1 h 23 minAudiobook5 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
In Zamboula, a room for the night can become a trap—and a rescue can lead straight into a priest’s power.
Conan arrives in Zamboula, a crowded trading city where money, religion, and political influence hold an uneasy balance. At Aram Baksh’s inn, shelter conceals a murderous threat. His sword stands between him and a gruesome death. Beyond the inn, the dark streets offer no promise of safety, and helping a stranger brings dangers that strength alone may not settle.
When Conan encounters Zabibi and a man driven into violent madness, he intervenes. She seeks help for her lover, and her account draws him toward the temple of Hanuman. There, the cruel priest Totrasmek holds power through religious authority, drugs, and intimidation. Conan must bring suspicion and practical judgment to bear in a place where elaborate threats serve calculated deception.
What you’ll discover
- A city without safety Enter streets where an inn, a doorway, or a temple can conceal violence.
- A rescue with consequences Follow Conan as helping Zabibi draws him into a struggle involving her lover and a priest.
- Power behind the temple Discover how Totrasmek uses authority and fear to make his temple a place of danger.
- Strength against intimidation Meet Baal-pteor, a formidable strangler whose confidence confronts a fighter who refuses to be overawed.
- A wary, practical hero Enjoy Conan’s blunt suspicion as he faces both physical threats and carefully calculated deception.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy swordplay, desert cities, sinister priests and heroes who think on their feet. It suits fans of pulp adventure and anyone curious about where Conan first stalks his foes.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A Warning in the Bazaar
- The Room Is a Trap
- Into the Ape God's Shrine
- Rumor, Appearance and Pace
Who’s who
- ConanA Cimmerian barbarian with little money and a sharp mind, who trusts his sword and instincts and wants coin, safety and a fair fight.
- ZabibiA Zamboulan dancer who claims her lover was poisoned by a priest, and who needs a strong man to kill him.
- Aram BakshA soft-footed innkeeper whose cheap rooms hide a bargain with night prowlers, and who wants only profit.
- TotrasmekThe scheming high priest of Hanuman, feared across Zamboula, who rules through dread and covets a certain jeweled ring.
- Baal-pteorA huge brown strangler trained in a distant land to kill with his hands, who serves Totrasmek as guard.
- AlafdhalA young Turanian officer, the lover Zabibi names, who lies helpless under a priest's drug.
- The Zuagir nomadA ragged desert man who warns Conan about Aram Baksh's house because he thinks of the Cimmerian as a brother.
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- Audiobook
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- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 5 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Sombras en Zamboula
by Robert E. Howard · 1935
A broke Cimmerian takes a cheap room in Zamboula and finds the bed is bait for hungry killers.
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In short
Shadows in Zamboula is a Conan adventure by Robert E. Howard, a pulp fantasy tale of swordplay and dark magic set in an invented age of ancient kingdoms.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A Warning in the Bazaar
The tale opens in the Sword-Makers' Bazaar of Zamboula, where a ragged nomad of the Zuagir tribe grips Conan's arm. He warns that travelers who sleep at the tavern of Aram Baksh are never seen again, and that charred bones lie in a pit in a palm grove at the desert's edge. The nomad is sure the innkeeper is a demon who feeds his guests to the gods of the wasteland.
Conan does not believe it, but he listens. He has sold his horse and spent nearly all his silver, and Aram's rooms are the cheapest around. Howard uses the pause to sketch the city, built by Stygians and now ruled by Turanians, with Pelishtim mercenaries on the watch, and merchants, courtesans, slaves and beggars pressed together in the streets. People whisper that the satrap Jungir Khan is ruled by his mistress Nafertari.
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What is Shadows in Zamboula about?
It follows Conan, a Cimmerian barbarian, on one night in the desert city of Zamboula. A cheap tavern room hides a deadly trap, and a dancer asks him to kill a sinister priest in the temple of Hanuman.
Who is Conan the Cimmerian?
Conan is Robert E. Howard's barbarian hero from the northern hills of Cimmeria. He is a strong, quick-witted sellsword who trusts his sword and instincts, and he appears in many of Howard's tales.
Where and what is Zamboula?
Zamboula is an invented desert city built by Stygians and now ruled by Turanians. Its caravans, bazaars and mixed population give the story a busy, colorful setting on the edge of the Kharamun sands.
The author
Robert E. Howard
1906–1936 · American fantasy writer
Robert E. Howard was an American author born in Peaster, Texas, in 1906. He lived much of his life in Cross Plains, Texas, where he died in 1936. He wrote fantasy, horror, adventure stories, and poetry. His stories featuring Conan appeared in the magazine Weird Tales during the 1930s.
More by Robert E. Howard
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