Conan 6: Conan of Cimmeria

The sixth book in the series, Conan of Cimmeria, and this one has the most stories yet – eight, in total. Four Howard, four de Camp and Carter – and once again, de Camp has chosen to lead with a pastiche instead of an original story, starting with 'The Curse of the Monolith'. The prose begins with him walking among bamboo, rhododendrons and mighty redwoods as old as Atlantis, and Conan tasked to take a letter from one city to another. It just never really seems to flow, and it's hard to maintain a suspension of disbelief. At one point a noble from Khitai brings out a crowbar to open crates of gold! The story concludes with Conan fighting a jelly...I've only just started this anthology, and already the mark is falling. Not a good start.

'The Bloodstained God' follows, a Howard story. Interesting how Conan seems to use the tulwar a lot in stories that have been converted; this once again is a fragment for another character that has been expanded. It's not great, and there is something missing – the flavour isn't there. Hard to define, but somehow the description seems to be a little by the numbers, and the dialogue doesn't feel right. It has a pretty decent Howard ending, and at least true to the spirit of Conan – treasure only matters for what it can buy him, and in this case it has bought him his life – a fair bargain.

Finally, an unadulterated Howard in the form of 'The Frost Giant's Daughter'. Most put this story at the beginning of Conan's life as chronicled, and it's one of the more directly mythologically-inspired stories, delving into Norse myth. The usual descriptive touches are nicely present in the piece, though the theme – Conan chasing a beautiful woman into the icy wastes that he might have his way with her – is somewhat questionable. It's still a decent story, though not the best.

With the title 'Lair of the Ice Worm' the next pastiche comes into view. The description here is actually a little better, though 'Snow Devil Glacier, also known as the River of Death Ice' sticks out rather. This one is a damsel-in-distress story – and the damsel is nothing special. This sort of story can work very well in the canon, but there needs to be a lot more too it than that, and here, there really isn't. She dies, he kills the monster, a vampiric ice-worm, and then decides to go where it is warm again. It's actually a half-decent story, probably the best of the pastiches yet, with a good monster at least, even if the plot is rather by-the-numbers.

'Queen of the Black Coast'. That's more like it. Howard returns to his pirate theme here in a tale that sees Conan rise to the command of a raiding ship with the beauteous Belit at his side – or more to the point, he at hers. Here is where be becomes Amra, and has the adventures referred to back in 'Scarlet Citadel'. He wins all and loses all; despite his successes in the end the love of his life is dead, his crew wiped out, and he is alone on the deck of his ship, the Tigress. Again, this is an excellent story, lavish in description and with more of the exotic feel that works so well in this sort of story.

After this treat comes 'Vale of Lost Women', and I'll get the technical part out of the way first; in terms of the quality of the writing, it is an exciting tale about at the middle of the canon, descriptive with some interesting characters – but from a modern perspective, this one can be somewhat problematic; the language here can jar somewhat – given that he has opted to make the barbarians 'black dogs' this time. Interesting to note, though, is that to Conan, these are just another group of barbarians. No different to the Afghulis, he seeks to become their ruler to lead them to battle. (On an aside – de Camp has put two of the most controversial stories in a single anthology...bundling them with his own. That's potentially quite a daring move.)

Next comes 'Castle of Terror', which...I'm sorry, this sounds like it should have 'suitable for levels 3-5' as the sub-heading. It's just not a good title. Another pastiche coming up, but actually – they've given a bad title to a pretty decent story. The opening is good, setting the scene quickly, and although Conan hardly says a word in the entire story, his character comes through pretty well. Kull is referenced here – de Camp did like using the canon, didn't he – in a throwaway line. The plot's a bit bland – Conan runs across the veldt, finds a castle filled with, well, terror, and leaves, but this one is reasonable. About on a par with 'Ice Worm', and that I can live with.

I've changed my mind. 'Castle of Terror' is a brilliant title. In comparison to 'Snout in the Dark', anyway. This is obviously a working title...and really needed to be changed. There's a lot of good Howard in this story, but it really needed to be longer, in my opinion. The plot feels skeletal, and could really have been entangled a lot more than it was; given that de Camp and Carter completed this from a story fragment, I really think they should have done more. That Conan rides off with the woman who is a bit less interesting than the fiery Queen of the book is rather amusing, if nothing else.


This one goes down to 7.5, and that's because of 'Black Coast' pulling it up. The pastiches are actually getting a little better in some places, but Howard's work is getting more and more diluted at this point, and it's more noticeable than I expected. I'm doing this as a learning experience, in the way of research for my own sword and sorcery, and I didn't feel that I took that much from this collection.

