Would this (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Coming-of-Conan-the-Cimmerian/Robert-E-Howard/e/9780345461513/?itm=1) (and the others in the series) be a reliable source of unblemished Robert E. Howard stories? I already have the Solomon Kane (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Savage-Tales-of-Solomon-Kane/Robert-E-Howard/e/9780345461506/?itm=4) one, but I never really considered whether it would have been edited into bloody submission.
Absolutely! This series was published with the idea of restoring the original Howard text for public reading.
I guess the problem occured back in the 1960's when Howard's works were "edited" and other authors contributed material to "fill in" some of the gaps. As such, most of the Conan books I grew up reading weren't really true Howard versions at all.
This series is.
I have brought these three books, and as far as I know they are the only complete edition of everything Howard wrote for Conan (fragments included) like he did wrote it. If there are better editions, I don't know them.
Awesome! I happen to work for B&N; I'll probably start buying these up. I really enjoyed the Solomon Kane stories.