The Hour of the Dragon
Conan the Conqueror
Copyright un-renewed.
s royal kinsman, Namedides, and has been away from his native realm for years, but he is of the blood of the old dynasty, and many of the barons would secretly hail the overthrow of Conan, who is a nobody without royal or even noble blood. But the common people are loyal to him, and the nobility of the outlying provinces. Yet if his forces were overthrown in the battle that must first take place, and Conan himself slain, I think it would not be difficult to put Valerius on the throne. Indeed, with Conan slain, the only center of the government would be gone. He is not part of a dynasty, but only a lone adventurer."
"I wish that I might see this king," mused Xaltotun, glancing toward a silvery mirror which formed one of the panels of the wall. This mirror cast no reflection, but Xaltotun's expression showed that he understood its purpose, and Orastes nodded with the pride a good craftsman takes in the recognition of his accomplishments by a master of his craft.
"I will try to show him to you," he
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The hour of the dragon, one of the finest tale from the Conan chronicles. Written in the 1930's it is outdate Lord of the Rings. Robert E. Howard did a stunning job in creating one of the most famous character in genre of fantasy.
Out of the original 26 short stories of Conan written by Howard, Hour of the Dragon is the longest, itself is a book instead of a short story. The story is loosely based on other stories in the Conan chronicles such as:Scarlet Citadel, Phoneix on the Sword.etc..
Howard's writing is lively, colourful and descriptive. Despite the casual hints of sexism. However the reader should keep in mind that the book was written in the 1930's, when sexism was racism was norm to the society. Even though by today's standard, the story and its depiction of such discrimination could be controversial, however Howard's creative imagination and transending writing style is still as fresh, exiciting as ever.
Do not discredit the entire Conan chronicle because of these imperfections. When one looks beyond these flaws the Conan chronicles truly stand out as one of the best fantasy character in the genre.
Do not miss this one!
this was NOT a classic read. Even for a book written in the 1930's, it was incredibly annoyingly macho-male to the very end. The female roles were all pretty-girls with no brains who took the back seat; the book in itself was kinda dry and absolutely conventional. Wouldn't read it if I were you.
The classic fantasy novel, full length. Conan isn't just muscles in action, the author gives him some depth, and the story is better than some of today's writing in the genre. Howard's experience with pulp, and thus, the need to write crisp and still colourful, helped him making a book that is never boring and packs scores of landscape and action, magic and struggle for power. Even a small love story is part of the plot, but it will only show at the very end.
I will not give full points because I think Michael Moorcock writes even better fantasy.
