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Post by boot on Dec 29, 2022 23:28:11 GMT -5
This is a tad bit of a tiny spoiler, but a pretty cool scene in the book--
Conan sits atop his horse, corralling game to feed the caravan. His horse is spooked. A lion comes charging straight for the Cimmerian. There's a damn cool encounter described, man versus beast.
The fight over, Conan returns to his downed horse. Both its front legs are broken.
I think that's brilliant. For once, we are not just outside spectators to Conan's prowess. This time, we get in his very smart head, learn his tactics. He's feral and savage when he fights, to be sure, but he's also tactical--a thinking fighter.
I dig that.
On top of this, the scene is written in a way where the reader--at least I did--wonders if the lion is following his natural instinct, or if something more sinister is at work, driving the cat at Conan specifically.
Which connects with another speculative scene earlier when....
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Post by irondavith on Dec 30, 2022 3:46:47 GMT -5
I'm reading this adaptation at the moment, it's in the fourth omnibus. And it's been great so far. I think it's all a part of the Conan the Liberator story right? And one of the individual issues is called Satyr's Blood or similar? On hols right now and can't check. Can't blame Conan for going after her though. Edit: ah yes, I see Conan the Liberator is mentioned above The satyr bit, combined with the related allusions to the Battle of Thermopylae, really took me out of both the SSoC and prose versions of this story. By the time Thomas got to adapting Conan the Liberator his disinterest in the material was starting to show. It was during this period he tried his hand at movie and TV writing. I haven't got to the Satyrs themselves yet, but I'm pretty sure I'm on that issue now. I'll advance with caution then 😅
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Post by irondavith on Dec 30, 2022 3:48:29 GMT -5
This is a tad bit of a tiny spoiler, but a pretty cool scene in the book-- Conan sits atop his horse, corralling game to feed the caravan. His horse is spooked. A lion comes charging straight for the Cimmerian. There's a damn cool encounter described, man versus beast. The fight over, Conan returns to his downed horse. Both its front legs are broken. I think that's brilliant. For once, we are not just outside spectators to Conan's prowess. This time, we get in his very smart head, learn his tactics. He's feral and savage when he fights, to be sure, but he's also tactical--a thinking fighter. I dig that. On top of this, the scene is written in a way where the reader--at least I did--wonders if the lion is following his natural instinct, or if something more sinister is at work, driving the cat at Conan specifically. Which connects with another speculative scene earlier when.... Yep, was a good scene. And there have been a few good ones. Overall I have enjoyed the book for sure. Nearly at the end now, but haven't quite had time to finish it yet.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2023 10:10:26 GMT -5
I've had enough, got about 50 pages to go.
If you wanna read a story written in a bland, subdued, uninteresting manner that is supposed to be realistic, gritty, but in reality is incredibly boring, then read this book. It is not REH, it is also not Conan!
Conan continuously fights lions, apes, crocodiles and Rhinos under some kinda shamanic Stygian spell/curse for 200 pages, pretending not to be Tarzan, but he kinda is. What a joke.
Read a good Tarzan book by ERB or just pick up the new poetry book by REH, or the Steve Harrison collection by the REH foundation.
But trust me, don't waste your money on this stuff.
I hope this is not a sign of things to come from Titan.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2023 10:35:15 GMT -5
...another problem is that this is not even novel.
There's a fight at a bar in Sukhmet where Valeria can kill some Stygian noble and decides to let him live.
Conan and Valeria go on some kinda mission with slaves that have to be delivered and sacrificed to some silly god, they rebel and Conan, Valeria and the mercenaries manage to escape with some gold. Conan and the mercenaries decide to split half of the gold among themselves.
This story is entirely dropped cos Valeria ends up killing the Stygian noble when having a piss when they return to Sukhmet. She goes on the run to Red Nails followed by Conan and the brother of the killed Stygian noble. Obviously Conan will kill him on his way to Red Nails. But, I'm not gonna read it.
This is nothing more than an over extended, over-bloated prelude, prequel to the real yarn Red Nails.
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Post by boot on Jan 2, 2023 15:25:33 GMT -5
SPOILERS!
Even though I am enjoying the read, I do get you on the animal attacks. I liked them, and I felt their inclusion was about right up to the scene where Conan killed the Stygian priest that was causing the attacks. It all made sense.
I thought the croc attack was great. Those massive things dragging horses into the bloody water, and that damned priest, sacrificing Stygian young ones, slitting their throats, chunking them into the water, all the while murmuring a spell to his god, Set. Awesome. That's cool, dark, Conan stuff. It would have been a good climax to the animal attacks.
