Conan the Barbarian Books in Order
There are 35 Conan the Barbarian books, published between 1950 and 2005. The first book is The Hour of the Dragon / Conan the Conquerer (1950) and the newest is The Conquering Sword of Conan (2005). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 35
- Published
- 1950–2005
- Pages on record
- 3,362 in 13 of 35 books
Conan the Barbarian is Robert E. Howard's fictional hero, and subject headings tie the character to Cimmeria, an imaginary place. The catalogue gathers 35 books dated 1950 to 2005 and marks the run likely complete. Early volumes credited to Howard are The Hour of the Dragon / Conan the Conquerer (1950), The Sword of Conan (1952), King Conan (1953), The Coming of Conan (1953) and Conan the Barbarian (1954). Later volumes carry other credits: Lin Carter and L. Sprague de Camp on Conan of the Isles (1968) and Conan the Buccaneer (1971), and Andrew J. Offutt on Conan and the Sorcerer (1978). The Conquering Sword of Conan (2005) is the newest title.
How many Conan the Barbarian books are there?
Conan the Barbarian has 35 books, released between 1950 and 2005.
Conan the Barbarian Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 35 Conan the Barbarian books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.
- 1The Hour of the Dragon / Conan the ConquererConan (Donald M. Grant) #11950 · 296 pages · confirmed 2/419502962/4
- 21952–2/4
- 31953–2/4
- 41953–2/4
- 519545122/4
- 61955–2/4
- 71957–2/4
- 81966–2/4
- 91967–2/4
- 101967–2/4
- 111967–2/4
- 121968–2/4
- 131968–2/4
- 141968–2/4
- 151968–2/4
- 161968–2/4
- 171969–2/4
- 181971–2/4
- 191974962/4
- 201975–2/4
- 211975942/4
- 2219752952/4
- 231976–2/4
- 241976–2/4
- 251977–2/4
- 2619781862/4
- 271978–2/4
- 2819791232/4
- 2919801912/4
- 301981–2/4
- 3119811572/4
- 3219861342/4
- 3320024962/4
- 3420043662/4
- 3520054162/4
Conan the Barbarian Books in Chronological Order
By publication date, the Conan the Barbarian books run from The Hour of the Dragon / Conan the Conquerer (1950) to The Conquering Sword of Conan (2005), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for Conan the Barbarian in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.
Do you have to read Conan the Barbarian books in order?
You should read the Conan the Barbarian books in publication order, the order of the numbered table above. The catalogue does not record whether each Conan the Barbarian book also stands alone.
What order should you read Conan the Barbarian books in?
Read them in publication order, starting with The Hour of the Dragon / Conan the Conquerer (1950), the earliest published title. After it come The Sword of Conan (1952), King Conan (1953), The Coming of Conan (1953) and Conan the Barbarian (1954); the numbered table above continues from there.
What is the newest Conan the Barbarian book?
The Conquering Sword of Conan (2005) is the newest Conan the Barbarian book released so far.
Is there a new Conan the Barbarian book coming?
No next Conan the Barbarian book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Conan the Barbarian at a glance
- No recent titles
- The newest Conan the Barbarian title on record dates from 2005, 21 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
- Release pace
- Conan the Barbarian books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
- Length
- 3,362 pages across the 13 of 35 books with a recorded length, a median of 191 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Conan the Barbarian books, 11 of 35, were published in the 1970s.
- Attribution
- Of the 35 titles, 31 are credited to Robert E. Howard, 4 to Lin Carter, 3 to L. Sprague de Camp and 2 to Andrew J. Offutt.
What the Conan the Barbarian books are about
24 of the 35 Conan the Barbarian books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: conan (fictitious character) is tagged on 21 of 24. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Conan (fictitious character) 21 of 24 books
- Fantasy 19 of 24 books
- Cimmeria (imaginary place) 11 of 24 books
- Fantasy fiction, American 8 of 24 books
- Fiction in English 3 of 24 books
- Science fiction 3 of 24 books
- Action & adventure 2 of 24 books
- Short stories 2 of 24 books
- Fantasy, epic 2 of 24 books
- Fantasy, short stories 2 of 24 books
- Shortstories, English 2 of 24 books