I had to order in The Complete Chronicles Of Conan ($65 Australian) through a book shop as I couldn't find a single copy in any store at the time. Its lack of presence in local book shops is kind of odd as H.P. Lovecraft is everywhere.
Great job! As a young reader, I was quickly able to discern the difference of writing styles between REH and everyone else. I do appreciate the attempts of the other authors to “fill in the gaps” of the chronology; however, NO ONE can write Conan like REH.
I started with the Le Sprague de Camp series back in the 60s, and spread out to the Kull series, Brak Morn and others. I also read Wagner and Robert Jordan and Solomon Kane.
I was lucky enough to get the chronicles at a second hand store for $4 aus. Feeling very lucky at the moment. Thank you for your review. Reading at the moment
Thank you dude! I picked up those three books for 52 bucks on Amazon. Ez pz. Although i was thinking about searching for a video like yours but never actually typed anything about it in yet UA-cam recommended your video so that's kind of weird.
Hello, very helpful vid, your enthusiasm is infectious. Just ordered the Complete Chronicles to start my Conan journey. I read the Conan, Hulk, Avengers comics as a kid here in the U.K back in the 70s. I also picked up a fantasy book about the Frazetta artworks today. When i was 14 all my comic collection was obliterated in a flood, i was heartbroken and never bought a comic again and switched my passions to vinyl. You have inspired an old timer to start reading Conan again. I am getting the same buzz i used to get waiting for my comics to be delivered every Saturday morning. All the best from England U.K.
Komiksy są już wymyślone tak jak kilkudziesięciu autorów co kontynuowało historię o Conanie ...tylko orginalne napisane przez twórcę co wymyśl swojego bohatera z Cymeri Roberta Howarda są najlepsze nie ujmując .Wagnerowi , Jordanowi , Campowi i innym 📚📚👋👍
One of the pivotal moments of my life was coming upon the Lancer Books' "Conan the Adventurer" with its Frazetta cover in the spinning book rack at my local convenience store when I was in my early teens.
I remember back in the 1990s, before the internet bookstores carried stacks of the paperbacks. People would keep them in a front jacket pocket and read them.
This Conan series led me to Robert E Howard, Casca series and The Destroyer series. Had listened to SSGT Sadler's records for years as my dad served with him. Supposedly, I met him, sat in his lap while stealing sips from dad's 🍺.
I think Roy Thomas is hugely unsung for his contribution to Marvel etc. Unfortunately overshadowed by Stan, but then who wasn't? I doubt even God could dim Stan's wattage. They say it's obvious when some people enter a room. Stan WAS the room!
Those Del Rey editions were how I first read Conan back in high school. I still have them, and they are indeed wonderful, so there's no need for me to have that Gollancz edition, but it's so damn beautiful that I'm almost tempted to buy it. XD
Very good, and helpful. Have just been buying the 70’s paperbacks - for the Frazetta artwork, as they hold much nostalgic feeling for my youth, and can’t help but see F.F.’s paintings as part of the ‘real deal’, as you say. No other visualisations capture that arcane undercurrent, for me - ‘tho I appreciate the text itself is corrupted.
I had those original De Camp paperbacks and recently sold them all on eBay because I already have all the Frazetta Conan art in several Frazetta books, and the stories in the Wandering Star/Del Rey editions.
I like the 2011 Gollancz reprint of the FM/Chronicles in a 3-volume set, released for the 2011 movie reboot. I like them because they are cheap (at least in UK), are smaller in size than the Del Rey's, FM an Chronicles at 13cm x 20cm and most importantly printed on cream paper for less eye fatigue. The Dey Rey's are big and floppy, and printed on laser-white printer paper for illustration contrast. If you can get/resize the Del Rey pdf's they would make a great Lulu print project though!
Agree on those issues with the Del Rey editions, only question for me before I take the plunge is do the Gollancz 3 volume set include the same pictures as the Del Rey as these do seem to bring it to life?
@@crom9741 No, unfortunately the 3-book Gollancz version has no illustrations. The 1-tome Complete Chronicles of Conan has some sparse illustrations but not the same ones as the Del Rey ones. The Kindle versions of Del Rey's and CCoC include images from the print books and that's how I enjoy those. Not sure if the FM version has illustrations, but I doubt it.
Start reading after my friend had a couple books he brought back from his vacation. 1970 issue paperbacks! Mind blowing for a ten year old! Howard really broke ground creating something new! The original stories were amazing. Would love to read the original magazine serials!
Actually Wandering Star did finish the Conan series. They are three volumes which collect the entire REH Conan library. Each volume is hardcover, it has colored illustrations, with artist signatures and protected by slip case. I have had these three volumes for over a decade and they are still the best Conan edition on the market. The Del Ray versions have the identical content but the illustrations are in black and white only.
Totally agree with you, i have 2 copies of all the editions they brought out (leather bound/hardbacks all signed by the artists). Unfortunately i have tried selling my spare copies for about 2 years now with no takers. Madness
SUBSCRIBED!!! You answered what ive been trying to self google search for WEEKS!! I honestly didnt want you to stop talking, Cannot wait for the next video of the Phoenix and the sword. Cheers My Friend
I got the complete chronicles leatherbound in a South Carolina bookstore last year, and man am I lucky it was a decent price AND was a good edition. I also got some of the paperbacks by Lin Carter just for the extra stories.
5:25 Cracked me up! My introduction to Conan was with the movies, but as far as literature, I've only read Howard's stories. I'm not even interested in anything else that calls itself "Conan." I guess that makes me a purist.
I have all the Conan paperbacks you mentioned but pride of place in my collection is my first edition hard cover of And Their Memory Was a Bitter Tree...
