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| Author: Robert E. Howard
Publisher: Del Rey
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
Buy New: $7.48
You Save: $9.47 (56%)
New (38) Used (24) Collectible (2) from $4.16
Avg. Customer Rating:  97 reviews
Sales Rank: 11202
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 463
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.2
ISBN: 0345461517
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780345461513
ASIN: 0345461517
Publication Date: December 2, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: BOOK IN NEW CONDITION. MAY HAVE SOME MINOR SHELF WEAR BUT IN NEW CONDITION. . FAST SHIPPING WITH DELIVERY CONFIRMATION UPON REQUEST.
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 21-25 of 25 | | « PREV | | |
 Good set of stories and not out of date May 7, 2007
Amazingly, this book is written in the early 20th century, yet if you told me it was written last week I would've believed you. Howard's writing is nothing short of awesome and it's really aged well. I guess he was ahead of his time. The fights are written very graphically and you just can't help but smile during some of the epic battle scenes. You really feel like you're surveying the battle as a bird!
This is basically a collection of stories with some extras. Seriously, you can read any story in any particular order you want. They're not related or connected in any way, which I think is a negative. Conan never really grows as a character. I mean in one story he's a king but he acts the same way as he did when he was a pirate. I would've preferred some character development and watching him grow as a character.
Sadly, the stories do get a bit repeitious. Conan usually meets a beautiful woman in peril, fights some monsters, fights the big boss monster at the end and saves the woman. But in defense, these are stores in magazines and in that case it would've been entirely different. They just seemed a tad repetitive reading them in succession.
I didn't bother to read the last third of the book. It consisted of summaries, excerpts on the races etc, and unfinished work. The quality of the book is relatively high. The book is heavy, the cover is shiny and it looks like what all softcover books should look like.
If you're into short stories then this book is perfect. I'm not sure i'll be reading the next in the series since i prefer more epic works.
Excellent Compilation, But What's With Skimping On The Glue Del Rey? April 1, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have all three in this series, and after having to sift through so much Robert Jordon, L. Sprague D. Camp, and other fanfiction writers and being dissatisfied with previous compilation editions that tried to edit Howard into chronological order, I am glad to now have an original Robert E. Howard compilation in the order that the stories were written. The caliber of the work contained inside these books is jaw-dropping. Not only was howard incredibly imaginative and skilled impressively in submersing the reader's attention, but he also seems to have had an uncanny knowledge of certain things about man's prehistoric past that we are only discovering now to be true in the realm of archeology and science. The only problem with this series is that Del Rey skimped big-time on the glue.
I was planning to thumb through these books for all eternity, and I know I paid a cheap price for the nice looking, thick books. But one came apart after just two reads- my brother and I both read the first one I got. Conquering sword is also beginning to come apart and I've only read it once and thumbed back through it a time or two.
I mean come on, redo it and let me trade this one back in. I'll even pay shipping.
I mean, you can swat flies with my self-published children's book, use it as a dust-pan and fan yourself at little league baseball games with it and it STILL won't come apart. A big ol' company like Del Rey should be able to do better.
I regret that I'm forced to drop it down a star, but I assure you it's Del Rey's fault and not the author's.
J. Lyon Layden
The Other Side of Yore
Conan: Much More Than An Austrian Bodybuilder February 2, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Wow. I had no idea.
Turns out that Arnold's portrayal of Conan in the early '80s flick isn't quite what the original author had in mind. While a "barbarian," Conan is quick-witted and well-spoken. He just doesn't have much (or any) patience for the double-speak and hypocrisy of "civilized" society. The actual character of Conan is wonderfully fun to read about, even if his morality is often dubious (Conan sees nothing wrong in being a mercenary or pirate, or killing a man out of nothing more than ambition).
The stories themselves are wonderfully written--filled with great visuals, never overdone, and compelling action. Another interesting thing about reading these stories for me, was that it made me realize that Howard and Lovecraft really were kind of writing about the same universe. I mean, most of Conan's stories are about Conan confronting some other-wordly, dark terror that has no place in a rational world; Lovecraft's Elder Gods could easily find worshippers in Stygia. Ultimately, Howard is more optimistic, as the terrors are overmatched by Conan's vigor and blade, but his blacks are still fairly deep-black, and it is easy to see why Lovecraft considered Howard a master of terror.
