Age of Magic Sources of Inspiration - Conan the barbarian

Conan (Robert E. Howard)

Conan is a classic pulp-fiction hero, a barbarian warrior with a love-hate relationship with civilisation. Strong, fearless, standing up for good against corrupt kings and evil magicians, fighting against the odds and always ending up with the girl. While Robert E. Howard sadly died young, his creation has outlived him, and many other authors have taken up his mantle. There are scores of Conan stories written, many of which are out of print at the moment. For a starting point, the original Conan stories written by Robert E. Howard have been collected together into a single hardback volume or two paperbacks: Not to be confused with these (despite the titles) are two volumes that collect together seven Conan novels written by Robert Jordan. During the 1960s and 1970s, the Conan history was fleshed out in a twelve book series by L Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter. The twelve books included versions of all of Robert E. Howard's complete stories and fragments, supplemented by additional stories that filled in the gaps in Conan's lifetime. These books are out of print but can be obtained second hand: 1. Conan 2. Conan of Cimmeria 3. Conan the Freebooter 4. Conan the Wanderer 5. Conan the Adventurer 6. Conan the Buccaneer 7. Conan the Warrior 8. Conan the Usurper 9. Conan the Conqueror 10. Conan the Avenger 11. Conan of Aquilonia 12. Conan of the Isles Conan was successfully brought to life in the movie Conan the Barbarian. This is one of the best fantasy movies ever made, with excellent fight scenes and classic swords and sorcery feel, and launched the movie career of Arnold Swarzenegger. The sequel, Conan the Destroyer, also starring Arnold Swarzenegger, has a more comic book feel with a fairly camp cast, but is still worth watching. Another swords and sorcery movie set in the same world and also starring Arnold Swarzenegger is Red Sonja, but this is generally felt to be a weaker affair. A third Conan movie, Conan the King, was planned, but eventually turned into Kull the Conqueror, which starred Kevin Sorbo and was a bit of a disappointment. Following the success of Hercules and Xena Warrior Princess, Conan was also made into a live action TV series in the US, which lasted only one season. _____________________________ Because we are a participant in the Amazon.co.uk Associates scheme, if you follow the links shown and buy any of the books or movies we suggest, Age of Magic will receive commission on your purchase - it won't cost you any extra, but it will help us to maintain Age of Magic in the future.