Conan: Blood of the Serpent: The All-New Chronicles of the World's Greatest Barbarian Hero
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- Create Date：2022-12-22 11:21:46
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：S.M. Stirling
- ISBN：B0BF1W7GPS
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Summary
The pulse-pounding return of Conan， the most iconic fantasy hero in popular culture， with a brand-new standalone novel by New York Times bestselling author S。M。 Stirling， tied directly to the famous tales written by the legendary Robert E。 Howard。
Conan the Barbarian， the world’s most famous fantasy hero， returns in an all-new novel tied directly to the famous works by his legendary creator， Robert E。 Howard。
Set early in his life， Conan has left his northern homeland to cut a bloody swath across the legendary Hyborian Age。 A mercenary， a soldier， a thief， and a pirate， he faces conquering armies， malicious sorcerers， and monstrous creatures—against which he wields only the sword held in his powerful grasp。
A superstar of novels， short fiction， comics， video games， films， and an upcoming Netflix series， his adventures have inspired many of the most popular authors of the 20th and 21st centuries。 This is the first in a series of brand-new， standalone adventures。
Conan the Barbarian， the world’s most famous fantasy hero， returns in an all-new novel tied directly to the famous works by his legendary creator， Robert E。 Howard。
Set early in his life， Conan has left his northern homeland to cut a bloody swath across the legendary Hyborian Age。 A mercenary， a soldier， a thief， and a pirate， he faces conquering armies， malicious sorcerers， and monstrous creatures—against which he wields only the sword held in his powerful grasp。
A superstar of novels， short fiction， comics， video games， films， and an upcoming Netflix series， his adventures have inspired many of the most popular authors of the 20th and 21st centuries。 This is the first in a series of brand-new， standalone adventures。
Reviews
Terrance Layhew
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I'd classify this as a "Cozy Conan，" which means it scratches the itch for a story of our favorite Cimmerian， and is highly entertaining， but not the kind of dramatic story you might be searching for。 There are several parts of the story and writing which remind you of the classic Robert E。 Howard Conan stories， however the majority of the book feels like a series of vignettes strung together with a lose plot and a low-stakes plot at that。Enjoyable， with an audio book version which is highly ent I'd classify this as a "Cozy Conan，" which means it scratches the itch for a story of our favorite Cimmerian， and is highly entertaining， but not the kind of dramatic story you might be searching for。 There are several parts of the story and writing which remind you of the classic Robert E。 Howard Conan stories， however the majority of the book feels like a series of vignettes strung together with a lose plot and a low-stakes plot at that。Enjoyable， with an audio book version which is highly entertaining。 。。。more
Jkane
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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。 So few novelists ever deal with the bronze age。 It is a virtually untouched era for historical fiction other than the great Empire novels by Sam Barone。 With all that possibility at his fingertips， Stirling delivers a boring， uninspired plot and two dimensional characters。 I was sadly disappointed。 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。 So few novelists ever deal with the bronze age。 It is a virtually untouched era for historical fiction other than the great Empire novels by Sam Barone。 With all that possibility at his fingertips， Stirling delivers a boring， uninspired plot and two dimensional characters。 I was sadly disappointed。 。。。more
Jim Kuenzli
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I was very excited when I heard the news this was coming out about a year ago。 The story is pretty good- it fills in the time Conan and Valeria are with a band of Free Companions mercenaries。 Right off you can tell Sterling is a good author。 I do like how Sterling focused the story on Conan， rather that the ridiculous Tor book process that jumped from one chapter of Conan， and then one chapter of the nemesis （sorcerer/demon etc。） This way we get a full novel of Conan， rather than a 50/50 split。 I was very excited when I heard the news this was coming out about a year ago。 The story is pretty good- it fills in the time Conan and Valeria are with a band of Free Companions mercenaries。 Right off you can tell Sterling is a good author。 I do like how Sterling focused the story on Conan， rather that the ridiculous Tor book process that jumped from one chapter of Conan， and then one chapter of the nemesis （sorcerer/demon etc。） This way we get a full novel of Conan， rather than a 50/50 split。 The problem I have with the book is Conan seems somewhat subdued， as if the editors forced Sterling to tame his Barbarian soul。 His dialogue is off， and mannerisms seem changed。 A copy of Howard's Red Nails is at the end of the book， and the first chapter will point out the stark differences in character and mood。 Obviously， we can't expect a Robert E。 Howard genius story， but I still miss The John Maddox Roberts books。 He nailed the character and mood pretty well。 The good thing is we have new Conan！ Hopefully Titan continues this effort， maybe with an established Sword and Sorcery author。 Although， I'm not sure if the editors at Titan understand。 A passage from the Afterword reads " Red Nails is pure Howard， restored from his original manuscript。 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。" Make of that what you will。 I'm hoping for more edginess。 One other note- you will enjoy a nod to Burroughs' Mangani apes from Tarzan。 The ritual area was pretty cool。 。。。more
