Conan Compilation - The Bloody Crown of Conan Part 36

The study of the typescripts shows that Howard didn't begin work on his Conan novel until after he had finished both The People of the Black Circle and a detective story received by his agent on March 10. Chances are that he didn't actually begin it until after he had sent another story to his agent circa March 17. It was only apt that such a novel was begun at the time of Saint Patrick's Day. Records show that Howard's agent didn't receive anything from him between March 19 and June 20. If we accept March 17, give or take a couple of days, as the beginning date of the writing of the novel, then The Hour of the Dragon was written in less than two months: on May 20, 1934, Howard wrote Denis Archer in England: "As you doubtless remember, in your letter of Jan. 9th, 1934, you suggested that I submit a full length novel, on the order of the weird short stories formerly submitted, to your allied company of Pawling & Ness Ltd. Under separate cover I am sending you a 75,000 word novel, ent.i.tled, The Hour of the Dragon, written according to your suggestions. Hoping it will prove acceptable..."

During those two months, Howard apparently didn't write any other story, concentrating all his efforts on his novel, with an estimated output of 5,000 words per day, seven days a week. On 330.

May 20, the day he sent the novel to England, Howard wrote four short letters. The Hour of the Dragon had occupied almost all of his time for those two months. Edgar Hoffmann Price's brief visit in April seems to have been the sole distraction during those two months. For someone who was not expecting much from the British market, two full months of work seems an awful lot. One suspects that Howard had much more faith and hope in his novel than he was ready to admit. He knew that if the novel was to be accepted and published it could be a major, perhaps the major, break for him.

As could be expected, Howard took a few days off in June: "Having completed several weeks of steady work, I'm knocking off a few hours for relaxation and to try to catch up with my correspondence which I've allowed to stack up outrageously." Howard took a short vacation and visited the Carlsbad caverns, which were to inspire him for one of his next Conan stories, but he soon found himself back to work and back to Conan. Only a few days had elapsed between the completion of The People of the Black Circle and the beginning of The Hour of the Dragon. The delay was very probably the same between The Hour of the Dragon and his next Conan story.

A Witch Shall Be Born was written in late May or early June 1934, probably in a matter of days. The tale was evidently intended to replenish Farnsworth Wright's stock of Conan stories.

In April 1934, Wright had published Iron Shadows in the Moon, Queen of the Black Coast had followed in May, and Howard knew that The Devil in Iron and The People of the Black Circle were scheduled for the August 1934 and subsequent issues, leaving him with no new Conan stories awaiting publication in the pages of Weird Tales. This was a new situation for the Texan, since Iron Shadows in the Moon and Queen of the Black Coast had been written and sold in 1932. Wright was accepting Conan stories as fast as he could get them, and was now almost systematically granting them the privileges of the cover (Queen of the Black Coast, The Devil in Iron, The People of the Black Circle, and A Witch Shall Be Born, published in a seven- month span, were all cover-featured). Conan's popularity was growing, and the character was very probably attracting new readers to Weird Tales. Women wrote to the magazine, asking for more Conan, whom they envisioned, thanks in part to Wright's censoring hands, as a romantic barbarian. A Witch Shall Be Born required only two drafts before Howard was satisfied with it.

That it matched Wright's expectations exactly there can be no doubt. In a letter to Robert H.

Barlow dated July 5, 1934, Howard wrote: "Here, at last, is the ms. I promised you some time ago. A Witch Shall Be Born. It is my latest Conan story, and Mr. Wright says my best."

A Witch is hardly Howard's best, but it is a special Conan tale in the sense that it is at the same time a rather forgettable Conan story yet contains the most famous, or rather the most memorable scene of the entire series. Reading the story, one gets the impression that Howard was simply borrowing from that year's production to craft the tale. The monster at the end of the story seems to be a cousin to that in the last chapter of Almuric. Taramis and Salome remind us that Howard was fascinated with brothers and sisters (with another occurrence of painful separation at birth) and also remind us of Howard's interest in duality. Paranoia, a 331.

theme in Howard's work as early as the Kull story The Shadow Kingdom (192627), runs rampant through this tale, and Howard repeats that people aren't always what they seem to be.

It is a frequent occurrence in Howard that evil lurks behind seemingly innocent features. In A Witch Shall Be Born, only Conan and Howard? seems to have all the facts. All other characters are as blind as Olgerd Vladislav to what has been taking place under their very eyes.

