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.4.6-5.9: �word and shield against the�hand-written above �ho raised his hand above� �owers of darkness, protecting helpless tribes as in the world� youth�hand-written above the line beginning �s as if in benediction.� no indication of intended insertion point, some readings conjecturalThe Children of the NightOriginally appeared in Weird Tales, April-May 1931.222.28: a line of asterisks marks the section break; 222.38.7: �eer-skin�hyphenated at line break; 227.20: a line of asterisks marks the section break; 231.1.8: medi�valBran Mak MornText taken from Howard� original holograph manuscript, provided by Glenn Lord.A facsimile reproduction is included in this edition.No changes have been made for this edition.However, some readings are conjectural.SynopsisThe original typescript could not be located in time for this edition.The text is taken from the first publication, in Cromlech: The Journal of Robert E.Howard Criticism, No.3 (Cryptic Publications, 1988).No changes have been made for this edition.Worms of the Earth (draft version)Text taken from Howard� original typescript, provided by Glenn Lord.No changes have been made for this edition.FragmentText taken from Howard� original typescript, provided by Glenn Lord.No changes have been made for this edition.PoemText taken from Howard� original typescript, provided by Glenn Lord.No changes have been made for this edition.UntitledText taken from Howard� original typescript, provided by Glenn Lord.No changes have been made for this edition.Robert E.Howard and the Picts: A ChronologyExcerpts from Howard� letters are taken from the originals, provided by Glenn Lord, and reproduced verbatim.�ntitled Essay, circa 1920-1923�is taken from Howard� original holograph manuscript, provided by Glenn Lord.Excerpt from Post Oaks and Sand Roughs is taken from the edition published by Donald M.Grant (West Kingston, RI, 1990).Letter from Farnsworth Wright to Robert E.Howard, 16 March 1926, taken from original, provided by Glenn Lord.Excerpt from �he Night of the Wolf�taken from Howard� original typescript, provided by Glenn Lord.Excerpt from letter from H.P.Lovecraft to Robert E.Howard, 20 July 1930, text provided by David Schultz and S.T.Joshi.Selections from �he Hyborian Age�taken from original publication, in The Hyborian Age (Los Angeles: LANY Cooperative Publications, 1938).Excerpt from �archers of Valhalla�taken from first publication, in Marchers of Valhalla (West Kingston, RI: Donald M.Grant, 1972).Excerpt from �he Valley of the Worm�taken from original appearance in Weird Tales, February 1934.Excerpt from � Biographical Sketch of Robert E.Howard�taken from The Last Celt: A Bio-Bibliography of Robert E.Howard (West Kingston, RI: Donald M.Grant, 1976).Thanks Geof Darrow, Mike Mignola and Al Williamson for your support and encouragment.Gary GianniI would like to thank my patient friend and mentor, Glenn Lord, for his generous cooperation and assistance with the Robert E.Howard Library of Classics, and for nearly a half-century of championing the cause of Robert E.Howard; Marcelo Anciano and Paul and Michael Berrow, for believing in the writer from Cross Plains, developing the plan, and allowing me aboard; David Gentzel, for his hard work, dedication, and invaluable advice; and my wife, Shelly, for her love, patience, and understanding.Rusty BurkeI would like to thank my wife Mandy, for her love and understanding of how much this project means to me, and my daughter Emma for not complaining when I� not around at the weekends; Marcelo for helping me realise a twenty year old dream and Geoff West for being the unwitting catalyst.Stuart WilliamsA big thanks to my partners in Wandering Star, Michael and Paul Berrow; to Stuart for his typographic skills; to Jim Keegan who is always there to share his design talents and to my mother, Gillian Anciano, all, without whom these books would not be made.Marcelo AncianoTHE FULLY ILLUSTRATED ROBERT E.HOWARD LIBRARY from Del Rey BooksThe Coming of Conan the CimmerianThe Savage Tales of Solomon KaneThe Bloody Crown of ConanBran Mak Morn: The Last KingThe Conquering Sword of Conan**forthcomingPRAISE FOR ROBERT E.HOWARD� adore these books.Howard had a gritty, vibrant style�roadsword writing that cut its way to the heart, with heroes who are truly larger than life.I heartily recommend them to anyone who loves fantasy.� �AVID GEMMELL Author of Legend and White Wolf�he voice of Robert E.Howard still resonates after decades with readers�qual parts ringing steel, thunderous horse hooves, and spattered blood.Far from being a stereotype, his creation of Conan is the high heroic adventurer.His raw muscle and sinews, boiling temper, and lusty laughs are the gauge by which all modern heroes must be measured.� �RIC NYLUND Author of Halo: The Fall of Reach and Signal to Noise�f you love heroic adventure and black-and-white heroism, this is the stuff.� �mazing Stories�or stark, living fear.what other writer is even in the running with Robert E.Howard?� �.P.LOVECRAFT�oward.painted in the broadest strokes imaginable.A mass of glimmering black for the menace, an ice-blue cascade for the hero, between them a swath of crimson for battle, passion, blood.� �RITZ LIEBER�orget Schwarzenegger and the movies.This is pure pulp fiction from the 1930s, before political corrections and focus groups dictated the direction of our art.Swords spin, entrails spill, and women swoon.� �en� Health�oward wrote pulp adventure stories of every kind, for every market he could find, but his real love was for supernatural adventure and he brought a brash, tough element to the epic fantasy which did as much to change the course of the American school away from precious writing and static imagery as Hammett, Chandler, and the Black Mask pulp writers were to change the course of American detective fiction.� �ICHAEL MOORCOCK Award-winning author of the Elric saga�n this, I think, the art of Robert E.Howard was hard to surpass: vigor, speed, vividness.And always there is that furious, galloping narrative pace.� �OUL ANDERSON�oward honestly believed the basic truth of the stories he was telling.It� as if he� said, �his is how life really was lived in those former savage times!��AVID DRAKE Author of Grimmer Than Hell and Dogs of War�or headlong, nonstop adventure and for vivid, even florid, scenery, no one even comes close to Howard.� �ARRY TURTLEDOVEBran Mak Morn: The Last King is a work of fiction.Names, places, and incidents either are products of the author� imagination or are used fictitiously.A Del Rey� Book Published by The Random House Publishing GroupCopyright � 2005 by Robert E.Howard Properties, LLC.Series Editor: Rusty BurkeAll rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright conventions.Published in the United States by Del Rey Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.Previously published in Great Britain by Wandering Star, Ltd., in 2001.This edition published by arrangement with Wandering Star Ltd.Del Rey is a registered trademark and the Del Rey colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.www.delreybooks.comeISBN 0-345-48461-4v1 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]