The Bloody Crown of Conan (Conan of Cimmeria, Book 2)

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always loved graphic novels,Savage sword,Red Sonja.the new Age of Conan MMO has rejuvenated me,I bought the game but haven't played it yet,first going back & learning about Conan & ofcorse R.E.Howard,when I was young it was more about just the superficial content?. just received my copy of Born on the Battlefield & WOW!,so happy to have re-discovered such amazing work.

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This second volume contains three of the best tales in the entire Conan saga: "The People of the Black Circle", "Hour of the Dragon" and "A Witch Shall be Born". "People" is Howard's Hyborian vision of the Talbot Mundy tales of the Khyber Pass. It is some of the best writing Howard ever did in a spell-binding story. "Dragon" is a kind of best of Conan tale which uses elements from other Conan stories, which makes sense when you realize this story was intended as a novel to be published in Britain. Since it was assumed that most people who would read it never encountered Conan in Weird Tales, he incoporated the best elements from other stories into a novel length adventure. Ultimately, this fell through and the story found a home as a serial in WT. "Witch" probably has the most famous scene in any Conan story: crucified and left for dead, desert raiders come across him, chop down the cross. They get the nails from his hands, Conan grabs the implement from them and pries the nails from his feet loose. The most famous moment is when a vulture swoops down on him, Conan catches the bird between his teeth and breaks it's neck. As de Camp once said, "You can't get a hero much tougher than that!"

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Within the covers of this book are not just three great stories of Conan by Robert E. Howard. It is also full of artwork by Gary Gianni, notes and untitled synopsis, and background information about the setting and times of the Age of Hyboria. The second book in a three book series, it is just as good as the first and the third. And as you can see from the other reviews, none of them are blow five stars. So far. So get it. Right now.

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"The Bloody Crown of Conan" contains three novellas each of which is fabulous entertainment. One of the novellas (really a full novel), "The Hour of the Dragon" is in my opinion the greatest Conan novel of them all, and one of the greatest fantasy tails ever told.

In "The Hour of the Dragon" evildoers use black magic to revive a long-dead evil magician, who they hope to use to overthrow King Conan, who is the King of Aquilonia. Conan's struggle to regain his throne is the theme of this story, and a great story it is. Howard's writing is vibrant and unforgettable, and the reader is transported to the Hyborian world of Conan, the Kingdom of Stygia, and other fabulous places that existed only within the mind of Robert E. Howard and, of course, the reader.

This is truly wonderful entertainment, and Robert E. Howard deserves to rank among the greats of the "sword and sorcery" genre. "The Hour of the Dragon" is unforgettable.

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If you like Fantasy books, try this one, it will keep you on the edge of your looking glass, i would just like more movies to come out on this like the first conan movie. the second one was a laugh. the first movie was done with real swords, people acually went to the hospital with missing fingers and split open chests from acuall cuts. took 5 years to make the first movie, only 1 yr for the second