Conan, in A Witch Shall Be Born, is becoming a superhuman character. Howard was growing extremely confident with his creation as testifies the structure of the tale. We are here miles away from pulp formula: Conan the protagonist gives life to the entire story by being present in only two chapters. It is tempting to draw a parallel between Conan and what Howard thought he was achieving with the Conan series: The Texan knew he had a winner and that he could get away with almost everything, even not having the lead character in the story except in the central chapters. Conan dominates the whole story and this is made plain in the crucifixion scene. How can anybody kill a character literarily or literally who can survive such a scene as that one? For to write a crucifixion scene will automatically invite a Christic comparison. Conan probably became "immortal" with this scene and one wonders to what extent Howard wished it to be so. The story average as it is exudes Howard's confidence in his creation. It was accepted with relish by Farnsworth Wright, published on the heels of four consecutive issues of Weird Tales starring the Cimmerian, and once again won the cover.

Howard had every reason to be confident.

At the beginning of 1933, Howard only had one regular market. In mid-1934, he was appearing in almost every issue of Weird Tales, had succeeded in making Action Stories a regular market, with a Howard story in each issue, thought he had another regular market in Jack Dempsey's Fight Magazine, was having stories published in several new and different magazines thanks to his agent Otis Adelbert Kline; furthermore, he thought he had just sold a novel to the British market.

It was an idyllic situation.

It wasn't to last long.

NOTES ON THE CONAN TYPESCRIPTS AND THE CHRONOLOGY.

By Patrice Louinet LIST OF THE EXTANT CONAN TYPESCRIPTS (JanuaryJune 1934) The final drafts of the stories published in Weird Tales were probably destroyed after the story 332.

was typeset, and thus are no longer extant. The surviving typescript for A Witch Shall Be Born is the exception rather than the rule, unfortunately.

Regarding the terminology used: a draft is "incomplete" when we are missing at least one page; it is "unfinished" when Howard didn't finish the draft. Sometimes Howard would write a draft and rewrite only a portion of it; such drafts are subdivided with numerals (i.e., draft b2 recycles pages from draft b1).

We are particularly indebted to Glenn Lord for furnis.h.i.+ng copies of the typescripts mentioned below, and to Terence McVicker for the copy of the typescript of A Witch Shall Be Born.

The People of the Black Circle synopsis, unt.i.tled, 2 pgs.

draft a, unt.i.tled, 80 pgs.

draft b1, incomplete and unfinished (pgs. 10-92; 94-98 + 47a of 98; numbered 10-28, 30, 30- 98 in error; missing pg. 93; pg. 47a discarded in favor of 47b; pgs. 1-9 lost, pgs. 10-90 survive as carbon (and were reused in draft b2); pg. 91 survives as original and carbon; pg. 47a and pgs. 92 and 94-98 as originals) draft b2 (final Weird Tales version) was comprised of draft b1 pgs. 1-10 [lost], draft b1 pgs.

11-91 [survive as carbon], plus draft b2 pg. 92 [lost] and pgs. 93-98 [survive as carbon]

In addition to his drafts, Howard wrote the paragraphs which appeared before the second and third installment of the serialization in Weird Tales, summing up the events of the previous chapters. A total of ten pages survive, six as originals and four as carbons, the latter identical to the text appearing in Weird Tales.

Unt.i.tled story synopsis, unt.i.tled, 3 pgs.

draft, unt.i.tled and unfinished, 29 pgs.

The Hour of the Dragon 333.

synopsis, unt.i.tled, 2 pgs.

notes, 4 pgs.

draft a, unt.i.tled, incomplete and unfinished (pgs. 1-7, 21-29, 31-119 of 119) draft b1, unt.i.tled, diminis.h.i.+ng to part-story, part-synopsis 160 pgs. (numbered 1-70, 72-116, 118-162 in error) draft b2, incomplete and unfinished, diminis.h.i.+ng to a synopsis, (re-uses draft b1 pgs. 1-150 plus part of pg. 151; pgs. 151-163, 165-169 of 169; numbered 151, 153, 153-163, 165-169 in error; missing pg. 164) draft c, unt.i.tled, unfinished and incomplete, (pgs. 1, 3-196 of 196; missing pg. 2; numbered 1- 65, 67-196 in error) draft d1, incomplete (pgs. 210-229 of 229 pgs.; numbered 210-227, 229, 229 in error; pgs. 1- 209 were reused for drafts d2 and d3 then later lost; pgs. 210-216 were also reused for draft d2 and were discarded) draft d2 (re-uses draft d1 pgs. 1-216; numbered 217-221, 227-237 of 237; there are no missing pgs. between 221 and 227 in spite of the numbering) draft d3 [lost: this draft was probably 236 pgs. long, among the papers sent to Otis Adelbert Kline after Howard's death and later lost; pgs. 1-209 came from draft d1; pgs. 210-236 were new]

