Conan the Wanderer

Conan the Barbarian

by Robert E. Howard, Lin Carter, L. Sprague de Camp

paperback

Genres: Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Fiction, Pulp, Adventure, Short Stories, Science Fiction Fantasy

224 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

Robert Ervin Howard was an American pulp writer of fantasy, horror, historical adventure, boxing, western, and detective fiction. Howard wrote "over three-hundred stories and seven-hundred poems of raw power and unbridled emotion" and is especially noted for his memorable depictions of "a sombre universe of swashbuckling adventure and darkling horror."

He is well known for having created—in the pages of the legendary Depression-era pulp magazine Weird Tales—the character Conan the Cimmerian, a.k.a. Conan the Barbarian, a literary icon whose pop-culture imprint can only be compared to such icons as Tarzan of the Apes, Count Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, and James Bond.

—Wikipedia

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars ⭐️

Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the fourth volume of Lancer's editions of the Conan saga. L. Sprague de Camp, with the help of Lin Carter, expanded Howard's original Conan stories and edited them into chronological sequence in a twelve-volume series in the late 1960's, and the controversy has never quite died off completely. Many people believe that only Howard's original versions of the complete stories are acceptable, and many believe that the Lancer series with the original Frazetta covers are canon (though this one has a cover by John Duillo), and then there are those who accept or reject the Bantam titles, the Jordan series (and/or/or not the other Tor titles), the comics versions, and on and on and on... They're all right and all wrong.... This Lancer series is the one I read while growing up, so I'm all for it. I can accept comics hero stories by different writers, and pulp heroes frequently had different writers under a house name, so... This one features a Conan who's just turned thirty and has two of Howard's originals: The Devil in Iron and Shadows in Zamboula, both classics. It also has a nice original pastiche by Carter & de Camp, Black Tears, along with one written by de Camp from a different Howard piece, now called The Flame Knife, which first appeared in one of the Gnome Press series volumes in the 1950s. Howard was the consummate pulp adventure writer, and I think de Camp and Carter enhanced his legacy without tarnishing it. They helped Conan become one of the most recognized literary characters of the last century.

[Rodrigo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Han sido historias mas largas que otras veces, es decir historias mas detalladas, y las valoraciones de las misma ha sido al siguientes:
- Lágrimas negras 6/10
- Sombras en Zambula 7,5/10
- El diablo de hierro 7/10
- La daga llameante 8,5/10
Valoración: 7/10
Sinopsis: Al mando de un grupo de zuagires, Conan ha devuelto al trono a la reina Taramis de Khaurán y se dirige al este para saquear ciudades y caravanas turanias. Sus actividades le reportan sustanciosos beneficios en más de una ocasión, pero las riquezas abandonan sus manos tan pronto como llegan a ellas y, en cada ocasión, vuelve poco después a sus vagabundeos. Durante esta época de su vida, Conan llega a convertirse en un peligroso enemigo del rey Yezdigerd de Turán, bien como jefe de saqueadores kozakos o como jefe pirata de un grupo de corsarios en el mar de Vilayet.

[Little Timmy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another of the heavily edited collections of Robert E. Howards stories. I am a purist when it comes to a writers works. I know some of these stories are no longer PC but they should be read as Howard wrote them and understood that he wrote in another period. Don't read this book unless you just can't find any others of Howard's unedited books to read. Message me if you need a list of what is good from this awesome fantasy and action writer.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a Conan book that like its tale does meander a bit about and it does have our favorite barbarian have his adventures. I did not know that some of the stories written by Robert E Howard have been chsnged into Conan tales by later writers of his biography. These stories remain a lovely time to spend in the realms of sword & sorcery where everybody's favorite barbarian spends time on slaying baddies, monsters and magicians. Only to enjoy a wench here and there even if that is considered to be sexist these days. But heck who would deny this swordsman with great fighting skills his earthly pleasures. Anyhow the book consists of four tales with only a little Howards' Conan but plenty by different writers, which do a decent job to keep folks like me entertained from home to work and back again.
Any half decent Conan tale is fine by me, and while these tales are not the best they do not fail to entertain with a decent bodycount.

[Agus · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 estrellas para el mejor de la colección de momento que dudo que llegue nunca a las 5 debido a la repetición de planteamiento una y otra vez, con pocos cambios y menos sorpresas. Aun así, me lo he pasado bien leyéndolo.

[Mark Hartzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like the other Ace editions of Conan, this one includes L. Sprague De Camp and Lin Carter as 'editors'. I don't find the updated or upgraded versions from Howard's originals that troubling. In fact, unless you are reading these stories from a pendant's perspective, the edited tales closely hew to the 1930s style of writing enough to appear quite seamless. There are only 4 stories in this edition. The 4th story, “The Flame Knife” is almost novella in length, otherwise these are not lengthy tales.

