Robert E. Howard's Conan the Cimmerian Barbarian

The Complete Weird Tales Omnibus

By: Robert E. Howard, Finn J. D. John

Narrated by: Finn J. D. John

Length: 35 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's Summary

This collection contains all of Robert E. Howard's Conan the Cimmerian stories published during his lifetime, contextualized with biographical details of their author.

A full e-book copy of this book in Interactive PDF format is included and can be downloaded by clicking the "PDF" link in your Audible library (it's in the "Title" column). This PDF includes the audiobook chapter numbers, to make navigation easier.

Excerpt from the introduction:

"When the first Conan of Cimmeria story appeared in the pages of Weird Tales magazine in December 1932, nothing quite like it had ever before appeared in print. Author Robert E. Howard had been writing stories broadly similar to it for half a decade; but it was with Conan, and the Hyborian Age storyworld in which he was placed, that Howard finally fully doped out the sub-genre that would become known as "sword and sorcery", of which Howard is today considered the founding father.

"Conan's origins date back to an experiment in 1926 titled "The Shadow Kingdom", featuring the character Kull, exile of Atlantis. The idea - Howard's great innovation - was, at its core, historical fiction set in a pre-historical period. That pre-historical period - being, of course, lost in the mists of time - could contain anything Howard might like to include: evil races of sentient snake-things, sorcerers, undead creatures, demons walking upon the earth, anything.

"In other words, Howard was creating a secular mythology."

©2017 Finn J.D. John (P)2017 Pulp-Lit Productions

a great according of Robert Howard's works.

thank you Mr. Finn cometary and narration are appreciated. Sad that Mr Howard isn't here to hear it.

It's fuckin Conan!

Although a collection of seemingly disjointed stories you still get a vivid picture of the epic character that is Conan. I believe Conan to be the greatest of the anti-heros.

Great Reading!

What did you love best about Robert E. Howard's Conan the Cimmerian Barbarian?

Evocative reading and great stories. Excellent introduction to Sword and Sorcery as well as Pulp Classics.

What does Finn J. D. John bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Finn J.D. John pours his heart into the Conan mythos.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Listening to 35 hours of Conan would be enjoyable but even a Barbarian needs sleep.

D&D Fans! You'll love these stories!

If you could sum up Robert E. Howard's Conan the Cimmerian Barbarian in three words, what would they be?

Pulp, Fun, Surprising

What other book might you compare Robert E. Howard's Conan the Cimmerian Barbarian to and why?

Howard was accused of "stealing" ideas from Lovecraft and simply placing them in a fantasy setting. I did not get that impression at all. The two are quite different - with the notable exception of Howard's frequent use of demonic, "Lovercraftian" monsters that were obviously drawn from those Cthulhu sources. Howard reads more like the works of Fritz Leiber or R. A. Salvatore. Enjoyable and easy-to-read; sometime humorous; with simple, sometimes obvious "twists".

Which scene was your favorite?

This is a collection of mostly short stories. I think "The People of the Black Circle" was most engaging, but really no story was a disappointment.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I wouldn't say I was moved - the book isn't that deep. But prior to each chapter the narrator provides information about the story. It's publication history, what was going on in Howard's life at the time, and historical critical reception. These prefaces provide a great setup for the story and add a lot as you listen.

Any additional comments?

If, like me, you're a fan of Dungeon's & Dragons, I think you'll find another level of enjoyment here. Gary Gygax said in interviews that these stories were a source of inspiration and often direct input for content in the original version of D&D. If you know that game well, it is easy and satisfying to spot those influences. They also offer great ideas for encounters and stories in your own D&D games.

Howard's work deserves a better reader

Mr. John's Conan is to audio what Arnold's was to the movie. The voice just is not IMHO right. Howard's Conan is perfect pulp fiction. It needed a better performer. It wasn't awful but it could have been better.

Formulaic but good enough to at least listen.

Finn J. D. Jhon's Narration was decent enough, if not sometimes a tiny bit hard for me to follow. The stories were quite hit or miss, but Finn's parts explaining E. Howard's life situation when the stories were written made me put them into context as regards to the authors Life. I'd recommend the audiobook still, perhaps not as a first purchase as I enjoyed E. Howard's writing style even if the stories, as explained by Finn in the biography parts were extremely formulaic.

pillar of fantasy

this is where the roots of fantasy are watered. An epic group of tales that helped make fantasy what it is today.

