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Conrad Stargard #8
Conrad's Last Campaign
This the last work of Leo Frankowski and the last chapter of the Adventures of Conrad Stargard. It completes a series begun in 1986 and spanning eight books.
The series ends in the best of Leo’s tradition of rousing adventure intermixed with the engineering details that fleshed out his earlier work.
When Leo returned from Russia in 2006, he began working on the final chapter of Conrad’s life. His age and declining health made progress slow, but he was eventually able to complete the plot outline and write part of the final book.
Leo and I had agreed that Conrad would grow and change in the last book and find a way to noble retirement or noble death. You will have to read the last chapter to know which path was chosen.
Unfortunately, Leo died before finishing the text. On Christmas Morning 2008, he died suddenly and peacefully from the effects of various drugs that he was prescribed.
However, the book was well started and the plot known and Leo wanted everyone to know what happened to Conrad. I was familiar with Leo’s writing style, having been coached by him to enable me to contribute to earlier writings, so I finished it.
The series ends in the best of Leo’s tradition of rousing adventure intermixed with the engineering details that fleshed out his earlier work.
When Leo returned from Russia in 2006, he began working on the final chapter of Conrad’s life. His age and declining health made progress slow, but he was eventually able to complete the plot outline and write part of the final book.
Leo and I had agreed that Conrad would grow and change in the last book and find a way to noble retirement or noble death. You will have to read the last chapter to know which path was chosen.
Unfortunately, Leo died before finishing the text. On Christmas Morning 2008, he died suddenly and peacefully from the effects of various drugs that he was prescribed.
However, the book was well started and the plot known and Leo wanted everyone to know what happened to Conrad. I was familiar with Leo’s writing style, having been coached by him to enable me to contribute to earlier writings, so I finished it.
273 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 5, 2014
21 people are currently reading
86 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
May 4, 2015
Good end to the series, horrible editing
If you read the whole series you should be happy with this ending. But the editing sucks. Tons of wrong words used that made it distracting.
If you read the whole series you should be happy with this ending. But the editing sucks. Tons of wrong words used that made it distracting.
June 19, 2015
The last book of the series. Glad to get a ending, could have been a little better. Enjoyed the series.
May 2, 2019
I'm rating this book two stars as it is a considerable drop in quality from the first 5-6 books in the Conrad Stargard series.
At first, getting the last three books in this series seemed like a good idea. I loved the first six books and was eager to learn how the Conrad series had progressed and would eventually end. However, time did not make things better.
First, this book, published privately because the original published dropped the author, is riddled with simply editing (spelling, consistency in usage, etc) errors that should easily have been caught and corrected. I can handle one or two in a book, but I would wager that there are at least fifty and more than likely over a hundred. When you are paying for a product, such a low level of quality control is unforgiveable.
Second, the story rambles on, and on, and on, in some areas. The battle scenes start getting so convoluted that I wondered if I should have drawn myself a map to plot out where everyone is. And if it is that complicated, most readers will simply give up on it.
One of the most important changes in the last two books particularly was how the character progressed, or I should say departed, from his original traits. In fact, a cut scene in Uncle Tom's Control Room (not a term used in the earlier books in the series and too close to Uncle Tom's Cabin) even mentions that Conrad had become everything he hated when he first landed in medieval Poland.
One small, but entertaining twist that had an odour of Deus Ex Machina about it was the plot twist at the end. I won't spoil it, but it seemed that Conrad was done for until he woke up to it.
As I mentioned in my review of the last book, I think that this book is worth the time spent reading only to say that you have read the entire series. The lower quality editing and massive character shift left me quite disappointed. The very end of the series seemed like lazy writing and overall, I have to say that I was left disappointed. I know that the author stepped in due to the sudden passing away of Leo Frankowski, but this book did not end the legacy of the first five very well at all. Read it if you will.
At first, getting the last three books in this series seemed like a good idea. I loved the first six books and was eager to learn how the Conrad series had progressed and would eventually end. However, time did not make things better.
First, this book, published privately because the original published dropped the author, is riddled with simply editing (spelling, consistency in usage, etc) errors that should easily have been caught and corrected. I can handle one or two in a book, but I would wager that there are at least fifty and more than likely over a hundred. When you are paying for a product, such a low level of quality control is unforgiveable.
Second, the story rambles on, and on, and on, in some areas. The battle scenes start getting so convoluted that I wondered if I should have drawn myself a map to plot out where everyone is. And if it is that complicated, most readers will simply give up on it.
One of the most important changes in the last two books particularly was how the character progressed, or I should say departed, from his original traits. In fact, a cut scene in Uncle Tom's Control Room (not a term used in the earlier books in the series and too close to Uncle Tom's Cabin) even mentions that Conrad had become everything he hated when he first landed in medieval Poland.