Conan 5: Conan the Freebooter

Well, after a slight hiatus, we return with Conan the Freebooter, a five-story collection pretty much slap-bang in the middle of the actual Howard stories collected in the Sphere series. I apologize for the delay, by the way – I managed to pull muscles in both arms – long story – and it made writing a bit painful for a while! Fortunate I wasn't in the middle of something; it was frustrating enough as it was! Anyway, on with the show – after all, I'm in this to learn from the master, and it's more than time for my next lesson...

We open with 'Hawks of Shem', a title that has nothing at all in common with 'Hawks over Outremer'. No, really – it's based on 'Hawks of Egypt', a very different story. It's a good piece, not the best but a solid tale, and that actually says something interesting about Howard to me – he really likes his 'oriental' pieces. There is nothing at all wrong with that, they are some of his best works, but the clash of cultures definitely attracted his attention, as well as the lavish imagery such settings possessed. His copy of the Arabian Nights must have been extremely well thumbed. The tale itself is a good one, Conan almost literally stumbling into the plot, but still a nice solid piece, and the De Camp changes don't really show. If I hadn't known the story originated for another character, I wouldn't have seen it in a casual read.

Next we come to 'Black Colossus'. This story once again showcases Howard's amazing descriptive sense – paragraph after paragraph of rolling prose pulling the reader into the world, giving the sense of taste and feel that is required. It always amazes me that Howard was able to pull this off, without ever getting to see the places he was writing about himself. Imagine if he'd made it out to Egypt, somehow, or to Assyria...what stories would we have had then! The character that opens the book, a thief named Shevatas, does not even get a line of dialogue – but we just don't need it.

This story has such rich prose that it really draws you in, Conan fighting dark sorcery the only way he knows how, sword in hand with an army at his back. It's notable how often Conan is perceived as a lone warrior, somehow, but from his earliest days he has been strongest as a leader of men, and often sought to gather followers from some great quest. The ending is an interesting one – in another world, this would have been the end of a grand 'Conan' saga – after all, he essentially gets the girl, and with her, the kingdom – yet he carries on his wanderings.

'Shadows in the Moonlight' follows; a very Sinbad-esque tale, somehow. It almost feels at times as if this era in Conan's career should have been covered by Burton! Another pirate piece, set on a strange island, but this one with a far more 'Arabian' feel than his earlier pirate piece. This ends with him acquiring a 'Queen of the Blue Sea' in the form of the former slave Olivia, as well as a huge man-ape chasing them...so the influences in this one are pretty apparent. It's not a strong story, in comparison to some of the others; I have the feeling that at times Howard didn't quite know the story he wanted to write.

'The Road in the Eagles' feels in many ways more like a collaboration between Harold Lamb and de Camp; it's a very Lamb-style story, strongly influenced by him. Another original non-Conan story, and this time it shows. It just doesn't feel like it fits in the world of Conan, despite the references to lands such as Iranistan. Again, it isn't a particularly bad story, it just isn't a Conan tale, and Lamb is a bit too near the surface here.

Finally, the jewel in the crown, 'A Witch Shall Be Born'. Now this one is one of my all-time favourites, and would be a strong contender for favourite; it says a lot that this story, for me, beats 'Black Colossus' down to second place. This one explores the evil twin motif, introduces the concept of a crucified Conan to the world, sees him riding with steppe nomads to avenge himself and free a desert city-state – it is just an absolutely classic story that is well told, perfectly outlined, with all the strengths of Howard and none of the weaknesses. His ending mirrors another tale, as he heads off to raid civilized lands rather than becoming a king – really, Conan gets offered an awful lot of thrones before he finally picks Aquilonia.


This one is just generally strong. Two absolute classics in this one, pushing it up to a '9'.

Mercian Madness

If I was going to write a series of novels set in Dark Ages Britain, then I badly needed a story, and I happened to find a compelling one almost as soon as I began my research. It all began in the year 655, when the King of Mercia, Penda – at the time, the most powerful lord in the country – rallied his allies to launch a war against the Northumbrians. The latter had hoped to regain their former dominance, but had also sought to avoid war, offering great wealth to King Penda to try and convince him to withdraw his forces. This did not succeed, and he pressed home his attack, culminating in the Battle of Winwaed. A battle that Penda – who had up to that point never lost a war – lost. He was killed, as were almost all of his followers. Many kingdoms died that day, their royal families destroyed forever, and the Northumbrians regained their dominance over the land.

