Conan cursed by a Stygian priest gives chase to the Stygian who he has to get to earlier than the man gets to Valeria. Back in 2021, Titan Books announced a new publishing initiative that would see them put out original Conan fiction that stood “firmly within the Conan canon. Titan Books, a UK-based publisher that mostly peddles TV, film, and videogame tie-in books, mentions on Conan. I did not struggle to get engaged with the tale, and looked forward to each reading session (it’s a brisk 300 pages with illustrations). You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice.

It reads like a Star Trek or Star Wars IP novel that machine guns off nod after nod, Easter Egg after Easter Egg. 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. Set early in his life, Conan has left his northern homeland to cut a bloody swath across the legendary Hyborian Age.Stirling's Conan is vital and fun to root for: a cosmopolitan who seeks to learn about other cultures, Conan is sometimes a principled hero driven by loyalty to friends, battle comrades, and the downtrodden; other times, Conan is a bloody mercenary who seeks freedom, personal fulfillment, adventure, and the all-too-human joys of food, drink, sleep, comfort, and. Conan being a bit boastful and overly exposition laden in his dialogue informs his POV voice that Sterling used. Numerous authors have shown that Conan can be a deceptively tricky character to portray with any accuracy. He is and was the master of this genre, Red Nails in 100 pages feels like a completer tale than the 316 pages of Sword and the Serpent. 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.

Well written and the physical book is really cool and has a golden sword set into the front cover under the dust jacket! M. Stirling is a former lawyer, an amateur historian, and the New York Times bestselling author of numerous SF and fantasy novels including the popular “Nantucket” series that began with Island in the Sea of Time. But the novel has to lead to the events in “Red Nails” so the potential gold heist story goes nowhere.He’s no murderer or slaver, and when his companions in arms are taken captive or placed in jeopardy, Conan comes to their rescue. Howard had a gritty, vibrant style—broadsword writing that cut its way to the heart, with heroes who are truly larger than life. Some have compared the novel to an extended African big-game jungle safari and it does have that feel. I am still unsure why Blood of the Serpent reiterates the opening of Red Nails if both stories are present together. This is unquestionably Steve Stirling’s best work to date, a page-turner that is certain to win the author legions of new readers and fans.

Robert Jordan was the first Tor Conan author and he set the pattern: Novel length stories, Horny Conan, and references to past (y’know, the really great ones, by Robert E. Conan Blood of the Serpent is by SM Stirling is a pastiche novel based on Robert E Howard's character Conan the Barbarian. The plot isn't anything groundbreaking but does an excellent job of capturing the feel of the original Conan stories. Regardless of whether or not future novel plots are directly connected to the events of the original stories, I would love to see Titan Books continue to package new stories with the classics.Conan, and REH, not to mention ERB’s Tarzan, are not only what made me into a bookworm, but transformed me into the total fantasy geek I am today. Serving in the company known as Zarallo's Free Companions, he fights alongside soldiers of fortune from Zingara, Koth, Shem, and other lands—a hard-handed band of killers loyal to anyone who pays them well. So, Blood of the Serpent (2022) is a struggle for me to review objectively but, seeing as how Conan set me on this path, I owe him the attempt. Originally published in the pulp magazine 'Weird Tales', the character would go on to achieve remarkable popularity, with the final published tale in Howard's lifetime being 'Red Nails'.

When she runs afoul of an exiled Stygian noble, however, things take a deadly turn, embroiling them both in the schemes of a priest of the serpent god Set.Some of this was quite interesting but the amount of exposition was excessive and bogged down the story. Oh, well, that and the sorcery that Stirling hints at, but doesn't really dive into with both feet like Howard did. Howard himself only ever wrote one Conan novel, the Hour of the Dragon, so it isn't too weird seeing the character again in novel format, but it is a deviation from the genre norm.