Conan Books in Order
There are 35 Conan 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 is a Robert E. Howard fantasy character, and the catalogue gathers 35 Conan books published from 1950 to 2005. The Hour of the Dragon / Conan the Conquerer (1950) comes first, followed by The Sword of Conan (1952), King Conan (1953) and The Coming of Conan (1953). The listing groups editions from Gnome Press, Donald M. Grant, Lancer/Ace and Ace, plus Conan The Cimmerian. Subjects include Cimmeria, action and adventure, and short stories. Other credited names include L. Sprague de Camp, Lin Carter and Andrew J. Offutt. The Conquering Sword of Conan (2005) is the newest, and the run is listed as likely complete.
How many Conan books are there?
Conan has 35 books, released between 1950 and 2005.
Conan Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 35 Conan 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 Books in Chronological Order
By publication date, the Conan 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 in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.
Do you have to read Conan books in order?
You should read the Conan books in publication order, the order of the numbered table above. The catalogue does not record whether each Conan book also stands alone.
What order should you read Conan 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 book?
The Conquering Sword of Conan (2005) is the newest Conan book released so far.
Is there a new Conan book coming?
No next Conan 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 at a glance
- No recent titles
- The newest Conan title on record dates from 2005, 21 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
- Release pace
- Conan 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 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 books are about
24 of the 35 Conan books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: fantasy is tagged on 19 of 24. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- 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