Rating: 
Summary: The First book in the Greatest swords & sorcery saga written
Review: Robert E. Howard is truely the master of fantasy. This is the first installment of the conan saga. This book has the first eight short stories of Conans life written by Robert E. Howard and edited by L. Sprague De Camp and Lin Carter. These stories are fantastic well written swords & sorcery by the man who started the craze. The battles in the book are so vivid that you can feel the blood splashing your face as Conan cuts his enemy down. His emotions are so well written that you can feel Conans despair as he faces his greatest fears. Heck by the end of the book you miss the guy. This book has it all fights, drinks, booty, women, and high adventure. Conan was fun and entertaining to read I reccomend it to all swords & sorcery fans. If you like this book or are interested in more swords & sorcery then I reccomend these titles: the whole conan series, Brakk the Barbarian by John Jakes, Flashing Swords edited by Lin Carter(short stories), Swords and Deviltry by Fritz Leiber.
Rating: 
Summary: A quick fun read
Review: This book starts out with an introduction by coauthor de Camp and a letter written by Howard which aren't stories but provide some background on Howard and his style, etcetera.Then there is "The Hyborian Age," by Howard, which isn't a story but a history of the world that Conan lives in. This doesn't read like a story but is nifty if you're a Conan lover. Next come the stories. Opening is "The Thing in the Crypt," (de Camp & Carter), which isn't an especially bad story, just completely pointless -- it spends thirty pages detailing how Conan acquires his sword. (They tried to incorporate this one into the movie) This is followed by "The Tower of the Elephant," (Howard), which is an excellent story and a great example of Howard's writing in any genre. (They also incorporated this story into the movie) "The Hall of the Dead," (de Camp and Howard) comes next, written by de Camp based on an outline by Howard. It's an ok story with some cool stuff, but Conan being attacked by a 50-foot acid spitting slug? Come on! "The God in the Bowl" (Howard) is a whodunnit detective story which is pretty interesting, but has nothing really to contribute to the Conan saga. "Rogues in the House" (Howard) is probably the best story in this volume, with political intrigue, sorcerors, dank warrens beneath trap-infested houses and everything. "The Hand of Nergal" is said to be by de Camp and Howard, but it doesn't say how exactly Howard was connected to the story. It's pretty cool, and it helps to define and develop Conan's story. "The City of Skulls" is the final story in this book, written by Carter & de Camp, and while it has some action, it really sucks. Overall, this is a worthy book. The stories by Howard are really good, those by the others are at least readable, and it gives a pretty good look at Conan's early life.
Rating:
Summary: A quick fun read
Review: This book starts out with an introduction by coauthor de Camp and a letter written by Howard which aren't stories but provide some background on Howard and his style, etcetera. Then there is "The Hyborian Age," by Howard, which isn't a story but a history of the world that Conan lives in. This doesn't read like a story but is nifty if you're a Conan lover. Next come the stories. Opening is "The Thing in the Crypt," (de Camp & Carter), which isn't an especially bad story, just completely pointless -- it spends thirty pages detailing how Conan acquires his sword. (They tried to incorporate this one into the movie) This is followed by "The Tower of the Elephant," (Howard), which is an excellent story and a great example of Howard's writing in any genre. (They also incorporated this story into the movie) "The Hall of the Dead," (de Camp and Howard) comes next, written by de Camp based on an outline by Howard. It's an ok story with some cool stuff, but Conan being attacked by a 50-foot acid spitting slug? Come on! "The God in the Bowl" (Howard) is a whodunnit detective story which is pretty interesting, but has nothing really to contribute to the Conan saga. "Rogues in the House" (Howard) is probably the best story in this volume, with political intrigue, sorcerors, dank warrens beneath trap-infested houses and everything. "The Hand of Nergal" is said to be by de Camp and Howard, but it doesn't say how exactly Howard was connected to the story. It's pretty cool, and it helps to define and develop Conan's story. "The City of Skulls" is the final story in this book, written by Carter & de Camp, and while it has some action, it really sucks. Overall, this is a worthy book. The stories by Howard are really good, those by the others are at least readable, and it gives a pretty good look at Conan's early life.
Rating:
Summary: Thing in the crypt
Review: This is one of the best early examples of Howards writing. There is a color to the descriptive words he uses that is totally unique. Love it every time I read it.
Rating:
Summary: 5 stars for the Howard stories, 2-3 for Carter & De Camp
Review: This is the first of the Lancer Books collection of Conan stories, which were edited for publication in 1966 by L. Sprague De Camp, a REH fan who had access to the estate of Howard's literary agent. De Camp 'completed' several Conan stories from outlines found after Howard's 1936 suicide. 2 of the stories included ("The Hall of the Dead" and "The Hand of Nergal") are 'completed' stories; they are fair pastiches of other REH adventures. Another 2 stories are by De Camp and fantasist Lin Carter ("The Thing in the Crypt" and "The City of Skulls".) I thought them pretty poor. The original Howard tales, however, are superb stories and amoung the best of the Conan cycle. They are: "The Tower of the Elephant", in which Conan follows a master thief into a mighty wizard's abode, and unleashes a supernatural revenge; "The God in the Bowl", in which Conan burgles a museum and uncovers a supernatural revenge; "Rogues in the House" is a clever combination of violence and intrigue as Conan is hired to assassinate a powerful priest; And first and least, "The Hyborian Age", Howard's introduction to his hero's period and environment.
Rating:
Summary: Valiant Effort
Review: What we have in this series of books (starting with Conan, and proceding through Conan The Cimmerian, Conan The Wanderer, etc.) is an attempt to put the stories in chronological sequence, filling in the gaps from the late Howard's notes. It's a valiant effort, both respectable and respectful though it's certain that whatever demons possessed Howard and allowed him to write as knowledgably (even "truthfully") about Conan as he did do not possess Carter and de Camp. It's too easy (and fruitless) to criticize the effort for that. The series gives you a look at Conan as he grows and matures, and presents as cohesive a picture of him as any literary (or even actual) character ever documented. Aspiring fantasists would do well to read this for an idea of how to build a lasting character. Beyond that, the stories are just plain fun. Violent, of course, with a smattering of non-graphic... (less here than in other books), and lots of good weird stuff. Because these are short stories, you don't get the kind of cliffhangers you get from a "Tarzan" book, but you do get non-stop action from one of the best. And that ain't bad.
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