Not for long, though. Three years later, Penda's young son, Wulfhere, led a revolt with the assistance of three great ealdormen which drove the Northumbrians out of Mercia, and ultimately he would even eclipse the greatness of his father. And there we have the extent of the historical record of this period, essentially – very little is known about this time, a brief blip in Mercian overlordship. Nevertheless, there are several elements that immediately attracted my attention.

The first is the time period itself; we're in the middle of the 7th century AD, right at the time where the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms were establishing themselves. This particular moment is the time when many of the smaller kingdoms died out, and the great Heptarchy began to form, a series of larger kingdoms that would last well into the time of the Vikings as independent states. This period hasn't really been well covered by novels – off-hand, I can't think of any. So it seems like nice fertile ground to cover.

The second is the story. There is a great battle, where the King is killed, and the son is forced into exile. There are lots of other bits and pieces as well – an older son who is a puppet king, married to the daughter of the Northumbrian King, who reigns for a short time. The Welsh King who retreats on the eve of the great battle, blamed for the defeat. The heir going into hiding, vanishing for three years until reappearing to lead his people – right down to the three ealdorman, figures who appear in history for this brief moment before vanishing again. That's an epic story if I ever heard it!

The third is the rest of the land. There are a lot of other bits and pieces going on at this time – important rulers dying during this period, lots of unrest, and I can't help but consider that all of these elements are likely related in some way. It was a time of turmoil, and those are always of interest to a writer. It also gives opportunities to roam around the landscape to a lot of interesting places, a lot of interesting peoples – a whole wide-ranging world to explore. Definitely a plus!

So, now the focused research begins, and I essentially go back to university for a month or so! I've got all the books I need – either here, or a couple still on the way – so I'm going to be hunting down for the specific elements to prepare the full outline of what I am currently plotting out at a four book series. This means looking over some maps – and here I expect Google Earth to be a tremendous asset to me, because in many cases I'm going to be able to look at the landscape myself without having to go there, and most importantly, look at the topography. It means going back over sources such as Bede and the Welsh Annuals, to come up with a timeline of the period. (Something like 650-660 should be more than sufficient – I want to know what was happening in Britain, and where.)

Names are obviously most important, coming up with a list of dramatis personae. The big and the not so big, but if they are recorded, I want to have then down in case I need them. Obviously, I'm also going to have to make an awful lot of names up, but there are plenty of sites with nice lists that I can scavenge without too much trouble. The primary consideration here is refreshing my memory of the situation. I've been reading over the subject for the last few months; I have the luxury now of being able to take a month of concentrated study – while I'm doing the Conan reviews, which will resume tomorrow. As soon as I feel I am ready, I will begin my work!

They'll be a couple of research trips as well, naturally. The British Museum is on my list for, well, tomorrow. A fantastic place to get a sense of history, and while their main Anglo-Saxon hall is currently being refurbished, the Sutton Hoo objects are still on display, and I'll be taking a good long look at them and taking some photographs – which naturally I shall share on the blog! The Ashmolean in Oxford has an even more extensive collection of artefacts, and I'll be going there early next month to take a peek.

As a little sneak preview, the current working titles and blurbs of the four books....

Book 1: The Battle of Winwaed
Eadbert, scion of a royal house, is serving in the retinue of Peada, heir to the throne of Mercia, on campaign with his father, the feared King Penda. With treachery and deceit at every turn, he must survive the greatest catastrophe to face Mercia since the departure of the Romans, and navigate the tides of intrigue in a desperate fight to survive.

Book 2: The Dragon's Lament
King Cadafael, once a renowned warrior, now known as Battle-Shirker, sits uneasily on his throne, knowing that the architect of his doom, Eadbert, now seeks revenge for his betrayal at Winwaed. With armies massing on the border and raiders harrying him from the shores of Ulster, and his own people rising against him, what will become of his Kingdom of Gwynedd?

Book 3: The Lost Heir
News has reached Eadbert that hope for Mercia let lives; a son of Penda is alive, and is free. To find him, he must gather together a crew and sail for the ends of the earth, his enemies in pursuit, hoping that he can find the young boy, Wulfhere, in time to save his life from those who wish him to disappear forever.

Book 4: Shadows in the Dark

A dark figure haunts the meadhalls of the great men of Mercia, a figure that speaks of a time when they bowed to no foreign master and won their own destiny on the field of battle. Eadbert attempts to rally the allies he has won and the last of the Mercian war-bands for a final glorious struggle that will see Mercia free – or vanquished forever.

