Introduction
Kirby O’Donnell is a fictional character created by American author Robert E. Howard. He is an American treasure hunter who operates in early-twentieth century Afghanistan disguised as a Kurdish merchant named “Ali el Ghazi.” O’Donnell appears in three stories written by Howard, two of which were published during his lifetime. The stories featuring Kirby O’Donnell are noted for their blend of historical adventure, action, and intrigue.
In the stories, O’Donnell is described as a man of lithe but powerful physique, with black hair and blue eyes, and relying more on agility and wits than strength. He carries a set of distinctive weapons, including a scimitar with a bronze hawk-head on the pommel and a “kindhjal.” O’Donnell’s pursuit of hidden treasures sets him apart from other Howard characters, such as El Borak, who are more concerned with maintaining justice and stability in Afghanistan.
The first Kirby O’Donnell story, “Swords of Shahrazar” (later retitled “The Treasure of Shaibar Khan”), was published in the pulp magazine Top-Notch in October 1934. In this story, O’Donnell is seeking the treasure of Shaibar Khan, the Uzbek ruler of the forbidden city of Shahrazar. The sequel to this story, “The Treasure of Tartary” (originally titled “Gold From Tartary”), was published in the pulp magazine Thrilling Adventures in January 1935. In this story, O’Donnell is searching the forbidden city of Shahrazar for the lost treasure of Khuwarezm, which was hidden to protect it from Genghis Khan.
The third Kirby O’Donnell story, “The Curse of the Crimson God” (originally titled “The Trail of the Bloodstained God”), was not published during Howard’s lifetime. It was later discovered among Howard’s papers and posthumously edited by L. Sprague de Camp. The story features O’Donnell in pursuit of thieves who have stolen from him a treasure map that points the way to the precious idol called The Bloodstained God.
In Howard’s stories, O’Donnell is a fascinating character who operates in a complex and dangerous world. His adventures take him to exotic locations, where he battles treacherous enemies and overcomes impossible obstacles. Despite the limited number of stories featuring Kirby O’Donnell, the character has continued to capture the imagination of readers and inspire other writers in the decades since Howard’s death.
Complete list of stories featuring Kirby O'Donnell
Title | Summary | Featuring |
---|---|---|
The Curse of the Crimson God | Alternative titles: ‘The Bloodstained God’ and ‘The Trail of the Blood-stained God’. Cross Plains Library has an original draft of this story. Originally a Kirby O’Donnell story titled ‘The Trail of the Blood-Stained God’. It was re-written by L. Sprague de Camp into a Conan story titled ‘The Bloodstained God’. De Camp changed the names of the characters, added the sorcery elements, and recast the setting into Howard’s Hyborian Age. The story was first published in the hardbound collection Tales of Conan (Gnome Press, 1955), and subsequently appeared in the paperback collection Conan of Cimmeria (Lancer Books, 1969), as part of which it has been translated into German, Japanese, Spanish, Dutch, and Italian. The stories elements were used on the 1976 Peter Pan Records audio drama record: Conan the Barbarian, entitled The Jewel of the Ages. | Kirby O'Donnell |
Gold from Tartary | A Kirby O’Donnell tale. | Kirby O'Donnell |
Gold from Tatary | A Kirby O’Donnell tale. | Kirby O'Donnell |
Swords of Shahrazar | Swords of Shahrazar” is a direct sequel to “The Treasures of Tartary”, following Kirby O’Donnell only days later. The story starts with a recap of “The Treasures of Tartary”, then brings us up to date. | Kirby O'Donnell |
The Trail of the Blood-Stained God | Alternative titles: ‘The Bloodstained God’ and ‘The Trail of the Blood-stained God’. Cross Plains Library has an original draft of this story. Originally a Kirby O’Donnell story titled ‘The Trail of the Blood-Stained God’. It was re-written by L. Sprague de Camp into a Conan story titled ‘The Bloodstained God’. De Camp changed the names of the characters, added the sorcery elements, and recast the setting into Howard’s Hyborian Age. The story was first published in the hardbound collection Tales of Conan (Gnome Press, 1955), and subsequently appeared in the paperback collection Conan of Cimmeria (Lancer Books, 1969), as part of which it has been translated into German, Japanese, Spanish, Dutch, and Italian. The stories elements were used on the 1976 Peter Pan Records audio drama record: Conan the Barbarian, entitled The Jewel of the Ages. | Kirby O'Donnell |
The Treasures of Tartary | THE TREASURES OF TARTARY. Kirby O’Donnell is an American treasure hunter, created by Howard, in early-twentieth-century Afghanistan disguised as a Kurdish merchant, “Ali el Ghazi”. Howard only wrote three stories about O’Donnell, one of which was not published within his lifetime. | Kirby O'Donnell |
Untitled fragment (Feel the edge, dog, and move not!) | UNTITLED FRAGMENT (Feel the edge, dog, and move not!). SWORDS OF SHAHRAZAR was originally offered to VI Cooper for THRILLING ADVENTURES, somebody asked for a rewrite, and REH rewrote the opening significantly. It was then offered again to Cooper, who turned it down, and it was subsequently sold to Miller with TOP-NOTCH. | Kirby O'Donnell |
Publications featuring Kirby O'Donnell
Only three stories written about Kirby O’Donnell are:
- “The Treasure of Tartary” (published in Thrilling Adventures in January 1935)
- “Swords of Shahrazar” (published in Top-Notch in October 1934)
- “The Curse of the Crimson God” (published posthumously in 1955 as “The Blood-Stained God” in Tales of Conan, and later republished in 1976 in the collection Swords of Shahrazar)
It’s worth noting that “Swords of Shahrazar” is actually a sequel to “The Treasures of Tartary,” despite being published before it.