It was a real battle to find all del rey Howard books and complete chronicles,since the bookshops in Croatia rearly had anything from guy,i had to find alternative,but,book depository sometimes works sometimes not so i fought and i fought with my patience and feeling of holding a book in my hand but it finally paid it of,i gave fortune for del rey collection especially for that big chunk but im a happy man now :)
The precursors to the Marvel comics were a really in depth series of novels and compilations of short stories published by Lancer and beginning with "Conan the Adventurer" collection of short stories which came out in the early 60's. (I know this because that was my first introduction not only to Conan but also to Frank Frazetta's who painted the cover of the paperback collection. I was 13 years old...now I'm 74.) It had four of the Howard short stories. It was followed by "Conan the Usurper" another collection of Howard stories and included "The Phoenix on the Sword" (which was a reworked Kull story.) In all there were 12 Lancer publications with full novels and collections of original Howard stories and pastiches based on surviving Howard outlines and notes, principally written by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter. Frazetta's cover art dominated most of these publications although some were done by Boris Vallejo. Ironically the last painting done by Frazetta for Lancer's Conan series, "Conan of Aquilonia" was sent to the Lancer offices in 1978 but Frazetta never got paid. Lancer went bankrupt and the original Frazetta painting was stolen from the Lancer offices and has never been recovered. It would probably be worth millions today...one of Frazetta's paintings, "Dark Kingdom" done for Karl Edward Wagner's "Dark Crusade" novel sold for over six million dollars, edging out his previously highest value painting "Egyptian Queen" done in 1969 which sold for 5.4 million dollars in 2019.
Really cool survey. I read the Warren publications, Creepy and Eerie, in the mid 60s which featured my first exposure to Robert E. Howard. Editor/writer Archie Goodwin created a barbarian character called Thane, the hero of a half dozen fantasy stories that ran in Creepy, and the final Thane tale was the subject of an awesome Frazetta cover of issue #27 in 1969. The series received positive feedback in the letter columns, readers favorably compared Thane to REH's Conan. I was 8 or 9 years old, and even at that young age, made a mental note of Howard and Conan. In 1966 /67 Lancer started publishing the Decamp-edited Conan series which would persist into the 70s and the 80s under Ace, and no doubt influenced Goodwin. Ads for the Lancer books appeared in the Warren publications in 1969, and the black and white thumbnails of Frazetta's Conan covers blew my mind. I asked my dad, "What was the Hyborian Age?" LOL A year later he bought me Conan the Conqueror, and I started buying Marvel's Conan comic with issue #4's adaptation of The Tower of the Elephant. Over the next couple of years I completed my collection of the Lancer books. Nerd fanboy culture was a bit more physical back then--- my friends and I played in the woods with machetes, axes, and tomahawks, re-enacting our favorite Conan scenes, and we got into weights inspired by Conan's exploits. The Lancer/Ace Conans were pretty much reprints of the older Gnome Press versions that DeCamp had published in the 1950s. I credit DeCamp with keeping the character alive, despite his mercenary motives and weak stories. in 1996, on the 60th anniversary of Howard's death, I rode my Harley to Cross Plains, TX, for the Howard Day celebration. I met Glenn Lord, viewed original Howard manuscripts and copies of Weird Tales on display at the town library, and camped out in Howard's backyard. It was great that Howard's work was finally treated with respect in those publications you cite. I hope for a similarly respectful film adaptation of Conan one day, as opposed to the garbage Milius movies. Arnold's Conan would piss his diapers if confronted by REH's Conan.
There's only one Milius Conan movie, and it's far from "garbage." The three subsequent Conan films (The Destroyer, Red Sonja and the Jason Mamoa reboot) had no involvement from John Milius.
@@RockandrollNegro Milius had no regard for the Robert E. Howard source material, and the Milius Conan has nothing to do with the REH character. Howard's Conan would die before he submitted to slavery, yet Milius portrayed Conan as a docile slave, groveling at the feet of his 'master." The Milius origin story is insipid, inserting Thulsa Doom---- a KULL nemesis from Atlantis--- into the Hyborian Age which came thousands of years after the sinking of Atlantis. The Howard Conan was born on a battlefield, to a ferocious, and Howard specifically states, an unconquered people, the Cimmerians. Aquilonia, the most powerful Hyborian nation, attempted to invade Cimmeria and were massacred at Venarium. Conan was a barbarian from a thousand generations of barbarians, cunning and powerful. Imagine what a skilled filmmaker could have done with Howard's character. Milius consistently portrays Conan as a pathetic, stupid, sniveling oaf, and further dilutes the character with a succession of lameass sidekicks. I understand that people have affection for this truly awful, garbage movie, and I suppose it is an okay fantasy flick, but just call it Fred the Barbarian, Floyd the Barbarian, anything. Just don't call it Conan, because the Milius movie ain't Conan.
Hi Michael, thank you very much for this great quick history of the Conan publications. I was looking at the different versions trying to narrow down my selection so this was hugely helpful. I'm going with the Del Rey version (all 3) as a gift for my partner. I really enjoyed your enthusiasm for the subject which made this a fun watch.
Overall, I think L. Sprague DeCamp did more good than bad. He actually took the character's tales and put them into a chronological order (Howard wrote them randomly). Thus, we were able to follow Conan's life from about 19 years old until 70 or so. I enjoyed the fact that he converted some REH stories into Conan tales because Howard only wrote about19 stories or so. The stories by DeCamp and Carter were not bad ones either. DeCamp seemed to be a bit possessive, and passionate about the REHestate/ library, but at the same time, strangely disrespectful. But he did spread the good word of Conan in the 60s and 70s. THE DEL REY EDITIONS CONTAIN SOME GREAT TOP NOTCH ART / ILLUSTRATIONS ALSO!! Go and get 'em!
100% agree "did more good than bad"! I really love and enjoy REH's own writing, he was a master. But, I LOVE Conan the character and read him in any form I can. TY so much to REH and all the writers (and artists) that followed.
I have the fantasy masterworks editions. The cover art was done by John Howe who is famous for his Lord of the Rings artwork and working on the movies providing art concepts.
What a great video , i really enjoyed watching it. I love Robert E Howards writings, his Conan stories are excellent and Soloman Kane is also fantastic . Howards writing style is wonderful . I have the hard cover complete chronicles edition.
Thanks for the advice! Saw some people claim the Gollancz hardback was incomplete or censored. I should've known that wasn't true, cause their Lovecraft collection is great. But I still didn't want to risk buying it without the opinion from a true Conan fan like you.
