- Conan the Swordsman
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Conan the Swordsman 
Conan the Swordsman by L. Sprague de Camp, Lin Carter and Björn Nyberg, Bantam Books, 1978Author(s) L. Sprague de Camp, Lin Carter and Björn Nyberg Illustrator Tim Kirk Cover artist Darral Greene Country United States Language English Series Conan the Barbarian Genre(s) Sword and sorcery Fantasy short stories Publisher Bantam Books Publication date 1978 Media type Print (Paperback) Pages 274 pp ISBN 0553120182 OCLC Number 4173748 Conan the Swordsman is a collection of seven fantasy short stories and associated pieces written by L. Sprague de Camp, Lin Carter and Björn Nyberg featuring Robert E. Howard's seminal sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in paperback by Bantam Books in August 1978. Later paperback editions were issued by Ace Books (1987 and 1991). The first hardcover edition was published by Tor Books in 2002. The book has also been translated into Italian. It was later gathered together with Conan the Liberator and Conan and the Spider God into the omnibus collection Sagas of Conan (Tor Books, 2004).
Contents
- "The Conan Saga" (L. Sprague de Camp)
- "Legions of the Dead" (L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter)
- "The People of the Summit" (Björn Nyberg and L. Sprague de Camp)
- "Shadows in the Dark" (L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter)
- "The Star of Khorala" (Björn Nyberg and L. Sprague de Camp)
- "The Gem in the Tower" (L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter)
- "The Ivory Goddess" (L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter)
- "Moon of Blood" (L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter)
- "Hyborian Names" (L. Sprague de Camp)
Plot summary
The seven short stories collected as Conan the Swordsman are set at various points of Conan's career, from his youth as a raider in the north to his maturity as a general of the kingdom of Aquilonia. The two associated non-fiction pieces by de Camp are on the Conan saga in general and the derivation of the names used by Howard in constructing the fictional "Hyborian Age" setting of the Conan stories.
Chronologically, the seven stories supplement the tales in the twelve volume Lancer/Ace Conan series, falling into the period covered by Conan through Conan the Warrior.
References
- Laughlin, Charlotte; Daniel J. H. Levack (1983). De Camp: An L. Sprague de Camp Bibliography. San Francisco: Underwood/Miller. p. 42.
- Conan the Swordsman publication history at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
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