Conan - Blood of the Serpent: The All-New Chronicles of the Worlds Greatest Barbarian Hero

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He's often a bit too personable, and sometimes concerns himself with things like bureaucracy, propriety, and military formality in ways that don't jibe with a character who bows to no man he considers his inferior. I think that this one is pretty good, better than many I’ve read, but not quite up to the level of someone like John Maddox Roberts.

The reason I mention this is because unlike Jordan, Stirling in Blood of the Serpent has captured Conan almost perfectly, at least to me. The initial signs are positive, with Stirling using characters created by Howard in 'Red Nails' to create a prequel, utilising familar words, terms, and character concepts to establish and settle the reader back in to Conan's familiar territory. I was wary at first hearing some of Conan's thoughts but of course all people think and by now it just isn't weird to hear so long as it is in his character, and it was. As any Conan fan will tell you, of all the kingdoms in the Hyborian Age, Stygia is the most dangerous place for Conan of Cimmeria to be. It’s a wondrously insane tale and newcomers to Conan’s original material will find much to take away from one of REH’s seminal works.If Howard’s distinctive blood and thunder authorial style is a requirement for a prospective reader to enjoy a Conan story, this book may be skipped. With all that possibility at his fingertips, Stirling delivers a boring, uninspired plot and two dimensional characters. He is working as a mercenary, so is she-and she makes it clear early on she's in no rush to jump into bed with Conan, entertainingly.

Regardless of whether or not future novel plots are directly connected to the events of the original stories, I would love to see Titan Books continue to package new stories with the classics. A copy of Howard's Red Nails is at the end of the book, and the first chapter will point out the stark differences in character and mood. Conan Blood of the Serpent is by SM Stirling is a pastiche novel based on Robert E Howard's character Conan the Barbarian.I think Stirling channels Conan well enough here; it’s not Howard, but I also don’t think a pastiche author should try to copy the original authors’ style. This despite the myriad difficulties and negotiations around the Howard estate, and an often complex history of editing and re-writing by L. See, there is a dialogue exchange occurring in the opening scene of Red Nails that functions as expository backstory to the thrilling tale that follows. Oh, well, that and the sorcery that Stirling hints at, but doesn't really dive into with both feet like Howard did. Howard in a 1932 issue of Weird Tales magazine, the Conan stories have had a tumultuous publication history.

Some Stygian nobles and a priest take offense with this strong lady and they find out that their feelings are the least that gets hurt. A superstar of novels, short fiction, comics, video games, films, and an upcoming Netflix series, his adventures have inspired many of the most popular authors of the 20th and 21st centuries.He’s no murderer or slaver, and when his companions in arms are taken captive or placed in jeopardy, Conan comes to their rescue. This is little more than a “stream of consciousness” story that follows Conan around as he, quite simply put, does things (i. The world and people are similar enough to me that the difference of writing style and even genre to an extent do not bother me whatsoever. Blood of the Serpent is essentially an extended chase through the jungle with Conan attempting to hunt and kill a man intent on murdering Valeria.