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Adventures of Conan
Conan and the Gods of the Mountain
Fleeing the sorcerous destruction of a long-lost city, Conan fights side-by-side with Valeria of the Red Brotherhood, that notorious and voluptuous she-pirate. Pursued by deadly spies and assassins, the Cimmerian and Valeria find themselves caught squarely in the front ranks of a bloody and savage war. But greater peril lurks in the shadow of a vast and forbidding mountain, where the Spirit Speaker wage occult battle with God-Men, who can read the future--and summon a Living Wind that consumes the soul even as it destroys the flesh.
Even a sword powered by barbarian might is of little use against spirits, much less against great beings of the elder dark, but the final struggle for survival will come down to... Conan and the Gods of the Mountain.
Even a sword powered by barbarian might is of little use against spirits, much less against great beings of the elder dark, but the final struggle for survival will come down to... Conan and the Gods of the Mountain.
- GenresFantasySword and Sorcery
280 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 1, 1993
2 people are currently reading
190 people want to read
About the author
Roland J. Green
88 books29 followersRoland James Green is an American science fiction and fantasy writer and editor. He has written as Roland Green and Roland J. Green; and had 28 books in the Richard Blade series published under the pen name 'Jeffrey Lord'.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 15, 2022
Green wrote this novel as a sequel to Howard's Red Nails, which was probably not a good idea. Conan and Valeria are traveling together and become embroiled in the middle of a three-way war. There's too much political discourse, the story takes too long to get going, and then gets a little too convoluted. Conan and Valeria do have some good times, though. Conan fights a variety of animal/monsters (leopards and cobras and spiders and hippos, oh my!), experiments with hallucinogens, and uses a trampoline. It's a jungle adventure and might have worked better as a Tarzan tale. It's a fun read, but not exceptionally memorable.
January 29, 2023
A slow start and was kind of hard to get into. It does feature some good Conan action plus the addition of Valeria as a companion is nice.
June 5, 2025
I kept waiting for a coherent plot to emerge. I was disappointed.
December 14, 2023
An occasionally somewhat enjoyable but mostly messy and amateur read. This is Roland Green's fourth Conan pastiche... and truth be told, he really isn't showing all that much improvement throughout his instalments. If anything, he's regressing, since Conan the Guardian (his second pastiche) was his most enjoyable so far (in my humble opinion, of course).
Now, I'll start by saying I have to give Green SOME props. He might not be a very good writer... but he at least clearly enjoys penning Conan and tries to make his books enjoyable, which is more than can be said for some Conan pastiche authors (I'm looking at you, Leonard Carpenter). There are plenty of wild animals and monsters for our favourite Cimmerian to fight, and Conan is at least somewhat faithfully presented in the story. So Conan and the Gods of the Mountain wasn't a TOTAL dud.
Still, Green's usual flaws are ever present here and continue to mark him as one of the lesser authors in the Tor run - and the bar isn't exactly high. First of all, his obsession with nudity is just ridiculous. As mentioned, this is his fourth pastiche, and as is the case with every single one of his Conan books so far, he desperately goes out of his way to force most (if not all) of the characters to be naked at any given turn, referencing nudity page after page after page. His books are just stupidly horny, and there's even a moment where he contrives to have Conan and Valeria sneak off to bonk in a canoe that's large enough to "make for hot loving". No, I'm not joking. That's actually what's written in the book. Can you imagine Robert E. Howard writing that? It's clear Green would have been much more at home writing soft-core porn, and his inability to control his sex drive whilst penning these pastiches often makes them little more than exactly that.
His writing in general is also amateur and clunky at best. It's clear that he's trying his hardest to be a decent wordsmith, but he constantly overextends his hand and the execution of his prose is very poor. His sentence structures are so messy, his writing style so unclear and badly worded, that sometimes it's hard to even know exactly what I'm reading, even during the most simple and mundane of events and exchanges.
Green's limitations as an author are also exemplified by his constant use of similes or very similar writing techniques. He uses the exact same methods on every single page, and it would feel repetitive even if he did a much better job of it. Here are a few examples:
- Conan waited, for about as long as a skilled tavern dancer might take to shed her garments when the watchers bid eagerly in silver coin for each piece of silk.
- "Do you trust you own folk?" he asked, as some might as the price of a goat.
- They screamed and leaped like monkeys beset by bees, or like warthogs attacked by driver ants.
- The messenger ran up to Seyganko as if his loin-guard had caught fire, or a leopard swam the lake to pursue him.
