorial intrusion. If you are familiar with the old de Camp edited series of Conan stories, you’ll recall that they are arranged according to what de Camp decided they fit into Conan’s life. Further, de Camp made quite a few interpolations to link up stories, as well as re-writing non-Conan stories to include the Cimmerian. All that is gone, you get REH and nothing but REH.