The Hour of the Dragon (eBook)

Robert Ervin Howard (1906–1936) was an influential American author of pulp fiction, who is best known for his character Conan the Barbarian and is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subgenre. Howard was born and raised in the state of Texas, which provided a backdrop for much of his fiction. His acute understanding of myth, history, and his ability to weave detailed narrative tapestries led to a prodigious output of tales in genres as diverse as fantasy, historical adventure, westerns, horror, and boxing stories. 'The Hour of the Dragon', also known as 'Conan the Conqueror', is Howard's only full-length novel featuring Conan and showcases his characteristic prose marked by vivid imagery, fast-paced action, and a thematic preoccupation with the inexorable forces of history and barbarism. This novel, like much of his work, underlines Howard's belief in the primacy of personal strength and courage. Howard's works have left an indelible imprint on popular culture and have continued to influence a wide array of media, from literature to film, well after his untimely death by suicide at the age of thirty. His literary style, merged with a romanticized and mythologized version of antiquity, displayed a unique conflation of the naturalistic with the fantastic, setting a standard for future generations of fantasy writers.