Conan: Coming of the Cimmerian

[Swoop109]

If you can't wait until the other two volumes are released I suggest Gollancz Publishing's Conan Chronicles. Gollancz published all of Howard's Conan stories (including fragments and drafts) in chronological order using the Miller/Clark Chronology: http://www.barbariankeep.com/career.html

An alternate and , IMNO, better timeline of Conan's life can be found at;

http://www.dodgenet.com/~moonblossom/Conancron.html

 

[jester47]

I already own the two Fantasy Masterworks volumes that contain all of Robert E. Howard's Conan stories, completely unedited. I've read them so much that they are starting to wear out, so it looks like I might have to order a copy of The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian.

REH's Conan stories are my favorite fantasy stories of all time. I like them even more than Lord of the Rings.

DJ-

Apparently the FM versions are not purist versions. However, for mass market they are the best. CoC is the snooty purist version, or, as pure as it gets. Having both is nice!

Aaron.

 

[Liminal Syzygy]

Apparently, Howard argued that they should be read in order they were written--and the author's word is good enough for me personally. Patrice Louinet in the introduction makes the point that no one ever repackaged Sherlock Holmes in order of occurance in Holmes' life, and doing so goes against the intentions of Howard himself.

There is a Howard quote backing this up: "In writing these yarns I've always felt less as creating them than as if I were simply chronicling his adventures as he told them to me. That's why they skip around so much, without following a regular order. The average adventurer, telling tales of a wild life at random, seldom follows any ordered plan, but narrates episodes widely separated by space and years, as they occur to him."

 

[Liminal Syzygy]

Did anyone notice what Conan told Belat about Crom and speaking his name isn't consistent with his behavior in the later stories?

 

[Dark Jezter]

DJ-

Apparently the FM versions are not purist versions. However, for mass market they are the best. CoC is the snooty purist version, or, as pure as it gets. Having both is nice!

Aaron.

Please explain.

The Fantasy Masterworks versions are definately untouched by L. Sprague DeCamp, as I've also read the Ace/Lancer Paperback Editions as well and have compared them with the Fantasy Masterworks edition. Heck, one of the things that the Fantasy Masterwork editions brag about are the fact that they are unedited.

 

[Liminal Syzygy]

The Gollantz books reorders the stories into chronological order, I think that is the big difference. There are also a couple of essays in the C:CotC version that may have given the feeling it was more snooty to jester47.