Conan: The Hour Of The Dragon [Mass Market Paperback]

Robert E. Howard (Author), Ken W. Kelly (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1977

Also known as "Conan the Conqueror," The Hour of the Dragon is Robert E. Howard's only full-length novel about Conan, and it is considered by many to be one of his best works. During Conan's reign as King of Aquilonia, a group of conspirators plot to depose him in favor of Valerius, heir to Conan's predecessor Numedides, whom he had slain to gain the throne. To accomplish this they resort to necromancy, resurrecting Xaltotun, an ancient sorcerer from the pre-Hyborian empire of Acheron. With his aid the Aquilonian army is defeated by that of the rival kingdom of Nemedia and occupied. Conan, captured, is slated for execution until the sympathetic slave girl Zenobia risks her life to free him. Conan's quest to retrieve the Heart of Ahriman in order to defeat the wizard and regain his throne takes him through all the lands of Hyboria. After his eventual triumph he vows to make Zenobia his queen. Robert E. Howard is considered the godfather of Sword and Sorcery, and he is the creator of the international icon Conan the Cimmerian. This classic of adventure has been newly designed and typeset in a 6-by-9-inch format by Waking Lion Press.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Of the 21 Conan the Barbarian tales that Robert E. Howard (1906-1936) completed in his all-too-brief lifetime, Hour of the Dragon was the only novel-length story. It may also be the very best of the series, crafted when the legendary pulp writer was working at the height of his powers. Conan is a huge swordsman fighting both natural and supernatural foes in a time-lost world known as the Hyborian Age. At this point in his bloody career, Conan is the middle-aged king of the ancient kingdom of Aquilonia. He must fight one final battle to save the known world from a resurrected sorcerer named Xaltotun. Only the fabled Heart of Ahriman can destroy Xaltotun, and Conan must embark on an epic quest to retrieve the Heart. Howard hammered out every word as if he had actually lived through it himself, and in doing so forged a crimson masterpiece of heroic fantasy. (This novel has also been published as part of the formal Conan series as Conan the Conqueror.) --Stanley Wiater --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Medallion; 1st edition (August 1977)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425036081
• ISBN-13: 978-0425036082
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,680,783 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

(1906-1936) Robert Erwin Howard was born and rasied in rural Texas, where he lived all his life. The son of a pioneer physician, he began writing professionally at the age of fifteen. Howard killed himself in June 1936 when he learned that his beloved mother had fallen into a coma.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Also contains other stories, January 21, 2002

By 

D. Lowicki (Kenmore, N.Y. United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Conan Chronicles, Vol. 2: The Hour of the Dragon (Paperback)

In addition to "The Hour of the Dragon", this edition also contains "Red Nails","Jewels of Gwahlur","Beyond the Black River","The Black Stranger","Wolves Beyond the Border(draft),"The Phoenix on the Sword",and "The Scarlet Citadel".This is the second volume of a 2 part set reprinting all of Howard's Conan stories in chronological order (volume 1 is People of the Black Circle). It's unfortunate that the publisher did not simply title them the Conan Chronicles Volume 1 and 2, instead of creating confusion by calling them People of the Black Circle and Hour of the Dragon. It's obvious that most of the people reviewing the book haven't read this edition but are just writing to say that they enjoyed reading Conan the Conqueror as a kid. Well that's fine and dandy, but you are not helping the people who already own the series published by DeCamp and Carter and want to know if it's worthwhile to buy this too. Well let me reassure everyone that indeed this is worth buying because it is THE ONLY place that collects ALL of the Howard Conan stories EXACTLY AS HE WROTE THEM,arranged in CHRONOLIGICAL ORDER of Conan's career, WITHOUT those awful pastiches by DeCamp and Carter mixed in.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Howard's Only Conan Novel, August 29, 2000

By 

George R Dekle "Bob Dekle" (Lake City, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Hour of the Dragon (Hardcover)

Robert Howard wrote most of his stories for the pulp magazines so popular in Depression era America. As a result, most of his writings were short stories. Howard had many heroes (Bran Mak Morn, Black Vulmea, Red Sonja, Kull, Solomon Kane), but Conan was his best developed character, and the Conan stories were the best of his writings.

Howard got an opportunity to publish a novel in England, and he fell back on his old standby, Conan, to serve as the protagonist. Howard expected that his English audience would never have heard of Conan, so he borrowed a number of motifs from several of his short stories. Those who take the time to read all of Howard's Conan stories will recognize many of the elements in "Hour of the Dragon."

Alas, the book deal fell through, and Howard had to publish "Hour of the Dragon" in a pulp magazine.

Whatever Howard's difficulties in publishing the book, he had no difficulty in writing a wonderful tale of heroic fantasy. Conan is the ultimate sword-and-sorcery hero, and this is Conan's ultimate adventure.

If you really like Conan, you might want to compare "Hour of the Dragon" with "Conan the Conqueror," a paperback republication which was "edited" by L.Sprague DeCamp and Lin Carter. "Conan the Conqueror" is about 90% Howard, but DeCamp and Carter polished Howard's grammar and softened some passages they deemed politically incorrect. Howard's original version is more rough-hewn, but then Conan was a rough-hewn hero.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Try the Original Recipe, December 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Hour of the Dragon (Hardcover)

I can't add much to the reviews already present on this page; clearly this is a book that has left a strong impression on its readers. Read the book yourself and it will be easy to see why. Howard's mastery of pace and plotting puts him in a league with the greatest "thriller" writers: Haggard, Buchan, or Wilkie Collins. Moreover, Howard's ability to bring the sights, smells, and sounds of his invented Hyborian world to vibrant life is nearly unparalled in Fantastic Fiction. He's in a league with Tolkien (who, perhaps surprisingly, liked the Conan books--score one for Tolkien) when it comes to creating a sense of depth, but Howard's world is far grittier and more sensuous.

However, while this is a great book, I'm going to be the only one to give it less than five stars. Not because Howard lacked the talent to write a five star book--he had talent to spare--but because he simply didn't have the time to make "Hour of the Dragon" as good as it should have been. There are passages that clearly could do with editing or rewriting; occasional infelicities of style; and minor inconsistencies in the plot. In spite of this, "Hour of the Dragon" will keep you up reading all night. If you've never read Howard before, you'll wonder why it's so difficult to find his books. So, pass up the pastiches and cinematic stereotypes. Give Bob Howard, of Peaster, TX a read and you won't be disappointed.