Conan the Swordsman

10
Dec

Non-Howard material. Conan the Swordsman is a collection of seven fantasy short stories and associated pieces written by L. Sprague de Camp, Lin Carter, and Björn Nyberg featuring Robert E. Howard’s sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in paperback by Bantam Books in August 1978 and reprinted in 1981. Later paperback editions were issued by Ace Books (April 1987 and March 1991). The first hardcover edition was published by Tor Books in December 2002. The first British edition was issued by Sphere Books in 1978.[1] The book has also been translated into Italian and French. It was later gathered together with Conan the Liberator and Conan and the Spider God into the omnibus collection Sagas of Conan (Tor Books, January 2004).

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The Conan Grimoire

20
Jun

The Conan Grimoire is a 1972 collection of essays, poetry and fiction edited by L. Sprague de Camp and George H. Scithers, published in hardcover by Mirage Press. The essays were originally published as articles in Scithers’ fanzine Amra. The book is a companion to Mirage’s previous two volumes of material from Amra, The Conan Reader (1968) and The Conan Swordbook (1969). Most of the material in the three volumes, together with some additional material, was later reprinted in two de Camp-edited paperback anthologies from Ace Books; The Blade of Conan (1979) and The Spell of Conan (1980).

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The Spell of Conan

20
Jun

The Spell of Conan is a 1980 collection of essays, poems and fiction edited by L. Sprague de Camp, published in paperback by Ace Books. The material was originally published as articles in George H. Scithers’ fanzine Amra.

The book is a companion to Ace’s earlier volume of material from Amra, The Blade of Conan (1979). Most of the material in the two volumes, together with some additional material, was reprinted from three previous books issued in hardcover by Mirage Press; de Camp’s collection The Conan Reader (1968), and the de Camp and Scithers-edited anthologies The Conan Swordbook (1969). and The Conan Grimoire (1972).

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The Blade of Conan

20
Jun

The Blade of Conan is a 1979 collection of essays edited by L. Sprague de Camp, published in paperback by Ace Books.

The material was originally published as articles in George H. Scithers’ fanzine Amra. The book is a companion to Ace’s later volume of material from Amra, The Spell of Conan (1980). Most of the material in the two volumes, together with some additional material, was reprinted from three previous books issued in hardcover by Mirage Press; de Camp’s collection The Conan Reader (1968), and the de Camp and Scithers-edited anthologies The Conan Swordbook (1969). and The Conan Grimoire (1972).

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Sword & Fantasy #17

15
May

Contents include Jack Jackson’s adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Hound” from 1972 (and which he gave Van Hise permission to reprint back in 1984). Skip Olson color art of Cthulhu. “HPL On Edgar Rice Burroughs.” Reviews of Robert E. Howard books from 1971 & 1977. Folio of HPL inspired art by R.F. McCann. “Introduction to the Cthulhu Mythos” by J. Vernon Shea. A Roy Hunt fantasy illo from 1948. An article on Mark Schultz by James Van Hise. A long fantasy comic strip by Ron Wilber and more.

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Sword & Fantasy #9

15
May

Features include a 6 page reprint of the Frank Frazetta comic strip “Diamonds & Pebbles” from HAPPY COMICS #33 (Sept. 1949) in black and white (a version of this issue with the strip in full color is also available but at a higher price in a separate listing). An art folio by Howard Pyle. An original 9 page sword & sorcery comic strip by Ron Wilber “The Accursed Wizards Land.” Articles on H.P. Lovecraft from 1950s fanzines. “On Science Fiction And The Weird” by Seabury Quinn from the fanzine THE TALISMAN (Summer, 1950), a 5 page Roy Krenkel folio and more.

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Sword & Fantasy #7

15
May

The front and back cover art is from foreign Robert E. Howard paperback editions. Articles include part two a long analysis of the Robert E. Howard story “Tower Of The Elephant” (profusely illustrated) by Rick McCollum. An eight page folio of illustrations from Robert E. Howard stories printed in pulp magazines. An interview with Karl Edward Wagner from 1980. “H.P.L.: The History” by Lin Carter (from 1950). “An Appreciation of Clark Ashton Smith” by Lin Carter (from 1949). An article on A. Merritt from 1948 (with pulp art by Virgil Finlay and others). And more. Artwork by Rick McCollum, Eduardo Barreto, Mahlon Fawcett, and others.

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Sword & Fantasy #6

15
May

The front and back cover art is from foreign Robert E. Howard paperback editions. Articles include a long analysis of the Robert E. Howard story “Tower Of The Elephant” (profusely illustrated). A six page folio of illustrations from Robert E. Howard stories printed in Czechoslovakia. An interview with Ray Capella and a short sword & sorcery story by Ray titled “The Lair.” A seven page folio of WEIRD TALES pulp art from Robert E. Howard stories. An article on the REH story “Lord Of The Dead.” An article on Conan pastiche novels (in other words Conan books not written by REH), and more. Artwork by Rick McCollum, Eduardo Barreto, Mahlon Fawcett, and others.

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