yet some would ensnare him in the city's intrigues: the beautiful Princess Afrianda, with powers she does not fully understand herself, and Zaius, foremost swordsman of the Temple warriors. Their paths are like nothing Conan has seen before, following labyrinthine trails he cannot imagine, thrusting him toward banishment or death. And in the dying city of Sark, the soulless High Priest Khumanos wields the legendary Sword of Onothimantos and schemes for the return of ancient gods. Qjara does not want Conan, but only one man can prevent the sacrifice of the city to the Tree of Mouths. Only one-- Conan the Outcast

    Soon the mighty barbarian is enmeshed in a war with two kings, who want Alcuina's lands, and the evil wizard Iilma, who plots to rule the entire northland and has his own foul designs on the queen's body. From the blood-drenched snows of the Brythunian forests to the sorcerous Shifting Lands the battles rage. The dead rise to slay, and victory can only come from Conan the Champion.

    Howard and further chronicled by other fantasy greats, including such notables as L. Sprague de Camp, Poul Anderson, and Robert Jordan.Now Harry Turtledove, one of today's most popular writers of fantasy and SF, contributes a novel to the Conan saga--a tale of Conan in his youth, in the year or so before he becomes the wandering adventurer we know from the tales of Howard and others.On the verge of adulthood, he lives in a Cimmerian hamlet, caring for his ailing mother, working in his father's smithy, and casting his eye on the weaver's daughter next door.Then war comes: an invasion by the Aquilonian Empire. Conan burns to join the fight, but he's deemed too young. Then, from the border country, comes an unbelievable report: The Aquilonians have smashed the Cimmerian defending forces, and can rule as they please. Soon their heavily garrisoned forts dot the countryside. Their settlers follow after, carving homesteads out of other men's land.Every Cimmerian longs to drive the intruders out with fire and sword, but they must stay their hands, for the Aquilonians have promised savage reprisals. Then, intolerably, the Aquilonian commander takes a wholly dishonorable interest in the weaver's daughter -- and he's not a man to wait, or even ask permission.It's not a recipe for a peaceable outcome.

    Two are a disaster...And a deadly disaster, too. For Conan, after refusing to help the evil wizard Ethram-Fal, has been cursed with a spell that is slowly, inexorably squeezing the life from his mighty frame.The only person who can banish the spell--besides Ethram-Fal, of course--is the sorceress Zelandra: a raven-haired beauty who practices only white magic...or so she says. Zelandra has offered to lift the spell from the Cimmerian, if only he will do her one small service: steal the deadly Emerald Lotus from the clutches of Ethram-Fal in his impregnable desert fortress.No good can come of this, Conan thinks to himself. Once sorcery gets mixed up in it, the whole job goes to hell!Unfortunately, he's right.

    Howard's CONAN was never so lusty, never so deadly as in this new adventure chronicling the early years when the youthful sword-wielder first rode out of the Cimmerian hills and into the broad, savage world, turning from smith's son to Conan the mercenary.Imprisoned by sorcery, bound by an impetuous pledge of loyalty, the greatest hero of them all battles for the greatest treasure of them all - his very soul! Only the dark eyed, sultry ruler of Khauran, Land of Unhappy Queens, can shatter the mirror which holds his ensorceled soul prisoner - but to do that she must shatter also her only hope of happiness in the arms of her demon lover.

    Sprague de Camp was revered in the genre of fantasy for both his fiction and nonfiction. Booklist praised his novel The Honorable Barbarian, saying: “The action is brisk, and the worlds and characters are described with de Camp's deft, light touch . . . thoroughly agreeable entertainment,” while Kirkus Reviews said of The Pixilated Peeress “the unassuming style and verve of the telling keep the pages turning. Pure prose junk-food.” But more important, L. Sprague de Camp wrote Dark Valley Destiny, the definitive biography of Conan’s creator, Robert E. Howard, leaving little wonder as to why Conan and the Spider God is considered one of the finest novels in the canon of Conan.Son of a blacksmith, a former slave and thief, Conan the Cimmerian has risen to the rank of Captain of the Royal Guard. But as usual, trouble is his bedfellow.Forced to kill while defending himself, Conan must flee the vengeance of the High Priest of Erlik. Foraging through field and forest, meeting friend and foe, Conan cuts a bloody swath through assassins and bounty hunters all the way to the sinister temple of Zath, where he encounters the huge and hideous Spider God. Facing certain death, Conan becomes both the hunter . . . and the hunted. Conan and the Spider God is a thrilling adventure of the mighty barbarian, from one of the genre's most revered authors.

    Also released as Tales of Conan.

    She leads Conan to face the awesome challenge of the serpentinely evil necromancer Amanar.

    In these ancient days, Elminster is but a shepherd boy, dreaming of adventure and heroics. When a dragon-riding magelord sweeps down upon him, though, the boy is thrust into a world of harsh realities, corrupt rulers and evil sorcerers.

    In Stardock town, two boys come of age and go deep into the Empire of Great Kesh. A dark plot implicates the highest-ranking nobles, and the Nighthawks clan of Assassins.

    Abby is trapped, not only between both sides of the war, but in a mortal conflict between two powerful men. For Zedd, who commands power most men can only imagine, granting Abby's request would mean forsaking his sacred duty. With the storm of the final battle about to break, both Abby and Zedd are caught in a desperate fight to save the life of a child....but neither can escape the shadow of an ancient betrayal. With time running out, their only choice may be a debt of bones. The world-for Zedd, for Abby,for everyone-will never again be the same.

    Defeated by the Lady and cast from this world, all that was left of him was a foul trace of lingering evil. But the graveyard that was once the Barrowland contains more secrets than dead. All who would possess the power of the Dominator are drawn to the spike. A foolhardy band of thieves is the first to reach it, and a rapacious and malign spirit is unleashed on an unwary world. The forces gather, sides are drawn, and mortal men can only die as the Dark Lords battle for domination.

    Reprint.

    Yet it all began with a handful of stories from Robert E. Howard. In the decades since, there have been feature films, television and comic book series, and numerous spin-off novels. In 1979, Poul Anderson—winner of a staggering eight Hugo and three Nebula Awards—wrote what is regarded as one of the finest adventures in the canon of Conan: Conan the Rebel. Conan the barbarian and Belit, his raven-haired beauty, lead a band of savage pirates striving to free Belit’s people from the iron grip of an evil reptile god and its cruel minions. Striking at the heart of tyranny, Conan must break the chains of oppression before eternal darkness claims them all.

    . . .Twenty years have passed since Grianne Ohmsford denounced her former life as the dreaded Ilse Witch. Fulfilling the destiny predicted for her, she has established the Third Druid Council and dedicated herself to its goals of peace, harmony among the races, and defense of the Four Lands. But despite her devotion to the greater good as Ard Rhys, the High Druid of Paranor, Grianne still has bitter enemies. Even her few allies—chief among them her trusted servant Tagwen—know of the plots against her. But they could never anticipate the sudden, ominous disappearance of the Ard Rhys, in the dead of night and without a trace. Now Tagwen joins Grianne’s brave young nephew, Pen Ohmsford, and the wise, powerful elf Ahren Elessedil on a desperate and dangerous mission of search and rescue—to deliver the High Druid of Shannara from an unspeakable fate.BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Terry Brooks's The Measure of the Magic.