Here is a more extensive list of publications featuring Kirby O’Donnell.
Title | Summary | Publisher | Featuring | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Swords of Shahrazar | The first publication of these stories in book format. Three colorful adventure stories. Kirby O’Donnell is a fictional character created by Robert E. Howard. He is an American treasure hunter in early-twentieth century Afghanistan disguised as a Kurdish merchant, “Ali el Ghazi”. Howard only wrote three stories about O’Donnell, one of which was not published within his lifetime. O’Donnell has, like many Howard characters, the stereotypical “Black Irish” combination of black hair and blue eyes. He has a lithe but powerful physique, relying more on agility and wits than strength. Kirby O’Donnell is similar to another of Howard’s characters, El Borak, in many ways. However, O’Donnell seeks hidden treasures in all of his stories while El Borak is more concerned with his own form of justice and stability in Afghanistan. O’Donnell carries a set of distinctive weapons, a scimitar with a bronze hawk-head on the pommel and a “kindhjal” [sic]. | Orbit | Kirby O'Donnell | |
Blood of the Gods and other stories | Collects “Blood of the Gods,” “Country of the Knife” and other desert adventures. Published by Girasol Collectables. | El Borak, Kirby O'Donnell | ||
Treasures of Tartary and Other Heroic Tales | A collection of very different stories. From the introduction: One situation which Howard liked to use was the American hero in the Middle East. In the opening paragraph of “Treasures of Tartary,” it is Kirby O’Donnell who finds himself plunging into the middle of a battle in a dark alley in Shahrazar. Though O’Donnell is an American, he dresses like an Arab, is fluent in their languages, and is burned so dark by the sun that he can pass for a native, which he does in this story. None of the other characters are aware of his true identity. Yet Howard frequently refers to O’Donnell as “the American,” reminding the reader that O’Donnell is an outsider, someone who despite his appearance will always be a Westerner and not truly a part of the surroundings in which he finds himself. | El Borak, Kirby O'Donnell, Terence Vulmea | ||
El Borak and Other Desert Adventures | Robert E. Howard is famous for creating such immortal heroes as Conan the Cimmerian, Solomon Kane, and Bran Mak Morn. Less well-known but equally extraordinary are his non-fantasy adventure stories set in the Middle East and featuring such two-fisted heroes as Francis Xavier Gordon—known as “El Borak”—Kirby O’Donnell, and Steve Clarney. This trio of hard-fighting Americans, civilized men with more than a touch of the primordial in their veins, marked a new direction for Howard’s writing, and new territory for his genius to conquer. The wily Texan El Borak, a hardened fighter who stalks the sandscapes of Afghanistan like a vengeful wolf, is rivaled among Howard’s creations only by Conan himself. In such classic tales as “The Daughter of Erlik Khan,” “Three-Bladed Doom,” and “Sons of the Hawk,” Howard proves himself once again a master of action, and with plenty of eerie atmosphere his plotting becomes tighter and twistier than ever, resulting in stories worthy of comparison to Jack London and Rudyard Kipling. Every fan of Robert E. Howard and aficionados of great adventure writing will want to own this collection of the best of Howard’s desert tales, lavishly illustrated by award-winning artists Tim Bradstreet and Jim & Ruth Keegan. | El Borak, Kirby O'Donnell | ||
Thrilling Adventures January 1935 | Howard sold two stories to Thrilling Adventures. This issue contains ‘The Treasure of Tartary’. It was originally titled Gold From Tartary. It was received by Howard’s agent on 15 November 1933 and Howard earned $42.50 for its publication. Kirby O’Donnell is a fictional character created by Robert E. Howard. He is an American treasure hunter in early-twentieth century Afghanistan disguised as a Kurdish merchant, “Ali el Ghazi”. Howard only wrote three stories about O’Donnell, one of which was not published within his lifetime. O’Donnell searches the forbidden city of Shahrazar, ruled by the Uzbek Shaibar Khan, for the lost treasure of Khuwarezm (which, legend states, was hidden to protect it from Genghis Khan). | Metropolitan Magazines | Kirby O'Donnell | |
The Exotic Writings of Robert E. Howard | This is a massive hardcover facsimile volume of Howards works from Oriental Stories, Magic Carpet, Thrilling Adventures, Golden Fleece, Strange Tales, Marvel Tales, Argosy, Strange Detective Stories, Super Detective Stories, Thrilling Mystery and Spicy Adventures. Includes all interior illustrations. This volume is printed in hardback with dust jacket, in a limited first edition with quantity of only 75 copies, each individually numbered. Cover art by Dough Klauba; Book design by Neil and Leigh Mechem; title page illustration by Neil Mechem (only on the limited edition). The reprint edition is not numbered and without the illustration. Scanned right from the original pulp pages. No editing. No reset text. This book is sold out and out of stock. It was published by Girasol Collectables. | El Borak, Kirby O'Donnell, Terence Vulmea | ||
The Swords of Shahrazar | Three colorful adventure stories. Kirby O’Donnell is a fictional character created by Robert E. Howard. He is an American treasure hunter in early-twentieth century Afghanistan disguised as a Kurdish merchant, “Ali el Ghazi”. Howard only wrote three stories about O’Donnell, one of which was not published within his lifetime. | FAX Collector’s Editions | Kirby O'Donnell |
Sources:
- Kirby O’Donnell – Wikipedia
- ChatGPT (which contained several faulty facts and which I have tried to train).