Into the Dark Ages

I think it's probably time for the big reveal now, to tell everyone what I've been working for the past week – and what I will be continuing to work on for the next three weeks until I get it ready to go. I'll start, I suppose, by reassuring that Alamo 4: Tip of the Spear is still going to happen in the near future; I currently have the idea that it's going to be a November-ish release, and as the word count indicator on this blog suggests, I'm poking away at it to make a start, a thousand words or so here and there. However, I wanted two series on the go...and so here's the plan for the second.

It's no secret – and the recent Conan collection reviews on the blog must have made it even more obvious – that I'm a sword and sorcery fan, and I've known for a long time that this was going to be on next. Then came the setting, and it took my some time to accept that what I wanted to do was write in a historical period. I didn't particularly want to write in a fantasy setting, despite wanting to write fantasy – if that sounds like a paradox. I heard the term 'historical fantasy' used to describe books such as 'Lion of Cairo', and well – that sounds about right for what I'm angling for to me. Historical fantasy written in the sword and sorcery style; after all – the Conan stories were written in that very same fashion. Howard himself said that he wrote works in fictional settings because it meant he could write them more quickly – and he was being paid by the word. Scott Oden wrote an excellent essay on this very subject, and there is an interesting interview here as well.

Then, of course, came the difficult decision of which setting to use; after all, with all of history stretched out before me, I was spoiled for choice. The end of the Bronze Age, the time shortly after the Fall of Troy was extremely tempting to me for a long while, as was earlier in that period, at the height of the Heroic Era – after all, it was called that for a reason! The Crusades certainly sang to me, the clash of two cultures fighting it out producing no end of interesting situations – and again, there is a strong Howard connection here. Both of these are still on the 'to be written' list; I haven't discarded by thoughts on these eras by any stretch of the imagination, to the point that I wouldn't be surprised if one of them ended up coming to the fore next year.

First of all, though, there remains this year. And so to the Dark Ages I travel. Dark Age England, specifically; an area I knew quite a bit about before, and an awful lot more now – though I still have some more reading to do before I am ready to write in the setting! A series of books have been coming into the house over the last week to augment my library, and I have been forced to sit down at my desk and read; honestly, I feel as if I'm back at university again! (A good feeling, actually. It feels like I'm putting the degree to good use – not something I ever felt in my old job!) Again, I'm walking in ground that has been trodden before. Howard wrote the Cormac Mac Art stories in just such a setting, and they are among my favourites – and then there is Keith Taylor's Bard series, which I have ordered – and will be reading next week as part of my preparation. I've heard excellent things about them.

Obviously, I've taken a look at the 'state of the art' of the Dark Ages, and, well...it seems to boil down largely to two categories. Either King Arthur/Merlin, or the Vikings. Now, both of those are naturally of interest to me...but I don't really have much interest in writing another Arthurian piece. That's been done an awful lot, and to top that would require something exceptional – and that would require a lot more research. The Vikings have certainly been done an awful lot, and though I would enjoy writing a nice Viking saga, that particular zone of history is pretty full. Never say never, of course, but for the present, I think the Northmen are going to be given a bit of a miss.

What does that leave me? With the fun and fury of the clash between the Anglo-Saxon invaders and the British Celts fighting for their homeland as they were pushed further and further into the wilderness, while the last traces of Roman influence gradually faded into the background, leaving only enigmatic ruins and crumbling cities – and legends of the great warriors who once fought there. Runecasters and druids, strange beasts roaming the landscape, the gods whispering secrets to mortals – a lot of this sounds pretty sword and sorcery to this writer!


The sources for this period are somewhat limited, to say the least; I can depressingly say that I have pretty much all of the primary sources on my shelf or as easily available download. Good and bad – because it means I can go over the whole wealth of material, ranging from as far afield as Iceland to the cold lands of Denmark, the old Welsh bardic traditions, the stories of the Venerable Bede, and let us not forget Beowulf, of course! This is a fascinating time, and one that has certainly fired up my imagination. At least – I hope so!  

Conan 4: Conan the Conqueror

The fourth book should be called 'Hour of the Dragon'. It is an excellent title; while 'Conan the Conqueror' has a certain ring to it, it doesn't really describe the book particularly well. Conan doesn't conquer anything in the course of this story – instead, he reclaims the kingdom that has been stolen from him by trickery and deceit. This, regrettably, was the only full-length novel featuring the Conan character that Howard ever wrote; regrettably because I generally prefer the longer Conan stories. Something I'm planning for the end of this piece is to design 'my perfect anthology'...but that's another eighteen reviews away.

