Customer Reviews

Sagas of Conan (Conan Series)

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

 

 

To the other reviewers: Yes, the original Howard books were fantasic (we all know this), but some of the books written afterwards have been exciting too(mostly the Robert Jordan ones). I'm happy authors have kept this character alive after all these years, the books are just fun pulpy reads for me. How about reviewing some of this book though? The Spider God (actually one of the better books) and the Liberator (sokay) are both in this book and I have them as stand alone novels. If you can get the book for under $5 (with shipping) it should a fun read and that is all that matters.

This book reprints some of the Conan stories Lin Carter and L. Sprague de Camp wrote from the 1950s (de Camp) to the 1970s (Carter). None are great. De Camp has been revered as the man who kept Conan alive with the Gnome Press editions in the `50s. He has also been vilified as the man who changed Howard's original tales into something else. Carter came along when Lancer Books was reprinting the Conan stores, and added a few of his own, usually with more of a dark magic theme than de Camp.
De Camp always defended his actions, and at one science-fiction/fantasy convention he needed a bodyguard just to walk around.
Fans did not like his heavy-handed edits of the stories, and told him so in person while he was still alive.
But it's all over now, the original stories are back in print, and this book is a curiosity for the avid Conan fan.

I don't know why the reviews of these books are so negative. L Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter did more to keep Conan alive that anyone else. I read these books many years ago, and although they aren't as good a Robert E. Howard (who is surely the best writer of action scenes ever) they are by far the Best of the Rest. As true to the spirit of Conan as they could be, and certainly better than Robert Jordan, whose tales are tame by comparison.

Conan is one of the great characters from fantasy literature. Immensely powerful physically, keen witted, iron willed, and incredibly audacious... the barbarian from the bleak hills of Cimmeria is the star of many highly entertaining stories.

The bad news is that none of those stories appear in this book. Robert E. Howard was the creator of Conan and none of his stories appear in this volume. What is here is the work of enthusiatic but far less talented individuals who were such big fans of Conan that they were inspired to write their own tales. I have read all of their stories and find that they are immediately recognizable as pale imitations of the original.

In sum, Conan is well worth reading and all of the original Howard stories are now available in paperback. I would highly recommend trying one of these volumes such as The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian (Conan of Cimmeria, Book 1) and forget that this one exists.

I was 9yrs old when i read this book and it stayed in my mind when ibecame a Docter and recieved my 1st pay ibought all conan books icould find andstill am looking for fantacy books to add to my collaction 1980 to 2004. fantacy nut yes (yes)klang