Let’s do something fun to kick
off the new year. Starting today, every Monday in January I’ll have a Sword
& Sorcery Audiobook Showcase for you. And what could be better to get
things going than the most legendary S&S character of all-time: Conan.
Conan:
Blood of the Serpent marks the return of Conan and is the first in a
new series chronicling the adventures of the beloved barbarian hero. The novel was
released on December 13th, 2022 in hardback, Kindle, and audiobook
on Audible. Here is the book’s official synopsis: “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.
Conan
the Barbarian, the world’s most famous fantasy hero, returns in an all-new
novel tied directly to the famous works by his legendary creator, Robert E.
Howard.
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.
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.”
There’s been a rebirth of Sword
& Sorcery stories and novels in recent years, and over the course of the
last couple of weeks, I’ve really delved deep into the new magazines and ezines
to peruse what the new crop of authors has to offer. Let me tell you, it’s a
lot of fun! It has actually inspired me to get back to writing short stories in
this genre that I’ve never written in before. I’m familiar with Robert E. Howard’s
Conan stories and have enjoyed them for decades, but outside of that and some now
public domain stories published in Weird Tales over the years, this is a genre
I’m ready to discover and want to immerse myself in completely. From Moorcock’s
Elric to Dungeons & Dragons, to Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, to the
new wave of S&S stories and novels out there, these are exciting times to
be a Sword & Sorcery fan.
I grew up in the ‘80s where
S&S movies and cartoons reigned supreme. To this day, John Milius’s Conan the Barbarian (1982) remains one
of my top ten favourite movies of all-time. I adore Ralph Bakshi’s animated
classics Lord of the Rings (1978) and
Fire and Ice (1983), I used to watch
cartoons like Thundarr the Barbarian
(1980-1981) and He-Man and the Masters of
the Universe (1983-1985) religiously after school and on Saturday mornings.
I’ve always been a big fan of those cheesy ‘80s Sword & Sorcery flicks with
gorgeous VHS box artwork such as Deathstalker
(1983), The Beastmaster (1982), Sorceress (1982), Dragonslayer (1981), Red
Sonja (1985), The Sword and the
Sorcerer (1982), and Conquest
(1983) to name a few.
I first got into Conan as a kid via
Marvel Comics’ glorious ‘70s/’80s series by the fantastic duo of writer/artist Roy
Thomas and John Buscema. Then I saw the Schwarzenegger movie and, as a
teenager, went on to read L. Sprague de Camp and Robert Jordan’s Conan novels
of the eighties. It’s only much later that I would seek out Robert E. Howard’s original
Conan tales, which to me represent the very best the genre has to offer. This
new book, Blood of the Serpent, is
the first new Conan story in nearly twenty years, so it has a lot of fans eager
to dive back into the beloved Cimmerian’s world. Chosen for the task is New
York Times bestselling author S.M. Stirling of Novels of The Change (Emberverse) fame. I wasn’t familiar with him
or his work, but regardless, I was excited to read/listen to his interpretation
of my favourite barbarian. First things first, while the cover art is pretty
nice, I dearly miss those old school Frank Frazetta and other artists’ vintage covers
featuring a larger than life Conan alongside a variety of rogues, snakes, wizards,
and scantily-clad women on them. I get that this is supposed to be a more
modern, politically correct take on Conan, but to me, it takes away some of the
joy of the packaging, even if it’s a digital audiobook and not an actual hardcover
book that I’m purchasing.
To position this tale in the
grand scheme of things, it takes place shortly before Howard’s beloved Red Nails novella, one of his absolute
best Conan stories. Blood of the Serpent
leads into it—in fact, Red Nails is
included as a bonus novella in the hardback edition, not in the audiobook version
though. No matter; I have the awesome BrokenSea Audio Productions audiobook
from over a decade ago to fulfill my audio needs for that particular story. I
encourage you to seek it as it’s well worth your time (you can find it on
YouTube and on Archive.org). Anyhow, let’s talk about Blood of the Serpent. Is it any good, you ask? Well, yes, it’s very
good, but it lacks the excitement of the traditional Conan tales penned by
Howard and the many authors who wrote great pastiches and kept the character alive
over the ensuing decades from the ‘60s to the ‘90s. It feels more like a
fantasy adventure than a true Sword & Sorcery yarn. It still feels like
Conan though, as he acts, speaks, and thinks the way Conan would for the most
part. He is paired with Valeria who is just as strong and pivotal to the story
as she is in Red Nails. By the way, if
you pick up the audiobook and don’t have access to a copy of Red Nails, not to worry, this is a self-contained
story and reading the classic Howard tale is not required to follow along and
enjoy this new tale. Unlike the perfect pacing of Red Nails, Blood of the Serpent
does drag in places and runs out of steam at times, but I never felt like
abandoning the book. Conan battles through a plethora of rogues and beasts and
there’s a decent amount of action throughout. It’s just missing the magic ingredient
of the shorter stories which I’m of the opinion are a better format for Conan
(and Sword & Sorcery in general) rather than the larger canvas of a novel.
Robert E. Howard himself only wrote one Conan novel, The Hour of the Dragon, and while it’s a damn good book, it feels
more like a “Conan’s Greatest Hits” rather than a story that was designed to be
a full-length novel.
This epic adventure is narrated
by Bradford Hastings who’s simply phenomenal in bringing the words on the page
to life. His voicing of Conan is pitch-perfect and really enhances the
experience. In fact, I’m almost positive I would’ve enjoyed this book less had I
read it in print. It’s proof again that for audiobooks, a narrator can make or break
a book. Get a great book with a crappy narrator and you end up with a subpar
product. On the other hand, a brilliant narrator can elevate it and give it a
fresh coat of paint.
So, if you’re a seasoned Conan
fan, I’d still definitely recommend taking Blood
of the Serpent for a spin. Just make sure you go in with an open mind and
that you don’t set your expectations too high. If you’re new to Conan, it’s a
good place to start, but make sure to add at least a handful of Robert E.
Howard’s classic Conan tales to your reading list. Stories like “Queen of the Black
Coast”, “The Tower of the Elephant”, "The People of the Black Circle", and the afore-mentioned "Red Nails" are
must-read! Since this is the first book of a new Conan series, I think we’re
off to a good start. I’m crossing my fingers that it gets better as we go
along. I’d love to see another author take a crack at writing Conan next; it’d
be great if every new book was penned by a different writer. I have no idea
what Titan Books has planned for this ongoing saga of our beloved Cimmerian. As
long as they continue to keep the essence of Conan’s spirit, I’ll be along for
the ride. Tune in again next Monday for the second installment of Sword &
Sorcery Audiobook Showcase.
Rating:
Three point five stars out of five
Get your copy on Audible
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