Gollancz used the original magazine versions of the Conan stories. These are a bit different in some cases from the versions used in the Del Rey set but not much.
I thought Frazetta’s Conan covers were done in the 60’s which popularized Conan enough for a Marvel to do the comic. Also, Boris didn’t do any of those paperback book covers (though I’m sure he would have done a fine job, given his later great covers for SAVAGE SWORD).
By the way, Subterranean Press continued publishing some of the high-end REH editions after Wandering Star stopped doing so. I wish I had known about them doing so when they were released, because they’re too expensive to buy now.
I cant like this video enough. Ive been a fan of Conan for so long, keep em coming! ps Im so getting that black book you showed. Doesn't matter how long it takes!
I just purchased the single volume hardback for just under $70 and am still considering getting the three volume Masterworks soft cover series. I can't wait to see the Howard's full works on Conan. BTW, you did such a great job going over these, I subscribed! Now, I'm looking forward to looking through your volumes!
I just discovered your video blog a few days ago. What could i say? Let's be honest! One of the best video blog of books i've ever seen! And yeah, i was a big fan of the Conan movie from my childhood, but i didn't underdtand its philosophy back than, didn't know what the riddle of steel really is. Later when i was around 10 i belive, i started to read more and more books etc etc.. This was relly limited cos i'm from hungary and at time i didn't even speak english :D 3 years ago i moved to Scotland and maybe that is why i tried to read english books, and i told myself: why not? So as i said i just discovered your blog and i enjoy totally! I will watch all your videos as i can do, but Honestly you have lots of good themes. And why am i here? Cos of conan! Hats off and Respect sir. Thank you i can be a part of your subscribers! Cheers from Edinburgh!
Just got the leather bound edition! Thanks for confirming my wants lol The Easton press is amazing looking Not the price tag though But I’m going to be proud to hang onto this in my book collection for years to come
Hi Michael! Great video, I enjoyed it a lot! Just a couple of things: Wandering Star DID publish the whole Conan, but not all Howard. The Fantasy Masterwork editions has all Conan but not in the order of publication (it's a sort of Conan chronological life order), whereas the Gollancz Black book has all the Conan in the order the stories were published. Cheers!
The movie franchise: The Chronicles of Reddick and Pitch Black is nothing but Conan stories. Also, it was the fantastic paintings of Frank Franzetta which captured the imagination of Conan the Barbarian. The paperbacks came out years before the Marvell comic version.
I really enjoyed this, having just discovered your channel. Robert E Howard is my favorite author, and I have quite an extensive collection. I’m in complete agreement with your presenting the Del Rey series of trade paperbacks as the very best of the compilations of REH’s Conan stories, and also the most authentic as well.
A slight correction: Most of the Lancer paperbacks were published from 1966 to 1968. "Conan the Adventurer" (1966) was the first Conan book I ever bought, and "People of the Black Circle" was the first Conan story I ever read. It was an electrifying experience for a 14-year-old boy, to say the least.
any chance you could do a video like this on any editions of the later pastiches by other authors? i bought the The Coming, Bloody Crown, and Conquering Sword audiobooks on your recommendation and love it, I would also like to have audiobooks of the non-Howard stories as well
I loved “The Scarlet Citadel,” because it was one of the very few times Conan was outmatched. The whole time you can feel that this could be the end for him, and he only won cuz he had to rely on the help of others and a bit of luck
I was a bit surprised that you didn’t cover the differences between the Lancer and Ace series paperbacks, the Gnome hardcovers from the 50’s, or the Grant hardcovers from the 70’s/80’s. Also, if you care to seek them out, the three books edited by Wagner were originally published in hardcover as well.
Despite the fact that the editor Stephen Jones says eighty percent. of the texts come from _Weird Tales_ magazine, and that (at odds with this) the book itself claims to present all the stories "exactly as [Howard] wrote them," the texts used in the Gollancz edition _The Complete Chronicles of Conan_ come from a variety of different sources. Only "Notes on Various Peoples of the Hyborian Age" and "Wolves Beyond the Border" are taken from the original manuscripts, while "Queen of the Black Coast" and "The Slithering Shadow" are taken directly from _Weird Tales_ magazine. The texts of "The Phoenix on the Sword," "The Scarlet Citadel," "The Tower of the Elephant" and "Rogues in the House" are from _Skull-Face and Others_ (Arkham House). "The Hyborian Age," "The Frost-Giant's Daughter," "A Witch Shall Be Born," "Shadows in Zamboula," "The Devil in Iron," "The People of the Black Circle," "Red Nails," "Beyond the Black River," "The Black Stranger" and _The Hour of the Dragon_ (both novel and verse) are from various editions edited by Karl Edward Wagner. "The Hall of the Dead," "The Hand of Nergal," and the poem "Cimmeria" were taken from volumes edited by Glenn Lord. "The God in the Bowl," "The Snout in the Dark," "Black Colossus," "Jewels of Gwahlur," "Shadows in the Moonlight," "The Drums of Tombalku" and "The Pool of the Black One" are from Donald M. Grant Publishers. "The Vale of Lost Women" is from the _Magazine of Horror_ #15.
@@The8bitFighter I believe that the Del Rey editions of the Conan stories ("The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian," "The Bloody Crown of Conan," and "The Conquering Sword of Conan") use the original unedited texts. However, on the back of the second of the volumes, we read that _two_ of the three stories featured in that book are taken directly from Howard's typescripts. Where, then, does the third come from? I am at a loss to know, but the Del Rey editions seem, when taken as a whole, to be the best choice for those looking for textual accuracy (provided one can afford three books instead of the one Gollancz edition).
I agree with most of this, but you missed some early hard cover editions that came out in the ‘50s/‘60s that I’ve seen in rare book shops. I wonder if they’re pre-DeCamp.
Those would be the Gnome Press editions. They were edited by DeCamp and the paperbacks were based on them originally. I left them out because I’ve never actually seen one, and Conan really didn’t take off until the paperback series.
