Conan: the Road of Kings [Paperback]

Karl Edward Wagner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1979

book

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Bantam Books; First Edition edition (January 1, 1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553120263
• ISBN-13: 978-0553120264
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,209,212 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best of all the Conan "pastiches", February 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Conan: The Road of Kings (Paperback)

Written in the late 1970s, "Conan: The Road of Kings" is a good novel, the best of all the many Conan "pastiches" or, continuing stories by another writer other than the creator, that came out between the 1950s and 1990s. Although Karl Edward Wagner was an outstanding writer of fantasy and horror - his "Kane" novels are quite entertaining - his Conan is not quite the same as Robert E. Howard's. He seems less intense, less grim (in fact, Wagner's Kane character reminds me more of Conan than Wagner's Conan). In Conan of Cimmeria, Howard not only created a much imitated, rarely equalled literary type by the time he was 25, he was also a fine poet. If you can't get Howard, or know his stories too well, read Karl Edward Wagner. You won't be disappointed. Wagner was a pretty great writer considering that he seems to have had serious substance abuse problems in his latter years.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not the Real Conan, but B for effort, March 23, 2002

By 

"svartalf" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Conan: Road of Kings (Mass Market Paperback)

The late and lamented Karl Edward Wagner, who wrote this pastiche, was the first to say that nobody could write like Robert E Howard but Howard Himself. Paradoxically enough, this came from the man who was best qualified to imitate the first and Greatest master of Sword and Sorcery.

This homage has some very good points, the compact, efficient prose with the right word where it is needed, and the often grim atmosphere, the violent and graphic action, natural and not so natural horrors and monsters, horror from indescribable gulf of space and antiquity... these are all elements found in the original stories, and very well rendered by Wagner.

However, Wagner, perhaps trying to outdo the Master, has committed a series of bad mistakes that detract from the book's value as a Conan yarn : First, and to my point of view worst, is getting Conan to a very high post and so close to getting a throne : if such an episode were to be added to his biography, then some of the stories set by Howard after he seizes the throne of Aquilonia would have turned differently, because he would have known of the price of power. Then, there is a problem with atmosphere: Howard's tales are characterized as very grim, this one has far too much humor, even verging on the comic... last, but not least is the fact that in this book, women are treated in a way that could never have happened in a Howard yarn: yes, he was a male chauvinist, (though beware such of his characters as Valeria, Bêlit or Red Sonya), yes his tales are written by the conventions of his times, which no longer apply, still I believe that pastiches should respect some of the original's specifications...

All being said, No, this is not quite the equal of the dark page turners Howard extracted from his tormented mind, but Yes Wagner has still produced a decent story that will please fans of the genre (or of the character) more than the general public, but for those who like a solid adventure yarn, this is your stuff, get it while you can.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Check this one out..., October 23, 2001

By 

[e-mail] (FL, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Conan: Road of Kings (Mass Market Paperback)

Karl Edward Wagner has done a masterful job at creating another fantastic adventure for Conan and the reader. He is a welcome addition to the ranks of Conan authors. There is no shortage of action and intrigue in this Conan novel. For any Conan fan this one is a must and for any who have never read a Conan novel this is a good one to start with. I look forward to more from Wagner...