discarded pages from final draft (draft e): pgs. 1-4, 6, 9, 15-18, 24, 38-39, 46-50, 52, 55, 61, 70, 72 (2 different), 79-80, 85, 94, 96-99, 101, 111, 113, 117, 122, 128, 134-136, 170, 206, 211- 213, 216-217, 221-223, 225-226, 228-229, 232-241 of 241 pgs. There is a strong possibility that these pages were discarded and revised when Howard prepared the novel for submission to Farnsworth Wright.

draft e (final Weird Tales version) [lost: the carbon for this was probably among the papers sent to Otis Adelbert Kline after Howard's death and later lost]

submission sheet to Denis Archer, with verse heading, 1 pg.

A Witch Shall Be Born 334.

synopsis, unt.i.tled, 1 pg.

draft a (this draft was sent to Robert H. Barlow on 5 July 1934; the typescript is now in private hands; unfortunately, it hasn't been possible to examine the typescript for this edition.) draft b1, incomplete, 53 pgs. (pgs. 1-4, 6-52 survive as originals, pgs. 1-53 as carbon, with slight differences between the two.) draft b2 (final Weird Tales version: reuses draft b1, pgs. 1-52; pgs. 53-55 survive as originals, pgs. 54-55 as carbon [REH probably kept the wrong pg. 53 carbon in his files.]) NOTES ON THE ORIGINAL HOWARD TEXTS.

The texts for this edition of Volume 2 of the Complete Conan of Cimmeria were prepared by Patrice Louinet, Rusty Burke and Dave Gentzel, with a.s.sistance from Glenn Lord. The stories have been checked either against Howard's original typescripts, copies of which were furnished by Glenn Lord and Terence McVicker, or the first published appearance if a typescript was unavailable. Drafts of Howard's stories, when extant, have also been checked to ensure the greatest accuracy. Every effort has been made to present the work of Robert E.

Howard as faithfully as possible.

The study of the extant texts for A Witch Shall Be Born (Howard's original typescript, the carbon thereof and the Weird Tales text), showed conclusively that Farnsworth Wright, the editor of Weird Tales, had censored several pa.s.sages in the Conan stories, particularly bits of dialogue and descriptions that he probably found too "explicit". Fortunately, carbons survive for most of the later Conan stories, often in complete or nearly-complete form. The comparison of the texts for which both carbon and original typescript survive shows that these are nearly identical. The only differences concern the t.i.tles, subt.i.tles and chapter divisions of the stories, which are often but not always absent from the carbons. Additionally, a few typographical errors may have been fixed, or a word replaced by another. Unless the original typescripts ever surface, Howard's carbons offer by far the purest available text for many of the Conan stories.

Deviations from the original sources are detailed in these textual notes. In the following pages, page, line and word number are given as follows: 51.9.5, indicating page 51, ninth line, fifth word. Story t.i.tles, chapter numbers and t.i.tles, and breaks before and after chapter headings, t.i.tles and ill.u.s.trations are not counted. The page/line number will be followed by the reading in the original source, or a statement indicating the type of change made. Punctuation changes are 335.

indicated by giving the immediately preceding word followed by the original punctuation.

