The People of the Summit

"The People of the Summit" is a short story by Björn Nyberg, subsequently revised by L. Sprague de Camp, featuring the fictional sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian created by Robert E. Howard. Nyberg's version of the story was first published by Lancer Books in the paperback anthology The Mighty Swordsmen in December 1970. The revised version 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

Conan and his comrade, Jamal, are the sole survivors in a calvary of Turanian soldiers ambushed by Khozgarian tribesmen. Fleeing the site of the massacre, they encounter Shanya Karaz, daughter of a Khozgari chief, whom they seize as a hostage. Their journey takes them across the Bhamlar Pass, which they brave despite Shanya's warnings of the People of the Summit, survivors of a dying race who haunt the high mountains. Fogbound in the pass, the three are attacked; Jamal is killed and Shanya captured. Conan escapes a troop of grey-haired apes and pursue the creatures towards an ancient tower in his quest to rescue Shanya.

References

• Laughlin, Charlotte; Daniel J. H. Levack (1983). De Camp: An L. Sprague de Camp Bibliography. San Francisco: Underwood/Miller. p. 223.
• The People of the Summit (original version) title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• The People of the Summit (revised version) title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database