Capturing the electric short fiction energy that led Robert E. Howard to be one of the top fantasy writers of the century, with exclusive serialized eBook stories starring Conan, Solomon Kane, and more by many of today’s top writers in fantasy and sword-and-sorcery.
“Those who possess the codex come to a bad end.” The Shemite shaman N’yaga is in his village when he is visited by the young Bêlit, there in pursuit of the Codex Osyrania. The Codex is a magical book that contains the location of all the secrets ever buried, each spot marked by a golden cross. Some crosses lead to treasure, some spell doom. The book was given to N’yaga by Bêlit’s father, who asked that he safeguard it.
N’yaga reveals that a captain he served lost his ship gambling and took the Codex to buy it back. He throws the bones to tell her future, and sees her fate entwined with a black-maned lion. Yet he also sees in the bones that he is destined to go with Bêlit to the island of Knefetalla to retrieve the Codex. Together they set out in search of the legendary book.
Praise for Conan and Robert E. Howard: “Howard’s writing seems so highly charged with energy that it nearly gives off sparks.”—Stephen King
“In Howard's grim and all too realistic view, the barbarians are always at the gate, and once a culture allows itself to grow soft, decadent or simply neglectful, it will be swept away by the primitive and ruthless.”—Michael Dirda, The Washington Post
“I read books, and I dreamed of Mars, and the planets in those books, and of the Hyborian Age of Robert E. Howard’s Conan books…”—George R. R. Martin, author of A Game of Thrones
“I adore these books. Howard had a gritty, vibrant style—broadsword writing that cut its way to the heart, with heroes who are truly larger than life.”—David Gemmell, author of Legend
“Those of us who believed in Conan at the right moment in our lives never stop believing. We might not grow up to become him, but we never grow out of him, either.”—Stephen Graham Jones, author of The Only Good Indians
“Howard was a true storyteller—one of the first, and certainly among the best, you’ll find in heroic fantasy.”—Charles de Lint, author of The Wild Wood and The Onion Girl
Michael A. Stackpole is the multiple New York Times bestselling author of over forty fantasy and science fiction novels, his best known books written in the Star Wars® universe, including I, Jedi and Rogue Squadron, as well as the X-Wing graphic novel series. He has also written in the Conan, Pathfinder, BattleTech and World of Warcraft universes, among others.
Currently the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing at Arizona State University Distinguished Writer-in-Residence, Stackpole’s other honors include: Induction into the Academy Gaming Arts and Design Hall of Fame, a Parsec Award for “Best Podcast Short Story,” and a Topps’s selection as Best Star Wars® Comic Book Writer. Stackpole is the first author to sell work in Apple’s App Store, and he’s been an advocate for authors taking advantage of the digital revolution.
Capturing the electric short fiction energy that led Robert E. Howard to be one of the top fantasy writers of the century, with exclusive serialized eBook stories starring Conan, Solomon Kane, and more by many of today’s top writers in fantasy and sword-and-sorcery.
“Those who possess the codex come to a bad end.” The Shemite shaman N’yaga is in his village when he is visited by the young Bêlit, there in pursuit of the Codex Osyrania. The Codex is a magical book that contains the location of all the secrets ever buried, each spot marked by a golden cross. Some crosses lead to treasure, some spell doom. The book was given to N’yaga by Bêlit’s father, who asked that he safeguard it.
N’yaga reveals that a captain he served lost his ship gambling and took the Codex to buy it back. He throws the bones to tell her future, and sees her fate entwined with a black-maned lion. Yet he also sees in the bones that he is destined to go with Bêlit to the island of Knefetalla to retrieve the Codex. Together they set out in search of the legendary book.
Reviews
Praise for Conan and Robert E. Howard: “Howard’s writing seems so highly charged with energy that it nearly gives off sparks.”—Stephen King
“In Howard's grim and all too realistic view, the barbarians are always at the gate, and once a culture allows itself to grow soft, decadent or simply neglectful, it will be swept away by the primitive and ruthless.”—Michael Dirda, The Washington Post
“I read books, and I dreamed of Mars, and the planets in those books, and of the Hyborian Age of Robert E. Howard’s Conan books…”—George R. R. Martin, author of A Game of Thrones
“I adore these books. Howard had a gritty, vibrant style—broadsword writing that cut its way to the heart, with heroes who are truly larger than life.”—David Gemmell, author of Legend
“Those of us who believed in Conan at the right moment in our lives never stop believing. We might not grow up to become him, but we never grow out of him, either.”—Stephen Graham Jones, author of The Only Good Indians
“Howard was a true storyteller—one of the first, and certainly among the best, you’ll find in heroic fantasy.”—Charles de Lint, author of The Wild Wood and The Onion Girl
Author
Michael A. Stackpole is the multiple New York Times bestselling author of over forty fantasy and science fiction novels, his best known books written in the Star Wars® universe, including I, Jedi and Rogue Squadron, as well as the X-Wing graphic novel series. He has also written in the Conan, Pathfinder, BattleTech and World of Warcraft universes, among others.
Currently the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing at Arizona State University Distinguished Writer-in-Residence, Stackpole’s other honors include: Induction into the Academy Gaming Arts and Design Hall of Fame, a Parsec Award for “Best Podcast Short Story,” and a Topps’s selection as Best Star Wars® Comic Book Writer. Stackpole is the first author to sell work in Apple’s App Store, and he’s been an advocate for authors taking advantage of the digital revolution.
