The Phoenix on the Sword
The birth of sword and sorcery as a recognised form.
Book Entry · Fantasy
The Hour of the Dragon
by Robert E. Howard · 1935 · Conan the Cimmerian
What is The Hour of the Dragon about?
The only full-length Conan novel, serialised in Weird Tales 1935–36. A cabal of plotters resurrects the ancient sorcerer Xaltotun of Acheron to depose King Conan, who must escape dungeons, cross a hostile continent and recover the Heart of Ahriman to reclaim his throne. Howard deliberately stitched together the best beats of earlier stories for a British book deal that fell through, producing a kind of greatest-hits quest narrative: pirates, necromancers, vampires and battlefield carnage at a relentless gallop. As pure-blooded adventure fantasy, it has rarely been bettered.
Why it matters
The capstone of the original Conan canon and a template for every usurped-king fantasy since. Posthumously republished as Conan the Conqueror.
Where does it sit in the series?
Howard's tales of the barbarian adventurer who carves his way across the Hyborian Age from thief to king — the founding cycle of sword and sorcery.
In the Guide from Conan the Cimmerian:
- The Phoenix on the Sword (1932)
- The Hour of the Dragon (1935)
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