Conan the Usurper

Conan the Usurper
Conan the Usurper by Robert E. Howard, Lancer Books, 1967
Author	Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp
Cover artist	Frank Frazetta
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Conan the Barbarian
Genre	Sword and sorcery Fantasy short stories
Publisher	Lancer Books
Publication date	1967
Media type	Print (Paperback)
Pages	256 pp

Conan the Usurper is a 1967 collection of four fantasy short stories written by Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp featuring Howard's seminal sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. Most of the stories originally appeared in the fantasy magazine Weird Tales in the 1930s. The book has been reprinted a number of times since by various publishers, and has also been translated into German, Spanish, Italian, Swedish and Dutch.

"Introduction" (L. Sprague de Camp)
"The Treasure of Tranicos" (Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp)
"Wolves Beyond the Border" (Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp)
"The Phoenix on the Sword" (Robert E. Howard)
"The Scarlet Citadel" (Robert E. Howard)

Plot summary

Conan, about forty in these stories, embarks on the most desperate gamble of his life — leading a revolution against King Numedides of Aquilonia, with the end of making himself king in his place. From his low point as a treasure-seeking fugitive in the Pictish Wilderness, he is retrieved by allies from his days in the Aquilonian army to lead the revolt. The borderlands suffer grievously during the war, but in the end Conan takes the throne, only to suffer the customary uneasiness of the head that wears the crown, from an attempted assassination involving Stygian sorcerer Thoth-Amon to magical treachery on the battlefield as he strives to defend his hard-won kingship against predatory foreign powers.

The Aquilonian civil war between Conan and Numedides is not actually depicted, but occurs offstage as background to the action of "Wolves Beyond the Border", Howard's only non-Conan tale set in the Hyborian Age. De Camp later made the war itself the subject of his novel Conan the Liberator, co-written with Lin Carter.

"The Phoenix on the Sword", which Howard rewrote from an earlier Kull story, marks his only use of Thoth-Amon as an antagonist, in a somewhat peripheral role — he and Conan never even meet! In later stories de Camp and Carter would later elevate the Stygian sorcerer into one of Conan's principal enemies.

Howard later reused the plot of "The Scarlet Citadel" as the basis of his only Conan novel, The Hour of the Dragon (afterwards retitled Conan the Conqueror).

Chronologically, the four short stories collected as Conan the Usurper fall between Conan the Warrior and Conan the Conqueror.

References

Laughlin, Charlotte; Daniel J. H. Levack (1983). De Camp: An L. Sprague de Camp Bibliography. San Francisco: Underwood/Miller. pp. 42–43.

Preceded by Conan the Warrior	Lancer/Ace Conan series (chronological order)	Succeeded by Conan the Conqueror

Conan the Barbarian

Stories, books

Books	Conan (books)

Original works by Robert E. Howard	"Beyond the Black River" "Black Colossus" "The Black Stranger" "Cimmeria" "The Devil in Iron" "Drums of Tombalku" "The Frost-Giant's Daughter" "The God in the Bowl" "The Hall of the Dead" "The Hand of Nergal" The Hour of the Dragon "Jewels of Gwahlur" "The People of the Black Circle" "The Phoenix on the Sword" "The Pool of the Black One" "Queen of the Black Coast" "Red Nails" "Rogues in the House" "The Scarlet Citadel" "Shadows in the Moonlight" "Shadows in Zamboula" "The Slithering Shadow" "The Snout in the Dark" "The Tower of the Elephant" "The Vale of Lost Women" "A Witch Shall be Born" "Wolves Beyond the Border"

