While the authorial role of Catherine Crook de Camp is not credited in the book, it has been acknowledged that the novel was a three-way collaboration, with Lin Carter writing the first draft, L. Sprague de Camp the second, and Catherine Crook de Camp the third.[1][4][5] L. Sprague de Camp stated that "Credit for such virtues as this novel may possess should go to her."[4]
Plot summary
The book retells the story of the hero's youth, in a version quite different from the account established in previous tales by Howard, de Camp and Carter. Conan is the son of a blacksmith in barbaric Cimmeria, learning "the riddle of steel" from his father as the latter forges a sword. His village is massacred by the cultic followers of Thulsa Doom, an evil sorcerer, and Conan himself enslaved. Set with others to push a millstone, he develops prodigious strength over the years, ultimately pushing it all by himself. As an adult he wins his freedom and embarks on a life of adventure, ultimately wreaking his vengeance on the fiendish Doom with his father's sword.
Thulsa Doom in other media
Thulsa Doom, the villain of both the film and the book, was borrowed from Howard's "King Kull" series, in which he figured as an antagonist of Kull. He had never previously been depicted as a foe of Conan.
Reception
Reviewer Don D'Ammassa wrote that the novelization was "[n]ot bad, but it does not always feel like a Conan story."[5]
References
^ abLaughlin, Charlotte; Daniel J. H. Levack (1983). De Camp: An L. Sprague de Camp Bibliography. San Francisco: Underwood/Miller. p. 39.