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Post by terryallenuk on Feb 17, 2023 2:19:26 GMT -5
Two epics in one hardcover as Conan the mercenary faces hideously transformed wizards and undead creatures in action-packed fantasy combining Robert E. Howard’s trademark sword and sorcery with concepts straight out of Lovecraftian horror. Combines the classic Conan and the Emerald Lotus with the all-new, original Conan and the Living Plague. The long-awaited follow-up to Conan and the Emerald Lotus brings John C. Hocking back to the sagas of the Cimmerian. In Conan and the Emerald Lotus, the seeds of a deadly, addictive plant grant sorcerers immense power, but turn its users into inhuman killers. In the exclusive, long-awaited sequel Conan and the Living Plague, a Shemite wizard seeks to create a serum to use as a lethal weapon. Instead he unleashes a hideous monster on the city of Dulcine. Hired to loot the city of its treasures, Conan and his fellows in the mercenary troop Shamtare find themselves trapped in the depths of the city’s keep. To escape, they must defeat the creature, its plague-wracked undead followers, then face Lovecraftian horrors beyond mortal comprehension. Titan Books (November 7, 2023) Hardcover $25.95 www.amazon.com/Conan-City-Dead-John-Hocking/dp/1803366567/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2DHH4E8TXMKG&keywords=Conan+in+the+City+of+the+Dead&qid=1676784984&sprefix=conan+in+the+city+of+the+dead%2Caps%2C279&sr=8-1
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Post by terryallenuk on Feb 17, 2023 11:15:04 GMT -5
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Post by Jason Aiken on Feb 17, 2023 16:57:47 GMT -5
They should probably throw in the novella written by Mr. Hocking that was published in the back of the recent Marvel run, too.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2023 3:15:22 GMT -5
Great news, thanks Terry.
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Post by Grim Wanderer on Feb 18, 2023 12:55:50 GMT -5
I’ve pre-ordered my copy.
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Post by Von K on Feb 18, 2023 21:56:31 GMT -5
Two yarns for the price of one, kind of like an omnibus edition. Thanks for the news Terry, and congrats to John!
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Post by Monster on Feb 19, 2023 0:39:29 GMT -5
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Post by terryallenuk on Feb 19, 2023 5:45:51 GMT -5
This shoulda been the 1st book last year. Why did they disgruntle REH/Conan fandom with their 1st book? Don't make any kinda sense. I agree they should have. IIRC they put the announced books on hold as they were going for "name" authors . Now , with no disrespect to John , if they put his second in line are they struggling to get more "name" authors interested in writing Conan for them?
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Post by alexander on Feb 19, 2023 6:27:37 GMT -5
This shoulda been the 1st book last year. Why did they disgruntle REH/Conan fandom with their 1st book? Don't make any kinda sense. I agree they should have. IIRC they put the announced books on hold as they were going for "name" authors . Now , with no disrespect to John , if they put his second in line are they struggling to get more "name" authors interested in writing Conan for them? It might be a combination of: - disappointing sales making it hard to attract "names". Also I find it troubling than Mr Stirling did not promote his book at all. Were there disagreements with Titans in the writing process? On Amazon reviews one person mentions that Mr Stirling had to work from something made by Titans. If - and it's pure speculation I must insist - Mr Stirling did not like to work with Titans they may have troubles finding other authors - fans often saying - here notably - they want to read the sequel of the Emerald Lotus I'm among the very few that really did not like Emerald so I won't buy this pastiche but let's hope it sells better. Otherwise the pastiches reboot may end soon
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Post by terryallenuk on Feb 19, 2023 6:52:32 GMT -5
I agree they should have. IIRC they put the announced books on hold as they were going for "name" authors . Now , with no disrespect to John , if they put his second in line are they struggling to get more "name" authors interested in writing Conan for them? It might be a combination of: - disappointing sales making it hard to attract "names". Also I find it troubling than Mr Stirling did not promote his book at all. Were there disagreements with Titans in the writing process? On Amazon reviews one person mentions that Mr Stirling had to work from something made by Titans. If - and it's pure speculation I must insist - Mr Stirling did not like to work with Titans they may have troubles finding other authors - fans often saying - here notably - they want to read the sequel of the Emerald Lotus I'm among the very few that really did not like Emerald so I won't buy this pastiche but let's hope it sells better. Otherwise the pastiches reboot may end soon Perhaps wanting to tie in with Howard's stories he was instructed to write a prequel to Red Nails? Of course , as far as I remember , John's books don't tie-in like that so we'll have to see what else comes out in the future.
