Non-Howard material.

Conan the Liberator is a 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 Bantam Books in February 1979, and reprinted in 1982; later paperback editions were issued by Ace Books (July 1987 and April 1991). The first hardcover edition was published by Tor Books in June 2002; a trade paperback followed from the same publisher in 2003. The first British edition was from Sphere Books (July 1987). The novel was later gathered together with Conan the Swordsman and Conan and the Spider God into the omnibus collection Sagas of Conan (Tor Books, 2004).

Howard himself never wrote the tale of this turning point of Conan’s life, when, starting as a wandering mercenary and pirate, he became a king. The only detail provided in the canonical Howard stories is that Conan strangled Numedides on his own throne and then crowned himself with the dead king’s crown. Carter and de Camp, filling in this link in Conan’s career, show that a prolonged, arduous military campaign was needed before he got to this point, that there were many setbacks and moments when all seemed lost. Also, while Conan’s own courage and perseverance played a crucial role, his success also owed a great deal to a band of loyal and dedicated companions, some of whom did not survive to see the final victory.

Contents

•  Conan the Liberator • interior artwork by Tim Kirk
• 1 • Introduction (Conan the Liberator) • essay by L. Sprague de Camp
• 9 • Conan the Liberator • [Conan Pastiches] • novel by Lin Carter and L. Sprague de Camp

Notes

“A Bantam Book / February 1979”
Printing not stated, no number line
The artist is credited on the flap of the fold out cover, the artwork is also signed
Illustrated by Tim Kirk on title page, only the map is signed
Printed in the US