But then, we move on, and it happens again. Conan thinks of the curse the priest put on him when the baboons attack. It was one attack too much.
Conan's back at Sukhmet, now, handing over half the gold. I'm on page 181 about to finish chapter 16. That puts me over half way.
The book reminds me a bit of Poul Anderson's effort, Conan The Rebel, which takes place in Stygia, too. I think what I like about this book--Sterling's book--is that it is a bit fresh and not what we've seen before. In style and atmosphere, I think Turtledove's book, Conan of Venarium, comes closest.
There's not a strong plot. It's more of a slice of life in Conan's world. I remember a time, reading several Conan stories by different authors, back to back, that I actually got tired of reading about yet another necromancer hell bent on destroying the world. It's nice to read a yarn about Conan just being Conan, living his life.
One thing that Sterling has done well, from page one, is create an atmosphere for me. I can feel the heat in Stygia, see the rough boards of the tables at the tavern. Smell the wax that Zarallo uses to point the tips of his mustache. Howard was always big on differing races, and Sterling mimics that with the Nubakans and the Stygians and the various races of Zarallo's mercenaries.
When Conan finds the tomb, it scared me for a moment that Sterling was going to steal the scene out of the 1982 movie or De Camp's short story, but instead, he surprised me, making it a nice little homage to those stories.
So, for me, over half the way through, I'll say what I've said earlier. It's not the best Conan tale I've ever read, but it's a good read. I'm glad I bought the book, and it succeeds at the true test--do I want to pick it up again and continue? I do. I'm eager to see what happens next.
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Post by mindboggled on Jan 2, 2023 21:55:14 GMT -5
I've had enough, got about 50 pages to go. If you wanna read a story written in a bland, subdued, uninteresting manner that is supposed to be realistic, gritty, but in reality is incredibly boring, then read this book. It is not REH, it is also not Conan! Conan continuously fights lions, apes, crocodiles and Rhinos under some kinda shamanic Stygian spell/curse for 200 pages, pretending not to be Tarzan, but he kinda is. What a joke. Read a good Tarzan book by ERB or just pick up the new poetry book by REH, or the Steve Harrison collection by the REH foundation. But trust me, don't waste your money on this stuff. I hope this is not a sign of things to come from Titan. Glade to see I am not the only one that couldn't make it through this. What the hell was transpiring in Stirling's head while he was writing is all I could think about as I read. It's a fucking slog from star to finish.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2023 23:12:04 GMT -5
SPOILERS!Even though I am enjoying the read, I do get you on the animal attacks. I liked them, and I felt their inclusion was about right up to the scene where Conan killed the Stygian priest that was causing the attacks. It all made sense. I thought the croc attack was great. Those massive things dragging horses into the bloody water, and that damned priest, sacrificing Stygian young ones, slitting their throats, chunking them into the water, all the while murmuring a spell to his god, Set. Awesome. That's cool, dark, Conan stuff. It would have been a good climax to the animal attacks. But then, we move on, and it happens again. Conan thinks of the curse the priest put on him when the baboons attack. It was one attack too much. Conan's back at Sukhmet, now, handing over half the gold. I'm on page 181 about to finish chapter 16. That puts me over half way. The book reminds me a bit of Poul Anderson's effort, Conan The Rebel, which takes place in Stygia, too. I think what I like about this book--Sterling's book--is that it is a bit fresh and not what we've seen before. In style and atmosphere, I think Turtledove's book, Conan of Venarium, comes closest. There's not a strong plot. It's more of a slice of life in Conan's world. I remember a time, reading several Conan stories by different authors, back to back , that I actually got tired of reading about yet another necromancer hell bent on destroying the world. It's nice to read a yarn about Conan just being Conan, living his life.One thing that Sterling has done well, from page one, is create an atmosphere for me. I can feel the heat in Stygia, see the rough boards of the tables at the tavern. Smell the wax that Zarallo uses to point the tips of his mustache. Howard was always big on differing races, and Sterling mimics that with the Nubakans and the Stygians and the various races of Zarallo's mercenaries. When Conan finds the tomb, it scared me for a moment that Sterling was going to steal the scene out of the 1982 movie or De Camp's short story, but instead, he surprised me, making it a nice little homage to those stories. So, for me, over half the way through, I'll say what I've said earlier. It's not the best Conan tale I've ever read, but it's a good read. I'm glad I bought the book, and it succeeds at the true test--do I want to pick it up again and continue? I do. I'm eager to see what happens next. I'm in agreement with you concerning the necromancer hell bent on destroying the world type novel, it can get boring. I like that Stirling demonstrates the intelligence of Conan at times concerning the logistics of their mission. He don't just jump on horseback and ride off with mercenaries without pack animals, remounts and food. He knows how to lead, not just through instinct it also through experience. The relationships with Valeria and other mercenaries is handled well, but I'm disappointed the story gets dropped. Why bother with this story at all? You'll get what I mean once you finish the chapters after the return of Conan in Sukhmet. Stirling introduces some interesting characters that will split the gold - will they betray Conan? Will he betray them? Will the Stygians work out that Conan and the Mercenaries have half the gold? No, Stirling just drops it! There's great potential there, I think, a wasted opportunity. I'll probably go back and finish the novel, eventually.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2023 23:17:48 GMT -5
