Robert E. Howard Books In Order

Publication Order of Conan (Gnome Press) Books

Chronological Order of Conan (Gnome Press) Books

Publication Order of Conan (Lancer/Ace) Books

Publication Order of Conan (Donald M. Grant) Books

Publication Order of Conan The Cimmerian Books

Publication Order of Bran Mak Morn Collections

Publication Order of Cormac Mac Art Collections

Publication Order of Dark Man Collections

Publication Order of Dark Storm Conan Chronology Books

Publication Order of James Allison Books

Publication Order of Solomon Kane Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Story Collections

Publication Order of Weird Works Of Collections

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Graphic Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Robert E. Howard was one of the greatest authors from America, who liked to write pulp fiction novels in a wide range of genres, including fantasy, historical adventure, detective fiction, boxing, horror, sword & sorcery, and western. He is particularly well known for creating the character of Conan the Barbarian, and is considered as the father of the subgenre of sword and sorcery. Author Howard was born as Robert Ervin Howard on January 22, 1906, in Peaster, Texas, United States. He was brought up in Texas and spent most the time growing up in the Cross Plains town. From his childhood days, he was intellectual and bookish. Howard also had an interest in boxing. For a short period of time during his teens, he was involved in bodybuilding. He eventually took up amateur boxing. Howard had the dream of becoming an author of adventure novels from the age of nine, but he didn’t have any success until the age of 23. And from then on, his writings were published in numerous journals, magazines, newspapers, etc., until his death at the age of 30. Author Howard had achieved success in various genres of writing. The first Conan book written by him was released in 1934, but the stories did not come in book form when he was alive. His Conan stories were mainly published in the pulp magazine called Weird Tales. It was while writing for the Depression-era pages of this magazine that author Howard created Conan’s character. The cultural impact of this character was often compared with the likes of Count Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, Batman, Tarzan, and James Bond. With the creation of Conan and the other heroes in his books, author Howard created the sword & sorcery genre, which spawned many imitators and gave Howard a huge influence. Even today, the works of Howard are reprinted and he remains an immensely followed author. He died on June 11, 1936, by committing suicide. The circumstances that surrounded his death speculated that he was not mentally fit. After learning that his mother is not going to recover from coma, which she acquired because of fighting against tuberculosis, her entire life, Howard went out of the hospital, sat in his car and killed himself with a gunshot. Howard’s father was a traveling physician named Dr. Isaac Howard.

The early life of Howard was spent moving across numerous boomtowns and cowtowns of Texas. During his youth, he saw the breaking down of his parents’ relationship. The family also faced hardships due to financial problems. Howard’s mother, Hester Jane, had a great impact on his intellectual growth. She influenced him to develop a love towards literature and poetry. Howard always loved to read and learn, but he was not interested in the concept of schooling. He used to hate anyone who showed authority. Because of confronting bullies frequently, Howard learned about the presence of enemies and evil in the world. This made him realize the value of violence and strength. Howard was frequently exposed to effects of violence and injury as he was son of a doctor. Later, he became preoccupied with sports, particularly boxing. He was greatly influenced by the popular names in the boxing world such as Jack Johnson, Jack Dempsey, Bob Fitzsimmons, and James Jeffries. Due to his voracious reading habits and having a natural talent of prose writing, Howard developed an interest in professional writing. He started writing stories from an early age, most of which were typically based on the historical fiction stories centering on the Arabs, Vikings, and battles. At the same time, he also began studying the popular works of some prominent of that time and this also had a great impact on his growth as a novelist. Howard shifted to Cross Plains from Texas when he was 13 years old and stayed there for the rest of his life. When he turned 15, Howard began sampling pulp magazines. In the next several years, he was busy creating characters. Howard also began submitting stories to the magazines. He even faced rejections, but that did not stop him from achieving his goals. As he did not have any mentor to teach him, Howard started finding the mistakes on his own and correcting. This helped him in the long run of his career.

An initially written book of this series is entitled ‘Conan the Buccaneer’. It was released in 1968 by the Ace publication. The main characters introduced in this book include Conan and Thoth-Amon. Author Howard has set the story of the book in Hyboria. At the start of the book, Conan is shown as being in the late thirties. He is the captain of Wastrel. Conan gets involved in the Zingara kingdom’s politics, while seeking the treasures on the rumored Nameless Isle. He is not alone in the quest of the treasure. The others who join Conan in the mix up include a fugitive named Princess Chabela, a privateer called Zarono, and Thoth-Amon, a Stygian sorcerer. As the story proceeds further, all these characters are shown trying to outplay each other. They try to find the treasure before anyone else and become powerful. However, none of them realize that the news about the treasure was just a rumor. When Conan comes to know about the spreading rumor, he decides to return back to his kingdom. During his journey, he faces many obstacles and successfully overcomes them to remain alive and healthy.

Another interesting book written by Howard in this series is called as ‘Conan the Conqueror’. This book was also released by the Ace publication in 1984, after its original release in 1936. At the beginning of the story of this novel, Conan is introduced as a great swordsman, who is capable of fighting both the natural as well as the supernatural enemies in his time-lost world called as the ‘Hyborian Age’. Conan is middle aged and is the ruler of an ancient kingdom called Aquilonia. Further, in the plot of the book, it is depicted that Conan must indulge in a final battle to prevent the destruction of the known world at the hands of a resurrected sorcerer called Xaltotun. Also, Conan is required to embark on a journey to find and obtain the Heart. On the whole, the novel appears to be a well written story. Author Howard was praised for his excellent style of writing. The readers and the critics appreciated his efforts in bringing out a masterpiece novel like this one that depicts the heroics of Conan. The novel became a huge success and remains so even after so many years of author Howard’s death.