Non–Howard material – written by L. Sprague de Camp

Conan the Buccaneer is a 1971 fantasy novel by American writers L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter featuring Robert E. Howard’s sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in paperback by Lancer Books, and has been reprinted a number of times since by various publishers. It has also been translated into German, Japanese, Spanish, Swedish, French and Dutch. It was later gathered together with Conan the Adventurer and Conan the Wanderer into the omnibus collection The Conan Chronicles 2 (1990).

Contents

• 6 •  A Map of the World of Conan in the Hyborian Age • (1966) • interior artwork by John D. Clark, Ph.D. and L. Sprague de Camp and Robert E. Howard and David A. Kyle and P. Schuyler Miller [as by John D. Clark and L. Sprague de Camp and Robert E. Howard and David Kyle and P. Schuyler Miller]
• 9 • An Introduction by Lin Carter: Buccaneers and Black Magicians • (1971) • essay by Lin Carter
• 17 • Conan the Buccaneer • [Conan] • (1971) • novel by Lin Carter and L. Sprague de Camp

Plot summary

Conan, now in his late thirties and privateer captain of the Wastrel, becomes embroiled in the politics of the kingdom of Zingara when he searches for a mythical treasure on the Nameless Isle. Mixed up in his adventure are Princess Chabela, daughter of a dying Zingaran king, the privateer Zarono, and the Stygian sorcerer Thoth-Amon.

Chronologically, Conan the Buccaneer falls between “The Pool of the Black One” in Conan the Adventurer and “Red Nails” in Conan the Warrior. However, the present book ends with Conan as a successful captain, high in the favor of the royal family of Zingara, while “Red Nails” starts with him as a fugitive mercenary in the jungles south of Stygia. How Conan lost his ship, left the sea, and took up again the role of a mercenary is untold.

Notes

Stated ‘First printed in Great Britain by Sphere Books ltd 1975.
Reprinted 1976 (three times), 1977, 1981, 1983.
Cover artist is uncredited. No visible signature. The illustration of the 1971 Lancer edition (credited to Frank Frazetta) is used.

Se almost complete Sphere publishing story.