It is apparent by this time that Howard is comfortable with Conan and his world. There is a confidence in this work that is perhaps not quite so much there in his earlier pieces. In this piece, Aquilonia is even more medieval Europe than before; knights in shining armour ride across the landscape, and the political situation is strongly feudal. That this meshes so well with the more exotic areas of his world should be no surprise; the analogy here is simply medieval Europe and the Middle East, two cultures that existed at the same time quite happily. Well, by happily, there were the Crusades, of course, but that's another story. (And Howard wrote some good ones, but more on that later. I'm in danger of rambling.)

Conan here has become King; we get the backstory of his rise to power quite quickly, and he does mirror King Kull in some respects, while still being his own man. He's at the end of his life – as an adventurer, certainly, and there is an air of contemplation over his past. At the start of the book he dreams of the trails he once walked; over the course of the book he once again walks some of them, with the temptation of simply returning to his old ways.

I wont go as a king of Aquilonia, or even as a knight of Poitain, but as a wandering mercenary, as I rode in Zingara in the old days. Oh, I have enemies enough south of the Alimane, in the lands and the waters of the south. Many who won't know me as king of Aquilonia will remember me as Conan of the Barachan pirates, or Amra of the black corsairs. But I have friends, too, and men who'll aid me for their own private reasons.”

There is an air of finality, and I think this was definitely meant to be the last Conan tale, chronologically, by Howard; I suspect that if he had lived longer, future stories would have been set in the past. He's done 'Barbarian King' before, remember, and he stopped exploring the Kull character. (Could this have been written as a Kull story? Yes, but not as well. Kull didn't have the wealth of history that Conan has by this point to the fan. That extra dimension would have been missing.)

Then...Zenobia. A name rich in history – a Queen who for a time defied the Romans, one of the last great foes they defeated, and an exotic character from the east...here used to describe the slave girl who ultimately becomes Conan's wife. This character is only seen in a few scenes in the book, but there is little sense that she is bolted on; she takes a big risk to help free Conan in one of his darkest hours, and he keeps his word to return for her at the end of the book. There is a logic to taking a foreign wife; he then is beholden to no faction at court, which makes some sense. It's a good scene, in any case, and actually shows how Conan's character has developed as he has grown older.

Conan has changed in another key way from his earlier self. The barbarian warrior who sought to lead a horde of Afghuli tribesmen against the cities of Iranistan has now evolved into a ruler who rejects an offer to lead an army on a war of conquest for far greater rewards, instead opting to return to what has been taken from him. This evolution of his character indicates that responsibility has crept into his soul; it is time for him to settle down, and the throne of Aquilonia is as good a place as any to do that. That – and there is still room for revenge in his soul.

In a sense, the plot of this book almost 'hits the high points' of Conan's career – with rulership, intrigue, thievery, action on the high seas, dark sorcerers from exotic lands – one can easily imagine Howard deciding to write a novel, and consciously playing to his strongest elements from this past. Not that this steals from earlier works, not in the least, it's all meshed together well, and with the 'this I once did' element to add poignancy, but it's certainly an element to consider – and had he done another Conan novel, it would have been interesting to see what he did with it.

The book ends with Conan once again on his throne, the conspirators defeated, and the slave girl Zenobia rewarded by becoming his wife – though this is something that 'he will now do', it isn't how the story ends – which is certainly as it should be. Conan ends on a high. This one gets nine out of ten, without question. So far, so good.



Conan 3: Conan

And so we get to the third book in the series, which is simply called 'Conan' – which has had the effect of making the title of this post look a bit odd. The first two collections had one long piece and a few short stories; this one is a collection of seven Conan stories, bulked out with the first half of the 'Hyborian Age' essay. (I'm going to cover that in a separate post at some point – for now it should just be noted that it is present in the book.) This collection is notable for one key element – two stories that are listed as being written by De Camp and Carter. I'll get this out of the way right now – I have an awful lot of time for Lin Carter. If it were not for him, likely I would not have heard of Conan, and would have missed out on an awful lot. His writing, however, is often rather questionable, even though I rate him extremely highly in other areas. So it was with some trepidation that I launched myself into this book.

So, we begin with 'The Thing in the Crypt', a Carter/de Camp story, and...a novelization of the 'escape' scene from Conan the Barbarian. I tell a lie, since the movie came a few years later, but I know where that scene came from. Which...is not really a problem, because it is an excellent scene. Unfortunately – that's it. A young Conan falls into a crypt, finds a sword, and leaves. Conan isn't Arthur, or Elric. The sword he wields is not a major part of his character. Now this could be the beginning of a story if it turned out he'd found something more interesting, something which could spin off into a larger plot, but...it isn't. It's pretty well-written, it just doesn't go anywhere.

