Age of Conan: Ghost of the Wall [Mass Market Paperback]

Jeff Mariotte (Author)

Book Description

Series: Age of Conan | Publication Date: January 31, 2006

Aided by a king's daughter and a circle of allies, a young warrior embarks on a quest against those who destroyed his people, and the tyrant who took the precious Teeth of the Ice Bear. And to do so, he must become his enemy's worst nightmare.

He must become a ghost.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Ace (January 31, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441013791
• ISBN-13: 978-0441013791
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,310,198 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jeffrey J. Mariotte is the multiple award-winning author of more than forty-five novels, including original supernatural thrillers Cold Black Hearts, River Runs Red and Missing White Girl, horror epic The Slab, thriller The Devil's Bait, and the Stoker-Award nominated teen horror quartet Dark Vengeance, as well as books set in the universes of Supernatural, CSI, Spider-Man, Superman, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Conan, 30 Days of Night, and more. He is also the author of more comic books than he has time to count, including the horror graphic novel Zombie Cop, the original Western series Desperadoes (some of which have been nominated for Stoker and International Horror Guild awards) and the bestselling Presidential Material: Barack Obama. He is a member of the International Thriller Writers, Western Writers of America, and the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers. With his wife, Maryelizabeth Hart, and partner Terry Gilman, he co-owns Mysterious Galaxy, a bookstore specializing in science fiction, fantasy, mystery and horror. He lives on the Flying M Ranch in the American southwest with his family and pets in a home filled with books, music, toys, and other examples of American pop culture. More information than you would ever want to know about him is at jeffmariotte.com, where you'll also find a link to his blog.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Just a Ghost of Conan..., August 3, 2006

By 

Apollo Reader (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Age of Conan: Ghost of the Wall (Mass Market Paperback)

Unlike Loren Coleman's 1st Age of Conan trilogy, this latest start to another set of trilogies left me flat. The premise was good, but the pace and prose left much to be disired.

Thus, the lack of tons of good reviews - or reviews period!

Even though I didn't think Loren Coleman's trilogy was worthy of the Robert E. Howard Conan name attached to it - it stood alone on its merit. It didn't capture the essence of Conan for me, but was still a solid trilogy in its own world. Just not Howards.

This one less so. Reads like it was for elementary school kids. Sorry, but if you are going to write in the realm of Conan - only rated R will do!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A pleasant enough read, November 23, 2008

By 

MJS (CA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Age of Conan: Ghost of the Wall (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the first book of a trilogy set in the Age of Conan (King Conan even makes a very short cameo riding by in the book). The main plot is that a young Pict must avenge the destruction of his tribe by an unscrupulous Aquilonian noble and regain a dangerous stolen artifact. There are 3 trilogies like this (9 books total) and I have now read the first book of all three of them. I would say that none of them would be mistaken for a Howard story, but overall I liked this book best of the three I have read so far. In the Howard stories Picts generally only show up long enough for Conan to split their skulls to the teeth, so its nice to learn more about them.

I would say that "Legends of Kern" has more exciting fight scenes, and "Anok, Heretic of Stygia" has more interesting characters, but this one is the best all around.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fun read., March 15, 2006

By 

Greg "Reviewer for fantasyliterature com" (North Carolina, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Age of Conan: Ghost of the Wall (Mass Market Paperback)

Being a Robert E. Howard fan, I'm excited that someone has finally started writing other stories taking place in his Hyborian age. However, it has to be done right, if not for the entertainment values, then out of respect for REH. Mariotte does that here. Of all the places and peoples of the Hyborian world to write a story, none better could be picked then the Pictish frontier. Howard himself wrote of his fascination with the Picts.
A forbidden friendship (hinting of future romance) between a young Pictish warrior, Kral, and an Aquilonian ambassador's daughter, Alanya, gives an ambitious uncle the excuse to break the fragile truce of the frontier. After his clan is massacred, Kral fights a one man war against the empire and starts his quest to return the sacred Teeth of the Ice Bear. Alanya becomes his ally as she must right the wrongs done against her and her family.
I do question a couple things that Mariotte has in this story. I'm not sure what the Aquilonion policy would be with the Pictish people, since Howard wrote of the racial hatred between King Conan's people, the Cimmierians, and the Picts. Then again, if anyone could understand and respect the savage Picts, it would be the ultimate barbarian himself. Also, Mariotte's take on the Picts isn't as brutal as the way Howard wrote of them (in Howard's stories, "brutal", would be a compliment). Of course, we must remember this story is told more from the Picts's side then any of Howard's.
At times the story seems a little simplistic, but that's only part of the fun. This story reminds me of the books like, ERB's Tarzan and REH's original Conan stories, that I loved so much as an adolescent. It's only a couple hundred pages long with short, to-the-point chapters, and all wrapped in a cover sporting the exiting illustrations that make you daydream of barbaric warriors and exotic beauties. I can't wait for the next book.