This book is the third and final volume of the complete original Conan the Barbarian stories by Robert E Howard, and it absolutely lives up to the high quality and excellent production value of the previous volumes. Besides including what many consider to be some of Howard’s best Conan stories, the commentary paints a detailed and fascinating picture of the latter part of Howard’s writing career, the events leading up to his tragic suicide, and a genuinely appreciative tribute to his contributions to the fantasy genre. The style of the illustrations contrasted quite sharply with the other volumes, which may be a bit jarring, but I’m glad the editors made that choice because it was really interesting to see Conan depicted across a variety of styles and artistic visions. Really excellent stuff.
All of the stories included in these three volumes were added in the order that Howard wrote them. The Conquering Sword of Conan contains the last five, including “Red Nails,” which may be his most famous story. It certainly deserves to be. Of all the Conan stories, that one stands out most sharply, at least to me. So dark, so bloody. The commentary at the end pointed out that where most Conan stories are about the virtues of barbarism, “Red Nails” is all about the vices of civilization and the ultimate collapse of decadence. Also, Howard wrote it just a few months before his suicide, and it’s not difficult to imagine the dark thoughts that must have been going through his mind as he wrote it.
The two weakest stories, in my opinion, were “The Servants of Bit-Yakin” and “Man-Eaters of Zamboula.” The weaker Conan stories all tend to portray the female characters as props or window dressing (some might say this of all the Conan stories, to a greater or lesser degree), which was certainly the case with these two. Still, I enjoyed them, keeping in mind that they were written for a different time. “Beyond the Black River” was quite good, though aesthetically it felt more like an American frontier story than something from an ancient fantasy world. But the commentary gives some interesting insight into that, since apparently Howard was starting to branch into Westerns at this point and probably would have become a well known Western writer, if not for his suicide.
My favorite story from this volume, which is perhaps my favorite overall Conan story, was “The Black Stranger.” This one was also a bit anachronistic to the rest of Howard’s (albeit creatively anachronistic) Hyborean Age, as it’s a pirate story with Conan as one of the dueling pirate captains. The reason I enjoyed it so much was because the setup was basically an inverse Mexican standoff, where three pirate captains who hate each other’s guts have to work together to get the treasure, and the second one to betray the others is the one who wins. Also, it started with Conan fighting for his life in mysterious circumstances, which made for some really fun suspense. All of those things, combined with the mystery of the black stranger himself, made for a really fun page turner, with a surprising yet satisfying ending. Great story.
In the end, though, this volume made me both sad and angry because of the way in which Howard took his own life. I can’t imagine how horrible it must have been for his father to lose both his wife and only son in just a few days, or to see his son’s body in the car with his brains blown out like that. Furthermore, Howard truly was a brilliant writer and storyteller, perhaps even a genius. How many stories were deprived from the world when he took his own life? In some ways, it really does feel like he took the coward’s way out, though of course he would claim just the opposite. But that’s why suicide is the most tragic form of mental illness, especially in Robert E Howard’s case.
Rest in peace, and thank you for all of your brilliant contributions to the fantasy genre. May your stories long outlive you.