''Red Nails'' is a 1977 collection of three
fantasy short stories and one essay by American writer
Robert E. Howard
Robert Ervin Howard (January 22, 1906June 11, 1936) was an American writer. He wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. He is well known for his character Conan the Barbarian and is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subge ...
, featuring his
sword and sorcery
Sword and sorcery (S&S) is a subgenre of fantasy characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent adventures. Elements of romance, magic, and the supernatural are also often present. Unlike works of high fantasy, the tale ...
hero
Conan the Barbarian. The collection was edited by
Karl Edward Wagner. It was first published in hardcover by
Berkley/Putnam in 1977, and in paperback by
Berkley Books
Berkley Books is an imprint of the Penguin Group.
History
Berkley Books began as an independent company in 1955. It was founded as "Chic News Company" by Charles Byrne and Frederick Klein, who had worked for Avon; they quickly renamed it Berk ...
the same year. It was reprinted in hardcover for the
Science Fiction Book Club, also in 1977, and combined with the Wagner-edited ''
The Hour of the Dragon'' and ''
The People of the Black Circle'' in the book club's omnibus edition ''
The Essential Conan
''The Essential Conan'' is a collection of fantasy short stories written by Robert E. Howard featuring his sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. The book was published in 1998 by the Science Fiction Book Club. It collects the editions o ...
'' in 1998. The stories originally appeared in the fantasy magazine ''
Weird Tales'' in the 1930s.
The pieces in ''Red Nails'', in common with those in the other Conan volumes produced by Karl Edward Wagner for Berkley, are based on the originally published form, of the texts in preference to the edited versions appearing in the earlier
Gnome Press and
Lancer
A lancer was a type of cavalryman who fought with a lance. Lances were used for mounted warfare in Assyria as early as and subsequently by Persia, India, Egypt, China, Greece, and Rome. The weapon was widely used throughout Eurasia during the M ...
editions of the Conan stories. In contrast to the earlier editions, which included Conan tales by authors other than Howard, Wagner took a purist approach, including only stories by Howard, and only those thought to be in the public domain. His editorial comments dismiss editorial revisions made in the earlier editions.
Contents
*"Foreword" by Karl Edward Wagner
*"
Beyond the Black River
"Beyond the Black River" is one of the original short stories about Conan the Cimmerian, written by American author Robert E. Howard and first published in '' Weird Tales'' magazine, v. 25, nos. 5-6, May-June 1935. The story was republished in ...
"
*"
Shadows in Zamboula"
*"
Red Nails
"Red Nails" is the last of the stories featuring Conan the Cimmerian written by American author Robert E. Howard. A novella, it was originally serialized in '' Weird Tales'' magazine from July to October 1936, the months after Howard's suicide. ...
"
*"
The Hyborian Age" (essay)
*"Afterword" by Karl Edward Wagner
1977 short story collections
Conan the Barbarian books
Conan the Barbarian books by Robert E. Howard
Fantasy short story collections
Berkley Books books
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fr:Conan : Les Clous rouges