Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} The Sword of Skelos by Andrew J. Offutt The Sword of Skelos by Andrew J. Offutt. Completing the CAPTCHA proves you are a human and gives you temporary access to the web property. What can I do to prevent this in the future? If you are on a personal connection, like at home, you can run an anti-virus scan on your device to make sure it is not infected with malware. If you are at an office or shared network, you can ask the network administrator to run a scan across the network looking for misconfigured or infected devices. Another way to prevent getting this page in the future is to use Privacy Pass. You may need to download version 2.0 now from the Chrome Web Store. Cloudflare Ray ID: 658d92277be6c3d9 • Your IP : 188.246.226.140 • Performance & security by Cloudflare. the Barbarian. , the main character of the series. Conan The Barbarian is a series by Robert E Howard published by . Contents. Books/Publishing. Conan The Barbarian first appeared in Weird Tales on December 1932. He would later be adapted into comics by both Marvel and Dark Horse Comics. Gnome Press series (1950-1957) The Coming of Conan (1953) Conan the Barbarian (1954) The Sword of Conan (1952) (1953) Conan the Conqueror (also known as The Hour of the Dragon; 1950) The Return of Conan (1957; by Björn Nyberg and L. Sprague de Camp) Tales of Conan (1955; originally non-Conan Howard stories rewritten as Conan stories by L. Sprague de Camp) Lancer/Ace paperback series (1966-1977) Conan (1967, by Robert E. Howard, L. Sprague de Camp, and ) (1969, by Robert E. Howard, L. Sprague de Camp, and Lin Carter) Conan the Freebooter (1968, by Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp) (1968, by Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp) Conan the Adventurer (1966, by Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp) Conan the Buccaneer (1971, by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter) (1967, by Robert E. Howard) Conan the Usurper (1967, by Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp) Conan the Conqueror (also known as The Hour of the Dragon; 1967, by Robert E. Howard) Conan the Avenger (also known as The Return of Conan; 1968, by Björn Nyberg, L. Sprague de Camp, and Robert E. Howard) Conan of Aquilonia (1977, by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter) (1968, by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter) Donald M. Grant series (1974-1989) The People of the Black Circle (1974) A Witch Shall be Born (1975) The Tower of the Elephant (1975) (also includes "The God in the Bowl") (1975) The Devil in Iron (1976) (also includes "Shadows in Zamboula") Rogues in the House (1976) (also includes "The Frost Giant's Daughter") Queen of the Black Coast (1978) (also includes "The Vale of Lost Women") Jewels of Gwahlur (1979) (also includes "The Snout in the Dark" fragment) Black Colossus (1979) (also includes "Shadows in the Moonlight") The Pool of the Black One (1986) (also includes "Drums of Tombalku" fragment) The Hour of the Dragon (1989) Berkley series (1977) The Hour of the Dragon (Aug. 1977) The People of the Black Circle (Sep. 1977) Red Nails (Oct. 1977) Bantam series (1978-1982) (Aug. 1978) (by L. Sprague de Camp, Lin Carter, and Björn Nyberg) Conan the Liberator (Feb. 1979) (by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter) Conan: The Sword of Skelos (May 1979) (by Andrew J. Offutt) Conan: The Road of Kings (Oct. 1979) (by ) Conan and the Spider God (Dec. 1980) (by L. Sprague de Camp) Conan the Rebel (Jul. 1980) (by ) Conan the Barbarian (May 1982) (adaptation by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter of the movie of the same title) Ace Maroto series (1978-1981) Conan and the Sorcerer (October 1978; by Andrew J. Offutt) The Treasure of Tranicos (July 1980; by Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp) Conan the Mercenary (January 1981; by Andrew J. Offutt) The Flame Knife (July 1981; by Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp) Tor series (1982-2004) Tor originals Conan the Invincible (Jun. 