Myles
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I'm giving this a placeholder rating of 3 （2。5） stars for now。 While I enjoyed this enough， I need to let it sit and think if I enjoyed it because it was a good story or simply because we finally have more Conan。 This is a prequel to Red Nails but during my read I kept asking myself if this was a story that really needed to be told。 While I enjoyed Valaria， the authors portrayal of Conan seems very reductive compared to Robert E Howards stories。 I'm giving this a placeholder rating of 3 （2。5） stars for now。 While I enjoyed this enough， I need to let it sit and think if I enjoyed it because it was a good story or simply because we finally have more Conan。 This is a prequel to Red Nails but during my read I kept asking myself if this was a story that really needed to be told。 While I enjoyed Valaria， the authors portrayal of Conan seems very reductive compared to Robert E Howards stories。 。。。more
Runalong
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An unexpected ARC - sadly I find both Stirling and Howard consistent in my first experience of Conan stories - boring， dry and full of cliches - not for me
Luke
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CONAN Blood of the Serpent is an earlier tale set before and leading into Robert E。 Howard's Red Nails。 The plan was to create a story that could fit inside Howard's timeline for Conan and not outside it。 I don't know what the other rules were， but instead of the usual short stories we get a brand new Conan novel， and it's a bit different from classic sword and sorcery。 Is this a bad thing？ Let's see！No spoilers， but after reading this book I can say that there aren't many noticeable changes if CONAN Blood of the Serpent is an earlier tale set before and leading into Robert E。 Howard's Red Nails。 The plan was to create a story that could fit inside Howard's timeline for Conan and not outside it。 I don't know what the other rules were， but instead of the usual short stories we get a brand new Conan novel， and it's a bit different from classic sword and sorcery。 Is this a bad thing？ Let's see！No spoilers， but after reading this book I can say that there aren't many noticeable changes if at all to the elements of Howard's characters or world （ancient earth after the fall of Atlantis）。 However， the style of writing and even genre most of the time is not quite the same as Howard's legendary stories。 Typically， Howard would write short stories that were quick， to the point， larger than life sword and sorcery yarns with powerful action， characters and villains。 We never got a good glimpse into the mind of Conan and had to follow this enigmatic， dominating warrior from an outsider perspective， following along his barbarian exploits and trying to pin down what makes him such a grand character from his actions and dialogue。 And he is certainly a far more complex character than the average dumb brute stereotype might lead some to expect from him。So how does Stirling handle the character in his pastiche？ Well， I've read every Howard Conan story， but not many pastiches， so I can't compare to other non-Howard tales。 I'm no purist， but I do have some reservations about reading another person writing my all time favorite character。 Not only that， but since Howard's writing is a magmatic thunderclap of literature that cannot be recreated identically， I worry about someone trying to wear those shoes。 The good thing is， in my humble opinion， that Stirling does not even try to copy or imitate Howard's style。 As an established author himself， Stirling knows what he does best and he stays well within the scope of his impressive talents while respectfully borrowing Howard's characters and universe to create his own story。 What I expected from this book was a lot actually。 My hope was that an author would become a steward to the legend and carry the torch a ways farther， similar to how Brandon Sanderson continued and concluded the Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan。 That's a tall order， but we've had ages to come up with our own personal wishlist for continuations。Speaking of Jordan， he did a few pastiches of Conan as well。 From what I've seen， many people criticized the stories for being cliche， and Conan being a bit out of character。 The reason I mention this is because unlike Jordan， Stirling in Blood of the Serpent has captured Conan almost perfectly， at least to me。 