One small, but entertaining twist that had an odour of Deus Ex Machina about it was the plot twist at the end. I won't spoil it, but it seemed that Conrad was done for until he woke up to it.
As I mentioned in my review of the last book, I think that this book is worth the time spent reading only to say that you have read the entire series. The lower quality editing and massive character shift left me quite disappointed. The very end of the series seemed like lazy writing and overall, I have to say that I was left disappointed. I know that the author stepped in due to the sudden passing away of Leo Frankowski, but this book did not end the legacy of the first five very well at all. Read it if you will.
July 1, 2024
If you've gotten this far you already know Conrad has questionable morals, but by now most if not all of his good sides are gone. Some might believe he has his reasons but I don't really care if he does or not, he's not fun to read about when he's always an asshole. I'm willing to overlook a lot, but if there's no redeeming qualities it's hard to unless the characterisation, story and/or language used are interesting. Which it is not.
The story itself slows down considerably by endless travels and stupid mistakes while the large conspiracy hinted at in earlier books are handled off-screen presented through a short paragraph. Personally I had been hoping most of this book had been about that rather than the worst prepared invasion force in history.
I get that he has his reasons, but I don't care when it's not interesting especially since he didn't seem to change back or learn anything from it either.
The book is so badly edited at times I thought I was reading something machine translated from another language. They even seem to have forgotten that the big people are all female somehow while proudly proclaiming at the foreword that they fixed Leo Frankowski's inconsistency with base 12.
The story itself slows down considerably by endless travels and stupid mistakes while the large conspiracy hinted at in earlier books are handled off-screen presented through a short paragraph. Personally I had been hoping most of this book had been about that rather than the worst prepared invasion force in history.
I get that he has his reasons, but I don't care when it's not interesting especially since he didn't seem to change back or learn anything from it either.
The book is so badly edited at times I thought I was reading something machine translated from another language. They even seem to have forgotten that the big people are all female somehow while proudly proclaiming at the foreword that they fixed Leo Frankowski's inconsistency with base 12.
July 27, 2018
While the book continued to be entertaining the story was not as interesting as previous books and the conclusion was less than satisfying. Also the editing was pretty terrible with the wrong words being used in places (Muslim instead of mongol), inverted sentences, etc... But if you could get past this it was still enjoyable.
December 23, 2019
good ending to the series
I like the whole series. I have read the whole series multiple times. This one had a few changes in Conrad's characters that I didn't particularly enjoy but I understood their purpose. It was done on purpose. My big complaint about this book is its lack of grammar correction. I will miss Leo's writing.
I like the whole series. I have read the whole series multiple times. This one had a few changes in Conrad's characters that I didn't particularly enjoy but I understood their purpose. It was done on purpose. My big complaint about this book is its lack of grammar correction. I will miss Leo's writing.
October 28, 2021
I am happy to say that this was much better then the previous novel in the series. This was a fitting conclusion to the
Conrad Stargard series. It was the Conrad that we remember but who had aged and changed some through time. I quite enjoyed the novel as much as the first 4 or 5 of the series.
Conrad Stargard series. It was the Conrad that we remember but who had aged and changed some through time. I quite enjoyed the novel as much as the first 4 or 5 of the series.
September 14, 2020
The final adventures of Conrad Stargard
Very good ending to Lord Conrad's adventures! It gives a great closure to the characters arc. Although I am saddened to not have more adventures to look forward to.
Very good ending to Lord Conrad's adventures! It gives a great closure to the characters arc. Although I am saddened to not have more adventures to look forward to.
February 11, 2022
I loved the first 5 books of the series, but the newness and quality has wained.
Basically a version of Twain's Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court but set in Poland around the time the Mongol's were ravaging Europe.
Basically a version of Twain's Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court but set in Poland around the time the Mongol's were ravaging Europe.
July 22, 2018
Conrad rides again
Fun book in the Conrad series I enjoy the attitude and stories of this time traveler. Good ending to a good series.
Fun book in the Conrad series I enjoy the attitude and stories of this time traveler. Good ending to a good series.
July 5, 2023
Good ending
I enjoyed all of these stories so much. I am sad that the original author passed. His child did him proud finishing the tale well.
I enjoyed all of these stories so much. I am sad that the original author passed. His child did him proud finishing the tale well.
February 13, 2017
Badly edited from the author's deathbed notes. It frequently falls apart into word hash, especially in the second half. There are hints to what might have been interesting plot twists, but without a coherent plot for them to twist they just hang there. Some interesting discussion of speculative high speed dirigible design and eerie parallels to Heinlein's characters during his brain tumor period. And way more mentions of how good fresh baked bread smells than I ever would have expected.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews