Conan: The Ultimate Guide to the World's Most Savage Barbarian

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Conan: The Ultimate Guide to the World's Most Savage Barbarian

by Roy Thomas, Todd McFarlane

3.71 · rating details · 34 ratings · 5 reviews

For more than 70 years, fantasy fans have followed the exploits of Conan through novels, comic books, and movies. This book, the first-ever illustrated guide to Robert E. Howard's most beloved character, is a genuine treasure chest of Conan lore, following Conan through the ages, through his different careers, as he meets friends and foes and travels across the Hyborian co...more

Hardcover, 159 pages

Published September 4th 2006 by DK Publishing (Dorling Kindersley)

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Feb 05, 2009

Randy Lander rated it

Shelves: swanky-hardcovers

After the strong showing of DK Publishing on the DC Encyclopedia, I had high expectations for their similarly all-encompassing guide to the world of Robert E. Howard’s barbarian. I wasn’t disappointed. This oversized hardcover tome, with a heft and thickness worthy of the Cimmerian it represents, is a treasure trove for Conan fans old and new. It expertly mixes artwork from Conan’s appearances in older Marvel Comics, new Dark Horse Comics and of course plenty of pinups, prints and book covers by...moreAfter the strong showing of DK Publishing on the DC Encyclopedia, I had high expectations for their similarly all-encompassing guide to the world of Robert E. Howard’s barbarian. I wasn’t disappointed. This oversized hardcover tome, with a heft and thickness worthy of the Cimmerian it represents, is a treasure trove for Conan fans old and new. It expertly mixes artwork from Conan’s appearances in older Marvel Comics, new Dark Horse Comics and of course plenty of pinups, prints and book covers by fantasy legends to create a beautifully illustrated and masterfully designed look at Conan’s birth, life and death. And on the writing and information side of things, the whole thing is guided by the man who has probably written more Conan than anyone save REH himself, Roy Thomas. How’s that for a pedigree?

Conan: The Ultimate Guide to the World’s Most Savage Barbarian is a mostly chronological look at the barbarian, from his days as a young boy in Cimmeria all the way up through his time of king, his journeys to other continents and even a page on what happened to civilization after he passed on. The Ultimate Guide draws from many sources in telling the tales of Conan, from the books to the comics adaptations, and in so doing reveals the rich history that the character has had. Thomas also takes advantage of the different adaptations to give Conan’s stories a mythic spin, making them out as more universal tales of a real figure that have been interpreted different ways in different stories. Conan is presented, quite credibly, as a legendary figure on the level of Robin Hood or King Arthur. Curiously, the death of Conan is never spelled out, but rather left shrouded in mystery, which I found an interesting twist on legendary figures like these, whose death is usually as epic and important as their life itself. Robert E. Howard’s life was cut short, and thus he probably never tired of his character like an Arthur Conan Doyle and decided to kill him off, and I suppose that the writers who followed didn’t want to definitively end a character that they saw as someone else’s.

Interior pages from Conan Ultimate GuideIt wasn’t until I started reading the Dark Horse Conan series that I realized that the character was so much more than a simple muscle-bound sword swinger, and the Ultimate Guide further reinforces the depth of the character. The chapter titles reveal Conan’s life to have gone through transitions, from young barbarian to canny thief, from mercenary to pirate, from rebel to king, among others. Memorable adventures are given one or two-page write-ups decorated with beautiful artwork that evoke all the mystery and danger in Conan’s life. Thomas’s writing style is straightforward, like that found in, well, an encyclopedia, rather than the flowery prose of the Nemedian Chronicles, but it’s a style that works. The sense given in reading the Ultimate guide is reading an archaeologist’s treatise on a legendary find, but like all the narrators of Conan’s tales, this hypothetical archaeologist gets somewhat caught up in the adventure and free spirited nature of Conan.

If you’re like me, a reader whose exposure to Conan is mostly limited to Dark Horse’s new comic series and Marvel reprints, you needn’t worry that reading the sourcebook will spoil future comic stories for you. Like the best kind of sourcebooks, the Ultimate guide’s write-ups usually leave the reader with the urge to see the full version told, rather than a feeling that every bit of life has been wrung out of the stories. This is not to say Thomas’s write-ups are inadequate, but rather that dry words can never quite capture the adventures of Conan the way Howard’s more elaborate prose or the words and pictures of the comics can.

