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Post by deuce on Nov 28, 2018 11:27:50 GMT -5
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Post by themirrorthief on Nov 28, 2018 16:26:08 GMT -5
I remember reading this and wondering why it wasnt anything like the Conan comics
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Post by Deleted on Nov 28, 2018 16:37:52 GMT -5
Real interesting review. I remember the SSOC adaptation by Thomas, Buscema and Cruz: I recently tried to read some of De Camp's Conan - I just can't read that stuff anymore. Unless it's a SSOC adaptation
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Post by thedarkman on Nov 28, 2018 21:37:50 GMT -5
I don’t mind some of the De Camp/Carter stuff, and I actually like the novelization of the Conan ‘82 movie. But Spider God...just no.
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Post by Char-Vell on Nov 29, 2018 5:36:51 GMT -5
I had it in paperback....I have no recollection of reading it.
Looks like it was awful.
I don't remember the ssoc adaption either. Time to pull the magazine boxes out of the closet.
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Post by themirrorthief on Nov 29, 2018 8:51:05 GMT -5
it was just a bit boring and lifeless... but I also have enjoyed some of the shorter de camp tales
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Post by Grim Wanderer on Nov 29, 2018 11:38:51 GMT -5
de Camp was one of those pastiche writers that was very hit and miss. Mostly miss for me.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2018 12:33:58 GMT -5
I had it in paperback....I have no recollection of reading it. Looks like it was awful. I don't remember the ssoc adaption either. Time to pull the magazine boxes out of the closet. It's from Roy Thomas' second run on SSOC (issue 207). Here's the cover.
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Post by Grim Wanderer on Nov 29, 2018 15:08:44 GMT -5
I had it in paperback....I have no recollection of reading it. Looks like it was awful. I don't remember the ssoc adaption either. Time to pull the magazine boxes out of the closet. It's from Roy Thomas' second run on SSOC (issue 207). Here's the cover. I'm fairly certain I have that issue in my collection still.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 30, 2018 2:21:57 GMT -5
I have not read the book, but, from what I remember of the SSOC adaptation and the portrayal of the young Cimmerian it did not feel right at the time, and looking at the review of the yarn, it feels more like a Mills and Boon Romance Novel. Is Catherine de Camp the author of this novel? probably, or maybe Sprague was in a romantic mood at the time.
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Post by robp on Nov 30, 2018 4:52:26 GMT -5
Half decent artwork for that SSOC run but the story was "meh".
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Post by boot on Dec 1, 2018 10:03:25 GMT -5
I read it (the book), several years ago. It's not great. It's not super bad. It's..."meh". And, that's coming from someone who likes a lot of de Camp's stuff.
In de Camp's timeline, Conan joins the Turanian Army as an irregular and moves his way up the command chain over a year or three. At some point, he defects. The timeline has a vague mention of some trouble with an officer's wife.
Spider God starts with that. It shows the woman trouble, and Conan defects north, into Zamora, with Turanian soldiers on his tail. He ends up in Yezud, which is supposed to be in northern Zamora.
While laying low in Yezud, Conan supports himself as a blacksmith, which is interesting. We all know that Conan's father was a smith, but this is the first time that I've seen that Conan, too, has those skills. I guess that would make sense. In Conan's youth, he probably would have apprenticed to his father. On the other hand, Conan was ranging around Cimmeria and Nordheim at 15. I'm not sure how accomplished he could have become as a smith. Certainly he knows the basics, but to be able to step into the shoes of a fully trained smith and do good work might be a stretch for some.
From there, the story becomes traditional. A wench, a cult, and a big-assed spider.
The writing is "meh". The story is serviceable. I'd say it's a read for the completist. But, for the Howard purest or those looking for only the best Conan pastiches, it's a pass.
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Post by Char-Vell on Dec 1, 2018 10:25:57 GMT -5
I can buy Conan being a pretty good Smith. He's one of those guys that excels at stuff, so he probably picked it up from his father pretty quick. He probably uses the skill a lot during his life. We just don't hear about it in the stories because it was during Conan's down time. For example, if he's in a mercenary company:
Steve the mercenary: " I notched up my favorite ax pretty badly in that last battle." Conan: "hand it over, I got this, fam!"
I like giant spiders.
Still, though I have little recollection of this tale, I'm not motivated to revisit it.
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Post by Grim Wanderer on Dec 1, 2018 11:49:27 GMT -5
I think Conan's father would have been pretty rough on him from the ages of 5-14. First few years would have been fetch, carry, and pump. Around 9 he would have shown Conan how to make a spoon and knife. His training would have progressed to simple tools and maybe axes. Swords would have been last, but Conan had left by that point. Still, he would have had 8-9 years of apprenticeship to rely on.
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Post by Sangria Sword on Feb 7, 2019 21:00:58 GMT -5
I have this book in my collection. Read it years ago, but I don't remember the plot. Being an artist, I liked the cover- except for the awkward pose of the female.
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