Customer Reviews

conan of aquilonia

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In the 11th installment of the Conan series shaped by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter, Conan battles his arch nemisis Thoth Amon from one end of the earth to the other. Conan is in his 50s and is accompanied by his son, Conn, a fairly one-dimensional character that, as far as I can tell, is totally made up by de Camp and Carter. The first story, "The Witch of the Mist" is pretty terrible. This story takes Conan in pursuit of a kidnapped Conn deep into the dark and misty lands of Hyperborea. Robert E. Howard never completely described the Hyperboreans, but I would still venture to suggest that de Camp and Carter took way too much liberty in describing the Hyperborean nation and its race. One couldn't be faulted in thinking Hyerborea at least had some traits in common with its neighboring countries: Cimmeria; Asgard; and the Border Kingdoms. However, the Hyperborea of de Camp's and Carter's imagination is just pretty ridiculous.

The three stories that follow "The Witch of the Mist" are readable and get better as you go through the book. Each story picks the tale up after the last until a final, climactic battle takes place between Conan and the dark Stygian wizard Thoth Amon. (The final battle is a bit of an anti-climax, to tell the truth, but it is still enjoyable.)

Of interest in this book are the last of the Snake-folk, the original rulers of Howard's world prior to the arrival of humans. I still give this book fairly high marks for readability and creativeness, even if some of the storylines stray out of Howard's uniquely created world into a world distinctly of de Camp and Carter, two authors who are subpar compared to Howard.