The Sword of Skelos

The Sword of Skelos
The Sword of Skelos by Andrew J. Offutt, Bantam Books, 1979
Author	Andrew J. Offutt
Cover artist	Bob Larkin
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Conan the Barbarian
Genre	Sword and sorcery Fantasy novel
Publisher	Bantam Books
Publication date	1979
Media type	Print (Paperback)
Pages	246 pp.
ISBN	0-553-12970-8

The Sword of Skelos is a fantasy novel written by Andrew J. Offutt featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian, the third and final volume in a trilogy beginning with Conan and the Sorcerer and continuing with Conan the Mercenary (which was actually published after The Sword of Skelos,^[1] though relating events prior to it). It was first published in paperback in May 1979 by Bantam Books, and reprinted in August 1981. Later editions were issued by Ace Books (September 1987, reprinted May 1991) and Tor Books (February 2002). The first British edition was published by Sphere Books in 1989.^[2]

Reception

Reviewer Lagomorph Rex finds the novel "interesting in that, instead of the standard map which nearly every pastiche dating back to the Lancers had in the front, it has its very own location specific map, which illustrates some what the route which Conan and Khassek and later Conan and Isparana take to arrive in Zamboula." His primary comments are in regard to mapping and speculation on how the Cimmerian had picked up a speaking knowledge of Turanian so early in his career.^[3]

Catherine Wiseman noted that "In this version of Conan - unlike in several others - there is some sympathetic attention even for the completely unimportant pawns on the complicated chessboard. For example, a certain Sarid who appears for a total of four paragraphs in the entire book. We learn that he was a soldier of the King of Turan, stationed in the city of Samara; that he was engaged to be married to a reasonably good girl; and that had things turned out otherwise, he had a good change of a satisfactory, even if not distinguished, military career and a reasonable, even if not spectacular, family life. But things did turn out otherwise - i.e. the beautiful and cunning Isparana turned all her seductive power on him, which even a much stronger character would have found it difficult to resist; as a result, he deserted his service and followed her into the desert; as a result of which, he attacked Conan at her demand and killed Conan's friend who was riding at Conan's side; as a result of which he was inevitably dead himself two minutes later. For the crucial plot twist dreamed up by the author, it was necessary that this poor little pawn end up a bloody corpse getting stiff on the desert floor. Then, the main characters move on and there is no further occasion to mention the poor Sarid. Still, for a moment a reader could have felt some compassion for him and his thoroughly ruined life".^[4]

Adaptations

The story was adapted by Roy Thomas and John Buscema in issues #56-58, cover-dated September–November 1980, of the Marvel Comics magazine series The Savage Sword of Conan. The Thomas/Buscema tale was later reprinted in the 2009 Dark Horse Comics trade paperback The Savage Sword of Conan Volume 5.

Notes

↑ Conan the Mercenary title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
↑ The Sword of Skelos title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
↑ Lagomorph Rex. "Hyborean Apocrypha: Conan: The Sword of Skelos" (Review), August 15, 2010.
↑ Catherine Wiseman , "The Significance of Small Things", Ch. 2, Ch.6

References

Fantastic Fiction entry for The Sword of Skelos

Preceded by Conan the Liberator	Bantam Conan series (publication order)	Succeeded by The Road of Kings
Preceded by Conan the Mercenary	Complete Conan Saga (William Galen Gray chronology)	Succeeded by Conan the Outcast

Conan the Barbarian

Stories, books

Books	Conan (books)

Original works by Robert E. Howard	"Beyond the Black River" "Black Colossus" "The Black Stranger" "Cimmeria" "The Devil in Iron" "Drums of Tombalku" "The Frost-Giant's Daughter" "The God in the Bowl" "The Hall of the Dead" "The Hand of Nergal" The Hour of the Dragon "Jewels of Gwahlur" "The People of the Black Circle" "The Phoenix on the Sword" "The Pool of the Black One" "Queen of the Black Coast" "Red Nails" "Rogues in the House" "The Scarlet Citadel" "Shadows in the Moonlight" "Shadows in Zamboula" "The Slithering Shadow" "The Snout in the Dark" "The Tower of the Elephant" "The Vale of Lost Women" "A Witch Shall be Born" "Wolves Beyond the Border"