His pragmatism， battle wisdom， foresight， verbiage， intentions， mirth， natural sense of command， directness， desire but also respect for women， is all here， and we spend a lot of time in and out of his head as the story follows him intimately。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。 In this book， though， I would say it teeters heavily on the side of epic low fantasy as opposed to sword and sorcery。 This will likely be the biggest turn off to anyone looking for a Howardian vision of the legendary warrior's early life。 There just isn't that much weirdness or magic going on here， which has become a big staple of the genre， as it's more SWORD than SORCERY。However， as far as this fan's concerned it didn't make much difference to me。 I loved what was on offer here as I found myself immensely impressed by Stirling's knowledge and command of the lore， history， geography， peoples， cultures and characters， that when things are mentioned it feels consistent with the source material。 The world and people are similar enough to me that the difference of writing style and even genre to an extent do not bother me whatsoever。 I absolutely love this book for all that it is。 As other reviewers stated it does drag sometimes as again we are used to Conan driving the action forward and getting to the heart of a problem and resolving it （although he needed a lot of external help during Hour of the Dragon， not gonna lie）。 Here， in his earlier years he is not a king， and follows other masters。 He is known to have been a thief， a mercenary， a soldier， a pirate， whatever warms the bed and fills the belly。 This will be a little frustrating to some who prefer Conan and his villains to mostly drive the plot as he is bound to the quest of his soldiery or mercenary band。I understand what complaints people might have but seeing him still take the lead everywhere he goes， reading about the difference in cultures and languages， outfits， gear， etc。， as he fights against and alongside men and women from other regions was a welcome expansion to the world and lore that we know and love。 I appreciated the little details。I was wary at first hearing some of Conan's thoughts but of course all people think and by now it just isn't weird to hear so long as it is in his character， and it was。 There are even some funny moments。 Particularly I loved the line （paraphrasing） that went something like "if he was particularly inclined toward cannibalism， he still wouldn't go near that body"。Before I forget I also wanted to bring up the other main character， Valeria。 If you've read Red Nails then you know who she is。 If not， no worries， because this book introduces her for the first time officially。 She is a stellar character， almost equal to Conan in fighting prowess and highly intelligent。 Their interactions throughout are part of what makes this story compelling。 I'll say no moremForgive my scatter-brain opinions。 As much as I would love some more weird and sorcery I found myself pleasantly surprised by this book， hugely relieved to finally have a good old friend back in my life in a sense， and something I will be able to read again and again out of love。 The amount of work to get into another author's world and "get it right" is probably way more difficult than just making it up as you go。 I can't even imagine。 Because I think he did get it right。 It may not be perfect， and some people are likely going to have decades of expectations to sour the experience， but it's something special。 I hope many people buy this， old fans and new， and appreciate it for everything it is。 Great fantasy， great characters。 Heroism， action， and a beautiful ode to one of the best fantasy writers in history all the way back to the poetic eddas or Homer's Odyssey。 I highly recommend it， and give it about a 4。75 plus a smoking hot seal of approval and two snake cultists' thumbs way up。P。S。 I have the physical copy and the audio edition。 I recommend anyone who loves to read on the go check out the audiobook as it is brilliantly narrated by Bradford Hastings who brings a darkly masculine grit to the voice of our favorite hero。 。。。more
Liam
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It’s Conan pastiche， so expect that。 In and of itself it is fine， but I still have a hard time separating REH’s Conan with later authors takes on the Cimmerian。 Stirling is a fine writer， but some parts drag or fizzle out。 I think an author of Sword & Sorcery would be a better fit， there isn’t enough bloody action or weirdness。
James
