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

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As a final statement I have to make my discontent known about a sentence made in the afterword where Stirling gives thanks: “To the folks at Titan Books, for deciding to do a new series hewing more closely to R. E. Howard’s vision.” To my ears that sounds like a slam to what came before. I sincerely doubt this book will be as successful as the Lancer/Ace series and probably not even the Tor series. I hope I’m wrong but a slam against what I (and millions, in the case of the Lancers) enjoyed before does not seem the best foot to start the new journey.

I think this should have been called Conan - Plod of the Serpent because man, this book dragged. Very little actually happens, and Stirling pads out the books with explanations on...well, everything. At the same time, when launching an ambitious new fiction initiative, authors are needed who possess recognized credentials, enthusiastic audiences, and a genuine affinity for Howard’s legendary character. A Conan novel has to be an event. Thus, we’ve reached out to many of today’s top fantasists. Pun: In Stygia, in dice gambling, it's noted that what would be a winning throw of double sixes is "the demons" and a losing throw. Instead, the winning throw is double ones, or "Eyes of Set," known commonly and in real life as "snake eyes." 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.

Honestly, I think Stirling read a bunch of Conan stuff just so he could make fact lists. I think he completely ignored the snappy tautness of Robert E. Howard's writing...one of the main strengths of any Conan story. Oh, well, that and the sorcery that Stirling hints at, but doesn't really dive into with both feet like Howard did. It’s a real challenge, finding the right authors for new Conan novels. So many factors play into creating dynamic new fiction featuring the world’s most famous sword and sorcery icon. The book's first adventure has Conan, Valeria and other mercenaries guiding a Stygian shipment of supplies and slaves to one of their massive mines. In an odd twist, Conan and Valeria must protect the Stygians when the slaves revolt, kill off their masters and run the mercenaries off. Conan admits that if he were enslaved, he would have done the same. With the slave uprising, the Stygian command is fragmented, making a perfect getaway for Conan and Valeria to conduct a gold heist. After some fights with crocodiles and other reptiles and animals, the gold heist doesn't quite work out. But, this sets up the next part of the narrative when Valeria is forced to kill the Stygian commander she skirmished with earlier. She then flees on her own, but Conan learns that the commander's brother is going to trail her, hoping for a vengeful surprise kill away from prying eyes and allies.

The novel’s dual themes—myth and technology—should appeal to both fantasy and hard SF readers as well as to techno-thriller fans.”— Publishers Weekly on Dies the Fire Blood is an interesting novel in many ways as Stirling not only has to make Conan palatable to a modern audience, but the author has taken on the task of writing a story that leads directly into Robert E. Howard’s Red Nails. Not a huge issue, as who will remember Nails well enough to directly compare the two? All of us, as the story is included at the end to allow for a direct comparison between the contemporary style and original. Overall this is a passable and occasionally fantastic Hyborian romp, despite my scathing tone it is clear that the author has a passion for the source material and is thrilled to write in a world he loves, and I can hardly blame him if that excitement got the better of him in places.

The adventure itself is a cool series of events and set pieces. It mostly uses the brutality of the natural world as threats rather than the supernatural. Which in a way works when you consider the pseudo-historical nature of the Conan stories. Overall, it’s a travelogue but one with a bunch of cool stops.l along the way. The pulse-pounding return of Conan, the most iconic fantasy hero in popular culture, with a brand-new standalone novel by New York Times bestselling author S.M. Stirling, tied directly to the famous tales written by the legendary Robert E. Howard. Yes,” he replied, “and that one has perhaps the best opening line.” At that moment, I knew I was talking to the right person. My own memories of the story were based in the feelings it had inspired, the tactile sensations it evoked. Steve knew Howard’s work intimately. Here was a deep-rooted affinity to the source material. Frankly, I was impressed. I hesitate to call Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Cimmerian an imitation of Tarzan; the influence of Burroughs on Howard was great but Howard’s imagination was so powerful that any Tarzan in Conan tends to be submerged in the latter’s roaring, brawling, drinking, wenching personality.” Perspective Flip: The final scene of the novel shows the first scene of Red Nails, but from Conan's perspective, rather than Valeria's.

