Robert E. Howard's Conan the Cimmerian Barbarian

The Complete Weird Tales Omnibus

By: Robert E. Howard, Finn J. D. John

Narrated by: Finn J. D. John

This collection contains all of Robert E. Howard's Conan the Cimmerian stories published during his lifetime, contextualized with biographical details of their author.

A full e-book copy of this book in Interactive PDF format is included and can be downloaded by clicking the "PDF" link in your Audible library (it's in the "Title" column). This PDF includes the audiobook chapter numbers, to make navigation easier.

Excerpt from the introduction:

"When the first Conan of Cimmeria story appeared in the pages of Weird Tales magazine in December 1932, nothing quite like it had ever before appeared in print. Author Robert E. Howard had been writing stories broadly similar to it for half a decade; but it was with Conan, and the Hyborian Age storyworld in which he was placed, that Howard finally fully doped out the sub-genre that would become known as "sword and sorcery", of which Howard is today considered the founding father.

"Conan's origins date back to an experiment in 1926 titled "The Shadow Kingdom", featuring the character Kull, exile of Atlantis. The idea - Howard's great innovation - was, at its core, historical fiction set in a pre-historical period. That pre-historical period - being, of course, lost in the mists of time - could contain anything Howard might like to include: evil races of sentient snake-things, sorcerers, undead creatures, demons walking upon the earth, anything.

"In other words, Howard was creating a secular mythology."

©2017 Finn J.D. John (P)2017 Pulp-Lit Productions

Howard & Finn John are a great combo!

The Conan character is well known, but other than the movie with Schwarzenegger, and some comics, I didn't know much about Howard's work. Finn provides amazing insights about the author. For example, like Tolkien, Howard put a lot of effort into defining the history of his world.

The character is in many ways unexpected. He is a barbarian in name only. Despite often taking the role of plunderer, he is honorable and charitable. He is quick witted, and knowledgeable about the world. Lastly, when put in positions of command, he is fair and loyal to those who follow him.

Finn John's narration is great. I'm new to audio books, but I've probably heard him read for over a hundred hours by now, and I'm not bored of him.

Finally to read the actual source material

How it could take me this long to actually consume all of Howard's original material is surprising. I truly enjoyed it and recommend others do so as well. Conan is well worth the time!!

mind blown

I didn't expect to burn through these stories so quickly but they're some of the best raw fantasy I've ever read or heard. I highly recommend!

Mediocre narrator

The narrator is too limited and the author sometimes tells more than shows, but otherwise it’s a fun read

Conan's a cool dude

Compelling and fun stories which only improve the deeper into the chronology you get. Some dated ideas about race which are unfortunate but Conan himself is awesome. The voice performance is good, though the attempt at womens' voices isn't the best. Worth it though to hear the whole origin of Conan the Cimmerian.

A must have for all sword and sorcery fans

This series is not only a great tapestry of the exploits of one of fantasy’s most well known characters, but an example of modern fantasy’s beginnings. Any reader/listener will be hard pressed not to enjoy this collection of wonderful stories

Great audio book

I’m a huge fan of the Original Movie, and now am a fan of the original source material. The narrator is great. My only minor complaint is the narrator’s narration of female characters. He tries well, but hearing a man do a feminine voice is sometimes laughable. I’d like it better if they got a woman to do the female characters.

Definitely Worthwhile

A great way to get into the Conan series, and well worth the cost. was also neat since it included some information about the author and the development of the stories.

A Supple foundation for fantasy storytelling.

Good stories but take a shot every time "supple" is used to describe a woman.

Finn's Conan and impersonation is pure gold.

I wish there were more. The narrator captures the spirit of the work and enhances it in almost every way. My one complaint would be that his female impression was a bit grating, but I think that it was serviceable here.