Kirby O'Donnell is a fictional character created byRobert E. Howard. He is an American treasure hunter in early-twentieth centuryAfghanistan disguised as aKurdish merchant, "Ali el Ghazi". Howard only wrote three stories about O'Donnell, one of which was not published within his lifetime.
| Kirby O'Donnell | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | Swords of Shahrazar |
| Last appearance | The Curse of the Crimson God |
| Created by | Robert E. Howard |
O'Donnell has, like many Howard characters, the stereotypical "Black Irish" combination of black hair and blue eyes. He has a lithe but powerful physique, relying more on agility and wits than strength. Kirby O'Donnell is similar to another of Howard's characters,El Borak, in many ways. However, O'Donnell seeks hidden treasures in all of his stories while El Borak is more concerned with his own form of justice and stability in Afghanistan. O'Donnell carries a set of distinctive weapons, ascimitar with a bronze hawk-head on thepommel and a "kindhjal"[sic].
Howard wrote three complete Kirby O'Donnell stories. Two were published in his life, by different publishers.
This story was first published in thepulp magazineTop-Notch in October 1934. Later reprints have used the titleThe Treasure of Shaibar Khan.[1] It was received by Howard's agent,Otis Adelbert Kline on 12 January 1934. It was returned to Howard for rewrites on 21 February and 30 April before publication in October. Howard earned $124.90 for the publication of this story.[2]
This is a sequel to The Treasures of Tartary, despite being published before that story, and it is again set partly in the forbidden city of Shahrazar.
This story was first published in thepulp magazineThrilling Adventures in January 1935. It was originally titledGold From Tartary.[3]
It was received by Howard's agent on 15 November 1933 and Howard earned $42.50 for its publication.[2]
O'Donnell searches the forbidden city of Shahrazar, ruled by theUzbek Shaibar Khan, for the lost treasure of Khuwarezm (which, legend states, was hidden to protect it fromGenghis Khan).
The third O'Donnell story, originally titledThe Trail of the Bloodstained God, was not published within Howard's lifetime. The writerL. Sprague de Camp found it amongst Howard's papers and edited it into the Conan storyThe Blood-Stained God, which was first published inTales of Conan in 1955. The O'Donnell version of the story first saw print much later in the paperbackSwords of Shahrazar in 1976.[4]
The story was returned byThrilling Adventures on 8 October 1935. Howard sent a rewritten version to Kline on 31 January 1936. Kline sent this to several pulp magazines but all returned it –Dime Adventure (sent 4 February 1936, returned 2 March),Short Stories (3 March, returned 18 March),Adventure (19 March, returned 8 April) andArgosy (9 April, returned 22 April).[2]
In this story, O'Donnell is in pursuit of thieves who have stolen from him atreasure map that points the way to the precious idol called The Bloodstained God.