Needed for fans of Conan

This is the must must have for any fan of sword and sorcery. Finn J.D. John's performance and analysis of the work is superb. John really brings Conan to life and I cannot image Conan in any other voice. This should be required reading for any player of dungeons and dragons!

Conan

Greatest collection of fantasy stories ever written by the creator of Sword and Sorcery Robert E Howard

An Excellent Collection of the Cimmerian

What made the experience of listening to Robert E. Howard's Conan the Cimmerian Barbarian the most enjoyable?

The voice acting was great, and complemented the stories very well.

What did you like best about this story?

The influence Conan has on modern fantasy in all its incarnations is seminal.

Which scene was your favorite?

"The Hour of the Dragon" should be considered one of the greatest high fantasy stories ever.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

"The tales that inspired generations, of the man who would be barbarian, conqueror, king."

Any additional comments?

This is a great collection.

Not the best narrator

There is a version done by Todd Mclaren which is excellent. I had to have this as i am a very big Conan fan.

good story but lacks good navigation in audible.

Very Enjoyable.

No chapter descriptions on the app, so hard to tell where which stories start where and which chapters are summaries.

Great adventure storytelling, brilliant prose

Enjoyed this tremendously. Although familiar with the character of Conan, I was pleasantly surprised at how good the prose is. Very mature writing for such a young author, moody gothic atmosphere at times, evocative, fluent and efficient storytelling.
The narration is great too (except the female voice imitations perhaps), nice rhythm and timbre, a relatively neutral accent, and love the subtle Schwarzenegger influence on Conan's voice.
Howard displays astute knowledge in the themes of power, politics, the coming and going of civilisations and tribes. At times the ethnocentric worldview shines through in his depiction of "dark" races, but overall it is about tribes in constant conflict with each other. Conan himself as a Barbarian versus the civilised pampered urban people is an embodiment of the "noble savage" and it is unfortunate that Howard's life ended so prematurely, because one can sense that his writing would have matured even further.

All in all an inspiring journey through epic imagination, of the days of sorcery and high adventure.

The worst narrator I have ever heard

What an odd narrator. Bizarre intonation. Sounds sarcastic or bored . Ruined this book for me

Narrator is terrible

Quite possibly the worst reading of a book I have ever listened to.

There is something classically comforting about the style of Sword & Sorcery found within the Conan Stories, but unfortunately the narrator renders them unlistenable.

It did however encourage me to dust off the actual book and now I’m very much enjoying my adventures through the Age undreamed of.

Great collection

Great collection for all Conan fans,something I have been waiting for a long time. All the greatest Conan adventures in one place with commentary about Robert E. Howard’s life.
Must listen if you’re true heroic fantasy fan.

Worth the time investment

It took me a long time to finish the book, and I felt like I'd lost a good friend when I did. The stories themselves are engaging, apart from some in the middle period. The biographical notes at the beginning of each story helps ties things together and gives deeper meaning to them. The narration I first found corny, but it really grew on me as it matched the pulp nature of the material. Definitely picking up even if it will take a while to finish.

fantastic and informative

Great presentation and history of author and genre. still like to know if he was ever paid the $1500 Weird Talks owed him.
Must have loved his mother an awfully lot.

Disappointing.

As a kid, I loved the ‘Marvel’ Conan Comics, and enjoyed the three movies made about the Cimmerian, so I figured I’d give the source material a try. Man is it disappointing. I was aware going into it that it was very much of it’s time, so I was of a mind to be lenient with Howard, but the deeply ingrained and unconcealed racism is too much to allow modern audiences to enjoy the tales properly, and it really undermines the experience.

Unfortunately I had to quit at the halfway point. The tales aren’t strong enough on their own to make the constant references to stereotypical racial features less jarring.

The actor/narrator was solid, and does his best with the material at hand, but I wish I could have my credit back.

Look at the cover

They say don't judge a book by it's cover but in this case I think it's a fair advertisement of the contents.

Got as far as the end of the "middle period" where Howard "got to the business of writing some serious literature" (more than half way through the book). Nothing I heard was worth my time as a casual listener. It maybe interesting as a historic reference.

As a fair warning: it is very sexist and racist (I am aware it was progressive 100 years ago - it isn't now).

Do not recommend.