ing “The People of the Black Coast” and “The
Tower of the Elephant,” are undeniable classics of
fantasy. His world was a violent one, and Conan
does not always act by what we might consider
high moral standards. He supports himself by
thievery for much of his life, but he always adheres
to his personal code of honor and is unalterably
opposed to the clearly evil men and monsters he
meets during his travels. Howard is also credited
with introducing some of the earliest strong female
characters in fantasy, particularly Red Sonja, who
developed from a minor character in the Conan
stories to the protagonist of a series of later novels
by other writers and later even had her own comic
book. De Camp and Carter were criticized at times
for having diluted the original material, but the
popularity of the character was immense, and
Howard’s influence can be seen quite clearly in a
number of authors of varying talents, including
Carter himself, Andrew J. OFFUTT, John Jakes,
Gardner Fox, David GEMMELL, and many others.
No fantasy writer other than J. R. R. TOLKIENhas
had more influence on modern fantasy fiction.
During the 1980s several other writers were
invited to produce additional book-length adven-
tures. The most prominent of these was Robert
JORDAN, who subsequently moved on to create an
immensely popular fantasy cycle of his own. Others
who contributed include Poul Anderson, Karl Ed-
ward WAGNER, Andrew J. Offutt, John Maddox
Roberts, Harry TURTLEDOVE, and Roland Green.
Most of these extended adventures were decidedly
inferior to the original material. Marvel Comics in-
troduced a graphic version during the early 1970s,
often adapted from Howard’s stories, with original
material appearing as well. There were also two
movies made starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as
Conan, though neither were based on any of
Howard’s, or indeed any written, material, though
both were subsequently novelized. Conan the Bar-
barian(1981) is the better of the two, recreating
Conan’s youth and providing a story line not dis-
similar to those of Howard himself. Conan the De-
stroyer(1984), a modified quest story, is palatable
but less true to Howard’s character.
Both of the movies were novelized, the first
by L. Sprague de Camp and the second by Robert
Jordan. The only Conan novel written by Howard
himself is The Hour of the Dragon,which has also
appeared as Conan the Conqueror.It was originally
published in magazine form in 1935 but not as a
book until 1950. Howard’s novel deals with an
older Conan who has apparently seized the
throne of a small country and must now battle
with his wits as well as his sword as conspiracies
and dark magic threaten his rule. Over the years
there has been considerable nonfiction published
about the background history and culture of Hy-
borea including at least two full-length books.
There have also been numerous parodies, most
notably a three-novel series of spoofs by the
British writer James Bibby. Conan is the barbarian
hero against which all others are measured and
the single most dominant character in all of
sword and sorcery fiction.A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s
CourtMark Twain(1889)
Mark Twain is best known for his creation of two
young characters named Tom Sawyer and Huckle-
berry Finn, but he also wrote a number of fantasies,
many of them satiric, involving happenings in the
afterlife, talking animals, mythical creatures, and
other extraordinary events. His most famous fan-
tasy, however, is this interesting time travel story in
which a man from Twain’s time is magically trans-
ported by a bump on the head back through the
centuries to the court of King Arthur at Camelot,
where he meets all of the legendary characters,
from Sir Lancelot to Merlin the wizard.
Twain’s protagonist, Hank Morgan, fortu-
nately has a working understanding of technology
and the foreknowledge of an eclipse, which saves
his life. His ability to build working devices is in-
strumental in elevating his status to that of wizard,
in which role he is known as “The Boss.” His ex-
ploits are also designed to point out that the ro-
mantic vision of that period, which is still
prevalent today, ignored the reality of the situa-
tion, the filth, squalor, disease, virtual slavery of
much of the population, religious repression, and
inequities of the government, even under the sup-
posedly enlightened King Arthur. Ultimately, Mor-
gan’s attempts to turn the monarchy into a
republic are doomed to failure. Some of the humorA Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court 63