The one complaint I might find about the collection (if find a complaint I must) is that a number of the stories are fairly repetitive in nature. Conan is new to some group which initially despises him. A great, grim need (e.g. an unnatural creature, or sorceror) arises and only Conan is competent to deal with it, so Conan saves the day and becomes acclaimed and powerful among the new set. Very often, a woman is also drawn to love him, often against her initial instincts. The rinse/repeat cycle becomes pretty familiar the third or fourth time you see it, but then I'm reminded that the original readers weren't reading these tales all in a row, but spaced out over a good deal of time. Still, it raises certain questions to the reader's mind, like how did Conan *lose* all of those pirate captaincies? And all of those paramours? Conan was Jim Kirk long before Jim Kirk was.
Conan is an awesome character, and he figures into a collection of tales that are, themselves, awesome (if slightly repetitive). Howard writes stories that dip into the blackness of Lovecraft's inkwell, but his universe is brightened by the fact that man is able to overcome the shadows. Conan shows that there's some virtue to be found outside of civilized society, as the "barbarian" stands for unvarnished truth and unflinching action.
A more-than-worthy collection of tales. I shall certainly pursue the next volume.
Fantasy doesn't get any better than this January 27, 2007
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
Wow!! Let me say that again--Wow!!! I am completely tongue-tied and in awe of this book. Stephen King quoted it exactly on the front cover. Howard's writing is electrifying and different than any fantasy I've ever read. Other "fantasy" novels and stories are kids books compared to this. As you read these great stories, you can feel Howard's powerful voice reverberate. And the characters, not only Conan, literaly come to life. This is pure, no b.s., top of the line fantasy and adventure. I saw the Conan movie a couple of weeks ago and laughed at how far off its portrayel of Conan was from REH's books. I don't know of anyone they could really cast and give Conan due justice. He is just too intense for any Hollywood actor. Highly Recommended!! I dont know if I'll ever find a book or an author that can match REH in this particular genre.
An American genius, betrayed and finally resurrected! December 16, 2006
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
In the name of god, buy this edition of the Conan stories, and no other. Pay no attention to the fact that you can get a version of these stories cheaper in old paperbacks, because, believe me, I made that mistake myself. The effect of reading the paperbacks isn't half of the effect of reading the original versions of these stories, and in the correct order. And the illustrations in these trade papers aren't bad, either.
The depths of de Camp's betrayal of the works of Robert E. Howard are obvious at last. It takes a great deal of arrogance to think that one can "improve" the works of another artist, let alone one whose talent level is ten notches above your own. What were that two-bit hack and his publishers thinking? Surely Crom is tormenting their souls even as we speak...or at least we can hope.
Howard's supposed "flaws" are, in fact, some of his greatest strengths; they are part of his philosophy, which is a limited but a very true one. His storytelling skills, while on occasion conforming a bit too much to the commerical necessities of the pulps for which he was writing, are as good as anyone's, anywhere, ever. And he might be the single most under-rated prose writer in American history. While at times his work is a little rushed (he was doing this for a living, after all), at his best he is extraordinary. He is always compulsively readable, with a breathtaking rhythm to his words, but at the same time he possesses a real poetic flair, as well as an almost unique ability to create very powerful atmospheres and solid characterizations seemingly effortlessly, with a minimum of suggestion. I do not overstate the case. Raymond Chandler wasn't appreciated for a long time, either. And when he was "on", which is ninety percent of the time, Howard was every bit as good at what he did as Chandler was in his arena.
Indeed, Howard's talent level must have been truly prodigious, considering he was doing this stuff in his twenties! In that sense he is the Mozart of fantasy writers, but in tone he is certainly the Richard Wagner. Don't let little minds and today's limp-wristed, egalitarian pop culture tell you what is good or bad or form your opinions of the Conan stories. Read these books and see for yourself why Howard is the best American fantasist, surpassing even Jack Vance, and just maybe the best American writer of the twentieth century. (I mean, seriously. Lay me odds that anybody will be reading Thomas Pynchon or John Updike or that kind of thing a century from now, against odds they'll be reading Conan. I'll take that bet anytime. After all, Howard possesses two very important features that writers of that ilk lack completely, and in Howard's case they're made of brass, as well...).
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