Non-Howard works (some based on non- Conan Howard works)	"Black Sphinx of Nebthu" "Black Tears" "The Blood-Stained God" "The Castle of Terror" "The City of Skulls" Conan and the Amazon Conan and the Death Lord of Thanza Conan and the Emerald Lotus Conan and the Gods of the Mountain Conan and the Grim Grey God Conan and the Manhunters Conan and the Mists of Doom Conan and the Shaman's Curse Conan and the Sorcerer Conan and the Spider God Conan and the Treasure of Python Conan at the Demon's Gate Conan, Lord of the Black River Conan of the Isles Conan of the Red Brotherhood Conan of Venarium Conan, Scourge of the Bloody Coast Conan the Barbarian (1982) Conan the Barbarian (2011) Conan the Bold Conan the Buccaneer Conan the Champion Conan the Defender Conan the Defiant Conan the Destroyer Conan the Fearless Conan the Formidable Conan the Free Lance Conan the Gladiator Conan the Great Conan the Guardian Conan the Hero Conan the Hunter Conan the Indomitable Conan the Invincible Conan the Liberator Conan the Magnificent Conan the Marauder Conan the Mercenary Conan the Outcast Conan the Raider Conan the Rebel Conan the Relentless Conan the Renegade Conan the Rogue Conan the Savage Conan the Triumphant Conan the Unconquered Conan the Valiant Conan the Valorous Conan the Victorious Conan the Warlord "The Curse of the Monolith" "Death-Song of Conan the Cimmerian" "The Flame Knife" "The Gem in the Tower" "Hawks over Shem" "The Ivory Goddess" "The Lair of the Ice Worm" "Legions of the Dead" "Moon of Blood" "The People of the Summit" "Red Moon of Zembabwei" The Return of Conan The Road of Kings "The Road of the Eagles" "Shadows in the Dark" "Shadows in the Skull" "The Star of Khorala" The Sword of Skelos "The Thing in the Crypt" "The Witch of the Mists"

Collections	Black Colossus The Bloody Crown of Conan The Coming of Conan The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian The Complete Chronicles of Conan Conan The Conan Chronicles (Howard et al) The Conan Chronicles (Jordan) The Conan Chronicles, 1 The Conan Chronicles 2 The Conan Chronicles, 2 The Conan Chronicles II Conan of Aquilonia Conan of Cimmeria Conan the Adventurer Conan the Avenger Conan the Barbarian (1954) Conan the Barbarian (2011) Conan the Freebooter Conan the Swordsman Conan the Usurper Conan the Wanderer Conan the Warrior The Conquering Sword of Conan The Devil in Iron The Essential Conan The Further Chronicles of Conan Jewels of Gwahlur King Conan The People of the Black Circle The Pool of the Black One Queen of the Black Coast Red Nails Rogues in the House Sagas of Conan The Sword of Conan Tales of Conan The Tower of the Elephant The Treasure of Tranicos

Scholarship	The Blade of Conan The Conan Grimoire The Conan Reader The Conan Swordbook The Spell of Conan

Authors

Creator	Robert E. Howard

Later authors	Poul Anderson Leonard Carpenter Lin Carter L. Sprague de Camp Roland J. Green John C. Hocking Robert Jordan Sean A. Moore Björn Nyberg Andrew J. Offutt Steve Perry John Maddox Roberts Michael A. Stackpole Roy Thomas Harry Turtledove Karl Edward Wagner

Other media

Television	Conan the Adventurer (animated series) Conan and the Young Warriors Conan the Adventurer (TV series)

Film	Conan the Barbarian (1982) Conan the Destroyer (1984) Kull the Conqueror (1997) Conan the Barbarian (2011) The Legend of Conan (2016)

Comics	Conan (comics) Conan (Marvel Comics) Conan (Dark Horse Comics) Savage Sword of Conan

Games	Age of Conan (Rise of the Godslayer) Conan (2004) Conan (2007) Conan: Hall of Volta Conan: The Mysteries of Time Conan Against Darkness! Conan Collectible Card Game Conan Role-Playing Game Conan: The Roleplaying Game Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of Conan the Buccaneer Conan the Mercenary Conan Triumphant Conan Unchained!

Setting

Characters	Bêlit Conan the Barbarian Kulan Gath Queen Taramis Red Sonja Serpent Men Thoth-Amon Thulsa Doom Valeria Vammatar Xaltotun Zenobia

Deities	Crom Mitra Set

World	Hyborian Age Aquilonia Cimmeria Acheron Empire

Chronology	The Hyborian Age Conan Chronologies

Kull	Thurian Age

Red Sonja	"The Shadow of the Vulture"

References	Cohen the Barbarian Conan the Librarian

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Conan the Usurper

Contents

Plot summary

References