This is absolutely the best Conan novel ever written in my opinion. It follows Conan when at the peak of his power as king of Aquilonia, he is overthrown by dark, evil magic from Stygia and turned into a hunted refugee. A 3,000 year old magician from the most evil empire that ever existed is resurrected and with his sinister aid, Conan's enemies cause the barbarian's downfall. The plot twists and turns in wonderful fashion, following the Heart of Arihman, a strange extremely powerful magic jewel from another universe. He fights back as only he can against tremendous odds; beautiful women love and aid him; other beautiful women try to kill him; he travels through many hostile countries; his days as a corsair and pirate are remembered and used; and so, so, much more. This book was a joy to read and it will be a good listen for Conan fans.
By : Robert E. Howard (1906 - 1936)
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The plot is a loosely based on a melange of motifs from previous Conan short stories, most notably "The Scarlet Citadel", with which its early chapters shares an almost identical storyline: Conan, captured and placed in a monster-infested dungeon, finds an unexpected ally and escapes. Meanwhile, the population of the Aquilonian capital, believing him dead, riots and is ready to accept an alternative King. From here the two diverge: The Scarlet Citadel, a short story, ends with Conan coming back when the rioting just started and making short work of his foes; in the book-length Hour of the Dragon it's much more complicated, Aquilonia has to live under a long and harrowing foreign occupation while Conan goes through a long hazardous quest, before he could finally come back and dispose of his foes.
The book begins when Conan is about forty-two, during his reign as the King of Aquilonia, and deals with a plot by a group of conspirators to depose him in favor of Valerius, heir to Conan's predecessor Numedides, whom he had slain to gain the throne. To accomplish this they resort to necromancy, resurrecting Xaltotun, an ancient sorcerer from the forgotten empire of Acheron. With his aid, the Aquilonian army is defeated by the rival kingdom of Nemedia and occupied. Conan, captured, is slated for execution until a sympathetic slave girl, Zenobia, risks her life to free him.
Conan's quest to retrieve the Heart of Ahriman in order to defeat the wizard and regain his throne takes him through all the kingdoms of the Hyboria Age.
After his eventual triumph, he vows to make Zenobia his queen.
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