 Cover of first edition | |
| Author | Robert E. Howard L. Sprague de Camp |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Esteban Maroto |
| Cover artist | Sanjulián |
| Language | English |
| Series | Conan the Barbarian |
| Genre | Sword and sorcery |
| Publisher | Ace Books |
Publication date | 1980 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 191 pp |
| ISBN | 0-441-82245-2 |
| OCLC | 7467063 |
The Treasure of Tranicos is a 1980 collection of afantasy short story and essays by American writersRobert E. Howard andL. Sprague de Camp featuring Howard'ssword and sorcery heroConan the Barbarian; the essays by de Camp are on the title story and on Howard. The book is illustrated byEsteban Maroto.
The title story was revised by de Camp from the original version by Howard and was first published as "The Black Stranger" inFantasy Magazine for February, 1953. It subsequently appeared in the collectionsKing Conan (Gnome Press, 1953) andConan the Usurper (Lancer Books, 1967).
The title story begins with Conan in the Pictish Wilderness, fleeing native warriors who are now hunting him. To escape his pursuers, Conan climbs a nearby hill. Suddenly, he sees the Picts inexplicably abandon their chase and turn back. Soon, Conan realizes this spot must be a forbidden place to the Picts. The hill turns out to hold a treasure cave, along with the preserved bodies of a pirate captain, Tranicos, and his crew. Eventually, the treasure draws others towards the forbidden cave in their quest for it — one Count Valenso, and both Zingaran and Barachan sea reavers. But the bane of Tranicos is quite ready to take new victims, and Conan must outmaneuver all of them ifhe is to claim the riches.
Howard's original story pointed toward a new nautical career for Conan; one of de Camp's major changes was to make it lead instead into the revolution that would bring the Cimmerian to the throne of Aquilonia.
The essay following the story relates the circumstances of de Camp's discovery of Howard's manuscript and his revision and publication of it.
The remaining essay is about Howard himself.
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