Customer Reviews

Scion of the Serpent: Anok, Heretic of Stygia Volume I

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

 

 

I love the concept of the Age of the Conan Hyborian Adventures, but not this book so much.
The story started out strong and I like the plot, but it ended up being more of a Dungeon and Dragon story then something that should be taking place in a Robert Howard creation.
A lot of writers have tried a hand at Conan, but only a few get it right. While Robert Howard's stories can be rightly accused of being somewhat formulated, there is a certain feel to them that either you get or you don't. I'm sure it's a daunting task to carry on another writer's concept and come-up with good orginal stories, but if you're going to take it on, it needs to be done right.
This story just didn't fit into a Robert Howard creation.
The rest of the Age of the Conan, need to be more like Legend of Kern or I think Howard fans are going to be very disappointed.

Continuing on with the "Age of Conan" series, after Coleman's Legends of Kern trilogy, York takes us to a place, that as far as I know, no other author has had the opportunity to write about in novel format: Stygia.

York does an exceptional job in his portrayal of Stygia; breathing life and mystery into the setting and scenery of one of Hyborias most deadly places.

Character development is good, but focused almost too much on Anok, the main character. I guess this makes sense in book one, but hopefully York will take a few more pages in book 2 and 3 to really develop Anok's companions.

Overall a good book, at least on par with the Kern series, if not better. This book is better than a Forgotten Realms novel, yet still lacking something to take it into area of epic fantasy...the Kern novels suffer from this as well. There are several areas that the story seems "rushed"... and given the time frame the author had to write the book, that's understandable. The romantic scenes are a little cheesy, but it is overall an entertaining read and a series worth picking up if you like Hyboria.

This book is a solid read. No its not REH, its York. if you want to only read Howard's Conan then read only Howard. But if you want to read a solid action packed story set in Howards world this is a good book for you. The plot is good, and the characters have breath. There are some PG-13 clean sex scenes in it as well that are are quite nice. Its a quick and easy read and wont let you down. I give it a C+ , one thumb up.

I came to this book with some high expectations only to be really dissapointed. The whole time I kept thinking that I was reading a Hardy Boys novel set in a "Thieves World" version of Stygia. When someone tries writing in the steps of another writer the bar is significantly raised. In Howard's "Hour of the Dragon" his single chapter in Stygia contained more atmosphere and horror then this novel could do in almost 300 pages. So bad I didn't even waste the time finishing it.

This book, like most sci/fi trilogies, doesn't need to be stretched over three books. It's clearly padded with words to stretch it out so consumers will have to shell out extra bucks to get to the conclusion. And what it is padded with is a boring-love-that-can-never-be tale. This is a very boring book with the Conan name tacked on to sell copies. A total waste of time. Why would anyone read this anyway, when there are so many actual Conan books other there and many of them very well done (and none of them are trilogies!). Heck, just read the Robert E. Howard stories. If you've read those, work on John Maddox Robert, Karl Edward Wagner, John C. Hocking, Lin Carter. Even Robert Jordan's Conan stories are not as bad as Anok.

Decent book and an easy read. Well written with a nice backdrop and pretty good imagery. I actually read the second book first and found it to be the better of the two.

I enjoyed it. It is very entertaining and well written with good atmosphere and lots of very good and clever dialogue. the plot is quite good overall and moves along well [ i never got bored, frustrated and fed up with this.. like i did with the recent poor 'Kern' tale]
The characters are interesting and mostly well done.
My fave character is Fallon the tough, fiesty, sexy and impressive Cimmerian warrioress who is hotter than a big bread oven. can't wait for more of her. [she should get her own novel! ]

And there are some sexy scenes and various naked whores a-plenty for the guys. There are some impressive fights and clever ideas from the inventive writer York. his version of Stygia and the cult of Set is nicely done and well detailed, but i wanted it to be much more impressive, mysterious, and more terrifyingly horrific and evil? [but that's the dark horror fan in me. perhaps it will get more evil in the next 2 books? but i don't think that is his style?]

The magic /sorcery eventually featured in the Set cult and climax is very impressive and mega-powerful stuff. including various arcane magic items and awesome supernatural beings! [but it feels like too much power too soon for book 1 ?]

But the apparent major influence of gods and fate on Anok and the story is always an annoyance for me in any S+S books. and there are a few other 'silly and corny' bits that made me cringe a bit, but there are usually some in most fantasy books.

York writes with some spirit and flair, and i welcome and applaud his 1st exciting descent into the dark and fantastic bowels of Stygia.
i enjoyed this book for what it mostly is.. good entertaining pulp-style S+S with extra toppings of mega-sorcery. it makes me want to read the next book so its 'magic' is working on me. my thanks to J. S .YORK.
Rating = 7 /10. a good impressive start. [worth a read if you are a fan of Stygia and sorcery, or you are a secret worshipper of Set..]:)
[BTW, 7 is quite a good score from me. i am hard to please]

I haven't read Conan in ages, but I have been a big fan of York's other works and when I saw this one I picked it up. It's a great read! Steven brings Anok to life and makes him breath. The settings are excellent. I'm planning to get the rest of the series as well.

After reading the debut trilogy of this exciting Age of Conan series - which was pretty good - this one fell far shorter.

I was hoping for much better in these new tales in the hyborian age - but all I got after a few chapters here was - hyboredom!

It is unfortunate. I was really hoping some writers could definately spin some awesome tales in the grand tradition of Conan. The comic books of the past and present are full of good Conan writers. Why can't these modern-day writers capture the essence of the hyborian age?

I think they need to go back and read the classics of Robert E. Howard, along with some of the great 70's comic book writers like the Thomas's.

Let's see if the next writer, Richard K. knaak, can do better.

The new Age of Conan series follows up "Legends of Kern" with a bold new trilogy in a rarely explored setting: Stygia. It is an land of ancient evils, of dark magic and shadowy intrigue.

J. Steven York gives us insight into this land, created by American fantasy legend Robert E. Howard, through the eyes of Anok, a young half-stygian warrior. While not a Conan clone, Anok fits into the Hyborian age like a well-worn scabbard. He's young, inexperienced, and thirsty for vengence. And yeah, he swings a mean pair of swords. The perfect mix for a fantasy hero.