THE CONAN CHRONICLES VOLUME 1 - Book review

 

THE CONAN CHRONICLES Volume 1: The People of the Black Circle

This edition published in 2000 is edited with an afterword by Stephen Jones. The collection is in chronological order ‘exactly as Robert E Howard wrote them, as fresh, atmospheric and vibrant today as when they were first published in the pulp magazines more than sixty years ago.’

Fourteen stories are contained in the collection, plus a 2-page synopsis, a 3-page fragment and two draft texts, ‘The Snout in the Dark’ and ‘Drums of Tombalku’.

The book begins with a 24-page history, ‘The Hyborian Age’.

Virtually every tale still grips the reader with Howard’s colourful and dynamic descriptions of mystical characters, awful creatures and exotic places culled from his imagination. Conan stories published as early as 1933 figure in this volume.

Conan encounters ghouls, enormous snakes, wizards, and despots aplenty, and manages to rescue a fair number of women who are invariably scantily clad. His scimitar has tasted more blood than can fill a small lake. Although a barbarian, he is a staunch ally and protector.

Howard displays powerful description. ‘It was as if a black titan stood straddle-legged in the bright pits of hell, his lifted hands full of stars.’ From ‘The Queen of the Black Coast’ (p131)

Here’s a snippet from ‘The Black Colossus’: ‘It was a clot of darkness, a blur in the sight, a monstrous night-born incubus that might have been deemed a figment of a sleep-drugged brain, but for the points of blazing yellow fire that glimmered like two eyes from the blackness. Moreover, a voice issued from it – a low subtle inhuman sibilance that was more like the soft abominable hissing of a serpent than anything else, and apparently could not emanate from anything with human lips.’ (p180)

‘Conan, I have seen kings who wore their harness less regally than you!’ Conan was silent. A vague shadow crossed his mind like a prophecy. In years to come he was to remember Amalric’s words, when the dream became the reality. (p192)

‘But no sleep came to Olivia, and she lay watching the distant ruins and the wooded rim until the stars paled, the east whitened, and dawn in rose and gold struck fire from the dew on the grass-blades. (p231)

They rustled in a faint wind, and their noise was like the whispering of witches, causing the hair to stir next his scalp. (p492)

Editor Jones provides a brief but very interesting overview of Howard’s early life and his association with the pulp magazine editors.

Most fans of fantasy books should be acquainted with these tales of Conan the Cimmerian. Howard’s creation, as well as others, have inspired many writers, screen-writers and comic writers and artists over the years.

In 1966 I first encountered his adventures in a new paperback Conan the Adventurer with a splendid Frank Frazetta cover when boarding a coach in Rosyth, Scotland. This was an ideal read for the two-hour journey to Newcastle upon Tyne – and I was hooked.

***

Unfortunately, this edition is rife with typographical errors, none of which spoiled the enjoyment of the tales. Without recourse to the original, it’s not possible to determine if the errors were made in old typographical days in the actual pulps or crept in during many transitions from page to book.

I certainly haven’t marked all, but here are a few:

At Murilo’s shoulder Nabonidus was laughing like a friend (p95) – for ‘friend’ read ‘fiend’.

… with the blood that cushed from his half-severed neck. (p109) – for ‘cushed’ read ‘gushed’.

A description of Conan: his features, set off by his smoldering blue eyes. A low broad forehead was topped by a square-cut tousled man as black as a raven’s wing. (p188) – for ‘man’ read ‘mane’.

… the mercenaries are restless to now why we dally.’ (p190) – for ‘now’ read ‘know’.

With a flast of white tusks. (p240) – for ‘flast’ read ‘flash’.

… was a duplicate of the quen’s night-garment (p247) – for ‘quen’s’ read ‘queen’s’.

… he clamped is jaws against the desire to retch. (p263) – for ‘is’ read ‘his’. There were far too many instances of ‘is’ instead of ‘his’ and yet plenty of correct versions of ‘his’ as well!