At some point in the near future, I'm going to read the last Robert E. Howard Conan volume and I was wondering who's written the best Conan novels outside the canon?

I know there have been several authors and novels over the years, so some help in picking good stories beyond REH would be appreciated.

I've only read the ones that were somehow adapted from his stories, like L. Sprague De Camp.

I've heard Robert L. Jordan's are the best. It's where he made his rep.

I have some of those paperbacks where DeCamp and Carter rewrote and embellished the Howard canon, but I'd rather stay away from those since the original Howard texts have been restored. And I don't believe they're in print anymore anyway.

Then again, they're probably worth collecting just for those great Frazetta covers.

The Robert Jordans are probably out of print, but if I find them reasonably priced on either eBay or Amazon, I might delve into them.

Thanks, Jay.

Just get the Frazetta art in Icons and save yourself the time.

Thanks for the tip, Herr Hanzo.

none of them

Gerry, that's a given. But I'm willing to at least try another writer's take on Conan, because after I finish volume 3 of the original Howard stories, that's it.

Surprised that Roy Thomas (Marvel's original Conan comics writer) never wrote a Conan novel, but I think I read once that he did write one and it was rejected by either the Howard estate and/or the publisher.

http://www.superherohype.com/news/artic ... ian-sequel Very unique take on a Conan author, I think. I would dearly love to read his script.

Roy Thomas!

I would like to read Roy Thomas's rejected Conan novel myself.

Now that is a good answer.

Gerry's answer was the first thing that came to mind the moment I saw the thread title but Roy Thomas did a great job on Conan.

Jordan's were good. But, still, it was a franchise at that point so it wasn't like he could take any risks or have anything happen too beyond the pale. Very formulaic, but still worth reading.

Sergio Aragones.

ha!!!

Gotta go with Roy Thomas, for following the rest and tying it together as thoughtfully as possible. It's hard to imagine it without John Buscema; you could really see his zeal for this material, as well.

I love the comics iteration; that's where it all really begins, for me. So, I wrote about it! And you're welcome to read about Conan's four color adventures right here http://www.associatedcontent.com/articl ... conan.html
and we can talk about your favorite issues (of the comic!) here.

The classic Thomas/Smith/Buscema comics are where Conan began for me, but I quickly sought out the Howard stuff in short order.

Of course, at the time, all that was available were the books that were edited/embellished/revised by DeCamp and Carter, but they were the closest thing to the original until a few years back, when Howard's original texts were restored.