1982) (by ) Conan the Defender (Dec. 1982) (by Robert Jordan) Conan the Unconquered (Apr. 1983) (by Robert Jordan) Conan the Triumphant (Oct. 1983) (by Robert Jordan) Conan the Magnificent (May 1984) (by Robert Jordan) (Jul. 1984) (adaptation by Robert Jordan of the movie of the same title) Conan the Victorious (Nov. 1984) (by Robert Jordan) Conan the Valorous (Sep. 1985) (by John M. Roberts) Conan the Fearless (Feb. 1986) (by ) Conan the Renegade (Apr. 1986) (by ) Conan the Raider (Oct. 1986) (by Leonard Carpenter) Conan the Champion (Apr. 1987) (by John M. Roberts) Conan the Defiant (Oct. 1987) (by Steve Perry) Conan the Marauder (Jan. 1988) (by John M. Roberts) Conan the Warlord (Mar. 1988) (by Leonard Carpenter) Conan the Valiant (Oct. 1988) (by Roland Green) Conan the Hero (Feb. 1989) (by Leonard Carpenter) Conan the Bold (Apr. 1989) (by John M. Roberts) Conan the Great (Apr. 1989) (by Leonard Carpenter) Conan the Indomitable (Oct. 1989) (by Steve Perry) Conan the Free Lance (Feb. 1990) (by Steve Perry) Conan the Formidable (Nov. 1990) (by Steve Perry) Conan the Guardian (Jan. 1991) (by Roland Green) Conan the Outcast (Apr. 1991) (by Leonard Carpenter) Conan the Rogue (Nov. 1991) (by John M. Roberts) Conan the Relentless (Apr. 1992) (by Roland Green) Conan the Savage (Nov. 1992) (by Leonard Carpenter) Conan of the Red Brotherhood (Feb. 1993) (by Leonard Carpenter) Conan and the Gods of the Mountain (May 1993) (by Roland Green) Conan and the Treasure of Python (Nov. 1993) (by John M. Roberts) Conan the Hunter (Jan. 1994) (by Sean A. Moore) ISBN 0-8125-3531-6 Conan, Scourge of the Bloody Coast (Apr. 1994) (by Leonard Carpenter) Conan and the Manhunters (Oct. 1994) (by John M. Roberts) Conan at the Demon's Gate (Nov. 1994) (by Roland Green) Conan the Gladiator (Jan. 1995) (by Leonard Carpenter) Conan and the Amazon (Apr. 1995) (by John M. Roberts) Conan and the Mists of Doom (Aug. 1995) (by Roland Green) Conan and the Emerald Lotus (Nov. 1995) (by John C. Hocking) Conan and the Shaman's Curse (Jan. 1996) (by Sean A. Moore) Conan, Lord of the Black River (Apr. 1996) (by Leonard Carpenter) Conan and the Grim Grey God (Nov. 1996) (by Sean A. Moore) Conan and the Death Lord of Thanza (Jan. 1997) (by Roland Green) Conan of Venarium (Jul. 2003) (by Harry Turtledove) Conan: The Road of Kings (2001 - first published by Bantam, Oct. 1979) (by Karl Edward Wagner) Conan the Rebel (Oct. 2001 - first published by Bantam, Jul. 1980) (by Poul Anderson) Conan and the Spider God (2002 - first published by Bantam, Dec. 1980) (by L. Sprague de Camp) Conan: The Sword of Skelos (Feb. 2002 - first published by Bantam, May 1979) (by Andrew J. Offutt) Conan the Liberator (Jun. 2002 - first published by Bantam, Feb. 1979) (by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter) Conan the Swordsman (Dec. 2002 - first published by Bantam, Aug. 1978) (by L. Sprague de Camp, Lin Carter, and Björn Nyberg) (Jul. 1995 omnibus of Conan the Invincible, Conan the Defender and Conan the Unconquered) (by Robert Jordan) The Further Chronicles of Conan (Oct. 1999 omnibus of Conan the Magnificent, Conan the Triumphant and Conan the Victorious) (by Robert Jordan) Sagas of Conan (Jan. 2004 omnibus of Conan the Swordsman, Conan the Liberator and Conan and the Spider God) (by L. Sprague de Camp, Lin Carter, and Björn Nyberg) Gollancz series (2000-2006) The Conan Chronicles, 1 (Aug. 2000) The Conan Chronicles, 2 (2001) The Complete Chronicles of Conan (2006) Wandering Star/Del Rey series (2003-2005) Conan of Cimmeria: Volume One (1932-1933) (2003; vt The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian - US, 2003) Conan of Cimmeria: Volume Two (1934) (2004; vt The Bloody Crown of Conan - US, 2005) Conan of Cimmeria: Volume Three (1935-1936) (2005; vt The Conquering Sword of Conan - US, 2005) (2005-2006) Age of Conan: Anok, Heretic of Stygia Scion of the Serpent (2005) (by J. Steven York) Heretic of Set (2005) (by J. Steven York) The Venom of Luxor (2005) (by J. Steven York) Blood of Wolves (2005) (by Loren L. Coleman) Cimmerian Rage (2005) (by Loren