Are you aware of the Gnome Press Editions? Those were the hardbound editions I collected after the success of the Ace/Lancer books. Edit: They were published in the '50s and included many of the Carter/DeCamp pastiches.
I was able to find The Del Rey “trilogy” of books on eBay. I only have them first one as the second one’s price gave me pause! I’ll eventually get it but maybe I’ll get the 3rd volume before that. High prices for the 2nd volume seemed to be a trend on eBay for some reason. Does it contain something notable that drives up the price?
Hey Michael, do you have any plans to eventually do a review of non-Howard Conan stories? I'm curious to hear you take on some of the other authors who attempted to write Conan after Howard had passed away. The one Conan author I'd especially love to hear your thoughts on is Robert Jordan, seeing as he was a famous author in his own right with The Wheel of Time.
A very excellent review of recommended Conan editions. While I get that the focus here is on Conan an added bonus of the Del Rey editions is that the series went on to collect Howard’s lesser known characters including Kull, Bran Mak Morn, Solomon Kane and a few others plus his horror and other adventuring tales. Does the Del Rey series not contain the entirety of Howard’s stories?
I love this kind of history, thanks. I haven't read Phoenix on the Sword yet anyway, I'm busy getting through "The Hyborian Age" as I figure it's the proper introduction to this world (and connecting it to Kull). Do you think you'll do a deeper dive into the Ace books and the pastiches, and on if, in another partition of your brain beside pure Howard, there's some worth while stories that kind of honor the material? I've just started collecting them but I'm not sure how far I want to take it: I really want to see what Robert Jordan and Karl Wagner did with it, but I found and bought John Maddox Roberts, Andrew Outfit and Carter/De Camp originals, and left I behind Steve Perry cause I heard they're extremely silly writing (though part of me is curious because of that). The tampering with Howard's stories, especially rewriting other characters, comes across as greedy, but I'm still curious to read the attempt at story bridges and finishing Howard's fragments just to see how they _might_ end. All this would be after reading the unadulterated stuff of course. I've heard there's a series of trilogies "Age of Conan Hyborian Adventures" from 15 years ago, that tell stories about people _other then Conan_ (while he's busy being king); this sounds like the better approach for a "shared world" to avoid mental disconnects.
Just discovered your channel and its getting me back into reading seriously. I would love to see a version of this video on the John Carter books. Would the edition on your bookshelf be the best one?
Really helpful video. Just got yourself a sub. I have the two *Fantasy Masterworks* p/back editions. Do you think it's worth me upgrading to the *Del Ray* editions? I've thought about the *Centenary Edition* , but don't really enjoy big heavy complete editions as they're unwieldy.
The Del Rey editions are the best, with the illustrations and the extra material, but you have all the stories in the Fantasy Masterworks volumes so you don’t need them. The Centenary Edition is basically just the Fantasy Masterworks edition in one hardcover.
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 Thanks. I think I might just get the first three *Del Rey* vols, but it's very tempting to go for all eleven. I didn't realise REH had written so much. I'd like to read some Solomon Kane.
The 3 volume set is definitely the way to go. I have the Audible versions; they are soooo good. I love that they include notes and drafts. Do the print editions contain the excerpts from Patrice Louinet's The Robert E. Howard Guide that the Audible versions do?
Robert was writing with a lot of true history that made people nervous Mithra for instance was sun worship before son worship, but it didn't fit the narrative of the time
I had the de Camp series. I enjoyed them at the time. Now, I won't touch them. Pure Howard for me these days.
I had to order in The Complete Chronicles Of Conan ($65 Australian) through a book shop as I couldn't find a single copy in any store at the time. Its lack of presence in local book shops is kind of odd as H.P. Lovecraft is everywhere.
How do you read upside down?
I have all three of the Del-Rey editions. They were my introduction to Conan outside of the comic. Still something I love to pick up and read.
I got the del ray books, coming, bloody crown, and conquering sword, and enjoy them a lot
Great job! As a young reader, I was quickly able to discern the difference of writing styles between REH and everyone else. I do appreciate the attempts of the other authors to “fill in the gaps” of the chronology; however, NO ONE can write Conan like REH.
By CROM we needed this!
Excellent! I’m glad my dopey channel is good for something. 😀
I started with the Le Sprague de Camp series back in the 60s, and spread out to the Kull series, Brak Morn and others. I also read Wagner and Robert Jordan and Solomon Kane.
I was lucky enough to get the chronicles at a second hand store for $4 aus. Feeling very lucky at the moment. Thank you for your review. Reading at the moment
thank you! you helped me know which to purchase! Conan stories are awesome!
Thank you.
Thank you dude! I picked up those three books for 52 bucks on Amazon. Ez pz. Although i was thinking about searching for a video like yours but never actually typed anything about it in yet UA-cam recommended your video so that's kind of weird.
That's the one I got the black cover complete takes its awesome 👍 the complete chronicles of Conan.
Thank you so much sir
This wins my subscription.
Hello, very helpful vid, your enthusiasm is infectious. Just ordered the Complete Chronicles to start my Conan journey. I read the Conan, Hulk, Avengers comics as a kid here in the U.K back in the 70s. I also picked up a fantasy book about the Frazetta artworks today. When i was 14 all my comic collection was obliterated in a flood, i was heartbroken and never bought a comic again and switched my passions to vinyl. You have inspired an old timer to start reading Conan again. I am getting the same buzz i used to get waiting for my comics to be delivered every Saturday morning. All the best from England U.K.
That’s a tragic story about the Flood! So sorry that happened.
Komiksy są już wymyślone tak jak kilkudziesięciu autorów co kontynuowało historię o Conanie ...tylko orginalne napisane przez twórcę co wymyśl swojego bohatera z Cymeri Roberta Howarda są najlepsze nie ujmując .Wagnerowi , Jordanowi , Campowi i innym 📚📚👋👍
Very nice thanks, greetings from Athens, Love your Ερέχθειο image.
One of the pivotal moments of my life was coming upon the Lancer Books' "Conan the Adventurer" with its Frazetta cover in the spinning book rack at my local convenience store when I was in my early teens.
The Del Rey books are fantastic!