While not nearly as racist as “Conan of Cimmeria”, it still has a lot of racist undertones that make this something other than a 5 star book. Fun stories if you don't look too hard at the often racist background. 4 stars.

[Stuart Rimmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars for the original Howard stories 'Shadows in Zamboula' and 'The Devil in Iron'. The other two tales in this volume are the pastiche 'Black Tears' by De Camp and Carter, and 'The Flame Knife' a story by Howard postumously 'converted' to a Conan story by De Camp.

[Robert Day · Rating 5 out of 5]

The books I'd take to a desert island.
The books I'd save from a house on fire.
The books I read over and over.
The best of the best.

[Mark Matthews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Conan books were the coolest thing in the world when I was in sixth grade, and I'm so happy to see the cover art hasn't changed.

[Redsteve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like Conan the Freebooter (#3), this collection of pulp heroic fantasy stories is set in the Hyborian "Middle East" and have more complicated plots than those in the first two books of this series. "Black Tears" is a Conan story written by Lin Carter and L. Sprague de Camp. It's OK, but doesn't have a 100% "old school" Conan feel to it. The tale features a cursed lost city and a somewhat Lovecraftian monster. Until "Shadows of Zamboula" I was starting to wonder if I was mis-remembering how racist the Conan stories can get, but Howard is pretty horrible on this one - pulling out pretty much every negative stereotype of cannibalistic black savages and also repeatedly bringing up the horrors of race mixing ("...white, brown, and black folk mingle together to produce hybrids of all unholy hues and breeds - who can tell who is a man, and who is a demon in disguise."). The story itself is not too bad, but it's hard to get past the descriptions and asides which are REALLY racist, even by the standards of 1935 America. The only woman in the story is a femme fatale rather than a straight out victim, which is refreshing in a Conan story while keeping to a standard pulp trope."The Devil in the Iron" is another original Conan story by Howard, but honestly isn't all that great - too many plot holes, improbable coincidences, and formulaic (even by pulp standards) elements. Lastly, "The Flame Knife" was an unpublished novella by Howard, featuring "modern" Irish hero Francis X. Gordon, later re-written by L. Sprague de Camp and set in the Hyborian Age. It's a decent story inspired by the real world legends of the "Old Man of the Mountain" and the hashishins. Lots of swordplay, monsters, and exotic settings. The women in this story, while not actually heroic, are at least spunky and willing to pick up a weapon on occasion.

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the Lancer Conans. Some of you will hate them because they are not only NOT the pure Howard stories, but they also include stories made from notes and pastiches by other authors. I enjoyed them, maybe not so much as the pure Howard stories, but they are good. I don't have all of them anymore and they are hard to find...if you can find them they are worth a try. Wish someone would reissue them.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first Conan book I ever read, and for many years afterward, I read every single Conan book I could get my hands on. If you think all fantasy is like Tolkien or Lewis, get ready for a serious kick in the pants.

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

I keep giving these books 3 stars despite the fact they are getting better as the series goes along. First let me say that I am keenly interested in getting a hold of the original stories because I find myself liking the ones that do not have Lin Carter or L. Sprague De Camp listed as co-authors. I have a sense that they are more genre writers than true ghost writers that try to seamlessly add stories/endings to the series. At any rate, we see some longer stories in this volume as well as the return of some previous characters. It is starting to read like a continuous saga with a wide range of characters, instead of random snippets focus solely on Conan. Again, the writing is better than I would have expected and the plots interesting, although there is certainly an element of machoism to the tales that would certainly turn off plenty of people. There's enough here to keep going into book 5. I'd give this one 3.5 stars and recommend to anyone interested in the fantasy genre.

[John Devlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The master of Sword and Sorcery. Great stories that scare and delight; a hero, who's strength and cunning go unrivaled, and a good dollop of other-world building that make all Conan's novels great reads.

[Christian West · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first Conan book I've ever read. There are four separate stories of Conan, two written by the original Conan author (Robert E. Howard), one altered from an original story of his, and one I think was just made up.
The book starts with the non original author story, and it's pretty dreadful. It is very linear, no plot twists, and when he finally meets the bad guy for the final battle he basically goes "chop" and that's the end of the story. Such an anti-climax.
The next two stories are much better, one has a bunch of cannibals out to eat Conan and some random naked lady he finds (I didn't expect the book to be very PC, but I was a bit surprised he spent an entire adventure fighting random people after a lady said "hit all these people and you can have me for the night, don't tell my fiance"), and then Conan fights his way through a magical city after he falls in lust with some random lady he sees at a meeting.
The final story is okay, Conan uses his muscles to take over a hidden city of assassins. I'd say single-handedly, but he does get some help. Oh, and there's another random woman who wants to put out for him. Although she doesn't.
Overall, a good read as long as you're not expecting any great words of wisdom, and can deal with the 1930s writing implying women are chattel.
Listed as one of my horse books of 2018 because Conan rides a horse everywhere he goes. Doesn't this man ever walk?

