The Hour of the Dragon

The Hour of the Dragon is the only full-length novel that Robert E. Howard wrote about Conan the Cimmerian, his sword and sorcery hero. It was serialized in the pulp magazine Weird Tales from December 1935 to April 1936, only a few months before the author's death. Howard had written it in 1934 for the British publisher Denis Archer, whose firm went bankrupt before it could be printed. His other twenty Conan stories are short pieces, which makes this work notable for its length.

The novel is set in the Hyborian Age, a fictional world Howard created. Conan, now mature and king of Aquilonia, must face an invasion of his realm by Nemedia, its longtime rival. The title refers to the dragon on the Nemedian banner, set against the Aquilonian lion. As the king prepares for battle, a black magic sent from Nemedia paralyzes him and keeps him from leading his troops. Aquilonia is defeated, and Conan is taken prisoner to the dungeons of Belverus, the enemy capital.

The plot follows a group of conspirators who, through necromancy, revive Xaltotun, an ancient sorcerer from the long-forgotten empire of Acheron. With his power, a foreign occupation settles over Aquilonia while the plotters aim to place Valerius on the throne. Conan escapes with the help of Zenobia, an enslaved young woman, and sets out on a long quest for the Heart of Ahriman, the gem that will let him defeat the sorcerer and reclaim his crown. The story crosses many of the Hyborian kingdoms and ends with the barbarian's triumph, after which he vows to make Zenobia his queen.

Critics of epic fantasy regard the book as one of Howard's finest works, admired for its driving action and for passages of atmospheric prose. Its influence can be seen in how the genre shaped the model of the barbarian hero. Marvel adapted it to comics in 1974, with writing by Roy Thomas and art by Gil Kane and John Buscema, and in 2012 Dark Horse revisited it in a new series titled Conan the Conqueror. The novel has seen many editions and translations, and its original title was restored in 1977, after decades of publication as Conan the Conqueror.