Customer Reviews

Conan Of The Isles

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

 

 

Back in the mid-60's, when Lancer Books reissued the original Conan stories by Robert E. Howard, they enlisted the aid of L. Sprague DeCamp and Lin Carter to polish Howard's grammar, soften his more "politically incorrect" statements, and fill out the saga with pastiches. This, the last of the stories, is 100% pastiche, but it still has the flavor of Howard's barbarian. I first read it as a teenager, but now that I have passed the half century mark, the story has new resonance. In this adventure Conan anticipates George Foreman by several millenia. He may be old; he may not be the man he once was; but he can still outmuscle most foes, and those he can't outmuscle, he can outfox. At the conclusion of the book you might just get a little misty-eyed when Conan ends his adventure and sails off into the mists of time, never to be heard from again.

The book starts extremely well with one of the best scenes ever written about Conan (The tavern scene). It's forever burned into my brain. Burn it into yours. The second half lags a bit but over all it's very entertaining. The Isles is an important book in the Conan series because it's the last Conan story. Conan shows that even at 60+ he's still got more than it takes. Great ending.

When Lancer set out to produce the complete Conan saga in the 1960s, it called upon L. Sprague de Camp, Lin Carter, and Bjorn Nyberg to fill in the gaps and complete the saga. For the most part, they comported themselves well.

This is the final tale in that series, and for a non-REH story, it's pretty good. Carter and de Camp both had been around Conan enough by the time they produced this that they get the general flavor of what makes Conan, well, Conan. I probably should give it more stars, simply because of all the pure pablum that has been produced by would-be REH imitators over the past 20 years or so, but its still not quite anything more than an above average book.

Regardless, its well written and clearly attempting to honor REH's Conan tales. In this book, Conan is in his twilight years and is still looking for one final adventure, or adventures, as the case may be. Clearly, Conan has no intention of dying of old age in a bed surrounded by grandchildren.

The early chapters of the book are probably the best as Conan evenutally sets off sailing and finds himself in a new, unknown world (presumably America). Naturally, this being a Conan tale, he soon finds himself enmeshed in adventures in this new world. And, relying on not only muscle but guile, Conan naturally triumphs.

Given the fact that I am now in my 40s, this tale may resonate more with me. The fact that a 60-ish Conan is still vital and more than willing to fight kind of inspires me. The ending actually leaves the door open for further adventures, even though this was to be the final tale in the Conan saga (of course, others decided there was still money to be made off the poor guy, so all kinds of junk is still being written about Conan today).

Stick to the Lancer series and its reprints and ignore all that other junk.

No, not the story. The story was good. I'm talking about the book itself. It was so old that the glue holding it together dried out. I came late to the stories of Conan. That was in the early 1980s. 1982 if I'm not mistaken. It even inspired me to write my own stories about a barbarian of my own.
In this book, Conan's 60. The ghost of his guardian angel,
Epimeterius the Sage, comes to him in his sleep and tells him to abdicate in favor of his son, Prince Conn, who's Conan's heir. Conan writes the letter of abdication and sets
out to fight the Red Terror, a magical plague that's spread across the world by the sorcerer priests of the remnants of
Atlantis. Conan fights them but we don't know if he wins or loses.

Chronologically this IS the last adventures of Conan. He's an old man now, and after this adventure he doesn't return to his homeland; prefering to let his son Conn rule Aquilonia.

A decent read, and better than most crappy Conan-novels not written by Robert E. Howard, though still lacking that certain pulp feeling.

Conan is goes on a Christopher Columbus type adventure, sailing off to Western shores and unknown danger. In that regard, it is a totally unique Conan experience.

L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter can be very hit or miss in their stories. Often times they write as though they have no real understanding of the big Cimmerian, his language or gestures. They also lack the ability to make poetry out of the most abhorrent violence, the way Robert E. Howard did in his original works. But in this case, the authors managed keep me interested. Maybe it is solely because Conan is on such a unique adventure, or maybe this is just better writing than some of their other pastiches. In any case, this is worth reading as the final Conan adventure.

The introduction may be the best part of this pastiche novel, to quote one part:

"The purpose of heroic fantasy is neither to solve the problems of the steel industry, nor to expose defects in the foreign-aid program, nor to expound the questions of poverty or intergroup hostility. It is to entertain. It is escape reading in which one escapes clear out of the real universe. But, come to think, these tales are no more 'unreal' than the many whodunnits wherein, after the stupid police have fallen over their own big feet, the brilliant amateur - a private detective, a newspaper reporter., or a little old lady - steps in and solves the crime.
Heroic fantasies combine the color, gore., and lively action of the costume novel with the atavistic terrors and delights of the fairy tale. They furnish the purest fun to be found in fiction today. If you read for fun, this is the genre for you."

However, this book is perhaps a little light on the fun, unfortunately, in the last of the Lance books.

King Conan is getting on, as de Camp introduces the story, and feeling generation gapped from the kids, etc.

What to do? How about a spot of pirate action?

Time for a bit of the Amra persona, with Sigurd Redbeard and the Sea Monsters.

Not one of the better efforts.


2.5 out of 5