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| Author: Robert E. Howard
Publisher: Del Rey
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
Buy New: $9.22
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Avg. Customer Rating:  25 reviews
Sales Rank: 31810
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 384
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9
ISBN: 0345461525
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.52
EAN: 9780345461520
ASIN: 0345461525
Publication Date: November 23, 2004
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| Customer Reviews:
A Book worhty of the master and Conan too. February 1, 2008
Nobody can touch Robert E. Howard when he was at the top-of-his-game. The three stories in The Bloody Crown of Conan are not only some of his best, they are some of his best Conan stories and Conan was his greatest creation. Howard was the father of Sword & Sorcery and next only to J.R.R. Tolkien in being the largest influence of fantasy today. His stories have stark imagery that's nothing short of amazing. The action moves at break-neck speed, and despite that they were written as pure adventure "pulps", there's harsh reality that's lying just beneath the surface.
In The People of the Black Circle, a princess and her kingdom are the target of an elite group of evil sorcerers, the Black Circle. Only Conan, the chief of the outlaws ranging her land, can save her.
In The Hour of the Dragon, King Conan is struck down by a resurrected wizard from an ancient evil kingdom. Now Conan must take up a long, dangerous quest to retrieve a relic of great power; the undead wizard's weakness, and rebuild his armies in order to regain his throne and achieve his revenge.
A Witch Shall Be Born is the tale of a evil and beautiful witch, who enslaves her twin sister, the queen of the border-city Khauran and allows merciless Shemite mercenaries reign of the kingdom. However, when they nail the captain of the guard, Conan, to a cross in the desert, they make the mistake of not confirming his death.
Del Rey publishing has done an excellent job putting these; The Fully Illustrated Library of Robert E. Howard, books together. They are chockfull of commentaries, letters and notes that can be appreciated by die-hard Howard fans and newcomers alike. Gary Gianni's artwork for Bloody Crown compliments the story perfectly, as do the artists in the other books. The beautiful illustrations lend a classical feel that's well-worthy of the master that Robert E. Howard was.
Conan is the man! January 8, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is great stuff, utterly action-packed! Howard has a wonderful sense of words, and--though he makes the occasional error in cognate reuse (e.g., "the courier coursed down the corridor")--he describes people, places, and events in jaw-dropping detail. You can faint from the splendor of the fabulously wealthy cities and places he word-paints ('limns', to use a favorite term of his). I could do without the all-too-frequent brutally detailed battle scenes, indicating precisely which archers and pikemen were positioned where and whose horse slipped in whose blood. Just when you're about to lose interest, rest assured that a ferocious dragon or wacky gorilla-monster lurks around the next corner. Oh, and there's some very good black magical humor, e.g., when one wizard, in the guise of an eagle, makes off with the head of a second wizard, whose headless body runs after him, muttering curses. You've got to admit that that's imaginative. I witthold my sixth star because of the uneven nature of some of the stories: indeed, the earlier tales seem to flow better than the later ones (n.b. that Conan's character chronology is unrelated to Howard's authorship chronology). Also, the dialogue occasionally seems silly or stinted: it's hard to believe that a barbarian--even though we know he's thoughtful and good-hearted--would engage in such lengthy monologues (all but monologues, I should say) while supposedly "conversing" with other characters. His words sound like what one would write, not like what one--a barbarian, moreover--would say. But never mind these nickety-pickety nitpicks: this is great, great stuff. After enjoying these, you may want to look into the other volumes (but of course!) and Howard's other works: Bran Mak Morn, Kull, and Solomon Kane. The last of these has adventures such as battling voodoo demons in darkest Africa, chasing vampire queens into forgotten cities, and engaging in swordplay with the enchanted skeletons of murdered sorcerers. Aah! That's the ticket!
ROBERT ERVIN HOWARD November 1, 2007
A must read book is "Blood & Thunder - The Life & Art of Robert E. Howard"
by Mark Finn. Best book I ever read! Also, go to your local comic book store and start reading Conan (Dark Horse) and Red Sonja (Dynamite) comics. You'll be glad you did! If you can find the large black & white magazines of Savage Sword of Conan and Conan Saga back in the seventies you're in for a real treat; Stories by Roy Thomas and art by John Buscema.
The Bloody Crown of Conan August 13, 2007
I've been a Conan fan for over 25 years. The insights alone were worth the purchase price. Excellent!
Super Reader August 2, 2007
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:
Bloody Crown of Conan : The People of the Black Circle - Robert E. Howard
Bloody Crown of Conan : The Hour of the Dragon - Robert E. Howard
Bloody Crown of Conan : A Witch Shall be Born - Robert E. Howard
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
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
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
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