With a deep sigh of relief, I turn to 'Tower of the Elephant'. So far an iconic Conan story has been in each collection, and this is no exception. Why the book doesn't start with this is somewhat baffling, though I suppose it is the editor showcasing 'his' Conan story to the world, but it is here, and it is just as good as ever. Here we see the editors trying to tell the tale of Conan in a chronological order – they've started at the beginning of his career with an 'origin story', and are now working their way onward. Interesting that his 'special sword' is not in evidence.

Tower of the Elephant is one of the greats, and deservedly so. Here we see a young Conan, new to the lands of civilization, practising the art of thievery. We have a classic fight against a serpent, and the quest for the Elephant's Heart, a huge gem – the thievery as much to prove he can as for the wealth it may bring him. Then we have the element that reminds us this was in Weird Tales; the encounter with the eldar creature, who has seen the history of Hyboria spin around him, after arriving from its homeworld of Yag. That this feels a natural extension of the world is a credit to Howard, and reading this one was a treat. I just wish it had been longer; but there is no trace of padding within it.

Following on from this is 'Hall of the Dead', another piece set in Conan's career as a thief, tied in with another lost city piece – this time seeking more gems in the abandoned city of Larsha. Notable in this is the key fight with...a giant slug. There's an attempt to make this a great fight, but it doesn't really work – to be honest, it's not hard to see the joins in this story, even if you haven't read the fragment. Nestor's a reasonable character, with some similarities to Taurus from 'Elephant', though their proximity in the collection might be adding to this.

'The God in the Bowl' follows on from this piece, seeing Conan in a city once again – with the 'Palian Way' and 'Publico' giving some ideas on influences here. This one is another one of my favourites, with Conan framed for the murder of a local dignitary – who he was planning to rob. Again we see a serpent as the foe; Howard used these fairly often, tracing them back from his ancient Atlantean past with the Serpent Men – it works extremely well in this place, building the mystery up in a nicely Hitchcockian fashion – the monster is only revealed at the end.

'Rogues in the House' sees Conan once again entangled in the web of civilized intrigue, as he is offered his freedom in exchange for killing a man – a deal he accepts, before ending up fighting a giant ape who has gained a modicum of intelligence through foul sorcery, trapping his creator as well as those who would have him dead. What immediately occurs to me is that as has happened before in these collections, a pair of too-similar stories are placed next to each other; this time they both weather it reasonably well, but spacing them further apart might have been a better idea. It has a strong opening, this one, but the giant ape ending lets it down a little – though Conan racing out of the kingdom certainly has the air of truth to it.

Hence comes the 'Hand of Nurgal', with an opening obviously linked by de Camp to the previous story – unnecessary, but certainly forgivable. This one is another Eastern story, and again the strengths of Howard working in that theatre shine through; the setting is lavish as ever, with a strong trace of the Mongols this time. This is a fairly minor work, with Conan almost stumbling into the item he needs to save the day, but I linger a little on the ending – where Conan refuses 'all the treasure he could carry', instead riding off with a small sack of gold on a horse, as well as a girl who attracts his eye. Great ending to that story.

The final story, 'City of Skulls', is another de Camp/Carter piece. This one has obviously been written as a sequel to the previous story – if such is necessary – or a least has been heavily modified with this in mind. Names such as Jalong Thongpa suggest Carter's heavy influence in this work, and it reads...well, it reads like someone making an attempt to copy Howard's style. The words are there, but somehow the magic isn't. It feels a little like 'Conan-by-numbers' at times.


Difficult to rate, this one. I'd probably give this one seven and a half; the non-Howard pieces don't really add very much here, and the collection – whilst having several good stories – could use a little more variety than is present. I'll also say – reading seven stories on the trot was a bit of a slog! It's a lot easier, somehow, when it is just three or four, even when they provide as long a book. Fortunately, I shall not have that problem tomorrow.

Conan 2: Conan the Warrior

I'll start this review with two words. Red Nails. The first collection started with one of my favourite Conan tales; this starts with another; definitely De Camp knew what he was doing in starting each collection with a strong story, if nothing else! (I am curious, actually, what the selection process was for each anthology; no doubt there is something on it somewhere. If it was to follow some sort of chronology – and the little 'chronological notes' that set each story in Conan's career are evidence of that – then surely Tower of the Elephant would have been a better place to start.)

