Conan the Barbarian: The Official Motion Picture Adaptation

By: L. Sprague de Camp, Lin Carter

Narrated by: Bradford Hastings

Two of the most famous contributors to the Conan legend present the official novel of Conan the Barbarian, the seminal fantasy film written by John Milius and Oliver Stone.

In the novel by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter, the Cimmerian youth Conan witnesses the death of his parents at the hands of Thulsa Doom, a priest of Set. Enslaved, he is trained as a gladiator. Gaining his freedom he allies with Subotai, a Hyrkanian archer, and a skilled swordswoman thief named Valeria. Together they raid the Tower of the Serpent, and then Conan breaks away to seek the cult of Doom—and revenge on the sorcerer who leads it.

©2023 Lin Carter and L. Sprague de Camp (P)2023 Blackstone Publishing

Great Conan Addition

Let me start by saying that I am very pleased they brought back the narrarator from Conan, Blood of the Serpent. His ability to capture a gruffness in the voice of Conan is awesome. Although I did notice that he mispronounced some words that he had gotten correct in Blood of the Serpent (Vilayet for example) - it wasn't jarring or anything so it was no big deal.

The story just works. It works in the movie and of course it works in the novel. They brought back the OGs to adapt this one - Lin Carter and L Sprauge De Camp. These guys are legends in the sword and sorcery genre for their work on the Conan pastiches. I was not disappointed by their work on this novel.

I'm glad the authors gave us a version of the actual Conan instead of Arnold.

Whatever company it is nowadays pushing these Conan novels (especially in audiobook format) you guys are heros.

And in the meantime - how about getting this great narrarator to do some of the past DeCamp/Carter novels? The pastiches don't get the love they deserve because for some reason it's cool to be seen as a Howard purist.

Great work all around for everyone involved in this - I thoroughly enjoyed every minute and I'll be giving it another listen for sure!

The fathers sword

Cool that we finally know what his parents names are and the he was able to rescue his fathers sword and used it against Doom

Thoroughly enjoyable!

Based on John Milius' screenplay, this has recently returned to print and audio. It's fun! A Lot of fun. There are slight differences from the movie but nothing that takes away its gusto. I think it's my favorite Conan novel outside of Howard's original stories.

Same movie, different Conan

The most interesting thing about this version is how different Conan is betrayed. Unlike the goofy charisma of Arnold, This Conan has that fierce gloomy vibe you would expect from Howard’s original writings and the voice acting is perfect. That alone gives this adaptation a unique spin and totally justifies the purchase.

By Crom, this narration is incredible!

Any Conan fan who has been around even a little while has seen the classic Arnold film. This book does it Justice and then some. If you love the film you’ll love this book. If you love Conan you’ll love this book. I have been a fan of both the film and Conan and all his adventures for years. By Crom I love this book!