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Summary: An excellent book by one of the truely great writers.
Review: I first bought this book in paperback from Lancer books in the late 1960s. It is Howard at his best, telling a tale with multiple plot lines and larger than life characters. It was Howard who coined the phrase "Sword and Sorcery" when asked by an editor to describe the genre he wrote and this book shows just how vivid and powerful that genre can be. If you want a story set in a wonderous world of high heroics, dark sorcery, evil creatures, glorious battles, and noble souls striving to win through, this is for you.
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Summary: This book changed the direction of my life
Review: I read this book as a teenager in the late 1950s under the title Conan the Conqueror. This is the same book. Certainly, if one thing set my life on the course it did, it was this book and the man who wrote it - Robert E. Howard. For me to recommend this book is both a pleasure and an honor. Howard's writing and this book fired my imagination and my life. I went on to get a BA in English (concentration in professional writing) and had a 15+ year career as a journalist and editor. Over the years, my copy of Conan the Conqueror has gone the way of all things. I'm ordering a copy of Hour of the Dragon today and will cherish it forever. Hopefully, I can pass on this book and my love for it to my grandchildren and keep the cycle going.
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Summary: Good but not the best of Conan
Review: I've been reading stories by Robert E. Howard for 20 years, and I just reread this book after 15 years. Unfortunately I wanted to like it more. The book is worth reading if you like Conan, but it doesn't compare to Howard's short stories of Conan and King Kull.Though he is king of Aquilonia, Conan somehow manages to spend most of the book as a lone adventurer, fighting his way through woods, plains, cities, and ships, to find the one magic jewel that will help him defeat the evil sorceror who helped dethrone him. Conan has little opportunity to show leadership skills; if you want to read Howard's version of a barbarian king, you're better off with the Kull stories. The high point of the story is Howard's version of _Amistad_ :), then journeys through the morbid city of Khemi and the evil pyramid of Set. Howard shows skill in horror writing here. By the way, the picture on this Web site is the vampire princess Conan must escape before his other battles with sorcery in the pyramid. Conan plays a surprisingly small role in the climactic battle. Final events are told from his enemies' points of view. Also surprising is Conan's reliance on wizardy, since he spent most of his career fearing and fighting anything magical. The book has a remarkably cheerful ending; I missed the grim conclusion of "Queen of the Black Coast". All in all, this is a decent read, but if you don't read Conan in Howard's short stories, you're missing the better stuff.
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Summary: Also contains other stories
Review: In addition to "The Hour of the Dragon", this edition also contains "Red Nails","Jewels of Gwahlur","Beyond the Black River","The Black Stranger","Wolves Beyond the Border(draft),"The Phoenix on the Sword",and "The Scarlet Citadel".This is the second volume of a 2 part set reprinting all of Howard's Conan stories in chronological order (volume 1 is People of the Black Circle). It's unfortunate that the publisher did not simply title them the Conan Chronicles Volume 1 and 2, instead of creating confusion by calling them People of the Black Circle and Hour of the Dragon. It's obvious that most of the people reviewing the book haven't read this edition but are just writing to say that they enjoyed reading Conan the Conqueror as a kid. Well that's fine and dandy, but you are not helping the people who already own the series published by DeCamp and Carter and want to know if it's worthwhile to buy this too. Well let me reassure everyone that indeed this is worth buying because it is THE ONLY place that collects ALL of the Howard Conan stories EXACTLY AS HE WROTE THEM,arranged in CHRONOLIGICAL ORDER of Conan's career, WITHOUT those awful pastiches by DeCamp and Carter mixed in.
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Summary: Also contains other stories
Review: In addition to "The Hour of the Dragon", this edition also contains "Red Nails","Jewels of Gwahlur","Beyond the Black River","The Black Stranger","Wolves Beyond the Border(draft),"The Phoenix on the Sword",and "The Scarlet Citadel".This is the second volume of a 2 part set reprinting all of Howard's Conan stories in chronological order (volume 1 is People of the Black Circle). It's unfortunate that the publisher did not simply title them the Conan Chronicles Volume 1 and 2, instead of creating confusion by calling them People of the Black Circle and Hour of the Dragon. It's obvious that most of the people reviewing the book haven't read this edition but are just writing to say that they enjoyed reading Conan the Conqueror as a kid. Well that's fine and dandy, but you are not helping the people who already own the series published by DeCamp and Carter and want to know if it's worthwhile to buy this too. Well let me reassure everyone that indeed this is worth buying because it is THE ONLY place that collects ALL of the Howard Conan stories EXACTLY AS HE WROTE THEM,arranged in CHRONOLIGICAL ORDER of Conan's career, WITHOUT those awful pastiches by DeCamp and Carter mixed in.