- The spear drove through the Kawnyi's thigh with such force that the point burst out on the other side. The man howled as if stung by fire ants and flung Aondo away.
This gets old really fast. It wouldn't be so bad if it was occasional, but sometimes Green does this three or four times per page, and he doesn't even do it well. For example, in the third and fourth examples I listed above, he can't even choose one comparison and so makes two comparisons for the same action in a single sentence. In other cases, like the last example I listed, Green's choice of wording doesn't even make sense. Someone just got their thigh impaled all the way through by a spear, a deadly and agonising wound... and they only howl as if they were stung by ants? It completely minimises the violence at play. It's like Green isn't even thinking about the similes or comparisons he's making, or whether or not they actually work or apply. It's just really amateur.
Another example of how Green overextends his hand is when he tries to make his characters seem wise... but instead they just come across as childish, because Green himself isn't wise enough to write true wisdom. Here are a couple of examples...
- "Following the leopard's cub has been known to lead a hunter to the leopard's lair."
- "The lion bites more easily one who thrusts his head into the lion's jaw."
These quotes aren't wise. They're painfully simplistic, and so obvious that a child could come up with them. It once again shows that Green just isn't really all that smart or insightful, and it makes his characters seem the same, even when they're supposed to be intellectual.
Anyway, I'm going to end my review here. Although this read wasn't quite bad enough for me to drop it into the pit of one-star reads, it doesn't deserve much more than that. The comical horniness, the amateur writing, the meandering plotting, and the many pages wasted on pointless characters - all paired with a very rushed ending that doesn't even allow the reader to see the aftermath of the book's conflict - make this a Conan pastiche I definitely won't be reading again. Unfortunately, Green's enthusiasm just isn't enough to make up for his many usual pitfalls. This is a shame, because his basic storylines usually offer promise and could likely make for far better books if they were written by more capable authors.
And so I give Conan and the Gods of the Mountain a lacklustre two stars and breathe a sigh of relief that I finally managed to slog my way to the end. Thank Crom.
Now, I'll start by saying I have to give Green SOME props. He might not be a very good writer... but he at least clearly enjoys penning Conan and tries to make his books enjoyable, which is more than can be said for some Conan pastiche authors (I'm looking at you, Leonard Carpenter). There are plenty of wild animals and monsters for our favourite Cimmerian to fight, and Conan is at least somewhat faithfully presented in the story. So Conan and the Gods of the Mountain wasn't a TOTAL dud.
Still, Green's usual flaws are ever present here and continue to mark him as one of the lesser authors in the Tor run - and the bar isn't exactly high. First of all, his obsession with nudity is just ridiculous. As mentioned, this is his fourth pastiche, and as is the case with every single one of his Conan books so far, he desperately goes out of his way to force most (if not all) of the characters to be naked at any given turn, referencing nudity page after page after page. His books are just stupidly horny, and there's even a moment where he contrives to have Conan and Valeria sneak off to bonk in a canoe that's large enough to "make for hot loving". No, I'm not joking. That's actually what's written in the book. Can you imagine Robert E. Howard writing that? It's clear Green would have been much more at home writing soft-core porn, and his inability to control his sex drive whilst penning these pastiches often makes them little more than exactly that.
His writing in general is also amateur and clunky at best. It's clear that he's trying his hardest to be a decent wordsmith, but he constantly overextends his hand and the execution of his prose is very poor. His sentence structures are so messy, his writing style so unclear and badly worded, that sometimes it's hard to even know exactly what I'm reading, even during the most simple and mundane of events and exchanges.
Green's limitations as an author are also exemplified by his constant use of similes or very similar writing techniques. He uses the exact same methods on every single page, and it would feel repetitive even if he did a much better job of it. Here are a few examples:
- Conan waited, for about as long as a skilled tavern dancer might take to shed her garments when the watchers bid eagerly in silver coin for each piece of silk.
- "Do you trust you own folk?" he asked, as some might as the price of a goat.
- They screamed and leaped like monkeys beset by bees, or like warthogs attacked by driver ants.
- The messenger ran up to Seyganko as if his loin-guard had caught fire, or a leopard swam the lake to pursue him.
- The spear drove through the Kawnyi's thigh with such force that the point burst out on the other side. The man howled as if stung by fire ants and flung Aondo away.
