From the Bookshelf of Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy"…
Find A Copy At
Group Discussions About This Book
No group discussions for this book yet.
What Members Thought
Diverting enough Conan novel, though Wagner, like other latter-day Conan scribes, lacks the sheer exuberance and simplicity of Robert E. Howard.
And his Conan sometimes comes across as too sophisticated and pedantic, a bit like the psychiatrist that Wagner was. I mean, how can you grunt or rumble lines like "No doubt it's strange to you that I have not become sufficiently civilized to roll in the hay with a friend's woman. In Cimmeria our customs are somewhat archaic."
Really? No, the real Conan ...more
And his Conan sometimes comes across as too sophisticated and pedantic, a bit like the psychiatrist that Wagner was. I mean, how can you grunt or rumble lines like "No doubt it's strange to you that I have not become sufficiently civilized to roll in the hay with a friend's woman. In Cimmeria our customs are somewhat archaic."
Really? No, the real Conan ...more
First, I love Karl Edward Wagner. His Kane character is an amazing sword and sorcery anti hero, and his short stories are top notch dark fantasy. However, Conan is not Kane, and while there’s plenty of overlap, writing a Conan story like Robert E. Howard just isn’t possible. It would be like writing a Kane story like Karl Edward Wagner. There are things to be liked here, especially the sword and sorcery antagonist and creative use of wizardry and necromancy by the villain. The political machinat
...more
While mildly disappointed in the opening pages - outside a handful of great sentences/thoughts/actions - things begin to pick up at page 85, then from chapter 9 on really deliver an epic Conan tale. KEW ties into lots of Conan's past and future in this last, greater portion of the book, nicely building on and up the traits and creed REH bestowed upon Conan. Wagner puts some quality effort into furthering Conan's maturation toward leadership and future kingship without over-writing, sermonizing,
...more
The only Conan pastiche written by Wagner. A lot of readers think it's one of the best, but I suspect part of that is because they respect Wagner's Kane stories so much. I didn't care that much for it and thought it was much, much weaker than his books about his own character.
...more
Mar 10, 2010
Vincent Darlage
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
conan-ace-lancer
Nov 30, 2016
Derek
marked it as to-read
![[Name Redacted]](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1347082397p2/287915.jpg)
Jan 28, 2019
[Name Redacted]
marked it as to-read
Mar 09, 2024
Colin Leidner
marked it as to-read
Mar 29, 2024
Tri
marked it as to-read
