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. Unfortunately the story does steer off in certain directions on occasion as little side plots come about, and don't come to a meaningful conclusion. It's not a huge complaint. There is a lot here to love, and the enjoyable writing style and intelligent, well-researched lore and prose is highly compelling. I'm not going to lie, I could feel the man tears welling as I began to be reunited with one of my favorite characters of all time. 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."

In Howard’s grim and all too realistic view, the barbarians are always at the gate, and once a culture allows itself to grow soft, decadent or simply neglectful, it will be swept away by the primitive and ruthless.”—Michael Dirda, The Washington Post

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I understand what complaints people might have but seeing him still take the lead everywhere he goes, reading about the difference in cultures and languages, outfits, gear, etc., as he fights against and alongside men and women from other regions was a welcome expansion to the world and lore that we know and love. I appreciated the little details. A] richly realized story of swordplay and intrigue.”— Entertainment Weekly on the novels of The Change The weird element that every Conan story should have is weak though. Stirling playfully throws in some Lovecraft but we never get a cosmic menace. Instead Conan is bedeviled by bewitched crocodiles, lions, rhinos, and even Edgar Rice Burroughs’ mangani. I didn't really think Conan could be boring, but I found myself drifting all the time I was reading this.

Howard’s writing seems so highly charged with energy that it nearly gives off sparks.”—Stephen KingI've said it a million times, no one is going to top Howard. So S. M. Stirling comes in and decides he wants to build on the history of Conan by telling a story in his early years, without trying to imitate or outdo Howard in any way.