[David B · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume of Conan adventures finds our hero, now in his thirties, enjoying widespread fame from his exploits and often claiming leadership of various bands of fighting men. For a change, the highlight of this collection is not a pure Robert E. Howard production but rather “The Flame Knife,” a story repurposed by the ever-present L. Sprague de Camp from an unpublished tale of Oriental adventure. De Camp takes the opportunity to bring back Olgerd Vladislav, an old adversary from the classic “A Witch Shall Be Born” of the previous volume. This introduces a welcome bit of continuity to the series. Another highlight is the duel of stranglers from “Shadows in Zamboula,” a gritty, vividly depicted struggle that challenges Conan in a manner rarely seen. Insert here the obligatory warning about backward racial stereotypes.

https://thericochetreviewer.blogspot.com

[Connor Hassan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great stuff as usual, Flame Knife was a crazy story, really had it all.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here's my write up of Book 4, and it's chock full of spoilers.


Black Tears

Written by L. Sprague de Camp & Lin Carter. Conan and his band of thieves escape an ambush by Turanian soldiers and pursue Vardanes, the man who betrayed them, into a desert waste. The superstitious fears of Conan's marauders get the better of them and they drug his wine and abandon him. He decides to press forward, but the harsh environment nearly kills him. He wakes in a lavishly furnished tent and his saviors tell him the tale of Akhlat the Accursed- a sorcerer summoned vampire gorgon that's been draining the life from the land and most of its inhabitants. The monster's power resides in it's third eye, which Conan cleaves in two. Black fluid pours from the wound like tears and she crumbles to dust.

Shadows in Zamboula

Written by Robert E. Howard. Conan rents a room at Aram Baksh's tavern where guests often end up in the local cannibals' roasting pit on the outskirts of town. After hacking his way off the menu, Conan rescues an intended side dish, a naked woman of course, and gets dragged into her drama involving her recently turned lunatic lover, and a conniving priest named Totrasmek. Sex being his eventual reward, he agrees to strong arm the priest for a cure for her boyfriend's case of the crazies. He meets Totrasmek's henchman, Baal-pteor, a strangler of Yota-pong, who laughs at him, which is a big mistake since it sends a "red wave of murder-lust driving across his vision" and they settle their differences with a strangling contest. After sending him to "Hell with his neck broken", Conan makes quick work of his boss who's been preoccupied watching the girl nearly dance herself to death avoiding imaginary cobras. She reneges on her promise of sex, but Conan has the last laugh as he has already stolen a valuable magic ring from her cured, but passed out lover. Even though he doesn't get the girl, he settles his score with the tavern owner before leaving Zamboula by feeding him to the cannibals, so I would still call that a happy ending.

The Devil In Iron

Written by Robert E. Howard. Conan reunites with his former gang, the kozaki, first introduced in the story Shadows In The Moonlight from Book 3, who have pulled themselves back together after King Yezdigerd's army made mince meat of them. Less than thrilled his lands are being ransacked by Conan again, another trap is set and unsurprisingly, a beautiful woman is the bait. Plans go sideways however due to the resurrection of an ancient being called Khosatral Khel on the island of Xapur where Conan is to be trapped. Though in human form, the statuesque creature is iron hard, has a voice like a bell, and compulsively smashes puny trespassers into a bloody pulp. Conan liberates a mystical blade from an enormous serpent watchdog, then channels his inner psycho killer and chases Khosatral Khel down and knifes him repeatedly, reducing him to his original form, which is so grotesque it can't even be described.

The Flame Knife

Written by Robert E. Howard & L. Sprague de Camp. The longest story in this collection, The Flame Knife pits Conan against enemies and allies alike, a man-faced yeti, and flesh eating ghouls. A slave girl Conan helps escape is later abducted by a cult called The Hidden Ones and taken to the secret city Yanaidar. Conan finds his way into the city and crosses paths with Olgerd Vladislav, the man who rescued him from crucifixion in the story A Witch Shall Be Born. Since Conan repaid him by stealing command of his men, Olgerd looks forward to settling the score. The story ends with an orgy of frenzied killing as three different factions war against each other, and the original inhabitants of the city emerge to feast on the survivors. I especially enjoyed the following passage that describes the mayhem at it's absolute peak.

"Conan did not waste breath trying to command order out of chaos. Craft and strategy had gone by the board; the fight would be decided by sheer muscle and ferocity. Hemmed in by howling madmen, there was nothing for him to do but split as many heads and spill as many guts as he could and let the gods of chance decide the issue."

