Conan the Swordsman
Conan the Swordsman is a short-story collection featuring Conan the Barbarian, written by L. Sprague de Camp, Lin Carter, and Björn Nyberg from Robert E. Howard's character. The book collects seven fantasy stories plus two nonfiction pieces by de Camp about the Conan saga and how the Hyborian Age’s names were created.
The book first appeared in paperback from Bantam Books in 1978, with later reprints and editions from Ace Books (1987 and 1991) and a hardcover edition from Tor Books in 2002. The British edition was issued by Sphere Books in 1978, and the work has translations in Italian and French. It was later combined with Conan the Liberator and Conan and the Spider God in the omnibus Sagas of Conan (Tor Books, 2004).
The seven stories cover different stages of Conan’s life, from his youth as a northern raider to his role as a seasoned general in Aquilonia. The non-fiction pieces explain the Conan saga in general and how Howard built the names and setting of the Hyborian Age. Chronologically, the stories fit in the period after Conan the Warrior within the wider Conan canon.
Reception has been positive. Don D’Ammassa praised the collection as containing some of the best Conan-inspired stories, highlighting The People of the Summit and Shadows in the Dark, and he appreciated the extensive index of Hyborian names and the accompanying essay. Harriet Klausner called it a marvelous and wonderful anthology, noting that each story fits well within the Conan mythos and that Legions of the Dead is especially strong, with the introductory essay offering valuable insights into Conan and his world.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 10:38 (CET).