The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian

By: Robert E. Howard

Narrated by: Todd McLaren

Length: 18 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

Between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities...there was an age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars.... Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand...to tread the jeweled thrones of the earth under his sandalled feet.

In a meteoric career that spanned a mere 12 years before his tragic suicide, Robert E. Howard single-handedly invented the genre that came to be called sword-and-sorcery. Collected in this volume are Howard's first 13 Conan stories in their original versions and in the order Howard wrote them. Included are classics of dark fantasy like "The Tower of the Elephant" and swashbuckling adventure like "Queen of the Black Coast."

Here are timeless tales featuring Conan the raw and dangerous youth, Conan the daring thief, Conan the swashbuckling pirate, and Conan the commander of armies. Here, too, is an unparalleled glimpse into the mind of a genius whose bold storytelling style has been imitated by many yet equaled by none.

©2002 Conan Properties International, LLC. (P)2009 Tantor

A Great Collection

This is an incredible collection and done mostly right. The stories are presented appropriately. The pacing is just how I remember them, and organized in an interesting way.

However, in my numerous years of immersion into Nerdly pursuits and scads of reading, never once until now have I heard the name Cimmerean pronounced in such a painfully different way. Just as I'm getting immersed into the excitement of the story, it jars me back into the reality that I'm only listening to an audio book. Perhaps, somewhere out there, some scholar of ancient texts came up with that abomination, but I highly doubt it.

Disappointed

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Todd McLaren?

No! Not sure if the narrator or the production team have ever actually read R. E. Howard stories previously or Conan stories in particular, but the narration was awful. I'm a long-time fan of Howard's work and looked forward to this audio book, but the narrator's pronunciation of place names and 'Cimmerian' strongly put me off. But it was when the narrator tried to give Conan a half-baked Scottish or Irish (I couldn't tell what he was going for) accent that I couldn't listen to any more. Waste of time and money . If you love Howard's work and Conan do yourself a favor and avoid this audio book.

REH At His Best

These are stories that made the genre of S&S. They are all classics & well performed, though I question some of the pronunciation.

An Exceptional Collection

This book was awesome. It is Robert E. Howard at his best. I really like the fact this book features the Conan tales in the order they were written. This collection is just as good as The Horror Stories Of Robert E. Howard. This audio book is great if your like me and you like anthologies and collections.

Highly Recommended

A great place to dive into the Conan mythos! Great narrator and a nice variety of stories.

The Secret of Steel

Any additional comments?

Fire and wind come from the sky, from the gods of the sky, but Crom is your god. Crom, and he lives in the earth. Once giants lived in the earth, Conan, and in the darkness of chaos, they fooled Crom, and they took from him the enigma of steel. Crom was angered, and the earth shook, and fire and wind struck down these giants, and they threw their bodies into the waters. But in their rage, the gods forgot the secret of steel and left it on the battlefield, and we who found it. We are just men, not gods, not giants, just men. And the secret of steel has always carried with it a mystery. You must learn its riddle, Conan, you must learn its discipline, for no one, no one in this world can you trust, not men, not women, not beasts... This you can trust.

Meh

I really wanted to like these and the first couple were interesting. Tower of the elephant is definitely the best here. However, Conan and Howards writing in general gets old fast. Conan as a character cleaves his way through everyone and everything with minimal effort usually with a stroke or two of his sword, due solely to Conans being "uncivilized" and that's about it. Usually there is a helpless and panicky hot chick for Conan to carry through the story and who naturally is seduced by the mere sight of Conans physique. The narration really hurts here as the narrator uses the same horribly whiney voice for all the women in these 15 hours of stories.

very enjoyable!

listened to it on my commute very enjoyable and looking forward to the next book!

The best.

I’ve listened to this book countless times. If you like sword and sorcery, then this is a must listen.

Incredible

Incredible. Conan at its best written by the creator himself Robert E. Howard. “Crom and steel!” It’s a pity Audible hasn’t done audio books of other Conan books written by other authors.