I remember back in the 1990s, before the internet bookstores carried stacks of the paperbacks. People would keep them in a front jacket pocket and read them.
I always love stories about ancient times. Thank you for sharing!
This Conan series led me to Robert E Howard, Casca series and The Destroyer series. Had listened to SSGT Sadler's records for years as my dad served with him. Supposedly, I met him, sat in his lap while stealing sips from dad's 🍺.
I also like the CASCA series
"back when it still rained in California" I got a good chuckle from that one. I love the video, love Conan. This was super interesting.
Thanks!
Other than Robert E Howard himself, only Roy Thomas captured the true essence of Conan.
Sometimes
I think Roy Thomas is hugely unsung for his contribution to Marvel etc. Unfortunately overshadowed by Stan, but then who wasn't? I doubt even God could dim Stan's wattage. They say it's obvious when some people enter a room. Stan WAS the room!
Le sprague de camp?
@@Rebel1972x based on when he completed Howard’s fragments, I’d agree he was good.
Those Del Rey editions were how I first read Conan back in high school. I still have them, and they are indeed wonderful, so there's no need for me to have that Gollancz edition, but it's so damn beautiful that I'm almost tempted to buy it. XD
I’m glad I’ve got the right ones. The Del Rey are definitely.the ones to have. I love all the extras in them too.
Where did you find them? eBay?
Very good, and helpful. Have just been buying the 70’s paperbacks - for the Frazetta artwork, as they hold much nostalgic feeling for my youth, and can’t help but see F.F.’s paintings as part of the ‘real deal’, as you say. No other visualisations capture that arcane undercurrent, for me - ‘tho I appreciate the text itself is corrupted.
I had those original De Camp paperbacks and recently sold them all on eBay because I already have all the Frazetta Conan art in several Frazetta books, and the stories in the Wandering Star/Del Rey editions.
I like the 2011 Gollancz reprint of the FM/Chronicles in a 3-volume set, released for the 2011 movie reboot. I like them because they are cheap (at least in UK), are smaller in size than the Del Rey's, FM an Chronicles at 13cm x 20cm and most importantly printed on cream paper for less eye fatigue. The Dey Rey's are big and floppy, and printed on laser-white printer paper for illustration contrast. If you can get/resize the Del Rey pdf's they would make a great Lulu print project though!
Agree on those issues with the Del Rey editions, only question for me before I take the plunge is do the Gollancz 3 volume set include the same pictures as the Del Rey as these do seem to bring it to life?
@@crom9741 No, unfortunately the 3-book Gollancz version has no illustrations. The 1-tome Complete Chronicles of Conan has some sparse illustrations but not the same ones as the Del Rey ones. The Kindle versions of Del Rey's and CCoC include images from the print books and that's how I enjoy those. Not sure if the FM version has illustrations, but I doubt it.
This was great and you kinda sold me on the del rays I might have to pick them up and check out those illustrations!
You will not be disappointed!
Thanks for the help with this! You can always take the measure of a man by his bookshelf, so you bet I'm now subscribed.
Start reading after my friend had a couple books he brought back from his vacation. 1970 issue paperbacks!
Mind blowing for a ten year old! Howard really broke ground creating something new!
The original stories were amazing. Would love to read the original magazine serials!
Thank you this was very helpful 👍
Well said with the Del Rey editions, always recommend that for people looking to get into the character.
Actually Wandering Star did finish the Conan series. They are three volumes which collect the entire REH Conan library. Each volume is hardcover, it has colored illustrations, with artist signatures and protected by slip case. I have had these three volumes for over a decade and they are still the best Conan edition on the market. The Del Ray versions have the identical content but the illustrations are in black and white only.
Totally agree with you, i have 2 copies of all the editions they brought out (leather bound/hardbacks all signed by the artists). Unfortunately i have tried selling my spare copies for about 2 years now with no takers. Madness
Picked up the one volume chronicles about a year ago, shipped from the UK from Blackwell books, only about $35 total!
Excellent deal!
You only get the dust covers for $35 now. Inflation!!!
I glad you did this video instead. This was interesting. I really like when you give us these historical recaps.
Thanks!
SUBSCRIBED!!! You answered what ive been trying to self google search for WEEKS!! I honestly didnt want you to stop talking, Cannot wait for the next video of the Phoenix and the sword. Cheers My Friend
New Conan fan and was confused by all the editions on Amazon and this was the perfect video! Definitely got a new subscriber!
Whatever you do, don’t start collecting comics. It’s even worse.
🎵It’s the Robert E Howard Show! 🎵 Great informative video, as usual!
I got the complete chronicles leatherbound in a South Carolina bookstore last year, and man am I lucky it was a decent price AND was a good edition. I also got some of the paperbacks by Lin Carter just for the extra stories.
5:25 Cracked me up! My introduction to Conan was with the movies, but as far as literature, I've only read Howard's stories. I'm not even interested in anything else that calls itself "Conan." I guess that makes me a purist.
I have all the Conan paperbacks you mentioned but pride of place in my collection is my first edition hard cover of And Their Memory Was a Bitter Tree...
It was a real battle to find all del rey Howard books and complete chronicles,since the bookshops in Croatia rearly had anything from guy,i had to find alternative,but,book depository sometimes works sometimes not so i fought and i fought with my patience and feeling of holding a book in my hand but it finally paid it of,i gave fortune for del rey collection especially for that big chunk but im a happy man now :)
I’m glad you managed to get them! I think you will find your hard fight was worth it.
The precursors to the Marvel comics were a really in depth series of novels and compilations of short stories published by Lancer and beginning with "Conan the Adventurer" collection of short stories which came out in the early 60's. (I know this because that was my first introduction not only to Conan but also to Frank Frazetta's who painted the cover of the paperback collection. I was 13 years old...now I'm 74.) It had four of the Howard short stories. It was followed by "Conan the Usurper" another collection of Howard stories and included "The Phoenix on the Sword" (which was a reworked Kull story.) In all there were 12 Lancer publications with full novels and collections of original Howard stories and pastiches based on surviving Howard outlines and notes, principally written by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter. Frazetta's cover art dominated most of these publications although some were done by Boris Vallejo. Ironically the last painting done by Frazetta for Lancer's Conan series, "Conan of Aquilonia" was sent to the Lancer offices in 1978 but Frazetta never got paid. Lancer went bankrupt and the original Frazetta painting was stolen from the Lancer offices and has never been recovered. It would probably be worth millions today...one of Frazetta's paintings, "Dark Kingdom" done for Karl Edward Wagner's "Dark Crusade" novel sold for over six million dollars, edging out his previously highest value painting "Egyptian Queen" done in 1969 which sold for 5.4 million dollars in 2019.