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Summary: In-your-face adventure with an attitude
Review: In this age of unrelenting political correctness, it is risky confessing to a liking for Conan. The character has few redeeming qualities. He slays and steals without compunction, is indifferent towards the suffering of others, is avaricious and selfish, contemptuous of weakness and authority, and conceited in his physical strength. His code of honour, such as it is, consists mainly of a rough honour towards women. This just means that he doesn't bed them unless they are willing. That Howard's females are invariably ditzy bimbos who throw themselves at the hero's feet makes this code less onerous than it might otherwise seem. Howard's writing is filled with violence, sexism, racism and misology. It is writing that wallows in gore, oversimplifies conflict and is unabashedly unrepentant about its swaggering macho creed. But god, what writing it is. The man writes like an angel, some would say a devil; but irrespective of political stripe, one cannot but concede that he writes well. His world is intense; the colours more vibrant, the sights sharper, the smells stronger than anything we have a right to expect. We are not just invited, but compelled to leave our civilised selves behind and become immersed in a barbaric world of hard men, soft women and nerve wracking adventure. And it's all a game. The violence, the racism and the sexism are disarmed by the fact that the writing is completely without pretension. Howard does not seek to plumb deep waters or unveil hidden truths. He only wishes to tell a good yarn. Monsters, demons, wizards and nubile wenches all succumb to this simple-minded epitome of raging testosterone so that we can lay aside our own pretensions for a while and indulge the primitive side of our nature. There's no message, no complex themes, no agenda. Faulting Conan for his paper-thin persona is like faulting Mickey Mouse, or Paul Bunyan for the same. They are all cartoon characters, larger than life, but much shallower too, representing one simple and very narrow aspect of existence taken to its extreme. To appreciate this character properly, one cannot take oneself too seriously. Readers who can't stand anything less than Austin or Joyce should stay away. There is absolutely nothing refined, sensitive or intellectual about Conan the Barbarian. Incidentally, the Conan franchise practically gave birth to the sword-and-sorcery fantasy epic. It eventually evolved into a host of derivative works, some written by gifted and famous authors. But I have yet to come across a derivation that matches Howard's originals. In breadth of imagination and sheer writing skill, Howard is without equal. I own copies of all his work but most are now out of print. If you run across one in a used bookstore, buy it, and be prepared to spend a sleepless night in demon haunted crypts battling crazed monsters and power mad wizards.
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Summary: Howard's Only Conan Novel
Review: Robert Howard wrote most of his stories for the pulp magazines so popular in Depression era America. As a result, most of his writings were short stories. Howard had many heroes (Bran Mak Morn, Black Vulmea, Red Sonja, Kull, Solomon Kane), but Conan was his best developed character, and the Conan stories were the best of his writings. Howard got an opportunity to publish a novel in England, and he fell back on his old standby, Conan, to serve as the protagonist. Howard expected that his English audience would never have heard of Conan, so he borrowed a number of motifs from several of his short stories. Those who take the time to read all of Howard's Conan stories will recognize many of the elements in "Hour of the Dragon." Alas, the book deal fell through, and Howard had to publish "Hour of the Dragon" in a pulp magazine. Whatever Howard's difficulties in publishing the book, he had no difficulty in writing a wonderful tale of heroic fantasy. Conan is the ultimate sword-and-sorcery hero, and this is Conan's ultimate adventure. If you really like Conan, you might want to compare "Hour of the Dragon" with "Conan the Conqueror," a paperback republication which was "edited" by L.Sprague DeCamp and Lin Carter. "Conan the Conqueror" is about 90% Howard, but DeCamp and Carter polished Howard's grammar and softened some passages they deemed politically incorrect. Howard's original version is more rough-hewn, but then Conan was a rough-hewn hero.
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Summary: Superb fantasy from the original master
Review: The Hour of the Dragon is, in my humble opinion, the best heroic fantasy novel of all time. Howard's unsurpassed ability to provide a dramatic and fast-paced narrative is in direct contrast to the ponderous, slow-moving `epics' polluting the market today. What makes the Hour of the Dragon so superior? Is it the tight, economical prose style? The vivid description? The complex, yet logical plot? Read it and find out for yourself!! Howard at his best!!
Rating:
Summary: Superb fantasy from the original master
Review: The Hour of the Dragon is, in my humble opinion, the best heroic fantasy novel of all time. Howard's unsurpassed ability to provide a dramatic and fast-paced narrative is in direct contrast to the ponderous, slow-moving `epics' polluting the market today. What makes the Hour of the Dragon so superior? Is it the tight, economical prose style? The vivid description? The complex, yet logical plot? Read it and find out for yourself!! Howard at his best!!
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Summary: Conan and his creator at their best
Review: This book actually began life as a serial in "Weird Tales" in the 1930s. Robert E. Howard (REH) never actually wrote any Conan novels, all of Conan's tales were written for the magazine marketplace. But this is his only novel length Conan tale so it is considered by many to be the only REH Conan novel. That being said, it is easily one of the best Conan stories written. In the tale, Conan is the king of Aquilonia, but he has plenty of people conspiring to dethrone him. These conspirators raise the wizard, Xaltotun, from the dead to use his magic against Conan. They succeed in dethroning Conan when he is paralyzed by the wizard and unable to ride out into battle. After the battle they believe Conan is dead (big mistake) for a time, only he is actually in hot pursuit of the Heart of Ahriman, the only thing capable of defeating Xaltotun. Naturally, the Heart is not easily obtained and Conan journeys far and wide in his pursuit of it. The story is incredibly fast paced and for a relatively short novel, its packed with action and story. Of course, Conan succeeds at the end and regains his kingdom (as well as gaining a wife). Even though the story is at a mid-point in Conan's career, its an excellent starting point for those who are new to REH's work. As other reviewer's have noted, this story also exists in paperback as "Conan the Conqueror," although it has been edited to correct grammer and some of REH's politcally incorrect references. Heck, it was the first Conan story I ever read and it got me hooked. REH is a moody, atmospheric writer and much of his work, including this one, carries a sense of darkness to it. Even this book, where Conan ultimately is victorious carries that feeling to it. It tends to almost carry an air of that darkness, a feeling that no matter what Conan does, his victories will be short-lived and even he will not be able to defeat death when his time comes. For sword and sorcery fans, this is as good as it gets. Ignore the hoard of imitators who followed and stick to the master-- Robert E. Howard.
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