the coming of conan the cimmerian: a barbarically good time
by spencer wakefield
“Between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis, and the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was an age undreamed of.” So opens the famous 1982 movie Conan the Barbarian. However, between the time of Black Tuesday and the rise of the Austrian bodybuilders, there were stories unheard of: Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Cimmerian pulp magazine story serials.
Credited as the forerunners of the “swords and sorcery” genre of literature, Howard’s pulp magazine fiction stories enraptured audiences from 1932 to his tragically unexpected suicide in 1936. After the copyright for the world of Hyboria, the setting of all Conan stories, was passed between authors, there existed no complete collection of all 21 of Howard’s stories for another 67 years.
Then, in 2003, the British publishing company Wandering Star Books compiled all of Howard’s stories, letters, essays, and poems about the world of Conan, and published them in three volumes. The first, released in the US as The Coming Of Conan The Cimmerian, is much more story than letters and real world fluff.
The Coming Of Conan the Cimmerian contains over a dozen stories, a never before published essay revealing the history of Conan’s world of the Hyborian Age, unfinished drafts, hand drawn maps by Howard himself, and notes by modern day scholars on the themes, setting, languages, and prose of Howard’s creation.
The first published story, and by extension, the first in the anthology, was originally rejected when it was part of another pulp series Howard had written. However, The Phoenix On The Sword was chronologically the last, with a middle aged Conan ruling over the kingdom of Anquilonia. This puts later stories into perspective, as this rugged warrior is ultimately destined to rule over others.
Each of the other stories has its own charm, from the mystery of The God In The Bowl to the beautiful imagery of Cimmeria. While the most prominent modern day Conan media is the movie, there have been games, cartoons, and live action TV shows. None have fully captured the magic of Howard’s original stories.
Every part of the Coming of Conan weaves together the melancholy and anger of Howard himself with the enchanting pseud-historical setting he created for Conan to explore. On top of the original stories, there are illustrations sprinkled throughout, inked by comic book artist Mark Schultz, who had drawn Conan in the Marvel comics of the 1970s, with art of Howard’s other character, Kull of Atlantis, being his first foray into the industry.
Suffice it to say, the Conan stories have been influential in a way most authors can only dream of their works being, and the collection of a majority of the original texts, unedited, is a literary treasure trove.
If given the chance, fans of fantasy are recommended to read at least one of the stories in The Coming Of Conan The Cimmerian, as it gives both a glimpse into the history of the genre.
Credited as the forerunners of the “swords and sorcery” genre of literature, Howard’s pulp magazine fiction stories enraptured audiences from 1932 to his tragically unexpected suicide in 1936. After the copyright for the world of Hyboria, the setting of all Conan stories, was passed between authors, there existed no complete collection of all 21 of Howard’s stories for another 67 years.
Then, in 2003, the British publishing company Wandering Star Books compiled all of Howard’s stories, letters, essays, and poems about the world of Conan, and published them in three volumes. The first, released in the US as The Coming Of Conan The Cimmerian, is much more story than letters and real world fluff.
The Coming Of Conan the Cimmerian contains over a dozen stories, a never before published essay revealing the history of Conan’s world of the Hyborian Age, unfinished drafts, hand drawn maps by Howard himself, and notes by modern day scholars on the themes, setting, languages, and prose of Howard’s creation.
The first published story, and by extension, the first in the anthology, was originally rejected when it was part of another pulp series Howard had written. However, The Phoenix On The Sword was chronologically the last, with a middle aged Conan ruling over the kingdom of Anquilonia. This puts later stories into perspective, as this rugged warrior is ultimately destined to rule over others.
Each of the other stories has its own charm, from the mystery of The God In The Bowl to the beautiful imagery of Cimmeria. While the most prominent modern day Conan media is the movie, there have been games, cartoons, and live action TV shows. None have fully captured the magic of Howard’s original stories.
Every part of the Coming of Conan weaves together the melancholy and anger of Howard himself with the enchanting pseud-historical setting he created for Conan to explore. On top of the original stories, there are illustrations sprinkled throughout, inked by comic book artist Mark Schultz, who had drawn Conan in the Marvel comics of the 1970s, with art of Howard’s other character, Kull of Atlantis, being his first foray into the industry.
Suffice it to say, the Conan stories have been influential in a way most authors can only dream of their works being, and the collection of a majority of the original texts, unedited, is a literary treasure trove.
If given the chance, fans of fantasy are recommended to read at least one of the stories in The Coming Of Conan The Cimmerian, as it gives both a glimpse into the history of the genre.