Best Selling Books by L. Sprague De Camp

Two of the most famous contributors to the Conan legend write the official novel of CONAN THE BARBARIAN, the seminal fantasy film by John Milius. In 1982, Robert E. Howard''s iconic literary antihero, CONAN, slashed his way from page to screen after a perilous decades-long journey. With its potent mix of epic vistas and bloody battles, CONAN THE BARBARIAN thrilled moviegoers around the world and launched the film career of Arnold Schwarzenegger. To mark the occasion, CONAN authors and editors L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter were tasked with translating the visions of filmmakers John Milius and Oliver Stone back to the printed page in this rollicking novelization of the original screenplay. Heroic Signatures is proud to bring this sublime work of sword and sorcery back into print!

The King had a good head on his shoulders -- for the moment, anyway. Everyone agreed that King Jorian of Xylar had been a good and just ruler. In fact, many also agreed that, in this case, it was a pity that the laws of Xylar decreed that each randomly chosen King must reign for only five years and then, after due pomp and ceremony, have his head cut off! Understandably, Jorian himself was wholeheartedly in agreement with the second sentiment, so with the help of a spell provided by the wizard Karadur, he escaped from the beheading ceremony with his head still on his shoulders. Unfortunately, his beloved wife, Queen Estrildis, was left behind, and getting her out of Xylar would be anything but simple -- particularly with the Royal Guard of Xylar hot on the trail of their fugitive monarch. With Karadur''s magic, Jorian might be able to pull off the rescue. But first, he would have to locate a trove of ancient spells, deal with an enemy wizard, steal an item from a 500-year-old (but still beautiful) princess who turns into a giant serpent at inopportune moments, repair the giant tower clocks of Iraz to fulfill a prophecy, break a pirate siege, and finally fly back to Xylar in an enchanted bathtub and whisk away his beloved Estrildis before the Royal Guard notices that their King (not to mention his head) has returned. Then things began to get complicated....

Set in the time of Dionysios I of Syracuse, at the beginning of the 4th century BC, Th e Arrows of Hercules tells the tale of Zopyros of Tarentum, an engineer who invents an improved type of catapult. *** He is quickly drafted by Dionysios into Syracuse''s war efforts against Carthage, which sets him on a series of adventures including a battle against Etruscan pirates and a kidnapping in Carthage. *** L. Sprague''s meticulous attention to historical accuracy makes this a remarkable read which entertains as much as it teaches us about fascinating events that shaped the course of history. *** ---------- "Exciting and quite believable adventures."-Classical World ---------- "Rousing piece of fi ction...pace is rapid and unrelenting." -Th e Arizona Republic ---------- "Highly Recommended...intriguing novel."-Library Journal

Here is a fascinating study by L. Sprague de Camp of controversial and often little-known happenings in science and technology, with an emphasis on the wayward activities of those who dabble in fringe science. The Fringe of the Unknown is in three parts. The first, "Our Ingenious Forebears," examines some of the mysteries and oddities surrounding ancient technologies. Occultists and pseudoscientists often attribute extraordinary knowledge and wisdom to "the ancients," crediting them with inventions and discoveries that have generally been accepted as accomplishments of recent centuries. De Camp refutes some of these claims, but goes on to show that the ancients, starting from a much lower base of general knowledge, nevertheless achieved some remarkably ingenious results. In Part 2, "Beasts of Now and Then," the author explores a number of oddities and controversies in biology, such as the curious adventures and ramifications of the elephant family, the never-ending efforts to prove that monsters from former eras still roam the earth, the celebrated sighting of a sea serpent by H.M.S. Daedalus in the South Atlantic in 1848, and the many speculations about the great waves of extinction that have, from era to era, impoverished the earth''s faunas. In Part 3, "Scientists, Mad and Otherwise," de Camp tells of the behavior of some scientists, from the merely eccentric to the certifiably insane, and examines the differences between real science and pseudoscience. This wide-ranging work is a treasury of entertaining accounts of history and science.

Bessas of Zariaspa is a young officer in the Immortals regiment, sworn to protect and obey his King at all costs. The King wishes immortality and to that end tasks Bessas to find items that make an immortality potion, including the blood of a dragon and the ear of a king. *** The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate is a swashbuckling historical novel with larger-than-life characters, set in a detailed historical background that only a scholar such as de Camp can create.

The king of Vendhya is dead, the victim of black magic. At the request of the king''s sister, Conan scales the craggy peaks of the Himelians to the fortress of the Black Seers. There he must battle powerful magicians with the only weapons he has--his cunning and his strength.

As thief, pirate, mercenary, adventurer, chief of barbarous tribes and general in the armies of kings, Conan had ventured far and known adventure and marvel. But the adventure that started here, in the royal hall of justice in Tarantia was to be the strangest and most fantastic of all.

Fleeing the outraged father of Adeliza, Kerin discovers Princess Nogiri being held captive on a pirate''s ship, and is determined to rescue her