L. Coleman) Songs of Victory (2005) (by Loren L. Coleman) The God in the Moon (2006) (by Richard A. Knaak) The Eye of Charon (2006) (by Richard A. Knaak) The Silent Enemy (2006) (by Richard A. Knaak) Ghost of the Wall (2006) (by Jeff Mariotte) Winds of the Wild (2006) (by Jeff Mariotte) Dawn of the Ice Bear (2006) (by Jeff Mariotte) 2011 movie tie-ins Conan the Barbarian (2011 collection) (2011) (by Robert E. Howard) Conan the Barbarian (2011 novel) (2011) (by Michael A. Stackpole) Movies. Conan The Barbarian (March 16, 1982) Conan the Destroyer (June 29th 1984) (July 3rd 1985) Kurl The Conqueror (August 29th 1997) Conan The Barbarian (August 11th 2011) Conan the Adventurer (September 13th, 1992 – November 23rd 1993) Conan and the Young Warriors (March 5th –August 27th 1994) Conan the Adventurer (September 22nd 1997 – May 25th 1998) Board/Roleplaying Games. Conan Unchained! (1984) Conan Against Darkness (1984) Conan Role-Playing Game (1985) Hyborian War (1985 - Present) GURPS Conan (1989) Conan: The Roleplaying Game (2004) Conan Collectible Card Game (2006) Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of (January 31st 2017) Video Games. Conan: Hall of Volta (1984) for PC-88, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, FM-7, and Sharp X1. Andrew J. Offutt. Andrew Jefferson Offutt (August 16, 1934 – April 30, 2013) was an American science fiction and author. He wrote as Andrew J. Offutt, A. J. Offutt, and Andy Offutt. His normal byline, andrew j. offutt, has all his name in lower-case letters. He also wrote erotica under seventeen different pseudonyms, principally John Cleve, John Denis, Jeff Morehead, and Turk Winter. He is the father of novelist Chris Offutt and professor Jeff Offutt. The Sword of Skelos (1979), one of Offutt's contributions to the Conan The Barbarian saga, included a short, facetious biographical note: "Andrew J. Offutt is the recently 'tired and re-tired', as he puts it, president of the Science Fiction Writers of America. He loves heroic fantasy though at 6' 1" he is built for speed, not combat. Kentuckian Offutt has a number of other books in and out of print, and has been a helpless fan of Robert E. Howard since birth. Now he calls himself the Steve Garvey among writers; 'Surely it's every boy's dream to grow up—but not too much —and get to write about Conan". Offutt researches with gusto, both in and out of books, having—briefly and painfully, he says—worn chainmail and helm and wielded sword. He is also tired of aged, bald, ugly, sexless mages and squeaky females in heroic fantasy".' Offutt was born in a log cabin near Louisville, Kentucky. He was married for more than 50 years to Jodie McCabe Offutt of Lexington, Kentucky. They had four children: writer Chris Offutt; Jeff Offutt, Professor of Software Engineering at George Mason University; Scotty Hyde, copy editor for the Park City Daily News in Bowling Green, Kentucky; and Melissa Offutt, a sales executive for Sprint in San Diego. Offutt also had five grandchildren, Sam, Steffi, James, Joyce, and Andrew. Offutt began publishing in 1954 with the story "And Gone Tomorrow" in the magazine If. Despite this early sale, he did not consider his professional life to have begun until he sold the story "Blacksword" to Galaxy in 1959. His first true science fiction novel was Evil Is Live Spelled Backwards in 1970. Offutt disliked the title of this book, calling it "embarrassingly amateur". Offutt wrote numerous novels and short stories, including several in the "Thieves World" series edited by Robert Lynn Asprin and Lynn Abbey, which feature his best known character, the thief, Hanse, also known as Shadowspawn (and, later, Chance). His "Iron Lords" series, likewise, was popular. Offutt also wrote two series of books based on characters by Robert E. Howard. There was a series on Howard's best known character, Conan, and another one on the less known Cormac mac Art—an Irish Viking active in King Arthur's time. In fact, Offutt wrote about him far more extensively than did Howard himself. As "John Cleve", Offutt also wrote the 19-book erotic science fiction