Well. Red Nails. This is another of the classic Conan stories – a venture into a lost city, this one with extremely strong Mesoamerican themes (a character called Olmec, for a start), but a sample of more of the amazing Howardian imagery. This features Valeria, famous for the movie – who in this is an extremely strong female character. (The movie is a matter for discussion at another time, I reckon.) This is one of those that is often talked about, and with extremely good reason. Howard manages to fit an entire culture into this story, painted with strong vivid tones that make it come to life.

In addition to this, with have the strong theme of eternal war, more sorcery in the form of an enchantress who caused the whole war in the first place – and Conan and his companion moving in to deal with the problem in a typically permanent way. In addition to the setting of the story itself, the tale is filed with references to the wider world, which can occasionally appear obtrusive, I confess, but which do serve as a reminder that there is a bigger world out there. This story dominates the collection, as indeed it should...

...But this time, is better supported by the other two stories. Only three in this collection, with the second being 'Jewels of Gwahlur', which took me four attempts to type correctly. The female lead in this one is far weaker; being used to imitate a goddess due to a coincidental resemblance – in effect, Conan is stumbling on a huge religious confidence trick that he uses to his advantage. I can see why this story was put in with Red Nails, it feels rather similar in tone at times, though...somewhat lesser formed, somehow. The ending with the beasts is strong, but somehow, in this, it feels as if Howard simply had less to say. I take back what I said; it might have been better to put this elsewhere. It's another lost world piece that perhaps sits a bit in the shade.

Finally, we finish with 'Beyond the Black River', and well – I'll start by quoting the ending lines. “Barbarism is the natural state of mankind...Civilisation is unnatural. It is a whim of circumstance. And barbarism must always ultimately triumph.” Here once again Howard is pushing a strong philosophy, and it shows in a strong story. This concept meant much to him; it is all through his correspondence, so it's unsurprising that this tale of barbarian Picts overwhelming Roman soldiers on the frontier is a good one – even if the source material is obvious at times. This smells of a story originated for another character, one of the historical pieces Howard enjoyed writing so much. Yet Conan fits seamlessly into the piece, because this fits his character so well.

Despite Conan's help, the barbarians win; Aquilonia's border is pushed back to Thunder River at the story's end, the implication being that this is the first stage of a longer process, and that the civilized empire will not dare try its luck in the Pictish Wilderness again. Shades of Hadrian's Wall, obviously, and Germania – but it works well. In another collection this might have been the signature story.


A stronger second book than the first; I'm going with a '9'. 

Conan 1: Conan the Adventurer


What immediately strikes me about the four stories in this book is that they are all set in the exotic fringes of Hyboria; not that any part of it is not exotic and strange, but it highlights that Howard was always extremely interested in his 'Oriental' work – with one tale among the Afghulis, two in the Black Kingdoms, and one as a corsair in the Western Ocean; that last we'll get to in a minute. I'm not attempting to analyse the 'contributions' made by de Camp in these reviews, I should clarify; I simply intend to take each story at its own merits. Others are far more qualified than I to work on a more textual analysis, and I'm reading these for inspiration, primarily. About which more later.

The first book in this collection, 'The People of the Black Circle', is one of my favourite Conan tales, and I think an excellent introduction to the character. It's a classic tale that shows Conan as a leader of men, at the height of his power, with ambitions not to rule – but to lay waste. He is not Alaric seeking to found a Gothic Empire on the ruins of Rome, he seeks loot and wealth for its own sake, and has little regard for where he does his ravaging; he speaks of returning north to other lands, should his plans with the Afghulis fail.

We have a classic combination here, therefore – Conan in an 'Eastern' setting, complete with large doses of mysticism and laced with the opulent wealth of the area, mentions of seraglios and power struggles beyond, huge battles against difficult odds – though not all of them are described, and even encounters with old allies from the past. Can you tell I really enjoy this one?

'The Slithering Shadow' fares less well, but it is standing in something of a shadow of its own, so perhaps this is not to be wondered at. Again, this is classic, with Conan exploring a lost city with a female companion, but she is treated in such a limp fashion that one almost wonders why he doesn't simply accept the wiles of the evil sorceress he meets in the lost city of Xuthal. This one takes quite a while to truly get going, and while a good story, fails to meets the heights of the first one; though the descriptions are as lavish, a true Howard mark.