A great and a long--awaited video. I'm really excited about it
Thanks!
The Del Rey's are great. I've been looking for the Karl Edward Wagner books and have only found The Road of Kings so far.
The Road of Kings is the only Conan story Karl wrote
Really cool survey. I read the Warren publications, Creepy and Eerie, in the mid 60s which featured my first exposure to Robert E. Howard. Editor/writer Archie Goodwin created a barbarian character called Thane, the hero of a half dozen fantasy stories that ran in Creepy, and the final Thane tale was the subject of an awesome Frazetta cover of issue #27 in 1969. The series received positive feedback in the letter columns, readers favorably compared Thane to REH's Conan. I was 8 or 9 years old, and even at that young age, made a mental note of Howard and Conan. In 1966 /67 Lancer started publishing the Decamp-edited Conan series which would persist into the 70s and the 80s under Ace, and no doubt influenced Goodwin. Ads for the Lancer books appeared in the Warren publications in 1969, and the black and white thumbnails of Frazetta's Conan covers blew my mind. I asked my dad, "What was the Hyborian Age?" LOL A year later he bought me Conan the Conqueror, and I started buying Marvel's Conan comic with issue #4's adaptation of The Tower of the Elephant. Over the next couple of years I completed my collection of the Lancer books. Nerd fanboy culture was a bit more physical back then--- my friends and I played in the woods with machetes, axes, and tomahawks, re-enacting our favorite Conan scenes, and we got into weights inspired by Conan's exploits. The Lancer/Ace Conans were pretty much reprints of the older Gnome Press versions that DeCamp had published in the 1950s. I credit DeCamp with keeping the character alive, despite his mercenary motives and weak stories. in 1996, on the 60th anniversary of Howard's death, I rode my Harley to Cross Plains, TX, for the Howard Day celebration. I met Glenn Lord, viewed original Howard manuscripts and copies of Weird Tales on display at the town library, and camped out in Howard's backyard. It was great that Howard's work was finally treated with respect in those publications you cite. I hope for a similarly respectful film adaptation of Conan one day, as opposed to the garbage Milius movies. Arnold's Conan would piss his diapers if confronted by REH's Conan.
There's only one Milius Conan movie, and it's far from "garbage." The three subsequent Conan films (The Destroyer, Red Sonja and the Jason Mamoa reboot) had no involvement from John Milius.
@@RockandrollNegro Milius had no regard for the Robert E. Howard source material, and the Milius Conan has nothing to do with the REH character. Howard's Conan would die before he submitted to slavery, yet Milius portrayed Conan as a docile slave, groveling at the feet of his 'master." The Milius origin story is insipid, inserting Thulsa Doom---- a KULL nemesis from Atlantis--- into the Hyborian Age which came thousands of years after the sinking of Atlantis. The Howard Conan was born on a battlefield, to a ferocious, and Howard specifically states, an unconquered people, the Cimmerians. Aquilonia, the most powerful Hyborian nation, attempted to invade Cimmeria and were massacred at Venarium. Conan was a barbarian from a thousand generations of barbarians, cunning and powerful. Imagine what a skilled filmmaker could have done with Howard's character. Milius consistently portrays Conan as a pathetic, stupid, sniveling oaf, and further dilutes the character with a succession of lameass sidekicks. I understand that people have affection for this truly awful, garbage movie, and I suppose it is an okay fantasy flick, but just call it Fred the Barbarian, Floyd the Barbarian, anything. Just don't call it Conan, because the Milius movie ain't Conan.
Hi Michael, thank you very much for this great quick history of the Conan publications. I was looking at the different versions trying to narrow down my selection so this was hugely helpful. I'm going with the Del Rey version (all 3) as a gift for my partner. I really enjoyed your enthusiasm for the subject which made this a fun watch.
Thank you! The Del Rey is definitely the best edition of Conan ever published.
In Brazilian the greatest part of the Robert E. Howard's Works are published by Editora Pipoca & Nanquim.
Good to know. Thanks!
Another great video. Thanks for the history lesson. I love listening to the stories behind the stories.
Thanks Kirk!
I love seeing the titles in your bookcase! Some of my favorites.
Enjoyed your comments. Subscribed.
Thanks!
Overall, I think L. Sprague DeCamp did more good than bad. He actually took the character's tales and put them into a chronological order (Howard wrote them randomly). Thus, we were able to follow Conan's life from about 19 years old until 70 or so. I enjoyed the fact that he converted some REH stories into Conan tales because Howard only wrote about19 stories or so. The stories by DeCamp and Carter were not bad ones either. DeCamp seemed to be a bit possessive, and passionate about the REHestate/ library, but at the same time, strangely disrespectful. But he did spread the good word of Conan in the 60s and 70s. THE DEL REY EDITIONS CONTAIN SOME GREAT TOP NOTCH ART / ILLUSTRATIONS ALSO!! Go and get 'em!
100% agree "did more good than bad"! I really love and enjoy REH's own writing, he was a master. But, I LOVE Conan the character and read him in any form I can. TY so much to REH and all the writers (and artists) that followed.
I have the fantasy masterworks editions. The cover art was done by John Howe who is famous for his Lord of the Rings artwork and working on the movies providing art concepts.
He did a great job on those covers.
Great stuff. Love your content
Thanks!
What a great video , i really enjoyed watching it. I love Robert E Howards writings, his Conan stories are excellent and Soloman Kane is also fantastic . Howards writing style is wonderful . I have the hard cover complete chronicles edition.
