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 Perfect Introduction

Having long known Conan only in generalities and film, I picked this up largely to fill in an unfortunate blank space in my pulp sci-fi/fantasy education: And it most certainly did not disappoint. Much more than just Superman with a sword, Conan impressed me as much more than just the dim barbarian of parodies and spin-offs and proves himself as the king of fantasy heroes. Howard too possesses a talent for action scenes that even nearly 100 years has not diminished, and I found his frequent introductory poems an especial surprise. While undoubtedly a product of its times, there's a visceral adventurousness and hero envy in these stories that any stick-swinging tomboy can appreciate, and if any elements feel cliche, it's only because the freshness they enjoy here in their original incarnations has been aped so many time since.

The Conquering Sword of Conan and other Howard stories are totally on my wishlist after this, and here's hoping some of Howard's horror stories make the site soon!

Crom! Classic tales of swords & sorcery!

If you could sum up The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian in three words, what would they be?

Swords, sorcery & adventure

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian?

Conan's adventures during the Tower of the Elephant adventure

Have you listened to any of Todd McLaren’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Awesome performance by McLaren. He varies his voice in tone, accents, etc. so it sounds like a whole cast of people as the characters & forget it's just one guy doing it all!

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

This is the first time I read any Conan stories by Howard. The image of Conan in my mind was a big, dumb brute that raped & killed at will. But I was surprised/impressed that Conan is actually intelligent, often doesn't fight unless the situation calls for it (or someone sets him off) and he has his own code of honor/ethics.

This freaking reader...

I didn't realize "feet" was pronounced "fret" combine this with the dreadful emphasis on the word Cimmeria or any variation thereof. In every other media of this wildly popular character it's "sim-air-eeah" but for some reason this dimwit reader says it "simmer-eeah." It's maddening to a long time fan like me. Also since when did Conan the freaking barbarian sound like a 90 pound Arab? I get that my interpretation of the character may not be shared by everyone, but seriously?! I love these stories and it's a shame they found the one actor who apparently has never even heard of Conan to read for one of the most iconic characters in fiction. The stories are great, but the reader here completely ruins the experience. What a shame.

Repetitious

Would you try another book from Robert E. Howard and/or Todd McLaren?

No

Has The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian turned you off from other books in this genre?

Yes

How could the performance have been better?

Far better. The narrator mispronounces an astonishingly large number of words.

Was The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian worth the listening time?

No. The first story, revisited towards the end, is unique, as are a few more but the majority of the stories are the same - girl, blood, bad guy, evil spirrits, etc. It gets tiring after a while. I listened all the way through in case there was a new story.

Any additional comments?

I rarely write reviews but I neede to this time. The packaging of the stories out of chronological sequence seems to be packaging lack of effort as a virtue.

Great stories, horrible narrator!

The stories are great! Finally, REH in his original form. His genius fully draws you in and paints Conan on an epic scale. The drawback is a narrator who doesn't know how to pronounce the words and just makes them up. Example: guidon is pronounced Gweedon. Even worse, no one told him how to pronounce Cimmerian. A disappointing presentation, but the quality of the writing shines through.

Great

The story jumps around telling little
Mini stories of Conan's life and is not time aligned. I thought this was great and being more used to the Conan in movies and comics gave a fresh perspective on the legendary Cimerian. Also was neat learning about Robert Howard. Recommend

Required for any fantasy lover.

Excellent stories describing Conan’s escapades. It’s also well written like HP love craft. Worth the purchase.

Great stories hampered by the narration

I am not a fan of the narrator and it sort of killed the joy of experiencing these stories again. I also wanted a bit more of a gap between the stories or some narrative about them after each one.

Nice to hear the original Robert Howard

I enjoyed this because REH was so ahead of his time. Yes there will be some things that may upset some but remember this was written in the 1920's. Come and sit around the fire and listen to the stories about the "Cimmerian" and forget about what is PC. Looking forward to more, and the narrator is wonderful as well.

The embodiment of SWORD & SORCERY!!!

Great listen, got me through my days of work.Roberts words vividly tear your mind awesomely.