Country United States Series Conan the Barbarian Published in Conan the Swordsman | Language English Genre(s) Fantasy short story | |
Author | ||
"Shadows in the Dark" is a short story by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter featuring the fictional sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian created by Robert E. Howard. It was first published by Bantam Books in the paperback collection Conan the Swordsman in August 1978. Later paperback editions of the collection were issued by Ace Books (1987 and 1991). The first hardcover edition was published by Tor Books in 2002. The book has also been translated into Italian. It was later gathered together with Conan the Liberator and Conan and the Spider God into the omnibus collection Sagas of Conan (Tor Books, 2004).
Plot summary
In the wake of the events of "Black Colossus" Conan leads a small group of companions to recover King Khossus of Khoraja from his Ophirean captors. Their quest is progressing unusually well, which raises Conan's suspicions. He learns that one of his comrades is an agent of the enemy, and realizes he will have to go it alone on the rescue.