Red Nails: Classic Fantasy Novel (Annotated) - Softcover

Inhaltsangabe

Unique Elements

• Detailed 20th Century Historical Timeline

Explore the wonders and magic of this unforgettable masterpiece and take an exhilarating step back in time!

Synopsis:

Red Nails by American author Robert E. Howard is the last of the tales featuring Conan the Cimmerian. It is set in the pseudo-historical Hyborian Age and centers on Conan entering a lost city whose depraved citizens are entangled in a murderous blood battle. Because of its dark roots of decay and death, the story is deemed a classic of Conan lore while also being named by Howard scholars as one of his greatest stories.

The beginning of the story takes place in a forest a long way from any known civilized or barbarian civilizations. Valeria of the Red Brotherhood is running away from prosecution after murdering a violent attacker. Conan, a fellow explorer who hopes to team up with Valeria, follows her into the wilderness. A dragon mauls their horses and interrupts Conan's confrontation with Valeria. Conan and Valeria scale a rocky cliff to get away from the beast. Conan identifies some nearby deadly fruit and coats his arrow with the poison. With a well-placed throw, he pierces the dragon's lower jaw. The angry beast, although blinded, chases the two fugitives after picking up their scent, but it succumbs to the poison just before devouring Conan. Conan notices a mysterious walled city from the top of a hill, and the pair leave their sanctuary and head there where their thrilling adventure continues.

Excerpt:

‘A narrow ridge formed a natural ramp that led up the steep face of the crag. After she had ascended some fifty feet she came to the belt of leaves that surrounded the rock. The trunks of the trees did not crowd close to the crag, but the ends of their lower branches extended about it, veiling it with their foliage. She groped on in leafy obscurity, not able to see either above or below her; but presently she glimpsed blue sky, and a moment later came out in the clear, hot sunlight and saw the forest roof stretching away under her feet.

She was standing on a broad shelf which was about even with the tree-tops, and from it rose a spire-like jut that was the ultimate peak of the crag she had climbed. But something else caught her attention at the moment. Her foot had struck something in the litter of blown dead leaves which carpeted the shelf. She kicked them aside and looked down on the skeleton of a man. She ran an experienced eye over the bleached frame, but saw no broken bones nor any sign of violence. The man must have died a natural death; though why he should have climbed a tall crag to die she could not imagine.’

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