Customer Reviews

Conan The Hero

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4 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book was fairly different from the other Conan books I have read because in those ones Conan was pretty much all by himself and minding his own business, eventually getting caught up in the action. However, in this story, Conan already has a friend (Juma) and is already involved in a conflict. I thought the setting was a nice change, too, from the standard grassy hills. I probably would've given this book 5 stars, but I think it goes downhill once Conan makes it to the capital. It seems like the author is trying to fit too much into the last chapters and I have to say I was very disappointed by the end. It was a bad surprise. I would recommend this book, however, maybe not very highly, but it is a good book.

Yep, the mighty Cimmerian is a grunt in the 'Nam. As is often the case, Conan has hired his sword, this time to the king of Turan. I forget which one. He's waaaay down south in a largely mercenary army, fighting in a jungle war of attrition alongside other guys who are there because their lives were otherwise hopeless. There's an incompetent officer corps, a very television-like sorcery that lets the king and his cronies micomanage the battles ineptly. There's bad guy special forces types. The serious soldiers get hamstrung by leadership. There's north and south locals, the southerners are friendly but corrupt, the northerners are guerillas who fight and slip away. At one point Conan even goes mech-infantry in a war elephant convoy that gets ambushed and wiped out because the leadership insists on using technology and tactics that are spectacularly illl-suited to the terrain. Oh, and the whole thing is actually being fought over control of a drug trade.
Just about every single Vietnam war cliche is here, prominently featuring Conan. Occasional ally and drinking buddy Juma makes an appearance, but even that isn't enough to save this book. This was a first for me: I quit reading it halfway through. The cliches are overdone, the story is drenched in misery and hopelessness, and it just doesn't feel right. I like unorthodox Conan, but this is Conan in name only. The character's just poorly handled. Carpenter has written a couple of my all-time favorite Conan pastiches, but this book just flat out blows. Try Conan the Valorous, also by Carpenter. FAR better untraditional material: Conan Goes To Cimmeria. This one, sadly, is just wretched.