Best of
Sword-And-Sorcery

2006

The Complete Chronicles of Conan


Robert E. Howard - 2006
    From boy-thief to pirate, mercenary and outlaw, ultimately becoming King of Aquilonia, Conan carved a red swathe through lost cities and unexplored jungles, facing hideous horrors or supernatural menaces with nothing more than a sharp sword in his hand and a beautiful woman at his side. Collected together here in the chronological order they were first published are Robert E. Howard's definitive stories of Conan, exactly as he wrote them, as fresh, atmospheric and vibrant today as they were when they originally appeared in the pulp magazines of more than seventy years ago.

Blood and Thunder: The Life and Art of Robert E. Howard


Mark Finn - 2006
    Howard, creator of Conan, King Kull, and others that defined heroic fantasy, lived and died in the small town of Cross Plains, Texas. While his books remain in print, Howard himself has fallen into obscurity, his life mired in speculation and half-truth. This engaging biography traces the roots of his writings, correcting long-standing misconceptions, and offers a tour of Howard's world as he saw it: through his own incomparable imagination.

Wolf of the Steppes: The Complete Cossack Adventures, Volume One


Harold Lamb - 2006
    Howard’s favorite writers. Here at last is every pulse-pounding, action-packed story of Lamb’s greatest hero, the wolf of the steppes, Khlit the Cossack. Journey now with the unsung grandfather of sword and sorcery in search of ancient tombs, gleaming treasure, and thrilling landscapes. Match wits with deadly swordsmen, scheming priests, and evil cults. Rescue lovely damsels, ride with bold comrades, and hazard everything on your brains and skill and a little luck. Wolf of the Steppes is the first of a four-volume set that collects, for the first time, the complete Cossack stories of Harold Lamb and presents them in order: every adventure of Khlit the Cossack and those of his friends, allies, and fellow Cossacks, many of which have never before appeared between book covers. Compiled and edited by the Harold Lamb scholar Howard Andrew Jones, each volume features never-before reprinted essays Lamb wrote about his stories, informative introductions by popular authors, and a wealth of rare, exciting, swashbuckling fiction.In this first volume, Khlit infiltrates a hidden fortress of assassins, tracks down the tomb of Genghis Khan, flees the vengeance of a dead emperor, leads the Mongol horde against impossible odds, accompanies the stunning Mogul queen safely through the land of her enemies, and much more. This is the stuff of grand adventure, from the pen of an American Dumas.

Storms of Vengeance


John Beachem - 2006
    Centuries of bloody warfare have finally ended, and the lands have been united under one crown. This delicate balance is threatened when a daring attack on the capital leaves a prominent councilman dead, a host of unanswered questions, and indications that not everyone is content to live in peace. For Calton Relanas and Ratel Eresgot, two young guardians of the city, the attack signifies something else: opportunity. For Calton, it has given him the chance to show he is more than a simple farm boy; for Ratel, it means the opportunity to succeed without the aid of his famous family name--the chance to prove that he can make it on his own. Yet, what first appears to be an isolated incident soon turns into something far more complex--and insidious. Political backstabbing, greed, and ambition have combined with the forbidden art of magic to create a mystery and a threat deeper than anyone can suspect. A long-planned series of events has been set in motion, and time is running out. Both men race to uncover secrets buried beneath blood and time, intent on solving a mystery centuries in the making. Neither is prepared for the journey they will embark on, or for the dangers that await them. In a kingdom where everyone has something to hide and nothing is as it seems, the only certainty is that the storms of vengeance are coming.

Thieves' World: RPG Gift Set


Lynn Abbey - 2006
    It is a place appropriately nicknamed Thieves' World, thoroughly explored in this box set.