Conan of the Isles
Cover of first edition
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| Author | L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter |
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| Cover artist | John Duillo |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Conan the Barbarian |
| Genre | Sword and sorcery |
| Publisher | Lancer Books |
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Publication date
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1968 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 189 pp |
Conan of the Isles is a fantasy novel by American writers L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published October 1968 in paperback by Lancer Books, and reprinted in July 1970, 1972, and May 1973; publication was then taken over by Ace Books, which reprinted the novel in May 1977, May 1979, April 1980, July 1981, April 1982, November 1982, November 1983, June 1984, September 1986, February 1991, and May 1994. The first British edition was published in paperback by Sphere Books in December 1974. a number of times since by various publishers. It has also been translated into French, German, Hungarian, Spanish, Russian and Japanese.
King Conan, in his mid sixties, grows restless - especially since the death of his beloved wife Zenobia. With the approach of old age, what he most dreads is to die in bed – helpless, surrounded by physicians and whispering courtiers. He would much rather die in battle – but there seems little prospect of that, since he himself made Aquilonia powerful and prosperous and eliminated virtually all threats. The prospect he faces as King is many boring years of tax administration and abjudicating complicated legal cases. And meanwhile Conan's eldest son, also called Conan, is now twenty years old – a very worthy son and heir who had already given a very good account of himself at the age of thirteen (Conan of Aquilonia), and who is fully ready to assume the throne.
Suddenly, there is a new a grave crisis: Conan's old friend and loyal supporter, Count Trocero of Poitian, is suddenly snatched away from the Council Chamber itself by Red Shadows, sorcerous sendings of unknown origin. Though it happened in front of Conan himself, in a room full of courtiers and guards, there was nothing anyone can do against insubstantial shadows who suddenly appear, grab a person and disappear together with him. This is followed by the Red Shadows striking again and again, snatching at random men and women of all ages and social positions. As would later turn out, these sinister acts were perpetrated by the wizard priests of the dark god Xotli, descendants of refugees from sunken Atlantis, who settled on the other side of the ocean – and who seek to placate their demon god's voracious appetite for human sacrifice.
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Wikipedia