Originally published in the pulp magazine 'Weird Tales', the character would go on to achieve remarkable popularity, with the final published tale in Howard's lifetime being 'Red Nails'. I didn't really think Conan could be boring, but I found myself drifting all the time I was reading this. He managed to combine the action, adventure, monsters and magic of Conan with more realistic characters and combat (and much less purple prose, racism and sexism).

Raw and powerful, it's also very much of its time–written almost a century ago, when our culture could be less socially aware and genre fiction in particular often exhibited rough edges some of today's readers may find jarring. Titan republished “Red Nails” here in the book in full, appending the story to the end of Stirling’s tale. Perhaps signaling the start of a greater revival, Conan – Blood of the Serpent is the first original full-length novel to feature Conan in nearly twenty years. Howard himself only ever wrote one Conan novel, the Hour of the Dragon, so it isn't too weird seeing the character again in novel format, but it is a deviation from the genre norm.I literally get chills when I read the line “Know ye O’ Prince, that between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis…. It starts out slow, and Stirling tries to cover some of the bits that Howard (the original author of the Conan books, in case you're new here) only alluded to. My hobbies are mostly related to the craft -- I love history, anthropology and archaeology, and am interested in the sciences.

Set early in his life, Conan has left his northern homeland to cut a bloody swath across the legendary Hyborian Age. It rings of a coarseness that Howard would have avoided, and he wasn't shy of writing Conan in to the arms of a woman or two. has since passed away and Conan is no longer a part of Tor’s future but Titan Books has taken up the mantle. Howard was known to push the boundaries of the day, but those boundaries have long since been obliterated.His bleak outlook and pessimism about society fueled a motivation to live life with furious, reckless, passion. What ensues is a series of two-fisted sword and sorcery adventures that reads to me like a good Western tale. So much, that he abandons his post in Stygia and follows her, hoping that he will ingratiate himself with her by killing a vengeful Stygian sorcerer. But overall this was somewhat lackluster and didn't live up to my expectations from an author who has written better pulp style novels (see "The Sky People" and "In the Courts of the Crimson Kings"). I think Stirling channels Conan the character well enough: He prefers to work alone, has a barbarian’s distrust of civilization, fears sorcery, is lusty and wealth-seeking, but underneath is possessed of a rough code of honor.

But, as I imagine is the way with any pretty pirate, especially one as well put together and dangerous as Valeria, trouble always finds her and, naturally, Conan is all too ready to jump into the fray. Readers familiar with Howard will fully understand the use of heightened language used to evoke a bygone age, even if some of the character descriptions might fall foul of contemporary sensibilities.Not only is Conan – Blood of the Serpent a prequel to Howard’s Red Nails as advertised, I was surprised to discover that the final pages of the novel lead directly into the novella in question, with zero gap in the narrative. The final chapter is very artful, even literary, and will serve as a wonderful gateway to REH's sword-and-sorcery masterpiece, "Red Nails. I had high hopes for this novel given some of Stirling's past novels, and the fact that he was taking over such a storied character in such an undeveloped time period.

CONAN OF CIMMERIAAs sword for hire for a mercenary troop, Conan finds himself in Sukhmet, a filthy backwater town south of the River Styx considered "the arse-end of Stygia. I will say that there was enough fun action in Blood of the Serpent to elevate it to a passing grade for me. Valeria’s warning doesn’t end the conflict and she ends up kicking the Stygian not so “noble”man in the balls. As sword for hire for a mercenary troop, Conan finds himself in Sukhmet, a filthy backwater town south of the River Styx considered "the arse-end of Stygia.

It's so interesting how Stirling's sparse and direct writing style adapts to the mythology, setting, and themes of REH's famous character. And he is certainly a far more complex character than the average dumb brute stereotype might lead some to expect from him. In this instance Conan went on a few side quests while on his chase which stretched the credulity of his quarry not escaping him altogether. Also, perhaps inevitably due to the long-form novel format, Stirling struggles to maintain the propulsive, breakneck pacing seen in Howard’s short stories and novellas. So, Blood of the Serpent (2022) is a struggle for me to review objectively but, seeing as how Conan set me on this path, I owe him the attempt.