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.

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...

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.

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 re...

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 StarsL. 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 StarsThen we return to the classic Robert E. Howard stories.

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.

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 h...

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.

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.

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.

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 racis...

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.

I quite enjoyed all the stories in this edition.

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....

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.

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

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.

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

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 m...

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'...