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

Product Information

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. In keeping with the motivations that Howard attributed to Conan, the Cimmerian is largely motivated by lust for the blonde pirate of the Red Brotherhood Valeria, who he is serving with in Stygia. So much, that he abandons his post in Stygia and follows her, hoping that he will ingratiate himself with her by killing a vengeful Stygian sorcerer. You see, Valeria killed this sorcerer's brother when he wouldn't take no for an answer. However, as far as this fan's concerned it didn't make much difference to me. I loved what was on offer here as I found myself immensely impressed by Stirling's knowledge and command of the lore, history, geography, peoples, cultures and characters, that when things are mentioned it feels consistent with the source material. 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. I absolutely love this book for all that it is. As other reviewers stated it does drag sometimes as again we are used to Conan driving the action forward and getting to the heart of a problem and resolving it (although he needed a lot of external help during Hour of the Dragon, not gonna lie). Here, in his earlier years he is not a king, and follows other masters. He is known to have been a thief, a mercenary, a soldier, a pirate, whatever warms the bed and fills the belly. This will be a little frustrating to some who prefer Conan and his villains to mostly drive the plot as he is bound to the quest of his soldiery or mercenary band. Which, if it helps the story, okay. But one of Elmore Leonard's most famous writing rules is to leave out the parts that people skip. Stirling seems to have gathered up all those skippable parts and stuffed them into this story to make it novel length when, at best, this should have been a novella.

This wasn't the only issue. Stirling's pacing was slow, and at times painfully slow. Stakes felt low for the first quarter of the book, which got it off to a poor start. Stirling seemed very interested in exploring Conan's world and explaining and describing everything he could. Some of this was quite interesting but the amount of exposition was excessive and bogged down the story. 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. Howard’s writing seems so highly charged with energy that it nearly gives off sparks.”—Stephen King

Tropes Included

Fanservice: The waitress at the tavern — the innkeeper's daughter — wears nothing but a loincloth and looks good in it. This is accurate to historical Egyptian clothing, and Stygia is prehistorical Egypt. This isn't seamless however. Pacing, characterization, and tone are all starkly different from one to the other. It makes me wish that Stirling had opted to create an entirely adventure that didn't connect with anything else. Especially since some of the characterizations in Red Nails would probably have fallen flat for a modern audience (especially that of Valeria).

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. Stirling combines complex, believable characters, meticulous research, and a fascinating setup to produce a book you won’t want to—and won’t be able to—put down. An outstanding piece of work.”—Harry Turtledove on Island in the Sea of Time 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? 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. 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.Those of us who believed in Conan at the right moment in our lives never stop believing. We might not grow up to become him, but we never grow out of him, either.”—Stephen Graham Jones, author of The Only Good Indians 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. 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. 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.

Conan: Be careful about that. If they find out you tried to hurt a priest of Set, they'll flay you and salt you and then try to think up something really nasty. 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. 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.”

LABELS

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. This book takes place prior to Robert E. Howard's Red Nails. Stirling has obviously done his homework and comes up with a plausible geopolitical scenario for Stygia and the surrounding kingdoms which fits into and expands upon the groundwork that Howard laid. 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." Perspective Flip: The final scene of the novel shows the first scene of Red Nails, but from Conan's perspective, rather than Valeria's.

S. M. Stirling’s Conan: Blood of the Serpent is the first in a new period of Conan the Cimmerian pastiche novels. What is a pastiche you ask? A pastiche is an artistic work in a style that imitates that of another work, artist, or period. No Ending: The novel ends with Conan and Valeria in the middle of nowhere rushing to investigate what has just killed their horses. Anyone wanting to know what happened next will need to read Red Nails to find out how that is resolved. This volume delivers an engaging and approachable new adventure along with one of the very best of the classic stories.”—GrimDark Magazine Conan and Valeria, along with other members of Zarallo’s mercenary band, have to escort a Stygian contingent to a gold mine. A slave revolt occurs and the novel brings us some decent battle action. I always root for slaves in a slave revolt but protecting the Stygian gold and their own lives are Conan and Valeria’s concern. After the skirmish, Conan and crew, find some gold that was lost in the melee. At this point the novel appears to be going in a new direction and will be about how to finagle a gold heist with Stygians everywhere.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 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. There are even some funny moments. Particularly I loved the line (paraphrasing) that went something like "if he was particularly inclined toward cannibalism, he still wouldn't go near that body".