8

Conan the Cimmerian universe is a fairly large one, including multiple stories by Robert E. Howard (and seemingly somehow intertwined with his earlier Kull material) from many eras and many publishers; and non-Howard books.

Therefore I would expect that the universe is at least somewhat non-perfectly-continuous.

Is there a good resource that would systematically provide information on Conan continuity and where each book in the universe contradicts it?

Just to clarify, I'm interested in OVERALL factual continuity (e.g. any pair of facts that contradict each other between 2 works), and not simply time discrepancies that would violate chronological order.

1 Answer 1

5

Is wikipedia okay to reference here? :) This page attempts to do a chronology. The References section probably provides a better source to discuss and refine that chronology. The start of the wikipage is interesting though (emphasis mine):

A completely consistent timeline that would accommodate every existing Conan story is impossible for several reasons. These include (a) errors that crept into the earliest chronologies, (b) subsequent disregard by the early chronologists of chronological evidence in later-discovered Conan material contrary to the existing schemes, (c) similar disregard for this contrary evidence in the writing of much post-Howard Conan material, and (d) disregard of both the existing chronologies and chronological information established in previous stories by Howard and others in the writing of other post-Howard Conan material.

2
  • while Wiki is a perfectly acceptable reference here (try not to faint :))) - I think I wasn't clear enough with the question. I was more interested in overall continuity than pure chronology (e.g. discrepancies of facts/conclusions between stories, e.g. an identical character dying in 2 different stories, or any other contradictory pairs of facts); as opposed to mere time discrepancies that the chronology offers. P.S. of course, a more primary source than Wiki is always more appreciated :))) Commented Aug 30, 2011 at 13:44
  • 1
    @DVK after picking myself up from the floor :) I will see what I can dig up. I know that there were a lot of OLD forums that had that sort of discussion, but I can't seem to recall any at the moment. Bear with me. :) Commented Aug 30, 2011 at 22:53

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.