The Tower of the Elephant

Robert E. Howard

Jun 2014 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

"The Tower of the Elephant" is one of the original short stories starring the fictional sword and sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian, written by American author Robert E. Howard. It is set in the pseudo-historical Hyborian Age and concerns Conan infiltrating a perilous tower in order to steal a fabled gem from an evil sorcerer named Yara. Due to its unique insights into the Hyborian world and atypical science fiction elements, the story is considered a classic of Conan lore and is often cited by Howard scholars as one of his best tales.[

Ratings and reviews

This work of Conan fiction falls flat with how determined it is to shoehorn in world building, but the being inside the tower steals the show, as well as the suspense of climbing the mysterious tower. Not literally by any means, but it's a fun adventure for someone looking for a heroic fantasy tale in its purist form.

Amazing story

About the author

Robert E. Howard was born in Peaster, Texas on January 22, 1906. At the beginning of his writing career, he primarily wrote pulp fiction and had numerous stories published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales including Spear and Fang, The Hyena, Wolfshead, Red Shadows, and The Shadow Kingdom. He created the character of Conan the Barbarian in the pages of Weird Tales. By 1936, almost all of his fiction writing was in the western genre and his first novel, A Gent from Bear Creek, was about to be published. He committed suicide on June 11, 1936 at the age of 30.