• The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian

  • By: Robert E. Howard
  • Narrated by: Todd McLaren
  • Length: 18 hrs and 1 min
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (1,742 ratings)

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The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian  By  cover art

The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian

By: Robert E. Howard
Narrated by: Todd McLaren
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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

What listeners say about The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • 3 Stars
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  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • 2 Stars
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  • 1 Stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

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!

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35 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Some Great Stories

I hadn't read Robert E. Howard in twenty years, but am better for the reacquaintance. There are some wonderful, well-written stories in this volume. There are also some duds.

As explained in the introduction (which is very interesting and is a highlight of the production), these volumes are presenting the Conan stories in the order they were written, and not in chronological (from the characters' POV) order. This means that Conan may be a middle-aged king in one story, and a hungry young thief in the next. I enjoyed this aspect of the work.

The narrator is well-suited to the subject matter.

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23 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Unadulterated REH

I am a huge fan of the writings of Robert E. Howard and his Conan tales are among my favorites. This series presents the tales as they originally appeared over 70 years ago, not the "posthumous collaborations" published years after REH's unfortunate suicide that most readers are familiar with. Also, Todd McLaren provides yet another strong performance. As a narrator he is more than capable of providing voices to the motley assortment of characters who populated the world REH created.

If you only know of Conan from film and comics this is definitely the place to start reading ( or in this case hearing) the tales as they originally told. I"m looking forward to the rest of Howard's works being released as audiobooks.

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23 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Robert Howard's Unadorned Conan

As a lifelong admirer of fellow Texan Robert E. Howard's work, I am so pleased to see the original Conan stories released in audio with outstanding narration. The stories in this first collection are spellbinding in their scope and imagination. In hearing them again so many years later, I was struck by the realization that many lesser authors over the years have borrowed so much from Howard. Elements of his storytelling are everywhere today, but here is the unadorned original (and the very best of them all). This is not Hollywood's Conan - this is "raw" barbarism.

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21 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A masterpiece brought to audible!!!!

A masterpiece brought to audible. I've read the stories before and was glad that the narration lived up to the hardcopy version. Long live Conan. "Crom and Steel!!!!

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Several glaring mispronunciations

Excellent classic Conan tales.
Would be nice if the narrator pronounced "Cimmerian" properly. Same with the word "guidon".
Worst of all is that Conan is described as a "Cimmerian" FOURTEEN THOUSAND times in this book, and every single time it's pronounced wrong.
It takes you right out of the story.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Busted Book

This audio book is broken. Chapters are out of order and mislabeled. The "introduction" actually starts halfway through Scarlet Citadel. If you go to Scarlet Citadel, it plays a different story, and the actual introduction is found where Black Collossus is supposed to be. Look elsewhere, this audiobook is a wreck.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Masterpiece.

Wow! Finally! A true master a his craft done right. A legit 5 Star.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A must for Robert Howard fans

If you like the Conan stories of Robert Howard then this is a must. If you are not you may find the stories a bit on the thin side. You have to keep in mind these were a series of short stories writen a long time ago, so you have to keep things in perspective. If you are a fan of Conan stories you will like this and it is very cool that the stories are in chronological order for the character and not the order they were written. That helps you see the development of Conan over the years. The narrarator was ok, but he was a bit bland for the work in my opinion. Still, if you like Conan get it.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Sparkling!

The narrator is spectacular and the stories stir the blood. If they ban guns, can we use swords?

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7 people found this helpful