The Hour of the Dragon (serialized 1935–36) is the only full-length novel Robert E. Howard wrote featuring Conan the Barbarian. When four conspirators resurrect the ancient sorcerer Xaltotun using the Heart of Ahriman, they use his power to usurp Conan’s throne of Aquilonia. Stripped of his crown and imprisoned, Conan must escape, travel across the known world, and recover the Heart before Xaltotun and his masters can consolidate their grip on the Hyborian kingdoms.
Howard expanded the Conan mythos to its widest canvas here, moving his hero through a fully realized alternate-ancient-world epic rather than a single contained adventure. The free EPUB download makes this cornerstone of heroic fantasy available to all readers.