Thanks for the advice! Saw some people claim the Gollancz hardback was incomplete or censored. I should've known that wasn't true, cause their Lovecraft collection is great. But I still didn't want to risk buying it without the opinion from a true Conan fan like you.
Gollancz used the original magazine versions of the Conan stories. These are a bit different in some cases from the versions used in the Del Rey set but not much.
@@michaelk.vaughan8617so does that mean that the del ray editions are edited?
Excellent, very helpful. You have a new subscriber! I'm working my way through the series with my son. Thank you
You are very welcome! Thanks for watching!
Sweet books dude!
Thanks!
Fantastic video!
Thank you!
100% agree that the DelRey books are the ones to get!
I thought Frazetta’s Conan covers were done in the 60’s which popularized Conan enough for a Marvel to do the comic. Also, Boris didn’t do any of those paperback book covers (though I’m sure he would have done a fine job, given his later great covers for SAVAGE SWORD).
Clear and excellent advice. Bravo. Now skedaddle off to work, man. Roger needs more purchasing power ...
I’m at work now! You would think Roger would have enough cash after collecting gold for 10,000 years!
Well, I have ordered the Mark Finn Bio....you have convinced me to join the Cult of Conan....lol.
Best Howard bio
That Mark Fin biography is really good. I met him once a few years ago. Really nice guy and knows more about Howard than just about anyone.
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 Cool, hopefully it gets here soon....
By the way, Subterranean Press continued publishing some of the high-end REH editions after Wandering Star stopped doing so. I wish I had known about them doing so when they were released, because they’re too expensive to buy now.
Thank you for this video! I picked up the volumes you recommend from Del Rey and I am loving them so far
This is good video
Thanks!
I cant like this video enough. Ive been a fan of Conan for so long, keep em coming!
ps Im so getting that black book you showed. Doesn't matter how long it takes!
I have the Del Rey editions. But I'm also fond of the Gollancz edition.
They are both pretty great.
Awesome video! I love your enthusiasm for Robert E. Howard’s work. Subscribed!
Thanks St. Cimmerian! I appreciate it!
How do you know all of this man? This is incredible ha ha! I love it thanks for the recommendations!!!
Ha! I know all this because I don’t have a life outside books!
Thanks. How about Lovecraft? Which editions?
I just purchased the single volume hardback for just under $70 and am still considering getting the three volume Masterworks soft cover series. I can't wait to see the Howard's full works on Conan. BTW, you did such a great job going over these, I subscribed! Now, I'm looking forward to looking through your volumes!
Thanks!
I just discovered your video blog a few days ago. What could i say?
Let's be honest! One of the best video blog of books i've ever seen!
And yeah, i was a big fan of the Conan movie from my childhood, but i didn't underdtand its philosophy back than, didn't know what the riddle of steel really is. Later when i was around 10 i belive, i started to read more and more books etc etc.. This was relly limited cos i'm from hungary and at time i didn't even speak english :D
3 years ago i moved to Scotland and maybe that is why i tried to read english books, and i told myself: why not?
So as i said i just discovered your blog and i enjoy totally! I will watch all your videos as i can do, but Honestly you have lots of good themes. And why am i here? Cos of conan! Hats off and Respect sir. Thank you i can be a part of your subscribers!
Cheers from Edinburgh!
The Howard foundation and del reys are the best imo
Except for minor editing, De Camp made no changes to the original WEIRD TALES published Conan stories or 'The vale of lost women'.
Just got the leather bound edition! Thanks for confirming my wants lol
The Easton press is amazing looking
Not the price tag though
But I’m going to be proud to hang onto this in my book collection for years to come
Hey! I need some ideas for stories for my students. Does anyone have any recommendations of stories that are school age appropriate from Mr. Howard?
Hi Michael! Great video, I enjoyed it a lot! Just a couple of things: Wandering Star DID publish the whole Conan, but not all Howard. The Fantasy Masterwork editions has all Conan but not in the order of publication (it's a sort of Conan chronological life order), whereas the Gollancz Black book has all the Conan in the order the stories were published. Cheers!
The movie franchise: The Chronicles of Reddick and Pitch Black is nothing but Conan stories. Also, it was the fantastic paintings of Frank Franzetta which captured the imagination of Conan the Barbarian. The paperbacks came out years before the Marvell comic version.
I really enjoyed this, having just discovered your channel. Robert E Howard is my favorite author, and I have quite an extensive collection.
I’m in complete agreement with your presenting the Del Rey series of trade paperbacks as the very best of the compilations of REH’s Conan stories, and also the most authentic as well.
I picked up my Centenary Edition in a bargain bin in a bookstore in New Zealand. Best book bargain ever!
A slight correction:
Most of the Lancer paperbacks were published
from 1966 to 1968.
"Conan the Adventurer" (1966) was the first Conan
book I ever bought, and "People of the Black Circle"
was the first Conan story I ever read. It was an
electrifying experience for a 14-year-old boy, to say
the least.
Thanks for the correction!
any chance you could do a video like this on any editions of the later pastiches by other authors? i bought the The Coming, Bloody Crown, and Conquering Sword audiobooks on your recommendation and love it, I would also like to have audiobooks of the non-Howard stories as well
I loved “The Scarlet Citadel,” because it was one of the very few times Conan was outmatched. The whole time you can feel that this could be the end for him, and he only won cuz he had to rely on the help of others and a bit of luck
Excellent observation.
I was a bit surprised that you didn’t cover the differences between the Lancer and Ace series paperbacks, the Gnome hardcovers from the 50’s, or the Grant hardcovers from the 70’s/80’s. Also, if you care to seek them out, the three books edited by Wagner were originally published in hardcover as well.
I've heard that hardcover edition is censored and edited to some degree. Can you confirm?
This! I heard the same, can anyone confirm?