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Post by alexander on Feb 19, 2023 7:06:34 GMT -5
It might be a combination of: - disappointing sales making it hard to attract "names". Also I find it troubling than Mr Stirling did not promote his book at all. Were there disagreements with Titans in the writing process? On Amazon reviews one person mentions that Mr Stirling had to work from something made by Titans. If - and it's pure speculation I must insist - Mr Stirling did not like to work with Titans they may have troubles finding other authors - fans often saying - here notably - they want to read the sequel of the Emerald Lotus I'm among the very few that really did not like Emerald so I won't buy this pastiche but let's hope it sells better. Otherwise the pastiches reboot may end soon Perhaps wanting to tie in with Howard's stories he was instructed to write a prequel to Red Nails? Of course , as far as I remember , John's books don't tie-in like that so we'll have to see what else comes out in the future. The reviewer says the "blood of the serpent" was I quote " a Titan Books editorial “project”. He adds that "In an online post on Conan.com, Saffel discusses how Stirling was provided with “several outlines” reflecting what Titan wanted to do with the book." I assume he refers to these few lines "We wanted to place the adventure within the timeline of Howard’s tales, and over the course of several outlines determined that it would lead into one of Steve’s personal favorites, “Red Nails.” Thus it would feature other elements Conan fans will find familiar, while being entirely accessible to readers who may come to the genre via A Game of Thrones, The Witcher, or works by authors like Jay Kristoff or Mark Lawrence."
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Post by terryallenuk on Feb 19, 2023 8:38:47 GMT -5
Perhaps wanting to tie in with Howard's stories he was instructed to write a prequel to Red Nails? Of course , as far as I remember , John's books don't tie-in like that so we'll have to see what else comes out in the future. The reviewer says the "blood of the serpent" was I quote " a Titan Books editorial “project”. He adds that "In an online post on Conan.com, Saffel discusses how Stirling was provided with “several outlines” reflecting what Titan wanted to do with the book." I assume he refers to these few lines "We wanted to place the adventure within the timeline of Howard’s tales, and over the course of several outlines determined that it would lead into one of Steve’s personal favorites, “Red Nails.” Thus it would feature other elements Conan fans will find familiar, while being entirely accessible to readers who may come to the genre via A Game of Thrones, The Witcher, or works by authors like Jay Kristoff or Mark Lawrence." Cheers , that's very interesting. Not sure how many authors would be interested in that sort of thing. Unless the money's good of course LOL
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Post by thedarkman on Feb 19, 2023 9:12:29 GMT -5
Even though I have these already, I’ll still be buying this book. It’s gonna be nice to have for my collection, and good sales will help to promote further Conan and Howard-related material. I’m looking forward to Scott Oden’s Shevatas novel, and I recall reading somewhere that there was interest in a short story anthology featuring various other Howard characters like Bran Mak Morn, El Borak, Cormac Mac Art and others. I think the anthology would absolutely rock!
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Post by Jason Aiken on Feb 19, 2023 19:44:09 GMT -5
I pre-ordered this as well. Hopefully this gets a better promotional push by the publisher than Stirling's book.
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Post by boot on Feb 26, 2023 9:55:46 GMT -5
I'm also one of the very few that's not a fan of Emerald. I tried it a couple of times and couldn't get past a couple of chapters. But...that's not going to stop me from pre-ordering this book! EDIT: Correction! Pre-Ordered!
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