Interior pages from Conan Ultimate GuideAs much as choosing the right writer for the project is key, so too is the proper selection of art, and here again the DK Publishing team proves their worth. The art selection ranges from the black and white work in Savage Sword of Conan to fantasy art by legends like Frank Frazetta to the newest work by Cary Nord and Tim Truman. It all coexists side by side in perfect layouts, so that the black and white, often fading into sepia background tones, never looks out of place, and the old school Marvel art and flashy new colored Dark Horse art looks just fine side by side. There are occasional moments in the layout, mostly in Todd McFarlane’s foreword, when the background images overwhelm the words and make for difficult reading, but these moments are few and far between. In general, this is a colorful, visual and clearly laid out guidebook.

Part of my love for comics and my knowledge of a lot of the characters comes from the Marvel Universe and Who’s Who that were published in my youth. While there’s no substitution for reading the actual source material, a well-done guidebook can really spur the reader to seek out that original material and spark a love for characters that were previously unknown. DK Publishing has shown the ability to do top-notch versions of these kind of guidebooks, and with Conan: The Ultimate Guide proving that the DC Encyclopedia was no fluke, I know I’ll be keeping an eye out for future products of these nature. A Marvel Encyclopedia is already on the way, and with any luck we’ll get more volumes, maybe looking at Image or the ’80s color indy boom or who knows what else. If you’re a fan of Conan, or if you’ve always wanted to be one but didn’t know where to start, the Ultimate Guide is probably worth a look.(less)

· see review

Feb 07, 2011

Antonio rated it

THIS BOOK IS A TREASURE TROVE FOR FANS OF THE BARBARIAN. WHEN I FINISHED READING THIS FANTASTIC GUIDE, I FOUND THAT SOME DETAILS WEREN'T INCLUDED, BUT STILL THIS IS A FABULOUS BOOK.

· see review

May 12, 2007

k.wing rated it

Recommends it for: Conan fans, nerds

The history of Conan is amazing. Perhaps not as extensive as Tolkien's created alter-universe, but definitely more congruent and ... well... interesting.

And for the record, our dear governor was CREATED namely for fulfiling his destiny of being the only man who can/could be Conan

· see review

Jun 08, 2007

Tama Wise rated it

A full color, lots of pictures history of Conan and his adventures. Glossy to the max and the perfect book to pick up and page through whether you have a minute or sixty.

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Aug 23, 2008

bluetyson added it

isbn,original

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Jan 29, 2012

John W rated it

Shelves: fantasy, fantasy-sci-fi-art

Jan 27, 2012

Jean-francois Boivin marked it as to-read

Shelves: conan

Jan 24, 2012

Tom Fox marked it as to-read

Shelves: home-library, fantasy, fiction, conan, incomplete

Jan 09, 2012

Anthony Rice added it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, literature, guide

Dec 25, 2011

Douglas Roberts rated it

Shelves: own

Nov 02, 2011

Moom rated it

Shelves: physical, artbook, books, conan

Oct 11, 2011

Douglas Koehne rated it

Aug 25, 2011

Gokhan rated it

Aug 24, 2011

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Aug 06, 2011

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Jul 30, 2011

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Jul 24, 2011

Eric Moss marked it as to-read

Shelves: graphic

Aug 08, 2011

Craig marked it as to-read

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May 26, 2011

Megster marked it as to-read

May 21, 2011

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Mar 25, 2011

Phil rated it

Shelves: comics

Feb 18, 2011

Sarah added it

Shelves: strategy-guides

Feb 18, 2011

Christopher Curtis rated it

Dec 16, 2010

Mike added it

Dec 04, 2010

Lenny Nero rated it

Shelves: non-fiction

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About Roy Thomas

Roy Thomas is a comic book writer and editor, and Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibly best known for introducing the pulp magazine hero Conan the Barbarian to American comics, with a series that added to the storyline of Robert E. Howard's character and helped launch a sword and sorcery trend in comics. Thomas is also known for his championing of Golden A...more

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Books by Roy Thomas

Tower of the Elephant & Other Stories (Chronicles of Conan, Volume 1)

Rogues in the House & Other Stories (Chronicles of Conan, Book 2)

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