Karl Edward Wagner

Karl Edward Wagner was an author, poet, editor, and a publisher known for publishing works of science fiction, horror, and fantasy. Born on December 12, 1945, in Knoxville, Tennessee, he was born to his mother Dorothea and his father Aubrey J. Wagner. He was one of four children and the youngest.

The best place to start is the Conan (Donald M. Grant) series, the earliest of Karl Edward Wagner's multi-book series: it opens with The Hour of the Dragon / Conan the Conquerer (1950) and runs to 10 books across 1950–1986, ending with The Pool of the Black One (1986). Karl Edward Wagner's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.

Karl Edward Wagner has 165 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1950 and 2026. 58 of them belong to 10 named series — the largest being the Author's Choice Monthly series with 13 books — and 107 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.

Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. Karl Edward Wagner's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are Conan (Donald M. Grant) (1950–1986, 10 books), Kane (1970–2003, 9 books) and Bran Mak Morn (1976, 2 books), plus 6 more.

This guide splits Karl Edward Wagner's 165 books into 10 named series and 107 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: Author's Choice Monthly (13 books, 1989–1991); Conan (Donald M. Grant) (10 books, 1950–1986); Kane (9 books, 1970–2003); Conan (Bantam) (7 books, 1978–2023); Little Book (5 books, 2014–2020), plus 5 further series.

This guide splits Karl Edward Wagner's 165 books into 10 named series and 107 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: Author's Choice Monthly (13 books, 1989–1991); Conan (Donald M. Grant) (10 books, 1950–1986); Kane (9 books, 1970–2003); Conan (Bantam) (7 books, 1978–2023); Little Book (5 books, 2014–2020), plus 5 further series.