Third, we have 'Drums of Tombalku', and already I am forced to break the rule of the first chapter – because this is really obviously written from a Howard fragment, and I would probably have known that without any other knowledge. The story takes forever to get moving, the pacing way off, and the focus on a character who essentially just wants to settle down and raise a family; we never really get engaged with Amalric, and are constantly wanting to see more of Conan. Now, having a Conan story with the 'lead' another character can work, but the character in question has to engage the reader, and this one doesn't. I did like King Sakumbe, I must admit, but again – we see too little of the story to truly engage us. The weak one of the selection.

Tortage? Sigh. Howard didn't write much fiction set in the pirate age, despite his exposure to Sabatini through 'Adventure', and his obvious familiarity with at least some of the old materials; I find it hard to believe that he hadn't at least read 'The Buccaneers of America', at some point. (Truly excellent book, by the way.) This adventure features Conan attempting to swim across the Western Ocean – yes, swim across the Atlantic, basically – and could easily be set in the 17th century Caribbean. Right down to him ending up on a yacht. Having said that, Conan as a character is strong in this story, even if at times he seems to have swum backwards in time. (In the book, it is suggested Conan is in his mid-thirties; I agree with other reasoning that this is meant to take place considerably earlier in his life.)


The collection starts strong, but doesn't really stay that way; but they're leading with one of the best stories in the canon – in my personal opinion – so it's only likely to descend from there in any case. I'm going to give this one an eight out of ten as an opener. 

Coming Soon....



Well, it's been a while since I last blogged, so I thought that I would provide a bit of an update to what's going on, as well as the plans to, well, blog a hell of a lot more in the coming weeks. I'm aware that I've been leaving this far too fallow, and that I really need to blog more than I have done...so here's something of a start. My one little excuse is that I have been on holiday...but given that I got back last week, that's really not much of an excuse, I suppose!

First of all, I couldn't be happier about how things are going with the three 'Alamo' books that are out there right now. The reviews are good, sales are good enough that I will be able to continue doing this for a long time – which means that I am well on the way to accomplishing my dream of writing full-time. The gamble I took way back in April is paying off. I say this not to brag, but to encourage. If anyone reading this is thinking about taking the leap, get on with it! At this moment there is a great opportunity for those wanting to break in...but it won't last forever.

My plan for this month is simple – write Alamo 4. I hadn't intended Alamo 3 and 4 to be quite so tightly connected as they have ended up; don't get me wrong, I consider Alamo 3 to stand alone with a good resolution to the plot, but the plot of '4' flows a lot more strongly from '3' than, say, 'Fermi's War' does from 'Price of Admiralty'. (I'm referring to them as numbers because, well, I tend to keep changing my mind on titles until the last minute. Having said that, I'm pretty set on the next book being called 'Tip of the Spear'.) I'll be starting this one on Monday, with the goal of having it completed within the month – and on sale sometime in the middle of October. The plot's pretty solid in my head for this one.

October is revision month! A couple of years ago, I wrote a 'history of space flights that never happened' called 'One False Step', that I was actually rather proud of – it went on sale for a while, but I have opted to pull it. Partly because it was published through someone else, so I didn't have any control over it, and partly because I think it deserves an expanded second edition and a re-edit. Bluntly – I can improve it. So that's part of October's job, as is preparing a paperback compilation of the first three Alamo books. Both of these will be out in mid-December.

After that, it is time to start considering my next series of books. I always – as I have said on this blog before – wanted to have two series going at the same time, if for no other reason than that I have lots of stuff I want to write! I've been toying with a few bits and pieces, but I'm coming down pretty firmly, I reckon, on Sword & Sorcery. It's by quite a long way my favourite form of fantasy in any case, and I am a Howard fan...so this makes total and complete sense. I have some...well, quite a lot of ideas, but naturally I want to take some time to develop them before I talk about them here. All I will say at this point is that they will be shorter than the 'Alamo' books, I reckon at the 40-50k mark, and that I very much want the first one out at the end of November.


This, of course, is going to need considerable preparation, which means reading...which is excellent news for me! If I'm going to start writing sword and sorcery, I need to refresh my memory of the master of the field...which is why this post begins with a photograph of one of my fantasy shelves. That's my next set of reading. I've got the beautiful new Del Ray Howard compilations – and if you are a fan, you really need to pick them up, just to get that out of the way right now – but it was the Sphere editions where I first discovered Howard, a very long time ago, so it is there I have elected to go. I'm going to read them in order until I run out of books...and, well, it seems logical enough to review them here on this blog as I go! Throwing in some Brak the Barbarian, Kothar, and Clark Ashton Smith as well, naturally enough – variety is, after all, the spice of life...