The People of the Black Circle Text taken from Howard's carbon, provided by Glenn Lord, and from the September, October and November 1934 issues of Weird Tales. The surviving carbon is incomplete, lacking pages 1-9 and 92 of a 98 page typescript; the missing pages (from the beginning to "she asked" (page 10, line 1) and from "so willingly" (74.26.13) to "repeated helplessly" (75.12.7) are taken from the Weird Tales appearance. Howard's chapters are unt.i.tled on the carbon; it is not known whether the subt.i.tles are Howard's or Wright's. Changes from the Weird Tales text: 5.37.6: Sap; 7.6.13: Hills; 8.28.2: Majesty; 9.19.12: Skalos. 9.24.5: Majesty. Changes from Howard's carbon: 10.18.9: b; 9.30.13: "a" omitted; 11.17.13: Eastern; 12.20.12: country-side; 12.25.9: Then; 15.10.7: sent led; 16.6.11: train; 16.9.9: unwanted; 17.4.2: of; 17.27.14: not of one of; 18.27.2: between; 20.10.7: excercise; 20.11.9: excercises; 21.17.6: 'the' absent from typescript; 22.2.10: 'star-light' hyphenated at line-break; 22.5.1: no comma after 'carelessly'; 22.22.6: quiesence; 22.36.3: when; 24.21.1: gripped; 25.14.10: hillsmen; 25.32.13: irrelevent; 25.35.8: liad; 28.9.9: into; 28.9.13: seem; 30.17.12: no comma after 'squatted' (typed to right edge of carbon); 30.23.5: Irakzai; 32.18.11: fore-finger; 33.20.1: asonished; 33.20.7: distended; 33.34.4: 'as' absent from original; 37.5.7: no comma after 'through'; 40.17.7: profferred; 40.24.10: hit; 40.25.2: supply; 41.7.5: comma after 'flight'; 41.26.7: 'north west'; 42.26.12: 'in' not in original; 42.28.7: what ever; 43.10.6: hypnostism; 44.34.4: hundred; 44.39.11: neophism; 45.1.12: excercise; 45.19.1: Raksha; 47.5.7: the top-left corner of the carbon is torn; 'He shook' and the 'l' of 'loose' are missing; the missing words appear in the Weird Tales version and the first draft; 47.16.3: river bed; 48.3.5: river bed; 48.27.6: traffick; 48.33.11: 'chief' not in original; 50.18.3: tough; 51.17.5: comma after 'than'; 51.32.10: gald; 51.37.14: herslf; 51.37.15: in; 52.3.3: scrutinised; 52.9.6: every; 53.7.7: 'to' not in original; 53.22.8: loosly; 53.24.13: onlique; 54.10.4: on; 55.2.15: comma instead of semi-colon after 'fingers'; 56.5.14: no comma after 'first'; 56.18.7: no comma after 'suddenly'; 56.27.8: 'stems' absent from original; the word appears in the Weird Tales text and in the first draft; 57.4.3: 'in' not in original; 58.10.11: wide braced; 59.10.11: infest; 59.26.1: 'did' not in original; 60.11.2: half blinded; 60.16.8: thunder storm; 60.17.1: nightning; 61.12.13: green robed; 61.15.3: 'as' not in original; 61.28.16: sheer walled; 62.32.8: 'in a' in original; 64.1.1: unprecendented; 64.31.14: black robed; 64.34.9: black robed; 65.35.8: no comma after 'mid-stride' in original; 66.12.9: reinacted; 66.24.11: suddeness; 66.27.6: 'if' not in original; 67.1.5: 'whether' not in original; 67.9.5: black robed; 67.9.9: no comma after 'convulsions' (typed to right edge of paper); 67.35.7: 'the' not in original; 68.7.9: his; 68.14.13: stars; 68.16.7: left hand; 70.2.11: half way; 70.8.1: sandal-wood; 72.1.1: He (there is no chapter transition at this point of Howard's carbon.); 72.8.15: hair; 73.5.11: dociley; 73.14.5: to; 73.38.1: His; 74.1.1: semi-colon instead of comma after 'Yes'. 77.9.6: left hand; 77.12.8: melee; 77.23.11: 'was' repeated; 77.29.13: van-guard; 78.12.2: accepting.

336.

The Hour of the Dragon Originally appeared in Weird Tales in five installments, December 1935 and January, February, March and April 1936. The verse heading did not appear in the magazine; it is taken from Howard's submission sheet for the novel prepared for British publisher Denis Archer in May 1934 (doc.u.ment provided by Glenn Lord). It is not known if the heading was included when the novel was sent to Weird Tales. There is no chapter 20 in the Weird Tales text: chapter 19 concluded the March 1936 installment, and the April installment began with chapter 21. A study of the drafts for the novel shows that this is a mistake in numbering rather than a missing chapter. 89.11.13: Zingarians; 133.22.13: not; 138.24.13: can not; 146.26.4: without; 156.32.11: intense; ('incense' in all surviving drafts); 166.8.7: Conon; 167.36.8: men; 172.13.5: 'from' not in original; 197.11.7: sh.o.r.eline; 198.22.12: sh.o.r.eline; 210.6.5: ceatures; 213.32.10: 'was' not in original; 244.16.13: men; 245.5.5: Gunderman.