Stirling has written a story that is in keeping with modern parlance. It is also a good introduction to the character for new readers. It shows that there is more to Conan than just swords and sandals. This is a book about survival in a harsh world where the environment can be as dangerous as any person. Some of the most epic fights in this book are against nature when Conan must go up against crocodiles or hordes of apes. Are these creatures acting on instinct, or is there more at play? 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. This is the first in a series of brand-new, standalone adventures. Howard’s writing seems so highly charged with energy that it nearly gives off sparks.”—Stephen King Lest some interpret that as a criticism, I want to stress that I do not mean it as such. Robert Jordan was the first Tor Conan author and he set the pattern: Novel length stories, Horny Conan, and references to past (y’know, the really great ones, by Robert E. Howard!) adventures. It was a successful formula that worked and the first author to write Conan pastiche, L. Sprague de Camp, blessed it. Howard himself only ever wrote one Conan novel, the Hour of the Dragon, so it isn't too weird seeing the character again in novel format, but it is a deviation from the genre norm. In this book, though, I would say it teeters heavily on the side of epic low fantasy as opposed to sword and sorcery. This will likely be the biggest turn off to anyone looking for a Howardian vision of the legendary warrior's early life. There just isn't that much weirdness or magic going on here, which has become a big staple of the genre, as it's more SWORD than SORCERY.

Tropes Included

Bullying a Dragon: A Stygian gets a bit too handsy with Valeria, not realizing this exotic northern beauty is more dangerous than she looks. . . and utterly ignoring the fact that she looks pretty damn dangerous! A] richly realized story of swordplay and intrigue.”— Entertainment Weekly on the novels of The Change I thought it was enjoyable but maybe a little underwhelming when I first completed Sterling’s portion of the book. But the publisher did something clever. They included the original Red Nails which this new content is a prequel to. When you read the opening chapter of Red Nails you can really see the groundwork for Sterling’s novel. Conan being a bit boastful and overly exposition laden in his dialogue informs his POV voice that Sterling used. The fight with the “dragon” that focuses on the threat of the natural world(and Conan’s understanding of it) made Sterling’s very different approach to a Conan story make sense. It really made me appreciate the new material more seeing the context that inspired it and having the story conclude with Red Nails.

I’m sure in the next new Conan adventure he’ll don a lambskin bladder condom. New Edge Sword & Sorcery sensibilities shouldn’t bother Conan as long as he can still get laid. While the source material remains Robert E. Howard’s extraordinary body of work, the vast majority of his output was fiction as short as 4,000 words or less, while a full-length novel that gives readers what they deserve needs to hover closer to 80,000 words or more. Telling a story of that length requires a specific skill set. Blood of the Serpent is the latest Robert Jordan Tor Conan novel. Although this time the book is by S. M. Stirling and published by Titan books. But it is essentially a Robert Jordan Tor Conan novel.The story ends where REH starts with his haunted house story called Red Nails. Which as a gesture to the reader has been added to this volume. While Stirling delivers an entertaining Conan story, what he does NOT do is emulate Robert E. Howard’s style. I suspect this will be the most controversial aspect of the book for longtime Conan fans, as the most celebrated pastiche novels (i.e., the ones still talked about today, as opposed to lesser efforts) sought to pair an authentic-feeling Conan with prose that feels like something Howard would have written. And Stirling doesn’t do that, he simply declines. The book is written in a thoroughly modern style, and Stirling doesn’t go out of his way to pepper the text with Howard’s favorite expressions. Where Howard’s Conan tends to express his reflections and feelings through his actions and remarks, Stirling gives him the degree of interiority that contemporary readers are accustomed to, complete with italicized thoughts. I loved this book. It is almost everything I was hoping for and expecting. Stirling, I haven't read any of your other works (YET) but I am a huge fan of what you did here. I can see a few people getting disappointed by the weaker sorcery elements in a sword and sorcery tale, and honestly it felt more like a grimdark / epic low fantasy rendition than the classics. You experience the grit, the realism, the detailed explanations of foods and wines, clothing and cultures, military formations, etc. This was a great decision. Stirling writes to his own strengths. He really knows how to capture the intimate close-up nature of adventuring in the savage Hyborian Age, with all the creatures, cultures, languages and worldbuilding we have loved for a century. Most important of all is that he has almost perfectly encapsulated the character of Conan. He knows how Conan speaks, how he acts, what motivates and drives him, what he looks like, how he feels about other people, and on and on. It is a closer look at the character, yet not in any way unfamiliar, than we've ever had. I read books, and I dreamed of Mars, and the planets in those books, and of the Hyborian Age of Robert E. Howard’s Conan books…”—George R. R. Martin, author of A Game of Thrones