series "Spaceways", over half of which were collaborations. As an editor Offutt produced a series of five anthologies entitled Swords Against Darkness, which included the first professional sale by Charles de Lint. From 1976 to 1978 he served as president of the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA). Offutt wrote at least 420 pornographic/erotic works under seventeen different pen-names and house-names, including Opal Andrews, "Anonymous," Joe Brown, John Cleve, Camille Colben, Jack Cory, Jeremy Crebb, P. N. Dedeaux, John Denis, Jeff Douglas, Farrah Fawkes, Baxter Giles, Alan Marshall, Jeff Morehead, J. (John) X. Williams, Turk Winter, and Jeff Woodson. The first was Bondage Babes, published under the name Alan Marshall by Greenleaf in 1968; the first appearance of his principal pen name, John Cleve, was on Slave of the Sudan in 1969. According to his son Chris Offutt he came to regard Cleve as more a separate persona than a pen name, and his other aliases as Cleve's pen names, not his own. As "Cleve" he published more than 130 works of erotica before the market for erotica dried up about 1985; afterwards, turning to self-publishing, he issued 260 more as Turk Winter (an early "Cleve" pen name) over the next twenty-five years. Thirty more remained unpublished at the time of his death. So prolific was Offutt in this area that in summing up his writing career his son Chris wrote that he "came to understand that my father had passed as a science-fiction writer while actually pursuing a 50-year career as a pornographer." The Sword of Skelos by Andrew J. Offutt. The Plot Skinny (Mostly Spoiler Free): The novel begins a few weeks after the events of Mercenary . Having regained his soul, (an event that occurred in Conan the Mercenary ), Conan is in the city of Shadizar seeking his next adventure. While he is there, a thief named Khassek of Iranistan attempts to capture him. Khassek suspects that Conan is either still in possession of the Eye of Erlik, or knows where it is. In fact, Conan does still have the amulet. He has kept it hidden on his person. Conan agrees to travel to far off Iranistan with Khassek. He is promised that Khassek's employer will reward him greatly for doing so. During their journey, they encounter Isparana. Isparana is a thief introduced and last seen in the novel Conan and the Sorcerer . In that novel, she was a competing thief for the Eye of Erlik; actually, she stole it first and Conan later stole it from her and switched the true Eye for a fake given to him by the sorcerer Hissar Zul. When Conan had last saw Isparana, she was being escorted by a gang of five guards that Conan had left her with. In the book Skelos, Conan and Isparana form an uneasy alliance and travel to Zamboula together in hopes of obtaining a reward from that cities' ruler, Akter Khan. In Zamboula they fall prey to the political mechanations of Akter Khan and the Stygian mage Zafra. Zafra has found himself in Akter Khan's good graces by providing him with an enchanted sword. Zafra enchanted the sword from secrets gleaned from the Scrolls of Skelos. With the enchantment, when the bearer speaks the words "slay him", the sword slays of its own volition, no wielder is needed. The Good: Offutt's secondary characters are engaging, especially the sorcerer Zafra. In Offutt's bio in the back of the book he states: "he [Offutt] is. tired of aged, bald, ugly, sexless mages". Zafra is none of these things. He is young, older than the 17 year old Conan, but much younger than the average mage depicted in tales. He plotted and killed his master and has just recently elevated himself from apprentice to journeyman (so to speak). I liked Zafra as portrayed by Offutt. The author set out to make a believable villain and he succeeded. Zafra is driven by the lust for power, a staple among sorcerers in sword and sorcery tales, but also he lusts for women. During the course of the story, he has an affair with Chia, or the Tigress as Akter calls her. Chia was another well done character that I enjoyed in the story. She is vile at times, but