‘The King Of The Swords’

The King Of The Swords

New York:  Berkley, 1971 (October) mass-sized paperback;
original price:  75¢;
158 pages;
I.S.B.N.:  425-02070-3;
cover artist:  David McCall Johnston;
no (individual) hardcover edition.

Third volume in the first of two separate trilogies featuring Corum Jhaelen Irsei.  It was collected in The Swords Trilogy (1977), The Swords Of Corum (1986) and Corum (1992) with The Knight Of The Swords and The Queen Of The Swords, then revised for further collection in Corum: The Coming Of Chaos (1996/’97), and collected yet again (unrevised) in Corum: The Prince In The Scarlet Robe (2002). One of its sections retells, from Corum’s viewpoint, a part of the Elric novel, The Sleeping Sorceress (1971).

It should be noted that the name Corum Jhaelen Irsei is an anagram of Jeremiah Cornelius.

(Preceded by The Queen Of The Swords)

First edition

Berkley paperback, 1986 (June);
original price:  $2·95;
158 pages;
I.S.B.N.:  0-425-09201-1;
cover artist:  Robert Gould.

London: Titan trade-sized paperback, 2015 (July 7th);
sub-titled “Corum Book 3” on title page & front cover;
edited by John Davey;
original price:  $9·95;
196 pages;
I.S.B.N.:  9871783291694;
cover artist:  “Funny Little Fish/Dreamtime”.

First standalone edition of revised text (see description above)

Rockville, MD: GraphicAudio (C.D. [+ download]) audiobook, 2016 (July 13th);
original price:  $25·99;
I.S.B.N.:  9798200823109;
narrated by Nanette Savard (+ actors);
original theme music: Peter Pavli;
cover artist:  Gel Jamlang.

First British edition:  London: Mayflower mass-sized paperback, 1972 (March 23rd);
sub-titled “Volume the Third of The Books of Corum” on title page;
original price:  25p;
141 pages;
I.S.B.N.:  583-11999-9;
cover artist:  Bob Habberfield (sic).

Reprinted 1972 (30p)
Mayflower p/b edition, 1974.
Mayflower p/b edition 1975 (40p), reprinted 1977 (50p);
143 pages.
Granada p/b edition, 1980 (August 28th),
0-583-11999-9 (95p);
143 pages.
Granada p/b edition, 1981 (£1·25);
143 pages.
Granada p/b edition 1984 (£1·50), reprinted Grafton (1986, £1·95);
142 pages.

London: Grafton paperback, 1989 (March 30th);
original price:  £2·99;
142 pages;
I.S.B.N.:  0-586-20716-3 (0-583-11999-9 on copyright page);
cover artist:  Paul Damon.

(Followed by The Bull And The Spear,
first volume in the second of two separate trilogies featuring Corum)

(Click here for Graphic Adaptation)

(Click here for Foreign Editions)

The King Of The Swords is also available as e-books: 9780575109674 (U.K.) & 9871783291687 (U.S.A.).