Customer Reviews

Conan the Indomitable

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I like Conan, I like Howard and I like many of the authors who have taken the story line and added to the adventures of Conan. This book was an exception. I have to agree with a couple of the other reviewers here that were not all that thrilled over this work. One stated that it was simply silly. I think the reviewer was being overly kind here. Perry is indeed capable of readable work, but he was certainy off the mark with this one. I gave this one two stars simply because it was a Conan story and I have a certainly loyality to the big lug. Overall, do not recommend this work.

Without a doubt the worst book I have ever read. Perry has written good Conan books, like Conan the Fearless and Conan the Defiant, although this one was just plain silly. I can't believe this material was actually put into print.

Lots of great ideas here. Witches sorcerors.. caves, worms bats jui-jitsu monk cursed tree even a unique monster under an other curse...read it its good fist 10 pages stink then it rokz

This book over all is an ok story. By no means Perry's best work or the best Conan story out there. But the book is fast paced and full of action. Perry has a way of keeping you reading and keeping the story going. The story picks up right after Conan the Defiant and quickly starts going. Most of the story takes place underground and at times has a been there read that feel. But Perry breathes new life into. The catfish boat is one example of "I swear I have read something like that before" but even if it has been read before it is still good going.
Other minor problems I found was the witch and warlock part at times became redundant. They were also killed off pretty fast at the end, with the witches death ending just like I thought it would. Harskeel plot was through out the story, and was a major part of it, but the ending of this charter, as funny as it was, was poof, leaving you scratching your head, was it just for this one funny part at the end? Why did Conan not fall to the witches power once she bedded him? And the Demons death at the end, just too easy. Time line between Conan and the creatures getting a revolt didn't add up either.
what did work was the unification's of the creatures of the caves against the wizard, and the friendship of the worm and cyclops. Conan's companions were good for the story. Good play between Conan and returning Elashi from the last story. Lalo story line was very funny, and Tull was a good add to the story.
Overall not a bad read. Taken for what it is, a story about a young Conan causing trouble in an underground kingdom. Not bad, but not great-ERIC

Sadly some people don't quite seem to "get" this book. But just as in Perry's previous Conan book,Conan The Defiant Perry uses the central unifying theme in the world of Hyperboria, that chaos rules all and that men's lives are insignificant (as with all good pulp), and channels it through humor and adventure. The humor in "Defiant" was, granted, much more dry. [I absolutely loved the spiders following their prey after he'd become a zombie, just like 'uh. WTF?' Just a brilliant idea.] Essentially most usually use the idea of the world being chaotic and men's lives meaningless as a horrific idea; but some, like Perry for Conan and Sandy Mitchell for Warhammer 40K, play with the concept that, if these axioms are true, then it also means that, while anything bad can happen at any time and there is no justice, ANYTHING can happen at any time, which can really lead to ANY outcome. This outing, perhaps some were put off by the humor, since it's broader. It's not meant to be taken seriously. It's not meant to be ponderous or weighty, it's just fun, breezy adventure with a high dose of humor.

Now, yes, I know you might be 'hmmm'ing, saying, well, oftentimes that just means that an author has been lazy and obviously doesn't care about the characters. Not true. Though sometimes a little too on the nose (the most egregious example of this is the line, 'Conan was nothing if not pragmatic'), Conan seems to act completely in character in this book, never acting differently to make a joke. And, as I believe someone else pointed out, the best part about the book is the buddy story between the cyclops and the giant worm, a story which, while it's told humorously, is nonetheless touching. [They obviously need a spinoff novel.]
In further defense, I'd say Perry decided to make this humorous and then use that as a challenge to himself as a writer to do BETTER with his prose. Perhaps fearing too much sword & sorcery had dulled his pen, he seems determined to make the wit in this as well thought out as possible. I think the best instance is when he describes the witch, naked, standing on her boat, legs spread, the wind running through her hair. The care with which the "hair" line is placed right after the "spread legs" line makes it obvious he's trying to get the reader to imagine a specific type of hair, ending in a kind of ... literary humor. Shenanigans of this sort abound in this novel, from the ridiculous (the worm thinking of pros and cons: 'but on the other coil...') to the sharp-edged (Conan figuring out how to beat Elashi in a verbal fight).

Is much of it fairly skippable? Yes, I suppose so, if you're just wanting the story. There are a LOT of POV sections from the people chasing Conan & co. and very few of them really add much to the story, but in the end, what do these Tor books really add to the Conan canon (that's confusing to type) anyway? Isn't the point to be amusing and entertaining, while, one hopes, well-written? In the end, very enjoyable book that does darn near everything it intends to do.