Conan the Great

Conan the Great
cover of Conan the Great
Author(s)	Leonard Carpenter
Cover artist	Ken Kelly
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Conan the Barbarian
Genre(s)	Sword and sorcery Fantasy
Publisher	Tor Books
Publication date	1990
Media type	Print (Paperback)
Pages	277 pp
ISBN	0-812-50714-2
Preceded by	Conan the Avenger
Followed by	Conan of Aquilonia

Conan the Great is a fantasy novel written by Leonard Carpenter featuring Robert E. Howard's seminal sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in paperback by Tor Books in April 1990 (the 1989 date appearing on the title page verso is erroneous).^[1] It was reprinted by Tor in August 1997. It has the distinction of being the only one of the Tor series of Conan novels set in the period of Conan's kingship.

Plot

After a victorious war against the invading armies of Nemedia and Ophir, King Conan of Aquilonia rescues from the battlefield the dwarf Delvyn, jester to the enemy kings. Delvyn, however, is not the fool he appears, but the secret driving force behind the invasion. The ambitious devotee of an evil demon, he seeks a king powerful enough to spread its worship throughout the world. In the wake of his former patrons' failure to conquer Aquilonia, he believes his new employer both strong enough to unite the Hyborian nations and pliant enough to establish his universal cult. Skillfully insinuating himself into the king's confidence, the scheming jester plays on Conan's concerns over the resurgent strength of the kingdom of Koth under its new ruler, the mysterious, amoral and ruthless Prince Armiro. In a contest for empry, Aquilonia extends its conquests to the east while Koth drives west, crushing the realms between them as they approach their inevitable clash. The king is estranged from former friends and supporters and dependant on his new hanger-on as Delvyn feeds Conan's vainglory. Only the revelation that Armiro is his own son by his former lover, Queen Yasmala of Khoraja, stops Conan at the brink and spurs him to shake the jester's baleful influence.

Notes

1. ^ ISFDb entry for the initial printing of Conan the Great.

Reference

• Conan the Great publication history at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Fantastic Fiction entry for Conan the Great

Preceded by Conan the Avenger

Conan series Conan the Great

Succeeded by Conan of Aquilonia