A Witch Shall Be Born Text taken from Howard's original typescript, provided by Terence McVicker; page 5 is absent from the typescript; the text for this page has been taken from Howard's carbon, provided by Glenn Lord. 257.12.2: 'herself' not in original; 258.21.8: coifure; 258.21.13: queen's; 258.22.12: boudior; 260.8.1: 'He' underlined; 260.14.1: 'He' underlined; 260.16.2: 'He'

underlined; 260.20.1: pouring; 260.21.1: 'He' underlined; 260.24.2: 'He' underlined; 261.23.5: semi-colon after 'called'; 264.9.2: exclamation mark after 'slain'; 266.5.11: happens; 266.31.6: no hyphen in 'low-swinging'; 267.8.12: comma after 'rescue'; 267.36.9: minature; 268.28.14: tavern-floor; 270.34.7: no em-dash before 'he'; 270.35.1: comma instead of em-dash after 'nomads'; 272.2.5: 'to' not in original; 274.6.14: independance; 274.27.6: 'the' not in original; 276.6.1: from whence; 277.1.5: envelopes; 277.10.5: contemptously; 277.21.7: coifure; 277.37.11: permenently; 278.24.4: every; 278.32.7: silvered; 280.15.11: aubdible; 282.13.14: it; 282.14.15: it; 282.21.15: vizer; 282.28.8: 'a' not in original; 285.26.8: h.o.a.rd; 290.10.14: protect; 291.2.2: thick; 291.15.4: semi-colon after 'merged'; 296.6.2: pillard; 296.36.2: cresent; 296.37.7: agonies; 300.5.2: there; 301.7.1: comma after 'compa.s.sion'.

Unt.i.tled synopsis (The People of the Black Circle) Text taken from Howard's original typescript, provided by Glenn Lord. No changes have been made for this edition.

The Story thus Far... (The People of the Black Circle) 337.

First page taken from Howard's carbon, provided by Glenn Lord. The second carbon was also in Howard's files but was in such bad condition that Glenn Lord had to retype it, respecting the original doc.u.ment's layout, text and eventual mistakes. The text for this edition is taken from Glenn Lord's retyping. No changes have been made for this edition.

Unt.i.tled synopsis (Amalric...) Text taken from Howard's original typescript, provided by Glenn Lord. No changes have been made for this edition.

Unt.i.tled draft (Three men squatted...) Text taken from Howard's original typescript, provided by Glenn Lord. No changes have been made for this edition.

Unt.i.tled synopsis (The Hour of the Dragon) Text taken from Howard's original typescript, provided by Glenn Lord. No changes have been made for this edition.

Notes for The Hour of the Dragon Text taken from Howard's original typescript, provided by Glenn Lord. No changes have been made for this edition.

Unt.i.tled synopsis (A Witch Shall Be Born) Text taken from Howard's original typescript, provided by Glenn Lord. No changes have been made for this edition.

338.

I am grateful to Jerry Tiritilli, Rick Bernal, Scott Gustafson, Geof Darrow, Larry Majewski and Tom Gianni. Their enthusiasm for art and fantasy has always been an inspiration. Also for their suggestions and insights, I'd like to thank the Keegan family, Barry Klugerman, Rick Vitone, Dave Burton, Mark Schultz and Al Wyman. Applause for Barbara and Jack Baum, if not for them, where would we be? Lastly, thanks to Marcelo Anciano. His vision of the Robert E.

Howard/Wandering Star library is now considered a benchmark of quality in the publis.h.i.+ng of fine books.

Gary Gianni My thanks to the Wandering Star team for making it happen a second time. Marcelo, Stuart and Rusty: we did it! Thanks to Glenn Lord for his support of this project and his continuous help.

These books couldn't exist without you. Thanks also to Terence McVicker for his generosity and his help with this volume. And very special thanks to Sh.e.l.ly and Valerie for letting the boys out of the ch.o.r.es when superior duty called.

Patrice Louinet Many thanks to the Wandering Star team, particularly Patrice, Marcelo and Stuart, for yeoman effort into the wee smalls; to Glenn Lord for his years of effort on behalf of REH and for his hard work in a.s.sisting this project; and of course to Sh.e.l.ly, with much love thanks for letting me out of the ch.o.r.es when the deadline looms!