Non-Howard works (some based on non- Conan Howard works)	"Black Sphinx of Nebthu" "Black Tears" "The Blood-Stained God" "The Castle of Terror" "The City of Skulls" Conan and the Amazon Conan and the Death Lord of Thanza Conan and the Emerald Lotus Conan and the Gods of the Mountain Conan and the Grim Grey God Conan and the Manhunters Conan and the Mists of Doom Conan and the Shaman's Curse Conan and the Sorcerer Conan and the Spider God Conan and the Treasure of Python Conan at the Demon's Gate Conan, Lord of the Black River Conan of the Isles Conan of the Red Brotherhood Conan of Venarium Conan, Scourge of the Bloody Coast Conan the Barbarian (1982) Conan the Barbarian (2011) Conan the Bold Conan the Buccaneer Conan the Champion Conan the Defender Conan the Defiant Conan the Destroyer Conan the Fearless Conan the Formidable Conan the Free Lance Conan the Gladiator Conan the Great Conan the Guardian Conan the Hero Conan the Hunter Conan the Indomitable Conan the Invincible Conan the Liberator Conan the Magnificent Conan the Marauder Conan the Mercenary Conan the Outcast Conan the Raider Conan the Rebel Conan the Relentless Conan the Renegade Conan the Rogue Conan the Savage Conan the Triumphant Conan the Unconquered Conan the Valiant Conan the Valorous Conan the Victorious Conan the Warlord "The Curse of the Monolith" "Death-Song of Conan the Cimmerian" "The Flame Knife" "The Gem in the Tower" "Hawks over Shem" "The Ivory Goddess" "The Lair of the Ice Worm" "Legions of the Dead" "Moon of Blood" "The People of the Summit" "Red Moon of Zembabwei" The Return of Conan The Road of Kings "The Road of the Eagles" "Shadows in the Dark" "Shadows in the Skull" "The Star of Khorala" The Sword of Skelos "The Thing in the Crypt" "The Witch of the Mists"

Collections	Black Colossus The Bloody Crown of Conan The Coming of Conan The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian The Complete Chronicles of Conan Conan The Conan Chronicles (Howard et al) The Conan Chronicles (Jordan) The Conan Chronicles, 1 The Conan Chronicles 2 The Conan Chronicles, 2 The Conan Chronicles II Conan of Aquilonia Conan of Cimmeria Conan the Adventurer Conan the Avenger Conan the Barbarian (1954) Conan the Barbarian (2011) Conan the Freebooter Conan the Swordsman Conan the Usurper Conan the Wanderer Conan the Warrior The Conquering Sword of Conan The Devil in Iron The Essential Conan The Further Chronicles of Conan Jewels of Gwahlur King Conan The People of the Black Circle The Pool of the Black One Queen of the Black Coast Red Nails Rogues in the House Sagas of Conan The Sword of Conan Tales of Conan The Tower of the Elephant The Treasure of Tranicos

Scholarship	The Blade of Conan The Conan Grimoire The Conan Reader The Conan Swordbook The Spell of Conan

Authors

Creator	Robert E. Howard

Later authors	Poul Anderson Leonard Carpenter Lin Carter L. Sprague de Camp Roland J. Green John C. Hocking Robert Jordan Sean A. Moore Björn Nyberg Andrew J. Offutt Steve Perry John Maddox Roberts Michael A. Stackpole Roy Thomas Harry Turtledove Karl Edward Wagner

Other media

Television	Conan the Adventurer (animated series) Conan and the Young Warriors Conan the Adventurer (TV series)

Film	Conan the Barbarian (1982) Conan the Destroyer (1984) Kull the Conqueror (1997) Conan the Barbarian (2011) The Legend of Conan (2016)

Comics	Conan (comics) Conan (Marvel Comics) Conan (Dark Horse Comics) Savage Sword of Conan

Games	Age of Conan (Rise of the Godslayer) Conan (2004) Conan (2007) Conan: Hall of Volta Conan: The Mysteries of Time Conan Against Darkness! Conan Collectible Card Game Conan Role-Playing Game Conan: The Roleplaying Game Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of Conan the Buccaneer Conan the Mercenary Conan Triumphant Conan Unchained!

Setting

Characters	Bêlit Conan the Barbarian Kulan Gath Queen Taramis Red Sonja Serpent Men Thoth-Amon Thulsa Doom Valeria Vammatar Xaltotun Zenobia

Deities	Crom Mitra Set

World	Hyborian Age Aquilonia Cimmeria Acheron Empire

Chronology	The Hyborian Age Conan Chronologies

Kull	Thurian Age

Red Sonja	"The Shadow of the Vulture"

References	Cohen the Barbarian Conan the Librarian

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/10/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.