Book excerpt: "The Hour of the Dragon," also known as "Conan the Conqueror," is a fantasy novel by American writer Robert E. Howard. The novel features g his sword and sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian, and it was one of the last Conan stories published before Howard's death. In this book, Conan gets imprisoned while the power of his homeland goes to his foes. Conan should first escape from captivity and take several dangerous quests to return home and save his people.