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

Great narration of Conan's adventures

I had never read anything by Howard before even though I'm well aware of Conan's existence and influence on pop culture. I was tremendously engaged by these weird tales of savage and unknown lands. The clash of barbarism and the decadence of civilization is very compelling, even though the racial undertones are quite dated to modern sensibilities. An engaging story is an great story nevertheless and Conan is a character for the ages.
I got to give a special commendation to Todd McLaren's narration. I felt like I was listening to an old minstrel tell of Conan's adventures at the central plaza, totally in control of his audience. I will definitely look out for the rest of this series with the same excellent narrator.

Conan come to life

A great first part of a the collection.

My first time finally going through the Conan stories and I'm glad it was. The narrator does an excellent job bringing all the characters to life and makes Howard's works live again.

Conan has a slight Celtic accent and it's great. Cimmeria is pronounced oddly but you get used to it.

Good job.

Just fantastic Fantasy writing!

Where does The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Just the Best!

What other book might you compare The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian to and why?

The others in the series

Which scene was your favorite?

Most of the fight scenes, and the colorful, and descriptive writing

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I enjoyed it temendously, however, I did not, cry, but I did occasionally laugh

Any additional comments?

This narrator Todd McClarion is just MONUMENTAL, and just the best! The only others I like are the Full cast audio, and Steve Rudniki.

Well written and read, but a bit disjointed

The stories and characters are a lot of fun, and the reader did and excellent job throughout. The only drawback is that the stories are given in the order in which they were written, not chronologically with respect to Conan's life. In one story Conan is a young barbarian roaming the countryside, in the next story he could be an old man, and then a middle-aged general years before the last story took place. As a collection of short stand-alone stories they're great, but I feel they would've been even better arranged as a sort of biography, charting the man's travels through the world and personal development from start to finish.

Conan is what's best in life

Love these stories. the narrator made the experience come to life. I'm glad the stories are in order of original publication

A masterpiece

A must listen. vivid descriptions and story. Haven't listened to fantasy or read fantasy in many years was great to be taken away somewhere again like I was when I was a kid. redpilled book for those that care

The original sword and sorcery hero

Conan the Cimmerian is the character that brought fantasy stories into popularity. This book is a fun listen and the stories are engaging. The Hyborian age is a great place of adventure.

I listen to this almost weekly.

I'll start with my only complaint. Some of the pronunciations are, let's say, not what I'm used to. For all I know this guy is saying it correctly and we've all said it wrong for decades. But we Know we're saying Cthulhu incorrectly and we don't change it because that's how it's always been said. So, if you can put that aside, dude gives a great performance and helps bring the story to life. Excellent work. I wish the narrator got royalties from it. The stories themselves are like any of Howard's writings, powerful, close, gritty and somehow real for a fantasy. I love all his stories I've ever read or listened to. There's always something new to find because he not only wrote in every genera, he created one. Since we live in a sad time where people want this. TIGGER WARNING OMG, these stories were from a time when prejudice was rampant with all cultures and there was no such thing as Politically Correct! *Gasp and Swoon!* Even so, if you read a bit from that period, Howard is far kinder than most towards other races. Even having heroic characters of color which at the time was a huge risk to ones career.

Excellent book and performance!

I highly suggest this book to any Conan fan, or newbies looking to read/listen to the original stories. These are excellently performed by Mr. McLaren, who has since cemented himself as one of my favorite narrators on this platform!

First Conan story.

I really enjoy the world building and the time period it's set in. Conan is an interesting character that I'm going to continue investing time in.