The Further Chronicles of Conan [Hardcover]

Robert Jordan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 14, 1999

Robert Jordan, international bestselling author of the Wheel of Time series, has been called the greatest writer since Robert E. Howard to tell the stories of Conan the Barbarian. Now his three most breathtaking chronicles are available for the first time in one volume, to the sure delight of Jordan and Conan fans everywhere. In Conan the Magnificent, our hero is stalked amid the savage crags of the Kezankian Mountains, caught between rival armies as the sultry huntress Jondra closes in. In Conan the Triumphant, he enters the service of the sumptuous Lady Synelle, unaware that she is the secret high priestess of the demon-god AlKirr. In the third chronicle, Conan faces his most terrifying adversary yetthe Sinavi, demon guardians of the ancient tomb of the Vendhyan kings. He must first seek out an antidote to the unknown poison coursing through his veins, then resist the charms of the voluptuous noblewoman Vyndra, if he is to be Conan the Victorious.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Long before Robert Jordan built his wildly successful Wheel of Time series (debuting with 1990's Eye of the World), the now-canonized writer cut his fantasy teeth borrowing time with Robert E. Howard's dark pulp-fiction hero, Conan of Cimmeria. Of the six novels Jordan contributed to the Conan series (well, seven, if you count the alt-history Conan the Destroyer), three have been assembled here for rerelease: 1983's Conan the Triumphant and 1984's Conan the Magnificent and Conan the Victorious. (The other three appear in Jordan's first collection, The Conan Chronicles.)

Anyone who writes Conan stories immediately draws the scrutiny of true believers--those of us who carted around tattered Carter and de Camp paperbacks in our book bags for years, drooling over the lusty Boris Vallejo covers (laughably tame compared to the Weird Tales covers from the '20s and '30s, where Conan first appeared). But Jordan gets it right, some argue better than anyone but REH himself, soundly grasping the first rule of Conan writing: the stories aren't about Conan; Conan is the story. A problematic hero, an almost elemental force, Conan exists beyond good and evil--the predictable wench-hoisting and head-cleaving of a good Conan tale are just a backdrop for the blue-eyed barbarian, which plays perfectly to Jordan's superlative descriptive skills.

This second Jordan collection is classic Conan: The Magnificent pits the Cimmerian against belligerent hill people, a golden-eyed fire beast, and bow-toting noble babe Jondra; in The Triumphant, Conan kicks butt on the evil god Al'Kiir and his sinister (and, of course, hot) servant Lady Synelle; The Victorioushas Conan wounded by a poisoned assassin's blade--and his search for an antidote leads him to Vendhya and a subterranean crypt guarded by the eight-armed beast Masrok and a host of demons. Crom and steel! --Paul Hughes

From Publishers Weekly

Everyone starts somewhere, and #1 bestselling author Jordan (the Wheel of Time series) started, more or less, here: with three classic pastiches of Robert E. Howard's mighty-thewed hero, published in mass market in the early 1980s. In Conan the Magnificent, the big guy is a thief in Zamora, where he and another (female) thief, Tamira, have their eyes on the precious jewels owned by the powerful Lady Jondra. To get them, Conan must vanquish a shaman, a dangerous tribe and a firedrake. In Conan the Triumphant, an older Conan works as a captain of mercenaries in Ophir. The cunning Lady Synelle is making bloody sacrifices to the ancient and evil god al'Kiir in order to consolidate her claim to the throne. Synelle takes an interest in Conan when he comes into possession of an image she can use to revive the god. Also pursuing Conan, but with more deadly motives, is the female bandit Karela, his old rival and lover. In Conan the Victorious, our hero must flee Turan after killing an officer of the City Guards. He ends up en route to Vendhya, with a caravan that is about to plunge into an intrigue conjured up by one Naipal, a wizard who is trying to revive an army of immortal warriors. It takes all of Conan's strength, wits and allies to fulfill the title's promise. For all their careful plotting and world building, Jordan's Conan tales are delightfully implausible, filled with rousing descriptions of extravagant physical feats and willing women. His action-packed novels add few new nuances to Conan's character, but they make an entertaining continuation of his adventures, and enjoyable fare for Jordan fans until the Wheel of Time rolls back into sight. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (October 14, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312871953
• ISBN-13: 978-0312871956
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #838,725 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars OVERALL SCORE: (A), December 27, 2003

By 

Pequegnat (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Further Chronicles of Conan (Hardcover)

This is a great read, it is a beautiful epic whose true force lies in the poignant details of its characters, richly detailed, woven into a wonderful tapestry.
This is one of the best fantasy series, the story is lively and entertaining, the characters are colorful and interesting, and the plot is energetic and spellbinding! The action scenes are much better than what you find in Robert Jordan "Wheel of Time" series, and much more manageable in scope.

OVERALL SCORE: (A)
READABILITY: (A), PLOT: (B+), CHARATERS: (A), DIALOGUE: (B-), SETTING: (B+), ACTION/COMBAT: (B+), MONSTERS/ANTAGONISTS: (B+), ROMANCE: (B+), SEX: (Light/Moderate), AGE LEVEL: (PG13)

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superb theater-of-the-mind experience., April 5, 2000

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Further Chronicles of Conan (Audio Cassette)

Conan of Cimmeria was the character originally created by Robert E. Howard and launched the fantasy genre known as "sword & sorcery". So popular was the character that after Howard's untimely death, others were sought to write more Conan action/adventure fantasy tales, first based on unfinished stories and story ideas that formed a part of the Howard's literary legacy. Then select authors began to be granted permission by the executors of the Howard estate to create more Conan stories, some of which found their way into such diverse media as comics, graphic novels, movies, and even television. This magnificently narrated tale holds all the classic elements of the genre: sorcerers and demons, warriors and smugglers, the renegade priestess of an ancient god, fabled cities, barbarian tribes, buxom wenches and high-minded ladies. These are tales that conjure up a theater-of-the-mind experience that will long be remembered after the listening is done.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars He's back (again)!, February 15, 2000

By 

Brian J. Russon - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Further Chronicles of Conan (Hardcover)

Sure it's a reprint of old work, but who cares? Jordan does Conan justice and it's good to read (or re-read) them. Conan's been done by many others, but few as well as Jordan does. It's also nice to read something by him that doesn't take a program just to tell who the players are. It's a good read that you can afford to put down (if you can) and pick up again without re-reading the whole book to see where you were.