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Just to get this out of the way I have to say nobody will write Conan better than it’s creator Robert E Howard。 Nobody。 But I really like the world that was created and think it’s fun to see other authors take a opportunity to write in that setting and see their take on Conan。 These stories are usually called “pastiches” by fans。 I think that this one is pretty good， better than many I’ve read， but not quite up to the level of someone like John Maddox Roberts。 My favorite original Conan story is Just to get this out of the way I have to say nobody will write Conan better than it’s creator Robert E Howard。 Nobody。 But I really like the world that was created and think it’s fun to see other authors take a opportunity to write in that setting and see their take on Conan。 These stories are usually called “pastiches” by fans。 I think that this one is pretty good， better than many I’ve read， but not quite up to the level of someone like John Maddox Roberts。 My favorite original Conan story is Red Nails and in it Valeria mentions a meeting with Conan in Sukhmet; this story is how they originally met （according to Stirling） and what follows。 Plenty of action and adventure follow this encounter！ The advance copy I got had a beautiful map and occasional illustrations which was really nice。 I’ll always welcome more Conan adventures！ 。。。more
Gary Romeo
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Blood of the Serpent is the latest Robert Jordan Tor Conan novel。 Although this time the book is by S。 M。 Stirling and published by Titan books。 But it is essentially a Robert Jordan Tor Conan novel。Lest some interpret that as a criticism， I want to stress that I do not mean it as such。 Robert Jordan was the first Tor Conan author and he set the pattern: Novel length stories， Horny Conan， and references to past （y’know， the really great ones， by Robert E。 Howard！） adventures。 It was a successful Blood of the Serpent is the latest Robert Jordan Tor Conan novel。 Although this time the book is by S。 M。 Stirling and published by Titan books。 But it is essentially a Robert Jordan Tor Conan novel。Lest some interpret that as a criticism， I want to stress that I do not mean it as such。 Robert Jordan was the first Tor Conan author and he set the pattern: Novel length stories， Horny Conan， and references to past （y’know， the really great ones， by Robert E。 Howard！） adventures。 It was a successful formula that worked and the first author to write Conan pastiche， L。 Sprague de Camp， blessed it。Mr。 Jordan （real name: James Oliver Rigney Jr。）， has since passed away and Conan is no longer a part of Tor’s future but Titan Books has taken up the mantle。 This new book satisfies the Conan craving that we hophead Conan fans crave。 Our last authorized fix was Harry Turtledove’s Conan of Venarium back in 2003。 The Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures paperbacks that started publishing in 2005 don’t count， as those stories didn’t feature our favorite Cimmerian front and center。 （There was a movie novelization by Michael A。 Stackpole published in 2011 that was well done but was too associated with a failed movie to garner suitable appreciation。） I have to admit to seeking outside dealers to satiate my Conan cravings。 I purchased: King Conan and the Stygian Queen by Jess Thornton and Robert E。 Howard （Middletown DE， 2016）; Temple of the Black One by Robert M。 Price （Columbia， SC， 2017）; The Song of Belit by Rodolfo Martinez and Robert E。 Howard （Sportula， 2020）; and most recently I Conan: Cimmerian by L。 J。 Laroch （Dorrance Publishing， 2021）。 I have a blog called "spraguedecampfan" where I have reviewed pastiche Conan。That product （and the various Conan comic books） got me through the last 19 years and even though there were brief periods of withdrawal I never kicked the habit completely。 So when new Conan hits the streets I’m on the corner buying up any supply。The line “Robert E。 Howard’s Conan” is guaranteed to bother those short-sighted fans who merely want to virtue signal that this is NOT Robert E。 Howard’s Conan。 Yeah， it is。 It’s the character created by REH。 The same appellation “Robert E。 Howard’s Conan” appears on the Modiphius Gamebooks and no one complains。 The artwork on this latest book has been the topic of some discussion。 I’m sure the folks at Titan Books know better than I do。 But I liked the old style covers。 For some of the Tor Books （especially those by Roland Green） the covers were the best part！Back in the old days （80s/90s） we got both beefcake and cheesecake。 Covers like those would have the prudes wagging a finger today。 But these old style covers were meant for Conan fans who grew up on Playboy and were fun at the time。A snake wrapped around a sword？ Meh…By the way， Conan and the Gods of the Mountain by Roland Green is a sequel to Robert E。 Howard’s “Red Nails” and Stirling’s book is a prequel。 Remember those excerpts from A Probable Outline of Conan’s Career that prefaced the stories in the Lancer/Ace series？ Blood of the Serpent is essentially based on the preface to “Red Nails。”The inside illustrations by Roberto De La Terre are very good。 And browsing the Internet shows us that Mr。 De La Terre （when allowed） can draw female warriors。 There is a particular good illustration of Valeria toward the end of the book。The book also contains a new map （presumably by De La Torre）。 This new map contains more detail than the Lancer/Ace （the gold standard） maps did。 I wish they had printed it in a larger size。 I do have a minor complaint about fonts used in the text。 The book uses both italics and bold italics。 At first I thought this was a clever way of replacing quotes for the character’s thoughts。 But the motif is used inconsistently。The novel starts well。 