Despite the fact that the editor Stephen Jones says eighty percent. of the texts come from _Weird Tales_ magazine, and that (at odds with this) the book itself claims to present all the stories "exactly as [Howard] wrote them," the texts used in the Gollancz edition _The Complete Chronicles of Conan_ come from a variety of different sources. Only "Notes on Various Peoples of the Hyborian Age" and "Wolves Beyond the Border" are taken from the original manuscripts, while "Queen of the Black Coast" and "The Slithering Shadow" are taken directly from _Weird Tales_ magazine. The texts of "The Phoenix on the Sword," "The Scarlet Citadel," "The Tower of the Elephant" and "Rogues in the House" are from _Skull-Face and Others_ (Arkham House). "The Hyborian Age," "The Frost-Giant's Daughter," "A Witch Shall Be Born," "Shadows in Zamboula," "The Devil in Iron," "The People of the Black Circle," "Red Nails," "Beyond the Black River," "The Black Stranger" and _The Hour of the Dragon_ (both novel and verse) are from various editions edited by Karl Edward Wagner. "The Hall of the Dead," "The Hand of Nergal," and the poem "Cimmeria" were taken from volumes edited by Glenn Lord. "The God in the Bowl," "The Snout in the Dark," "Black Colossus," "Jewels of Gwahlur," "Shadows in the Moonlight," "The Drums of Tombalku" and "The Pool of the Black One" are from Donald M. Grant Publishers. "The Vale of Lost Women" is from the _Magazine of Horror_ #15.
@@TheNineteenthCentury Is there an actually unedited edition somewhere? WHAT DO I BUY??
@@The8bitFighter
I believe that the Del Rey editions of the Conan stories ("The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian," "The Bloody Crown of Conan," and "The Conquering Sword of Conan") use the original unedited texts. However, on the back of the second of the volumes, we read that _two_ of the three stories featured in that book are taken directly from Howard's typescripts. Where, then, does the third come from? I am at a loss to know, but the Del Rey editions seem, when taken as a whole, to be the best choice for those looking for textual accuracy (provided one can afford three books instead of the one Gollancz edition).
This three-volume edition has a hardcover version?
What are your thoughts on the Fantasy Stories Presents CONAN THE BARBARIAN SUPER PACK? How does the Super Pack stack up against the Del Rey volumes?
I agree with most of this, but you missed some early hard cover editions that came out in the ‘50s/‘60s that I’ve seen in rare book shops. I wonder if they’re pre-DeCamp.
Those would be the Gnome Press editions. They were edited by DeCamp and the paperbacks were based on them originally. I left them out because I’ve never actually seen one, and Conan really didn’t take off until the paperback series.
Are you aware of the Gnome Press Editions? Those were the hardbound editions I collected after the success of the Ace/Lancer books. Edit: They were published in the '50s and included many of the Carter/DeCamp pastiches.
Are Centenary edition stories in chronological order? It says they are but I doubt that...
They are presented in publication order.
I was able to find The Del Rey “trilogy” of books on eBay. I only have them first one as the second one’s price gave me pause! I’ll eventually get it but maybe I’ll get the 3rd volume before that.
High prices for the 2nd volume seemed to be a trend on eBay for some
reason. Does it contain something notable that drives up the price?
Hey Michael, do you have any plans to eventually do a review of non-Howard Conan stories? I'm curious to hear you take on some of the other authors who attempted to write Conan after Howard had passed away. The one Conan author I'd especially love to hear your thoughts on is Robert Jordan, seeing as he was a famous author in his own right with The Wheel of Time.
A very excellent review of recommended Conan editions. While I get that the focus here is on Conan an added bonus of the Del Rey editions is that the series went on to collect Howard’s lesser known characters including Kull, Bran Mak Morn, Solomon Kane and a few others plus his horror and other adventuring tales. Does the Del Rey series not contain the entirety of Howard’s stories?
Not even close.
I love this kind of history, thanks. I haven't read Phoenix on the Sword yet anyway, I'm busy getting through "The Hyborian Age" as I figure it's the proper introduction to this world (and connecting it to Kull).
Do you think you'll do a deeper dive into the Ace books and the pastiches, and on if, in another partition of your brain beside pure Howard, there's some worth while stories that kind of honor the material? I've just started collecting them but I'm not sure how far I want to take it: I really want to see what Robert Jordan and Karl Wagner did with it, but I found and bought John Maddox Roberts, Andrew Outfit and Carter/De Camp originals, and left I behind Steve Perry cause I heard they're extremely silly writing (though part of me is curious because of that).
The tampering with Howard's stories, especially rewriting other characters, comes across as greedy, but I'm still curious to read the attempt at story bridges and finishing Howard's fragments just to see how they _might_ end. All this would be after reading the unadulterated stuff of course.
I've heard there's a series of trilogies "Age of Conan Hyborian Adventures" from 15 years ago, that tell stories about people _other then Conan_ (while he's busy being king); this sounds like the better approach for a "shared world" to avoid mental disconnects.
I’ve read quite a bit of the non-Howard Conan. I’m not sure I think enough of any of it to make a video about it but I might.
Damn, I've got 3 of those De camp ones :(
Just discovered your channel and its getting me back into reading seriously. I would love to see a version of this video on the John Carter books. Would the edition on your bookshelf be the best one?
Well, it is a pretty good one. That’s an excellent idea for a video! Thanks!
Really helpful video. Just got yourself a sub. I have the two *Fantasy Masterworks* p/back editions. Do you think it's worth me upgrading to the *Del Ray* editions? I've thought about the *Centenary Edition* , but don't really enjoy big heavy complete editions as they're unwieldy.
The Del Rey editions are the best, with the illustrations and the extra material, but you have all the stories in the Fantasy Masterworks volumes so you don’t need them. The Centenary Edition is basically just the Fantasy Masterworks edition in one hardcover.
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 Thanks. I think I might just get the first three *Del Rey* vols, but it's very tempting to go for all eleven. I didn't realise REH had written so much. I'd like to read some Solomon Kane.
The 3 volume set is definitely the way to go. I have the Audible versions; they are soooo good. I love that they include notes and drafts. Do the print editions contain the excerpts from Patrice Louinet's The Robert E. Howard Guide that the Audible versions do?
I believe so. I will check when I have them at hand.
Robert was writing with a lot of true history that made people nervous Mithra for instance was sun worship before son worship, but it didn't fit the narrative of the time