Edited by L. Sprague de Camp

Conan the Wanderer is a 1968 collection of four fantasy short stories by American writers Robert E. Howard, L. Sprague de Camp, and Lin Carter, featuring Howard’s sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. Most of the stories were originally published in various fantasy magazines. The book has been reprinted a number of times by various publishers and has also been translated into German, Japanese, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, and Italian. It was later gathered together with Conan the Adventurer and Conan the Buccaneer into the omnibus collection The Conan Chronicles 2 (1990).

Contents

• 9 • Introduction (Conan the Wanderer) • essay by L. Sprague de Camp
• 13 • Black Tears • [Conan] • novelette by Lin Carter and L. Sprague de Camp
• 46 • Shadows in Zamboula • [Conan] • (1935) • novelette by Robert E. Howard
• 85 • The Devil in Iron • [Conan] • (1934) • novelette by Robert E. Howard
• 124 • The Flame Knife • [Conan] • (1955) • novella by L. Sprague de Camp and Robert E. Howard

Plot

Conan, now about thirty-one, survives a Turanian-involved trap that crushes his Zuagir raiders and seeks revenge on Vardanes of Zamora, their betrayer. Afterward, he moves on to other adventures, killing a high priest in the cannibal-haunted city of Zamboula and ultimately gaining command of a band of Kozaki warriors in the service of Kobad Shah, king of Iranistan. In his final adventure, Conan once again encounters his old rival, Olgerd Vladislav, and his predecessor as chief of the Zuagirs.

Chronologically, the four short stories collected as Conan the Wanderer fall between Conan the Freebooter and Conan the Adventurer.

Notes

1st edition, 1968, 74-976, purple edges, 75 cents
2nd edition, 1968, 74-976, purple edges, 75 cents, Canada
3rd  edition, 1969, 74-976, purple edges, 75 cents
4th  edition, 1969, 74-976, purple edges, 75 cents, Canada
5th  edition, 1970, 74976-095, purple edges, 95 cents
6th  edition, 1970, 74976-095, purple edges, 95 cents, Canada
7th edition, 1971, 74976-095, yellow edges, 95 cents
8th edition, May 1972, 74976-095, yellow edges, 95 cents
9th edition, Sept 1972, 74976-095, yellow edges, 95 cents
10th edition, May 1973, 78741-125, yellow edges, $1.25
The covers of the various printings change slightly every so often in the series.

Edited by L. Sprague de Camp
Frontispiece: Map of the Hyborian Age
“Three Bladed Doom” features El Borak and has both a long (42,000 words) and a short (24,000 words) version.   
L. Sprague de Camp rewrote the long version into a Conan story titled “The Flame Knife.”
Lancer went backrupt in 1973, but there were numerous later printings by Prestige and Ace, perhaps 20 or more printings total.

The Prestige books are known to exist in at least two states. Some have “DISTRIBUTED BY ACE BOOKS” on the cover with Prestige Books listed as the publisher on the title page. Some have “ACE” on the cover and are stamped with “Prestige” on the copyright page.  

There are also U.K. editions published by Sphere.

The Conan series continued up to the late 1980’s and is the basis for numerous licensed as well as bootleg non-English editions. The Conan series is by far the most reproduced REH series in the world. It is quite possible that over one million copies of this book are in print.