Conan the Great
cover of Conan the Great | |
| Author | Leonard Carpenter |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Ken Kelly |
| Language | English |
| Series | Conan the Barbarian |
| Genre | Sword and sorcery Fantasy |
| Publisher | Tor Books |
Publication date | 1990 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 277 pp |
| ISBN | 0-812-50714-2 |
| Preceded by | Conan the Avenger |
| Followed by | Conan of Aquilonia |
Conan the Great is a fantasy novel written by Leonard Carpenter featuring Robert E. Howard's seminal sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in paperback by Tor Books in April 1990 (the 1989 date appearing on the title page verso is erroneous).[1] It was reprinted by Tor in August 1997. It has the distinction of being the only one of the Tor series of Conan novels set in the period of Conan's kingship.
Plot
After a victorious war against the invading armies of Nemedia and Ophir, King Conan of Aquilonia rescues from the battlefield the dwarf Delvyn, jester to the enemy kings. Delvyn, however, is not the fool he appears, but the secret driving force behind the invasion. The ambitious devotee of an evil demon, he seeks a king powerful enough to spread its worship throughout the world. In the wake of his former patrons' failure to conquer Aquilonia, he believes his new employer both strong enough to unite the Hyborian nations and pliant enough to establish his universal cult. Skillfully insinuating himself into the king's confidence, the scheming jester plays on Conan's concerns over the resurgent strength of the kingdom of Koth under its new ruler, the mysterious, amoral and ruthless Prince Armiro. In a contest for empry, Aquilonia extends its conquests to the east while Koth drives west, crushing the realms between them as they approach their inevitable clash. The king is estranged from former friends and supporters and dependant on his new hanger-on as Delvyn feeds Conan's vainglory. Only the revelation that Armiro is his own son by his former lover, Queen Yasmala of Khoraja, stops Conan at the brink and spurs him to shake the jester's baleful influence.
Notes
- ^ [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?BKTG22753 ISFDb entry for the initial printing of Conan the Great.
Reference
- Conan the Great title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database