"Red Nails" is a classic sword and sorcery novella written via Robert E. Howard, the prolific American writer exceptional recognised for creating the long-lasting character Conan the Barbarian. "Red Nails" is one in all Howard's remaining and most celebrated works in the Conan series. The tale is set in the legendary land of Xuchotl, wherein the ultimate surviving population of warring cities, Xuchotl and Commoria, find themselves dwelling in a single fort called the "Red Nails." Conan, the Cimmerian warrior, encounters Valeria, a fierce pirate, and collectively, they come to be embroiled within the lethal politics and conflicts of this remoted community. Within the partitions of Red Nails, the characters face treacherous sorcery, savage beasts, and the ever-present chance of betrayal as they navigate a society steeped in bloodlust and intrigue. Howard's vivid descriptions and skillful global-building carry this dangerous and darkly atmospheric placing to existence. "Red Nails" is extremely good for its exploration of subject matters which includes barbarism, civilization’s decline, and the destructive nature of unrelenting battle. It also showcases Howard's signature writing style, characterized by means of motion-packed sequences, shiny characters, and a penchant for exploring the primal aspects of humanity.
Robert Ervin Howard (January 22, 1906 – June 11, 1936) was a writer from the United States. He wrote a wide variety of pulp fiction in a variety of genres. He is considered as the father of the sword and sorcery subgenre, having invented the character Conan the Barbarian. Howard was born in Texas and raised there. He spent the majority of his life in Cross Plains, with some time spent in nearby Brownwood. He was a scholarly and intellectual boy who like boxing and spent some time in his late teens bodybuilding before taking up amateur boxing. He had an ambition of becoming an adventure fiction writer since he was nine years old, but he did not achieve true success until he was 23. Following that, until his suicide at the age of 30, Howard's writings were published in a variety of periodicals, journals, and newspapers, and he became adept in various subgenres. His greatest success came after he died. Howard's works were never collected during his lifetime, despite the fact that a Conan novel was nearly published in 1934. Weird Tales, where Howard developed Conan the Barbarian, was his major outlet for his stories.