Messages from Crom

 TITAN BOOKS ANNOUNCE PUBLISHING PARTNERSHIP WITH CONAN PROPERTIES FOR OFFICIAL ORIGINAL CONAN FICTION 

London, June 2021

Titan Books and Conan Properties through their Perilous Worlds imprint are excited to announce a program of original new publishing featuring Robert E. Howard's most famous character, Conan. Expanding from the core of Howard's original work, the new fiction will stand firmly within the Conan canon, beginning with a novel and two short stories to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the character in 2022. 

One of the most universally recognizable iconic figures in modern popular culture, Conan was born from the creative genius of pulp fiction author Robert E. Howard, forging the creation of a new genre of writing: Sword and Sorcery. Conan's epic adventures feature dramatic battles with formidable foes across the fantasy backdrop of the Hyborian Age, as the world's most famous barbarian quests across the lands and eventually becomes king of the largest empire. 

Wildly popular for almost a century, Conan continues to captivate fans worldwide. His vast media and merchandise empire spans feature films, television (including a Netflix series currently in development), Funcom's phenomenally successful Conan Exiles video game, a thousand comic books over fifty years (currently with Marvel), worldwide publishing, collectibles, apparel, and more. 

Titan Boo.' and Perilous World's full program will be composed of original novels and new short fiction digging deeply into the canon of some of the most thrilling characters in fantasy fiction, including Conan, Kull the Conqueror, Solomon Kane, and Dark Agnes. The mix of formats will build upon Howard's thrilling adventures, enabling authors to expand the worlds he created with new layers of detail that will thrust Conan into the forefront with a modern audience. 

"Given the literary origins of Conan and Howard's other characters, we've sought for years to establish a dynamic publishing program of newly written stories. Our relationship with Titan and its team goes back decades, and we're excited to embark on this joint adventure to create new tales for readers to enjoy," said Jay Zetterberg, Executive Vice President of Conan Properties. 

Speaking on the collaboration, Senior Acquisitions Editor Steve Saffel described the program as "a dream project for anyone who loves fantasy", adding that "beginning with the core of Howard's work, we'll invite the finest authors to join us in building upon his worlds and ideas. Through the short fiction component, we'll tap into the energies that yielded classics like 'Red Nails' and 'Kings of the Night.— 

The novels will publish in beautifully packaged trade paperback editions for the North American and UK mark.. The first short story is slated for May 2022, with the first novel currently scheduled for September of the same year. The original short fiction will be available exclusively in e-format, and the novels also will feature a simultaneous e-format release.