Conan: Blood of the Serpent in Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy"

Feb 24, 2023 Clint rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, sword-sorcery, reh-and-reh-pastiche, ebook, sword-sorcery-group-read, 2023

I’m a Conan Nut. I have been since about age 10. Eventually, I migrated from Conan Nut to Robert E. Howard Fanatic; however, Conan was my first love. Anything Conan I am happy to try. Movies. Comics. Books. I’ve read lots of drudge over the years.

When Titan announced this book and the revitalizing of NEW Conan books, I was excited. I still am, even though this one was not fantastic.

Not fantastic, but not terrible. It’s an extended chase scene built on about the first 3 or 4 pages of backstory ...more

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Apr 08, 2023 Richard rated it it was amazing

Shelves: sword-and-sorcery

After many false starts someone has finally published a new official Conan novel. With any beloved intellectual property fans exhibited many different opinions about it. Many condemned it without reading it, many more after. The unwary can become lost down the rabbit hole of reviews online.

Personally, I welcomed the new novel, but with trepidation. When Titan listed the book initially, they only offered hardcover and kindle. A hardcover can be nice, but my Conan collection is paperback; I did no After many false starts someone has finally published a new official Conan novel. With any beloved intellectual property fans exhibited many different opinions about it. Many condemned it without reading it, many more after. The unwary can become lost down the rabbit hole of reviews online.

Personally, I welcomed the new novel, but with trepidation. When Titan listed the book initially, they only offered hardcover and kindle. A hardcover can be nice, but my Conan collection is paperback; I did not want a hardcover. Then you figure in the kindle price–seems rather inflated by comparison to other books in this genre.

After the initial euphoria wears off you realize that this isn't a complete new novel, but a prequel paired with the short story Red Nails. The 421 pages of the story is padded with a reprint of Howard's original work. Stirling's novel doesn't fare well without the inclusion, but this is a minor complaint.

You should never judge a book by its cover, but the cover for Blood of the Serpent is unassuming. It is bland. It is safe. Certainly not the eye candy fans come to expect from this type of book. The indie crowd gets it. The redemption for Titan comes with the inclusion of interior illustrations by Roberto de la Torre. This was a very nice touch and much appreciated.

The story is well written. Although, it is basically a chase story. What I mean by this is our male protagonist is in a race against time chasing our female protagonist in an attempt to help avert disaster from the antagonist. Burroughs did this with his Carson of Venus books and Resnick did this with his Ganymede books. This can make for a fast-paced story. In this instance Conan went on a few side quests while on his chase which stretched the credulity of his quarry not escaping him altogether.

The ending of Blood of the Serpent flows directly into the beginning of Red Nails. I am still unsure why Blood of the Serpent reiterates the opening of Red Nails if both stories are present together. More padding?

This was my first reading of Red Nails. Coming so late to it I cannot help but look at it with apathy. Once the players are introduced everything that happens is evident long before it happens. It certainly was not the best S&S I've ever read. The menace and horror of the setting and situation is palpable and helps make up for the transparent plot. The denouement is also rather cliché to the jaded reader.

The Afterword is a sad thing. It is an apology for the righteous and indignant for Howard's "original manuscript. Raw and powerful, it's also very much of its time–written almost a century ago, when our culture could be less socially aware and genre fiction in particular often exhibited rough edges some of today's readers may find jarring."

Overall, even though I was not blown away by the story or packaging I still found the story engaging and welcomed it to my collection. There is ample room for improvement from Titan. Perhaps they will get it right with the release of John C. Hocking's Conan in the City of the Dead due in November? ...more

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Mar 14, 2023 Dartharagorn rated it did not like it

Shelves: sword-and-sorcery

This was such a disappointment. Slow and boring. The author's take on Conan was awful. I would definitely not recommend this book to any Conan fan. I don't normally give 1 star reviews. Because I just don't finish them. I so wanted this to get good. I just keep reading and hoping. I should have quit reading long before I finished. ...more

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Dec 10, 2022 Liam rated it liked it

It’s Conan pastiche, so expect that. In and of itself it is fine, but I still have a hard time separating REH’s Conan with later authors takes on the Cimmerian. Stirling is a fine writer, but some parts drag or fizzle out. I think an author of Sword & Sorcery would be a better fit, there isn’t enough bloody action or weirdness.

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Jan 16, 2023 Christian Freed rated it liked it

Eh, not that bad, not that good. The new book is kind of boring, but Howard's story picks it up. Still, wasn't a waste of time. Looking forward to the next one. ...more

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