uses her wiles and station as favored consort to her advantage. Offutt creates a desert dwelling tribe for the story called the Shanki. They are Islamic in flavor and he does a swell job of presenting their culture in a rich, satisfying way. The Bad: Isparana is the bad. Offutt tries to turn the relationship between her and Conan from nemesis to enemies, while trying to maintain a flavor of them being "frienemies". At times I felt he was doing this as a fishing for knee-slapper moments. It failed. I never found myself actually giving a damn about Isparana. Worse than that, I didn't buy Offutt's depiction of Conan as a brash 17 year old. At times he seemed the young reckless youth that just six months earlier scaled the walls of the Elephant Tower after killing a man in a bar fight because he made Conan look simple, and then Offutt has him coming up with master strategic plans to elude the khan's army. I just don't believe that Conan, as the youth he was at this point, was up for making grand schemes. Offutt tries to cover this up by having Conan say (after advising a Shanki warrior against brashness): "[I am] old enough to give advice I probably would not have the sense to take". This is a cop out, in my opinion. Offutt knows that Conan should be acting rashly, but his plot depends upon the young Conan giving sound advice and consequently, after giving said sound advice and after being advised against it, he storms off on a foolish mission only to be captured (again, plot needed). Two more points on "the bad": Offutt built up Zafra and I looked forward to his confrontation with Conan; however, it was quick and less than satisfying. Also, he intrigued me with his characterization of Chia, and I hoped for her to be more involved in the plot, she was not and was "summarily" dealt with. While I enjoyed the ending of the book, it served as a moral point for Conan, it was rushed and seemed hasty. The Ugly: The Eye of Erlik has been the object of much murder and intrigue (most of which occurs behind the scenes) and Offutt has built up its importance over three stories; however, like the Mask of Acheron in the 2011 movie Conan the Barbarian , the Eye doesn't do anything . Nothing. No magical powers. No, oh-shit we sure are screwed now moments, not a damn thing. Why was everyone so hot to get their hands on this amulet when it is just a piece of jewelry? A valuable one, but no powers. It was disappointing. I kept thinking while reading this, "the swords of Skelos sound cool, but I wonder what the amulet does?" Answer, not a damn thing and yet Khassek's employer (consequently, the identity of his employer is never revealed, but presumably he/she is the ruler of Iranistan) sends him forth with 20 pieces of gold, and a stash of gems and jewels to aid in his quest to obtain the Eye of Erlik at all costs. Not to mention, in the book Conan and the Sorcerer , Hissar Zul enslaves men by stealing their souls so they can act as guardians for the Eye, not to mention all the traps he had set to capture/kill would be thieves. Yet the damn amulet does nothing. Nothing. Summary: It was an enjoyable read, despite the fact that there was no big revelation concerning the Eye of Erlik. There were some plot holes, and Offutt's Conan was not entirely convincing for me, but I did not hate the book. It was a stronger read than Mercenary, but was not as good as Sorcerer. Conan: The Sword of Skelos. The Sword of Skelos is a Conan novel by Andrew J. Offutt, the third and final volume in a trilogy beginning with Conan and the Sorcerer and continuing with Conan the Mercenary (which was actually published after The Sword of Skelos , though relating events prior to it). It was first published in paperback in May 1979 by Bantam Books, and reprinted in August 1981. Later editions were issued by Ace Books (September 1987, reprinted May 1991) and Tor (February 2002). The first British edition was published by Sphere Books in 1989. Contents. Plot Summary [ edit | edit source ] Conan and Isparana are drawn to Zamboula and into a rebellion against the Khan and his sorcerer.