The Sword and Laser discussion

Just watched the recent Conan the Barbarian movie (Arnie's version was better. Even if it was more camp). So this got me wondering since I've never read any Robert E Howard Conan short stories or books where I would start if I ever get the time to read anything in the cannon/chronology.

A quick search on wikipedia showed several chronologies. Of the groups I'd lean towards Robert Jordan's chronology.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conan_ch...

It looks like a lot of short stories. Anyone else read anything in the Conan universe that would recommend a good starting point?

Best way to read Robert E. Howard's Conan stories is in the order they were written, which is the order of the 3-volume Wandering Star/Del Ray set and Gollancz's The Complete Chronicles of Conan...if you plan on reading them *all*. But these stories were meant to stand alone from each other so it doesn't really matter, and not all of them are worth reading--"The Vale of Lost Women" and "The Man-Eaters of Zamboula" just aren't that good, and "The Frost Giant's Daughter" has...issues.

However, if you want to just dip into the Conan stories to see if you like them before going on, I recommend The Hour of the Dragon as the best starting-point, since it contains everything you could possibly want from Sword & Sorcery. But it's chronologically last, mind you, and the only one from the original canon that's a novel.

My favourite collection remains the Berkley set, edited by Karl Edward Wagner, even if they're incomplete.

As for the non-Robert E. Howard material...almost none of those novels are any good. And for God's sake just stay away from Conan of Venarium!

If you like comic books, I recommend Marvel comics' run of Conan The Barbarian and Savage Sword of Conan,especially stories illustrated by John Buscema. They adapted almost all of R.E.Howard's stories quite fatihfully, and the original stories are also pretty good.

Essential Conan the Barbarian Vol. 1

The Savage Sword of Conan Vol. 1

Really pleased to see this topic. I've wanted to try Conan for a while but like Nick i didn't know where to start. Now i have some idea of what i'm looking for.

if i remember correctely R. Jordan ordered the conan novels according to the cronological line

Kamil wrote: "if i remember correctely R. Jordan ordered the conan novels according to the cronological line"

Which is absolutely wrong. Howard was insistent that the stories were like listening to some guy in a bar tell you about his life. He doesn't do it in order, just mentions, "Oh, yeah, that reminds me of the time I saved this wench from some corsairs off the coast of Aquilonia."

Sean wrote: "Kamil wrote: "if i remember correctely R. Jordan ordered the conan novels according to the cronological line"

Which is absolutely wrong. Howard was insistent that the stories were like listening t..."

yes, but since the stories are randomly told, a reader might opt for a cronological reading

Few days ago I bought Conan, The Barbarian, The Complete Collection by Howard on amazon, kindle version for 2.99$. There are 17 novels in total so you might wanna check it out.

Stories, my bad, sorry.

Rasnac wrote: "If you like comic books, I recommend Marvel comics' run of Conan The Barbarian and Savage Sword of Conan,especially stories illustrated by John Buscema. They adapted almost all of R.E.Howard's stor..."

Savage Sword, I think, better preserves the spirit of the Conan stories. The comic book seemed too . . . simple? Of course, some of Howard's earlier Conan stories are a bit simple, but the comic even watered these down. I absolutely love Savage Sword, however. Good writing and excellent artwork.