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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Definitely Not Recommended,
By Shoe (Morrisville, PA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Conan The Gladiator (Tor Fantasy) (Mass Market Paperback)
I heartily agree with the other reviewers that this is the worst of the Tor series of Conan pastiches, of which I have read many. Leonard Carpenter seems to have read more DeCamp than Howard, and it shows. In point of fact, he dedicated this book to DeCamp.
In his works, Carpenter has always toned down Conan's superhuman strength, speed, and prowess. While it makes for a weak novel having an invincible hero, Conan as an everyman is also a step in the wrong direction. It is taken to such an extreme that Carpenter's Conan receives a drubbing from almost everyone he fights, and this book is no exception. One would think that a gladitorial arena would be the ideal showcase for Conan's savage talents, but in this book, poor Conan loses almost every battle he participates in. To add insult to injury, Conan becomes a pacifist later in the book, after fainting at the sight of a bloody wound, no less! In all fairness to Carpenter, Conan always had a code of honor and a distaste for needless killing, but for Conan to turn his back and walk away from a known enemy who literally pushes him around after threatening him? No way. The REH Conan might make one weak attempt at chivalry before crushing the offender's skull with a massive fist. Further travesties include Conan (who has grappled with giant apes and cave bears and could probably out wrestle Gilgamesh on his best day) being beaten by a wrestler; being unable to jump across a span that his female companion has just leapt across; and most glaringly, regularly being "dazed and exhausted" after running and climbing for just a few minutes. Yes, the same Conan who could climb almost before he could walk, and was able to run for days on end without rest. In spite of all this, Carpenter has created some interesting supporting characters, and built up his plot with some degree of skill. In this case, as in his Conan The Hero, it all amounts to nothing in the end. Once again, Carpenter carefully builds tension, then throws it all away by having a deus ex machina of a catastrophe literally sweep everything away so the climactic battle just... never happens. It makes for a lazy and very unsatisfying finish. As a final note to the reviewer who found Conan's use of a phalanx out of place, Conan served as a field commander for many armies over the years, and his knowledge of advanced military tactics was peerless, so the phalanx idea made perfect sense. It's interesting to note just how many elements of this 1988 book found their way almost verbatim into the movie Gladiator. Maybe John Logan liked this book more than we all did. :-)
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Worst Conan novel ever! Seriously.,
By
This review is from: Conan The Gladiator (Tor Fantasy) (Mass Market Paperback)
I had high hopes for this book, the cover was cool and the idea of Conan competing as a gladiator ala the movie, seemed sound. However I can honestly say this is the absolute worst Conan I have ever read in twenty plus years. The biggest problem seems to be that Conan's brain has been replaced by that of a 19th century English gentleman. After he is slapped on the had by a circus dwarf, Conan exclaims "Wait, fellow, that was most ill-mannered...I only meant to invite the lass to stop awile and talk, or mayhap share a puncheon of ripe cider. I would compliment you all on your fair costumes and fine talents." Seriously he says that. It is as though Leonard Carpenter had never read an actual Conan book before pulling this out of his behind. That type of dialogue belongs in Regency Romances and Merchant Ivory films, not Conan. If you are a fan at all of Robert E. Howard I would strongly caution you against buying or reading this book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Close, But Not Really Conan,
By
This review is from: Conan The Gladiator (Tor Fantasy) (Mass Market Paperback)
I just finished this book on early this morning and while it is not the best Conan book I've read, it is not the worst. The worst was Conan the Valorus, also a Carpenter penned book.
Yes, the fact that Conan gets defeated by clowns he should have been able to swat like flies really irked me. His turn to pacifism enraged me even more! Since when would Conan begin to second guess himself? Granted, he had a code, but it would never keep him from defending himself from those who are attacking him, nor would he have ever been ansy about making profit over the deaths of those who held weapons against him. That being said, Conan's code was exhibited fairly well when he felt queasey about killing those whom he considered either helpless or friends (See The Stygian Rebels & Muzudaya). I must agree with a couple of other reviewers who said that the book was a good fantasy creation with good ideas, but not really a Conan novelization. I concur with that assesment. I liked the supporting characters. Sathilda, Roganthus, Commodorus (I Was Sorry To See What His Fate Was In The End) and the black Kushite Muzudaya were great. Only Dath was underdeveloped. The book's location was well-developed. I liked that very much. I'd never seen Luxor described before and it was a delight to journey to that city through the eyes of Conan. The Circus was a remarkable creation and I'm certain Carpenter must have done a fair amount of research to describe such remarkable details concerning the gladiators, beasts and aqueducts necessary to fill up a huge colloseum like that. John Norman's Assassin of Gor goes into tertiary details of an arena like this but never hits the nail on the head. Carpenter does-- and he does it with a realistic and highly detailed simplicity that Norman was unwilling or unable to convey. In the end, Luxor's fate had me wondering what would eventually become of the city years in the future. No, Conan the Gladiator is not a great book, but in my opinion it's not that bad, either. A lukwarm entry in the Conan canon, that's all. A. Nathaniel Wallace, Jr.
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