Three-Bladed Doom

The Ace editions of "Three-Bladed Doom". The text is considered superior to the Zebra edition. The story is an adventure short story featuring his character El Borak. It was not published within Howard's lifetime.

There are two different versions of this story. The first is shorter (24,000 words) than the second (42,000) words. The short version was printed first, in issue #4 of the magazine REH Lone Star Fictioneer (Spring 1976). The long version was printed the following year in the Zebra paperback Three-Bladed Doom (July 1977). Both of these versions, however, had their beginning and ending substantially re-written by Byron Roark, editor of REH Lone Star Fictioneer. The restored version was printed in issue #10 of the fanzine REH: Two-Gun Raconteur (Winter 2006).

1st printing.
"The Flame Knife" (changed by L. Sprague de Camp) is essentially the same story, but with Conan as the hero.

First printing:

"Three-Bladed Doom" is an adventure short story by American writer Robert E. Howard, featuring his character El Borak. It was not published within Howard's lifetime.

There are two different versions of this story. The first is shorter (24,000 words) than the second (42,000) words. The short version was printed first, in issue #4 of the magazine REH Lone Star Fictioneer (Spring 1976). The long version was printed the following year in the Zebra paperback Three-Bladed Doom (July 1977). Both of these versions, however, had their beginning and ending substantially re-written by Byron Roark, editor of REH Lone Star Fictioneer. The restored version was printed in issue #10 of the fanzine REH: Two-Gun Raconteur (Winter 2006).

Text considered superior to the Zebra edition.

1st printing by number line
Cover art credited to Sanjulian on copyright page, no visible signature on the artwork

Second printing: