Trail of the Blood Stained God/The Blood Stained God
Feb 14, 2016 10:46:41 GMT -5
Post by CoonDogBo on Feb 14, 2016 10:46:41 GMT -5
This review is bout the DeCamp adaptation of the Kirby O'Donnell tale Trail of the Blood Stained God. DeCamp shortened the title
to The Blood Stained God. Been awhile since I did one of these so bear with me ye faithful. A long time ago I read the O'Donnell
story and enjoyed it. I remembered it as being a bit longer but I could have been mistaken or maybe Sprague shortened it a bit.
Well, the bottom line, I enjoyed it. It was full of action and the transition to Conan seemed pretty smooth. I think Sprague
added a bit of a supernatural ending to it but it worked well. I think most fans of Howard's Conan would like this also. Yes, I know some feel everything DeCamp touched is poison but I disagree. Overall I think he did a fairly good job with our Barbarian friend and occasionally really produced a gem. This one comes close. Of course It is a Howard tale after all and one that isn't so far removed
from Conan in most respects. Kirby O'Donnell was a very cool character in his own right and I sure wish there had been a couple more. For those unfamiliar to the character I would describe him as a cross between El Borak and Conan. A little bit of both characters in that he is a fortune hunter and thief like Conan and an American adventuring in the orient like El Borak.
The tale could be described as something of an "interlude" in Conan's adventures. He and several other totally rotten characters
search and backstab and fight their way to an incredibly ancient temple that the locals avoid like the plague. A golden, gem crusted
Idol is displayed within and our happy band of disreputes want it desperately. No one trusts any of the others in the search party
and there is a merry chase involving four different parties all seeking the treasure. I count Conan and his "friend" as two parties
cause they are truly only allied due to circumstances.
The story is very fast paced, filled with violence from the word go and chock fun gnarly dudes more than willing to carve out their
own mother's heart for a pack of cigarettes...ha. Of course it all ends badly for all of them including Conan. At least he survives
the affair with life and limb reasonably intact. Yes, there is a horrible manifestation at the end and DeCamp handles it fairly well
although he doesn't waste a lot of words on the closing act...to a fault IMO. All in all its a good one, I had a rousing good time!
to The Blood Stained God. Been awhile since I did one of these so bear with me ye faithful. A long time ago I read the O'Donnell
story and enjoyed it. I remembered it as being a bit longer but I could have been mistaken or maybe Sprague shortened it a bit.
Well, the bottom line, I enjoyed it. It was full of action and the transition to Conan seemed pretty smooth. I think Sprague
added a bit of a supernatural ending to it but it worked well. I think most fans of Howard's Conan would like this also. Yes, I know some feel everything DeCamp touched is poison but I disagree. Overall I think he did a fairly good job with our Barbarian friend and occasionally really produced a gem. This one comes close. Of course It is a Howard tale after all and one that isn't so far removed
from Conan in most respects. Kirby O'Donnell was a very cool character in his own right and I sure wish there had been a couple more. For those unfamiliar to the character I would describe him as a cross between El Borak and Conan. A little bit of both characters in that he is a fortune hunter and thief like Conan and an American adventuring in the orient like El Borak.
The tale could be described as something of an "interlude" in Conan's adventures. He and several other totally rotten characters
search and backstab and fight their way to an incredibly ancient temple that the locals avoid like the plague. A golden, gem crusted
Idol is displayed within and our happy band of disreputes want it desperately. No one trusts any of the others in the search party
and there is a merry chase involving four different parties all seeking the treasure. I count Conan and his "friend" as two parties
cause they are truly only allied due to circumstances.
The story is very fast paced, filled with violence from the word go and chock fun gnarly dudes more than willing to carve out their
own mother's heart for a pack of cigarettes...ha. Of course it all ends badly for all of them including Conan. At least he survives
the affair with life and limb reasonably intact. Yes, there is a horrible manifestation at the end and DeCamp handles it fairly well
although he doesn't waste a lot of words on the closing act...to a fault IMO. All in all its a good one, I had a rousing good time!