This gets old really fast. It wouldn't be so bad if it was occasional, but sometimes Green does this three or four times per page, and he doesn't even do it well. For example, in the third and fourth examples I listed above, he can't even choose one comparison and so makes two comparisons for the same action in a single sentence. In other cases, like the last example I listed, Green's choice of wording doesn't even make sense. Someone just got their thigh impaled all the way through by a spear, a deadly and agonising wound... and they only howl as if they were stung by ants? It completely minimises the violence at play. It's like Green isn't even thinking about the similes or comparisons he's making, or whether or not they actually work or apply. It's just really amateur.
Another example of how Green overextends his hand is when he tries to make his characters seem wise... but instead they just come across as childish, because Green himself isn't wise enough to write true wisdom. Here are a couple of examples...
- "Following the leopard's cub has been known to lead a hunter to the leopard's lair."
- "The lion bites more easily one who thrusts his head into the lion's jaw."
These quotes aren't wise. They're painfully simplistic, and so obvious that a child could come up with them. It once again shows that Green just isn't really all that smart or insightful, and it makes his characters seem the same, even when they're supposed to be intellectual.
Anyway, I'm going to end my review here. Although this read wasn't quite bad enough for me to drop it into the pit of one-star reads, it doesn't deserve much more than that. The comical horniness, the amateur writing, the meandering plotting, and the many pages wasted on pointless characters - all paired with a very rushed ending that doesn't even allow the reader to see the aftermath of the book's conflict - make this a Conan pastiche I definitely won't be reading again. Unfortunately, Green's enthusiasm just isn't enough to make up for his many usual pitfalls. This is a shame, because his basic storylines usually offer promise and could likely make for far better books if they were written by more capable authors.
And so I give Conan and the Gods of the Mountain a lacklustre two stars and breathe a sigh of relief that I finally managed to slog my way to the end. Thank Crom.
July 8, 2019
Written as a sequel to "Red Nails". Conan and Valeria are lost in the Black Kingdoms and just want to get home. Their previous actions have destabilized the relationship between two local tribes plus some wizards but they know nothing of that. Instead they trek aimlessly through the jungle, until they fall in a hole. Then they trek aimlessly through a bunch of tunnels. Meanwhile the two tribes are preparing for war, each with their own wizards backing them. When Conan and Valeria finally get out of the tunnel system they find themselves in the middle of one of the tribes and decide to join them after convincing the tribesmen not to kill them. Then the everybody goes to war.
Not the best written story ever, especially when compared to "Red Nails". There is too much time just wandering, and every scene starts with a description of Conan and Valeria's clothes, which are always either loincloths or nothing at all. There are some good fights when they get to them, and Conan stays basically in character. He fights crocodiles, pigs, snakes, and a rhinocerous. He jumps on a trampoline and eats some shrooms and a monkey. Decent enough read for killing time, not much else.
Not the best written story ever, especially when compared to "Red Nails". There is too much time just wandering, and every scene starts with a description of Conan and Valeria's clothes, which are always either loincloths or nothing at all. There are some good fights when they get to them, and Conan stays basically in character. He fights crocodiles, pigs, snakes, and a rhinocerous. He jumps on a trampoline and eats some shrooms and a monkey. Decent enough read for killing time, not much else.
February 11, 2022
I have been a fan of the Conan series for many years. So I have read a lot of Conan stories. Some were written by authors writing with permission of the Robert Howard estate this one I don't know of it was with permission. The story idea is the usual plot Conan is suddenly in the middle of an adventure that he didn't plan, but he has fight some ancient monster and assorted bad guys. My main problem with this story is that it was drawn out too much. There were times the action was none existent. I mean the last seventy-something pages were where most of the action is found. The characters were almost one dimensional even Conan was pretty lack-luster in this book. I have read better Conan stories this one was not one of my favorites. Now I know that Robert Howard wrote his stories for the pulp magazines and he was not above reworking a story with different characters, but they were still good stories this one however is just lacking something.
March 25, 2023
This could've done with a leaner plot.
February 2, 2013
Boring and convoluted, the first half alternates from scenes about politics amongst three different tribes, with scenes with Conan and Valeria walking endless miles first in the jungle, then in underground tunnels. It was so long and tedious, I was longing for Conan and the tribes to meet so the story could get somewhere. But then we get another 100 pages or so of Conan trying to prove himself to become an ally with one of the tribes (the first one he meets). It's only towards the end, after page 200, that finally we see some action with some monster fighting, then the tribes warring. Bad pacing, boring premise. This doesn't live up at all to the story it is a sequel to, "Red Nails".
October 2, 2013
Conan does not cry.
February 23, 2015
Your typical Conan book with a less than stellar ending. All in all, a good read though.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews