Thanks so much to Jim Keegan and especially Marcelo Anciano for believing in my work and suggesting oil paint rather than black and white. Many thanks to Irene Gallo for her support and wickedly exacting vision! And thanks to Greg and Miko at Gamma One, New York, for such great transparencies of the paintings.
Gregory Manchess
I would like to thank Rusty, Dave, Stuart, and Marcelo for making it happen once again; you are the greatest guys to work with. Without Glenn, these Conan books would never have been what they are; I can never repay you for your help and patience with my never-ending and sometimes weird requests. A thought for Peluche, who was always there to prevent me from working, I miss you. And last, but definitely not least, all my love to Sheila, who accepted the presence of the Cimmerian for so long.
Patrice Louinet
Many thanks to Marcelo, Patrice, Stuart, David, Jim, and Ed – it is an honor and a pleasure to work with such a doughty band of literary warriors. To Glenn Lord, friend and mentor, and Robert E. Howard’s mightiest champion. To Greg, Gary, and Mark, for their outstanding depictions of the Cimmerian and his world. To Bill Cavalier, staunchest of Howard purists and most steadfast of friends, even if he is wrong about
The Black Stranger
. To the members of the Robert E. Howard United Press Association, who have inspired me, encouraged me, ticked me off, and pushed me to greater effort for nearly a quarter century. And, with much love, to Shelly, my soul and my heart’s inspiration.
Rusty Burke
Thanks to Marcelo, Patrice, and Rusty for being so good at what they do and making my job a lot easier, and to Greg for his breathtaking paintings,
all
of which are fantastic. Thanks also to Mandy, who keeps the home fires burning when I’m doing these; Emma, who gets a kick out of seeing her name in print; Fishburn Hedges Design for the extracurricular use of their studio; and, finally, to Simon Thorpe, magician with pen, pencil, brush, and Wacom tablet – an inspiration and a great friend –
even though I find your almost total recall somewhat unnerving!
Stuart Williams
I would like to thank Jack and Barbara Baum and Steve Saffel for their belief in a united Robert E. Howard library. Thanks also to Jim and Ruth Keegan, Stuart, Ed Waterman, and Rusty for their support and special thanks to Nancy Delia for her sterling work on the book. And to Graziana, just because…
Marcelo Anciano
P
RAISE FOR
R
OBERT
E. H
OWARD
“I adore these books. Howard had a gritty, vibrant style—broadsword writing that cut its way to the heart, with heroes who are truly larger than life. I heartily recommend them to anyone who loves fantasy.”
—D
AVID
G
EMMELL
Author of
Legend
and
White Wolf
“The voice of Robert E. Howard still resonates after decades with readers—equal parts ringing steel, thunderous horse hooves, and spattered blood. Far from being a stereotype, his creation of Conan is the high heroic adventurer. His raw muscle and sinews, boiling temper, and lusty laughs are the gauge by which all modern heroes must be measured.”
—E
RIC
N
YLUND
Author of
Halo: The Fall of Reach
and
Signal to Noise
“That teller of marvelous tales, Robert Howard, did indeed create a giant [Conan] in whose shadow other ‘hero tales’ must stand.”
—J
OHN
J
AKES
New York Times
bestselling author of the North and South trilogy
“For stark, living fear . . . what other writer is even in the running with Robert E. Howard?”
—H. P. L
OVECRAFT
“Howard . . . painted in the broadest strokes imaginable. A mass of glimmering black for the menace, an ice-blue cascade for the hero, between them a swath of crimson for battle, passion, blood.”
—F
RITZ
L
IEBER
“Forget Schwarzenegger and the movies. This is pure pulp fiction from the 1930s, before political corrections and focus groups dictated the direction of our art. Swords spin, entrails spill, and women swoon.”
—
Men’s Health
“Howard wrote pulp adventure stories of every kind, for every market he could find, but his real love was for supernatural adventure and he brought a brash, tough element to the epic fantasy which did as much to change the course of the American school away from precious writing and static imagery as Hammett, Chandler, and the
Black Mask
pulp writers were to change the course of American detective fiction.”
—M
ICHAEL
M
OORCOCK
Award-winning author of the Elric saga
“In this, I think, the art of Robert E. Howard was hard to surpass: vigor, speed, vividness. And always there is that furious, galloping narrative pace.”
—P
OUL
A
NDERSON
“Howard honestly believed the basic truth of the stories he was telling. It’s as if he’d said, ‘This is how life really was lived in those former savage times!’”
—D
AVID
D
RAKE
Author of
Grimmer Than Hell
and
Dogs of War
“For headlong, nonstop adventure and for vivid, even florid, scenery, no one even comes close to Howard.”
—H
ARRY
T
URTLEDOVE
The Servants of Bit-Yakin
first published
Weird Tales,
March 1935 (as
Jewels of Gwahlur
)
Beyond the Black River
first published
Weird Tales,
May and June 1935
The Black Stranger
original version first published
Echoes of Valor,
Tor, 1987
The Man-Eaters of Zamboula
first published
Weird Tales,
November 1935 (as
Shadows in Zamboula
)
Red Nails
first published
Weird Tales
, July, August–September and October 1936
T
HE
F
ULLY
I
LLUSTRATED
R
OBERT
E. H
OWARD
L
IBRARY
from Del Rey Books
The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian
The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane
The Bloody Crown of Conan
Bran Mak Morn: The Last King
The Conquering Sword of Cona
n
The Conquering Sword of Conan
is a work of fiction. Names, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
A Del Rey Trade Paperback Original
Copyright © 2005 by Conan Properties International, LLC. Illustrations copyright © 2005 by Gregory Manchess
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Del Rey Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
D
EL
R
EY
is a registered trademark and the Del Rey colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.
Conan is a registered trademark of Conan Properties International, LLC.
This edition published by arrangement with Wandering Star Books, Ltd., London.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2005935622
eISBN: 978-0-345-48605-9
v3.0