[Heath Lesjak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very similar in tone and style to the one I previously read (Conan The Freebooter). This one had a few more recurring characters, though none of them were particularly important.

Though the situations and settings vary plenty, I could see how the overall patterns in the Conan stories would get old for me. Conan starts either as a random poor traveler in some foreign city, or alternately part of the local military (usually as some lower-level leader), various people (kings, beautiful peasant girls, crafty pirates, etc.) lead him into terrible situations which he cunningly escapes with plenty of murder. He's often confronted with either a ridiculous physical foe (ex: huge gorilla), or some deeply disturbing magic thing (ex: ancient demon). He liberally applies more murder/fleeing/warfare and rides off into the sunset, usually with a beautiful girl on his arm and/or a bunch of money. Quite entertaining (assuming you can get past the blatant sexism and racism of the period in which it was written), but not necessarily very fulfilling. It's the equivalent of a fun but shallow action movie on it's 5th sequel: turn off your BS meter and enjoy.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, much of this is the most average of Conan material, but the concluding novella: "The Flame Knife" is superb.

"Black Tears" 2.5/5 Stars
L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter craft the most completely average Conan story I've read so far. Conan hunts a man down for revenge, winds up in a mysterious city, and faces a supernatural threat. There's not really any twists or a really interesting monster. Just average.

"Shadows in Zamboula" 3/5 Stars
Then we return to the classic Robert E. Howard stories. Conan runs across a town that shuts down at night. Conan suspects thugs, but it is soon drawn into the crazy cult that supports the city. There is quite a bit of old fashioned racist stereotyping in this that definitely brings it down. The ending redeems much of it, and it's a shame that it goes nowhere.

"The Devil in Iron" 2.5/5 Stars
Another Robert E. Howard story, the beginning is a weaker copy of "Black Colossus" then it proceeds to create a better "Shadows in the Moonlight," so the bag is mixed right from the start. The story driving Conan into the Devil's path is awful, once again trading on Conan's lust but stretching it to ridiculous lengths. The ending is also crap, but the middle, facing the titular Devil in Iron is pretty great.

"The Flame Knife" 4/5 Stars
L. Sprague de Camp reworks another Robert E. Howard story. The Flame Knife begins slowly and gradually builds into a spy thriller. It's a little off beat for Conan, but it is both different and entertaining.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

You don't really pick up a Conan book for a deeper understanding of the human(nor barbarian) condition as such this was a perfect Conan book..
Not much time is wasted into analysing actions nor delving deep into personality....physical attributes present the peak of characterisation all this however is fine as what you lack you gain in other areas.
The plots are concise,readable and steeped in Gore and fantasy..there's little I can say about this book to.encourage you to read it but the adage don't judge a book by its cover doesn't work here....Conan books are truly represented by the cover art.
All in all I enjoyed this book as much as any of the Conan books it pieces together some Howard Novellas and rewrites bits but all in all this isn't really noticeable to anyhow alike myself who is a late comer to his work.

[Aaron White · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed all the stories in this edition.

[Spike Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

very interesting- some of the stories were published as early as 1930"s- which means they are absent of PC thoughts- but very good writing and plots...can see how The Black Company got some of its ideas. Also, forward speaks of how the author suicided at age 30...much of what is dark in the books might shed light on what was going on with him. Also, I love how he takes many of the places & nations that Conan interacts with straight from The Bible...many obsure references. Obviously Howard knew his scripture.

[Phil Syphe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although de Camp and Carter's contributions are not in the same league as the Great Robert E. Howard's are, this loosely-connected collection of short tales still makes good entertainment and I’m glad the other writers filled in the gaps that Conan’s creator left open.

The usual elements that make quality Conan adventures are all here: vivid sword fights, supernatural horrors, scantily clad & naked women, exotic settings, and a barbarian warrior who'll tackle any mortal or demonic foe.

[Dennis Steussy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked how the authors brought together these Robert E. Howard (REW) stories. They are typical REW Conan novels. The novel is a creation of REW written in the 40's, so the stories are very macho and don't give female characters much credit or time. If you enjoy Conan novels, you will encourage this book in the series.

[Murray Writtle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first taste of Conan. Okay so I was a teenager :) I loved the character and the simple world. But I came to realize that what I really loved was Howard's writing. His tales stood head and shoulders above all the pastiches.

[Drew Canole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Contains Shadows in Zamboula, The Devil in Iron.

I didn't read: One tale by de Camp and a REH story rewritten to be a Conan one (The Flame Knife from the Francis X. Gordon tale "Three-Bladed Doom")

[Adam Burton · Rating 5 out of 5]

See Conan book 1 for my thoughts on this series.

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard to beat the original Conan. The character never dies... Conan is forever.