Set early in his life, Conan has left his northern homeland to cut a bloody swath across the legendary Hyborian Age. A mercenary, a soldier, a thief, and a pirate, he faces conquering armies, malicious sorcerers, and monstrous creatures—against which he wields only the sword held in his powerful grasp.

I didn't really think Conan could be boring, but I found myself drifting all the time I was reading this.In Love with Your Carnage: Conan is intrigued by tales of Valeria's beauty and competence as a warrior, and when he finally sees her her beauty does not disappoint, but he really gets hot for her when sees her speed, power, and perfect control with a sword. Not Helping Your Case: When accused of cheating at dice, a Zamoran claims his dice "are as honest as the Great God Bel." The Corinthian retorts that Bel is a god of thieves. The line “Robert E. Howard’s Conan” is guaranteed to bother those short-sighted fans who merely want to virtue signal that this is NOT Robert E. Howard’s Conan. Yeah, it is. It’s the character created by REH. The same appellation “Robert E. Howard’s Conan” appears on the Modiphius Gamebooks and no one complains. Set early in his life, Conan has left his northern homeland to cut a bloody swath across the legendary Hyborian Age. A mercenary, a soldier, a thief, and a pirate, he faces conquering armies, malicious sorcerers, and monstrous creatures―against which he wields only the sword held in his powerful grasp. My ongoing criticism is sword & sorcery does not lend itself to 100,000 word novels. The form works well at the novelette and novella level.

The artwork on this latest book has been the topic of some discussion. I’m sure the folks at Titan Books know better than I do. But I liked the old style covers. For some of the Tor Books (especially those by Roland Green) the covers were the best part! And on that note I have to mention the stellar voice narration ability from Bradford Hastings. He pronounced things a little different from what I'm used to but his characterizations, gruff and gritty Conan voice, smooth narration all came together in a much appreciable way. It was voice butter for my ear bread. Revision: While the novel doesn't directly contradict anything that is established in Red Nails, it shows Conan and Valeria interacting with each other while serving in Zarallo's mercenaries to a far greater degree than their dialogue at the start of the novella implied, having had an entire adventure together already.

THE ARCHIVES

Conan — Blood of the Serpent is a 2022 novel by S. M. Stirling in the Conan the Barbarian franchise. To celebrate the 90th anniversary of the release of the first Conan story, "The Phoenix on the Sword," Stirling was charged to write new Conan novels based upon Robert E Howard's original Conan canon. This is the first.