From the back cover... "Born in the fires of battle, Conan of Cimmeria lost his father and village when they were slaughtered by the cruel warlord Khalar Zym. Wandering the world alone, Conan was forged into a peerless warrior by hardship and bloodshed. Years later, he crosses paths with Zym and his armies. But before Conan can exact vengeance, he must contend with the warlord's daughter-the seductive witch Marique-and a host of monstrous creatures. Only then will Conan's quest bring him face to face with Zym in an epic battle to avenge his people and save the world." I like the movie this is based on. It's a shame it had a lot of unnecessary complaints about it online. The movie is very close to the character as created by Robert E. Howard, closer than the Schwartzenegger version is actually. The novelisation is excellent. The story is much expanded on and the characterisation is very good. The plot is a dark one but I liked that the book added to conan's backstory in an interesting way. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.