I've had enough, got about 50 pages to go. If you wanna read a story written in a bland, subdued, uninteresting manner that is supposed to be realistic, gritty, but in reality is incredibly boring, then read this book. It is not REH, it is also not Conan! Conan continuously fights lions, apes, crocodiles and Rhinos under some kinda shamanic Stygian spell/curse for 200 pages, pretending not to be Tarzan, but he kinda is. What a joke. Read a good Tarzan book by ERB or just pick up the new poetry book by REH, or the Steve Harrison collection by the REH foundation. But trust me, don't waste your money on this stuff. I hope this is not a sign of things to come from Titan. Glade to see I am not the only one that couldn't make it through this. What the hell was transpiring in Stirling's head while he was writing is all I could think about as I read. It's a fucking slog from star to finish. Yeah, it can be a slog to read. I think he coulda tightened it up by cutting around 100 pages.
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Post by irondavith on Jan 14, 2023 6:02:15 GMT -5
I meant to leave an opinion after I'd finished the book - which was a while ago now! So that's not a particularly good sign, I guess it was a bit forgettable.
That being said, overall, I did enjoy the book. I'm not gonna return it for my audible credit anyway.
Spoilers!
What I liked about it:
As Boot mentioned above, you get to see how Conan actually thinks when he's fighting, and how he manages to do what he does when fighting. The same with being able to move near silently - it doesn't happen magically, but rather explained how he learnt to do it, and why it works.
I also felt Sterling built a pretty good atmosphere of Stygia and surrounding lands. Most of the people, too.
Some decent fight scenes, including the croc and the lion.
Conan was pretty much Conan - not 'good', not 'evil', just a mercenary. He was portrayed as intelligent, organised and a quick learner.
The language development as Conan learnt Stygian and became more proficient in it. I was a foreign language teacher for 12 years and know absolutely it's a breakthrough moment for students when they start making jokes in another language, and that's exactly what Conan did (and realised his own breakthrough).
What I didn't like:
the overall plot was pretty weak. As was also mentioned above, the first part just kind of ends abruptly, and no more is said about it.
That being said, there was just enough of an adventure plot / rescue plot to keep me interested.
How Conan decided never to mention what happened on his journey to Valeria - I assume so it would never be mentioned in Red Nails. The idea makes sense but the execution felt a bit clumsy and forced.
The audiobook version - as a narrator overall, he was good. Conan's voice was good. The female voices, especially Valeria, were not. And at about chapter 5 Valeria suddenly picks up a strong Irish accent.
It was something new, something Conan, and kept me entertained while working out or cooking dinner. I'm glad I listened to it, but I can get it's not for everyone.
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Post by wulfhere on Jan 14, 2023 7:24:17 GMT -5
It was OK, but far, far away from anything that might described as Howardian. Then again, I don't expect anything Howardian from modern publishers. The Abomey vignette (along with the subsequent pygmy interlude) was largely a pointless digression, but fits right in with the bloated prose of most modern fantasy writing. On the other hand, the descriptions of the sorcery were suitably creepy and unnatural. Had this been about half as long it could have probably been twice as good.
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Post by alexander on Jan 14, 2023 7:49:56 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2023 19:08:48 GMT -5
It was OK, but far, far away from anything that might described as Howardian. Then again, I don't expect anything Howardian from modern publishers. The Abomey vignette (along with the subsequent pygmy interlude) was largely a pointless digression, but fits right in with the bloated prose of most modern fantasy writing. On the other hand, the descriptions of the sorcery were suitably creepy and unnatural. Had this been about half as long it could have probably been twice as good.I agree. I finished the book, it's OK, not something I'd add to my collection, so I donated my copy to the library at a local pub.
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Post by Von K on Jan 15, 2023 3:20:27 GMT -5
Enjoyed the reviews Alexander, thanks.
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kev
Wanderer
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Post by kev on Jan 22, 2023 19:20:26 GMT -5
Question: Does anyone know if there is a paperback version of Blood of the Serpent in the pipeline?
Thanks in advance.
Kev
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