The Conan Chronicles: Volume 1: The People of the Black Circle is a collection of fantasy

Fantasy

Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

 short stories written by Robert E. Howard

Robert E. Howard

Robert Ervin Howard was an American author who wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. Best known for his character Conan the Barbarian, he is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subgenre....

 featuring his sword and sorcery

Sword and sorcery

Sword and sorcery is a sub-genre of fantasy and historical fantasy, generally characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent conflicts. An element of romance is often present, as is an element of magic and the supernatural...

 hero Conan the Barbarian

Conan the Barbarian

Conan the Barbarian is a fictional sword and sorcery hero that originated in pulp fiction magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, several films , television programs, video games, roleplaying games and other media...

. The book was published in 2000 by Gollancz

Gollancz

Gollancz often refers to the British publishing house Victor Gollancz Ltd.Gollancz, a family name originating from the Polish town Gołańcz , is mainly known as the name of a prominent British Jewish family, including:* Sir Hermann Gollancz , rabbi* Sir Israel Gollancz , scholar of...

 as eighth volume of their Fantasy Masterworks

Fantasy Masterworks

Fantasy Masterworks is a series of fantastic fiction classics started by Millennium and continued by Gollancz , as a companion series for their SF Masterworks line.- Published titles :-External links :...

 series. The book, edited by Stephen Jones

Stephen Jones (author)

Stephen Jones is an editor of horror anthologies, and the author of several book-length studies of horror and fantasy films as well as an account of Lovecraft's early British publications....

, presents the stories in their internal chronological order. Most of the stories originally appeared in the magazines The Phantagraph, Weird Tales

Weird Tales

Weird Tales is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine first published in March 1923. It ceased its original run in September 1954, after 279 issues, but has since been revived. The magazine was set up in Chicago by J. C. Henneberger, an ex-journalist with a taste for the macabre....

, Super-Science Fiction

Super-Science Fiction

Super-Science Fiction was an American pulp science fiction magazine in the late 1950s.Super-Science Fiction published a total of 18 issues, beginning in December 1956 and continuing bimonthly until its last edition in October 1959....

, Magazine of Horror and Fantasy Fiction

Fantasy Fiction (magazine)

Fantasy Fiction was a fantasy and science fiction magazine published in the United States in 1953. It was published by Future Publications out of New York. Between February 1953 and November 1953 they released a total of four issues in the digest format.-Famous contributors:Fantasy Fiction...

.

Contents

• Map of the Hyborian Age, by Dave Senior
• "The Hyborian Age
  The Hyborian Age
  The Hyborian Age is an essay by Robert E. Howard pertaining to the Hyborian Age, the fictional setting of his stories about Conan the Cimmerian. It was written in the 1930s but not published during Howard's lifetime...
  
  "
• "The Tower of the Elephant
  The Tower of the Elephant
  "The Tower of the Elephant" is one of the original short stories starring the fictional sword and sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian, written by American author Robert E. Howard. It is set in the pseudo-historical Hyborian Age and concerns Conan infiltrating a perilous tower in order to steal a...
  
  "
• "The Hall of the Dead
  The Hall of the Dead
  "The Hall of the Dead" is one of the original short stories by American author Robert E. Howard starring the fictional sword and sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian, a fragment begun in the 1930s but not finished or published in Howard's lifetime. It was completed by L...
  
  " (synopsis)
• "The God in the Bowl
  The God in the Bowl
  "The God in the Bowl" is one of the original short stories featuring the sword and sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian, written by American author Robert E. Howard but not published during his lifetime. It is set in the pseudo-historical Hyborian Age and concerns Conan robbing a temple museum only to...
  
  "
• "Rogues in the House
  Rogues in the House
  "Rogues in the House" is one of the original short stories starring the fictional sword and sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian, written by American author Robert E. Howard and first published in Weird Tales magazine circa January 1934...
  
  "
• "The Hand of Nergal
  The Hand of Nergal
  "The Hand of Nergal" is one of the original short stories by American author Robert E. Howard starring the sword and sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian, a fragment begun in the 1930s but not finished or published in Howard's lifetime...
  
  " (fragment)
• "The Frost-Giant’s Daughter
  The Frost Giant's Daughter
  "The Frost-Giant's Daughter" is one of the original short stories about Conan the Cimmerian, written by American author Robert E. Howard, but not published in his lifetime....
  
  "
• "Queen of the Black Coast
  Queen of the Black Coast
  "Queen of the Black Coast" is one of the original short stories about Conan the Cimmerian, written by American author Robert E. Howard and first published in Weird Tales magazine circa May 1934...
  
  "
• "The Vale of Lost Women
  The Vale of Lost Women
  "The Vale of Lost Women" is one of the original short stories about Conan the Cimmerian, written by American author Robert E. Howard, but not published during his lifetime. The story was first published in The Magazine of Horror for Spring, 1967, and republished in the collection Conan of Cimmeria...
  
  "
• "The Snout in the Dark
  The Snout in the Dark
  The Snout in the Dark is one of the original stories by Robert E. Howard about Conan the Cimmerian, a fragment begun in the 1930s but not finished or published in Howard's lifetime. It was completed by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter and in this form first published in the collection Conan of...
  
  " (draft)
• "Black Colossus
  Black Colossus
  "Black Colossus" is one of the original short stories starring the fictional sword and sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian, written by American author Robert E. Howard and first published in Weird Tales magazine, June 1933...
  
  "
• "Shadows in the Moonlight
  Iron Shadows in the Moon
  "Shadows in the Moonlight" is one of the original short stories starring the fictional sword and sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian, written by American author Robert E. Howard and first published in Weird Tales magazine in April 1934. Howard originally named his story "Iron Shadows in the Moon"...
  
  "
• "A Witch Shall Be Born
  A Witch Shall be Born
  "A Witch Shall Be Born" is one of the original stories by Robert E. Howard about Conan the Cimmerian. It was written in only a few days in spring of 1934 and first published in Weird Tales in 1934. The story concerns a witch replacing her twin sister as queen of a city state, which brings her...
  
  "
• "Shadows in Zamboula
  Shadows in Zamboula
  "Shadows in Zamboula" is one of the original stories by Robert E. Howard about Conan the Cimmerian, first published in Weird Tales in 1935. Its original title was "The Man-Eaters of Zamboula"....
  
  "
• "The Devil in Iron
  The Devil in Iron
  "The Devil in Iron" is one of the original stories by Robert E. Howard about Conan the Cimmerian, first published in Weird Tales in August of 1934. Howard earned £115 for the publication of this story....
  
  "
• "The People of the Black Circle
  The People of the Black Circle
  "The People of the Black Circle" is one of the original novellas about Conan the Cimmerian, written by American author Robert E. Howard and first published in Weird Tales magazine in three parts over the September, October and November 1934 issues...
  
  "
• "The Slithering Shadow"
• "Drums of Tombalku
  Drums of Tombalku
  "Drums of Tombalku" is an American fantasy short story, one of the original ones by Robert E. Howard featuring Conan the Cimmerian, a fragment begun in the 1930s but not finished or published in Howard's lifetime. It was completed by L. Sprague de Camp and in this form first published in the...
  
  " (draft)
• "The Pool of the Black One
  The Pool of the Black One
  "The Pool of the Black One" is one of the original short stories starring the sword and sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian, written by American author Robert E. Howard...
  
  "
• Robert E. Howard and Conan: The Early Years, by Stephen Jones
  Stephen Jones (author)
  Stephen Jones is an editor of horror anthologies, and the author of several book-length studies of horror and fantasy films as well as an account of Lovecraft's early British publications....