Zusammenfassung
Zusammenfassung von The Hour of the Dragon
Go deeper: the whole of The Hour of the Dragon
About 5 h to read.Für wen es gedacht ist
You will love this book if you enjoy sword and sorcery, fast chases, daring escapes and a fierce hero who fights his way through kingdoms, pirate ships and haunted temples.
Worum es in diesem Buch geht
What if the man who takes your crown cannot be killed by any sword? That is the problem facing Conan, king of Aquilonia, in The Hour of the Dragon. The book opens in a candlelit chamber in Nemedia, where four plotters wake a wizard who has been dead for three thousand years.
Robert E. Howard wrote this novel of the Cimmerian barbarian for magazine readers who wanted action on every page. It is his only full-length Conan book. You get battles, prison escapes, sea chases and haunted temples, and everything hangs on a red jewel called the Heart of Ahriman.
In dieser Zusammenfassung
- 1Four plotters wake a dead wizardFree
- 2A plague, a battle, and a falling cliff
- 3Chained in the pits, Conan fights free
- 4A witch shows the king his fallen realm
- 5Conan walks into the Iron Tower
- 6The hunt for the jewel leads south
- 7Amra the corsair sails into Stygia
- 8Barbarian instinct stands against ancient sorcery
- 9Kingship rests on loyalty, not blood
- 10A story told in fast scenes and strong images
Punkt 1 von 10
Four plotters wake a dead wizard
The book opens with a ritual. Four men stand around a green sarcophagus in the city of Belverus, each holding a black candle. Orastes, a priest thrown out of his order for dabbling in black magic, lays a blazing red jewel on a withered mummy. The jewel is the Heart of Ahriman, and it brings the body back to life.
The man who rises is Xaltotun, once high priest of Set in the empire of Acheron, which fell three thousand years ago. The three other men each want something. Tarascus wants Nemedia, Valerius wants Aquilonia, and Amalric wants power behind them both. Together they ask the wizard to clear the way.
A plague will kill the Nemedian king and his sons, and then Nemedia will march against Conan, who strangled the old king to take the Aquilonian throne. Ambitious men borrow a power they do not understand. Power taken from the dead never works only for the living.
That’s 1 of 10 key points.
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Go deeper: the whole of The Hour of the Dragon
About 5 h to read.Who’s who
- Conan
- The Cimmerian barbarian who has become king of Aquilonia. He fights to win back his stolen throne and to find the one jewel that can beat a wizard.
- Xaltotun
- A priest of Set from ancient Acheron, brought back from the dead. He serves the plotters in public and follows his own dark plans in private.
- Valerius
- The yellow-haired heir of Aquilonia's old dynasty. He takes the throne with Nemedian help and rules with a bitter, dangerous hatred of everyone around him.
- Tarascus
- The ambitious brother of the Nemedian king who seizes the crown after the plague. He fears the wizard he helped to raise and plots against him.
- Amalric
- The wealthy baron of Tor who commands the Nemedian army and plans to use both kings and the wizard to win an emperor's throne.
- Zenobia
- A slave girl in the palace at Belverus who has loved Conan from afar. She risks her life to free him from the pits.
- Zelata
- A mountain witch who shelters Conan and lives with a great gray wolf. She shows Conan visions of his kingdom and gives him a riddle.
- Hadrathus
- A calm priest of the outlawed Asura cult in Tarantia. He shelters Conan and tells him why the Heart of Ahriman matters so much.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 74,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 4 h 55 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary; paperback, hardcover and large print at cost
- LanguagesEnglish and 13 other languages
Questions about The Hour of the Dragon
What is The Hour of the Dragon about?
It follows Conan, king of Aquilonia, after a wizard brought back from the dead helps Nemedia crush his army. Conan escapes, and he searches the world for the Heart of Ahriman, the one jewel that can match the wizard's magic.
Who is Xaltotun in The Hour of the Dragon?
Xaltotun is a priest of Set from the ancient empire of Acheron, who died three thousand years before the story. Four plotters bring him back with the Heart of Ahriman, hoping his necromancy will win them crowns.
What is the Heart of Ahriman?
It is a glowing red jewel of cosmic origin that can restore life and also destroy it. Xaltotun once guarded it against those who could wield it against him, and Conan seeks it to overcome his sorcery.
Is The Hour of the Dragon a true story, and when was it written?
No, it is pure fantasy set in the invented Hyborian Age, with real-sounding kingdoms such as Aquilonia and Stygia. Robert E. Howard wrote it in the mid 1930s and it appeared in a magazine in serial form.
Is The Hour of the Dragon a good place to start with Conan?
Yes, it works well on its own. It is a single complete adventure with a clear plot, short chapters, a fast pace and plenty of explanation of the world, so new readers can follow Conan easily.
Cite this edition
Howard, Robert E. The Hour of the Dragon. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-hour-of-the-dragon.
Howard, R. E. (2026). The hour of the dragon. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-hour-of-the-dragon (Original work published 1935)
Howard, Robert E. The Hour of the Dragon. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-hour-of-the-dragon.
@book{howard2026hour,
author = {Howard, Robert E.},
title = {The Hour of the Dragon},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-hour-of-the-dragon},
note = {First published 1935}
}
