View source for Conan the Barbarian (1982 novel)

{{About|the 1982 novel||Conan the Barbarian (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox Book | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject_Books -->
| name          = Conan the Barbarian
| title_orig    = 
| translator    = 
| image         = [[File:Conan the Barbarian novel.jpg|200px]]
| image_caption = ''Conan the Barbarian'' by [[L. Sprague de Camp]] and [[Lin Carter]], [[Bantam Books]], 1982
| author        = [[L. Sprague de Camp]]<br>[[Lin Carter]]<br>[[Catherine Crook de Camp]] 
| illustrator   = 
| cover_artist  = [[Renato Casaro]]
| country       = [[United States]]
| language      = [[English language|English]]
| series        = [[Conan the Barbarian]]
| genre         = [[Sword and sorcery]] [[Fantasy novel]]
| publisher     = [[Bantam Books]]
| release_date  = [[1982 in literature|1982]]
| english_release_date =
| media_type    = Print ([[Paperback]])
| pages         = 181 pp
| isbn          = 0-553-22544-8
| congress= CPB Box no. 2618 vol. 4
| oclc= 8449461
| preceded_by   = Conan the Rebel
| followed_by   = 
}}

'''''Conan the Barbarian''''' is a 1982 [[fantasy]] novel written by [[L. Sprague de Camp]], [[Lin Carter]] and [[Catherine Crook de Camp]] featuring [[Robert E. Howard]]'s seminal [[sword and sorcery]] hero [[Conan the Barbarian]], a novelization of the [[Conan the Barbarian (1982 film)|feature film]] of the same name. It was first published in paperback by [[Bantam Books]] in May 1982.<ref name="Laughlin">{{cite book | last=Laughlin | first=Charlotte | coauthors=Daniel J. H. Levack | title=De Camp: An L. Sprague de Camp Bibliography | location=San Francisco | publisher=Underwood/Miller | year=1983 | page=39}}</ref><ref name="ISFDb">{{isfdb title|id=3261|title=Conan the Barbarian (1982)}}</ref> The first hardcover edition was issued by [[Robert Hale]] in 1983, and the first British edition by [[Sphere Books]] in April 1988.<ref name="ISFDb"/> A later [[Conan the Barbarian (2011 novel)|novel with the same title]] by [[Michael A. Stackpole]] was issued by [[Berkley Books]] in 2011 as a tie-in with the [[Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)|2011 remake]] of the 1982 film.<ref name="ISFDb2">{{isfdb title|id=1286700|title=Conan the Barbarian (2011)}}</ref>

While the authorial role of Catherine Crook de Camp is not credited in the book, it has been acknowledged that the novel was in fact a three-way collaboration, with Lin Carter writing the first draft, L. Sprague de Camp the second, and Catherine Crook de Camp the third.<ref name="Laughlin"/><ref name="Canby">Canby, Vincent. "Film View: Questions Grown in the Dark." Article in the ''New York Times'', June 6, 1982, pages H19-H20.</ref> L. Sprague de Camp stated that "Credit for such virtues as this novel may possess should go to her."<ref name="Canby"/>

==Plot summary==
The book retells the story of the hero's youth, in a version quite different from the account established in previous tales by Howard, de Camp and Carter. '''Conan''' is the son of a blacksmith in barbaric '''Cimmeria''', learning "the riddle of steel" from his father as the latter forges a sword. His village is massacred by the cultic followers of '''[[Thulsa Doom (character)|Thulsa Doom]]''', an evil sorcerer, and Conan himself enslaved. Set with others to push a millstone, he develops prodigious strength over the years, ultimately pushing it all by himself. As an adult he wins his freedom and embarks on a life of adventure, ultimately wreaking his vengeance on the fiendish Doom with his father's sword.

==Thulsa Doom in other media==
Thulsa Doom, the villain of both the film and the book, was borrowed from Howard's "[[King Kull]]" series, in which he figured as an antagonist of Kull. He had never previously been depicted as a foe of Conan.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Conan}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conan The Barbarian (Novel)}}
[[Category:American fantasy novels]]
[[Category:1982 novels]]
[[Category:Conan the Barbarian novels]]
[[Category:Novels by L. Sprague de Camp]]
[[Category:Novels based on films]]
[[Category:20th-century American novels]]


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