Rusty Burke I would like to thank Marcelo, Patrice and Rusty for being a pleasure to work with once again and Gary for revitalising my interest in Conan. Thanks also to Mandy and Emma for being patient and understanding, Fishburn Hedges for allowing me to use their design studio after hours and at weekends again (and again) and, finally, to Phil Watson with whom I used to exchange Howard books and Conan comics many, many years ago. Cheers, Phil!

Stuart Williams When I first started these books I had no idea that I would be creating a library of ill.u.s.trated books. I would like to thank all who have been involved in its conception and to the many artists who have been incredibly supportive of my endeavour: Al Williamson, Mike Mignola, Mark Schultz, Geof Darrow, Neil Gaiman, Bruce Timm, Frank Cho, Justin Sweet, Frank Frazetta, Jeff Jones and, of course, Gary Gianni. Very special thanks also to Jim Keegan, Stuart, Rusty and Patrice, my keystones, and not forgetting Ed Waterman, web designer supreme.

339.

Marcelo Anciano 340.

PRAISE FOR ROBERT E. HOWARD.

"I adore these books. Howard had a gritty, vibrant style--broadsword writing that cut its way to the heart, with heroes who are truly larger than life. I heartily recommend them to anyone who loves fantasy."

--DAVID GEMMELL.

Author of Legend and White Wolf "The voice of Robert E. Howard still resonates after decades with readers--equal parts ringing steel, thunderous horse hooves, and spattered blood. Far from being a stereotype, his creation of Conan is the high heroic adventurer. His raw muscle and sinews, boiling temper, and l.u.s.ty laughs are the gauge by which all modern heroes must be measured."

--ERIC NYLUND.

Author of Halo: The Fall of Reach and Signal to Noise "That teller of marvelous tales, Robert Howard, did indeed create a giant [Conan] in whose shadow other 'hero tales' must stand."

--JOHN JAKES.

New York Times bestselling author of the North and South trilogy "For stark, living fear . . . what other writer is even in the running with Robert E. Howard?"

--H. P. LOVECRAFT.

"Howard . . . painted in about the broadest strokes imaginable. A ma.s.s of glimmering black for the menace, an ice-blue cascade for the hero, between them a swath of crimson for battle, pa.s.sion, blood."

--FRITZ LIEBER.

"Forget Schwarzenegger and the movies. This is pure pulp fiction from the 1930s, before political corrections and focus groups dictated the direction of our art. Swords spin, entrails spill, and women swoon."

--Men's Health "Howard wrote pulp adventure stories of every kind, for every market he could find, but his 341.

real love was for supernatural adventure and he brought a brash, tough element to the epic fantasy which did as much to change the course of the American school away from precious writing and static imagery as Hammett, Chandler, and the Black Mask pulp writers were to change the course of American detective fiction."

--MICHAEL MOORc.o.c.k.

Award-winning author of the Elric saga "In this, I think, the art of Robert E. Howard was hard to surpa.s.s: vigor, speed, vividness. And always there is that furious, galloping narrative pace."

--POUL ANDERSON.

"Howard honestly believed the basic truth of the stories he was telling. It's as if he'd said, 'This is how life really was lived in those former savage times!' "

--DAVID DRAKE.

Author of Grimmer Than h.e.l.l and Dogs of War "For headlong, nonstop adventure and for vivid, even florid, scenery, no one even comes close to Howard."

--HARRY TURTLEDOVE.

342.

THE FULLY ILl.u.s.tRATED ROBERT E. HOWARD LIBRARY from Del Rey Books The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane Bran Mak Morn: The Last King*

The Conquering Sword of Conan*

*forthcoming The b.l.o.o.d.y Crown of Conan is a work of fiction. Names, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fict.i.tiously.

A Del Rey Book Published by The Random House Publis.h.i.+ng Group Copyright 2003 by Conan Properties International, LLC.

Editor: Patrice Louinet Series Editor: Rusty Burke All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Del Rey Books, an imprint of The Random House Publis.h.i.+ng Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. Previously published in Great Britain by Wandering Star, Ltd., London, in 2003.

Del Rey is a registered trademark and the Del Rey colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.

Conan is a registered trademark of Conan Properties International, LLC.

www.delreybooks.com This edition published by arrangement with Wandering Star Books, Ltd.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2004103781 eISBN 0-345-48078-3 v1.0 343.