Conan is described in typical Howardian fashion: “Conan was bare to the waist and wore only knee-length loose canvas breeks， seaman-style， and the naturally pale skin of his broadshouldered， taut， heavily muscled torso was tanned the same nut-brown as his arms and legs and face， except where thin or puckered scars showed white。 His hair fell to his shoulders， square-cut and as black as any Stygian’s， tied back with a strip of black silk。 The eyes under his brows were volcanic blue and his features bluntly， ruggedly carved， with close-shaven jowls。”Valeria is quickly introduced: “Keep your paws off my arse， Stygian pig，” the voice said， “or I’ll feed you your fingers and ram your severed sword hand thumb up your bunghole with the toe of my boot。” Maybe the dialogue is too coarse for REH’s Valeria and too similar to that god-awful Ablaze comic-book version of the character but Stirling needed a shorthand way to introduce her as a no nonsense warrior and it probably works for a modern audience。Valeria’s warning doesn’t end the conflict and she ends up kicking the Stygian not so “noble”man in the balls。 Male readers might not like that cliché so much。I’m going to avoid describing the novel in too much detail from this point onward so as to avoid giving away too much plot and avoid spoilers。 The novel is a fast read。 I read it in two sessions and never got bored。 Stirling is good with detail。 You feel Conan’s sweat and the real life concern of being an outsider in a place like Stygia， where even though， you may have been invited， you are really not wanted。The weird element that every Conan story should have is weak though。 Stirling playfully throws in some Lovecraft but we never get a cosmic menace。 Instead Conan is bedeviled by bewitched crocodiles， lions， rhinos， and even Edgar Rice Burroughs’ mangani。Conan and Valeria， along with other members of Zarallo’s mercenary band， have to escort a Stygian contingent to a gold mine。 A slave revolt occurs and the novel brings us some decent battle action。 I always root for slaves in a slave revolt but protecting the Stygian gold and their own lives are Conan and Valeria’s concern。 After the skirmish， Conan and crew， find some gold that was lost in the melee。 At this point the novel appears to be going in a new direction and will be about how to finagle a gold heist with Stygians everywhere。But the novel has to lead to the events in “Red Nails” so the potential gold heist story goes nowhere。 And after Valeria takes “drastic measures to repulse a Stygian officer， Conan follows her south into the lands of the blacks。”Conan travels south and meets a native warrior woman named Irawabon。 New Edge Conan has sex with her， without protection， but he does ask her if she is worried about pregnancy after the deed:Some time later he yawned， then stopped as a thought struck him。“You not afraid—”His hand shaped the air over her belly。Irawagbon groaned softly， rolled her eyes and slapped his arm。“Now man asks？”He shrugged。I’m sure in the next new Conan adventure he’ll don a lambskin bladder condom。 New Edge Sword & Sorcery sensibilities shouldn’t bother Conan as long as he can still get laid。When the last chapter of Stirling’s novel converges into REH’s “Red Nails” I was reminded of the vastly inferior Conan and the Stygian Queen by Jess Thornton。 In that essentially bad fan-fic book Thornton incorporates REH’s “Beyond the Black River” as part of his narrative。 Stirling does the same here but with REH’s “Red Nails。” Despite Stirling being a far far more skilled writer than Mr。 Thornton I did feel a bit cheated。I was entertained by the novel as a whole。 It moves very fast and has plenty of exciting parts that I wished were developed more。 Particularly the aftermath of the Stygian slave revolt and what could have been an interesting gold heist story。 If Stirling hadn’t felt compelled to include “Red Nails” as his finale， the events in this novel， minus Valeria， could have been the main plot elements of a wholly original novel。As a final statement I have to make my discontent known about a sentence made in the afterword where Stirling gives thanks: “To the folks at Titan Books， for deciding to do a new series hewing more closely to R。 E。 Howard’s vision。” To my ears that sounds like a slam to what came before。 I sincerely doubt this book will be as successful as the Lancer/Ace series and probably not even the Tor series。 I hope I’m wrong but a slam against what I （and millions， in the case of the Lancers） enjoyed before does not seem the best foot to start the new journey。I sincerely hope this journey proves successful。 I have a decade or two left and I would love it if new Conan adventures accompanied me until my end。 Conan should go on forever… 。。。more
Paul Sparks
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Having long been a fan of Conan I was intrigued to see what the author would do with our Cimmerian in this book， I was not disappointed， it evoked memories of my first reading the books and then the comics （I still read those） great story， more please
Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin
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