Book Review 247 // Red Nails by Robert E. Howard

And like that, we reach the end of the Robert E. Howard Conan Adventures. Now I know there are plenty of others out there from other authors. But I don't want to travel that road yet. I've enjoyed reading the complete series in order, and it has given me a great view of this writer growing with each story. So for one last time, let us travel the open road with Conan.

Title: Red Nails

Author: Robert E. Howard

Blurb:

Pursing the beautiful Valeria in the Black countries, Conan happens upon a strange, walled city in the midst of a desert. Conan and Valeria become enmeshed in a civil war, a war driven by ancient hate and blood-lust that threatens the few surviving inhabitants of Xuchotl.

Robert Ervin Howard (1906-1936) is best known today for creating the sword-and-sorcery hero Conan, subject of two movies and dozens of books. However, during his short life Howard also published stories in a number of other genres. In addition to fantasy, Howard wrote boxing stories, westerns, detective stories, horror and created an number of compelling characters such as Solomon Kane, Bran Mak Morn, El Borak, Steve Costigan, Pike Bearfield, King Kull, and Conan the Cimmerian. Howard committed suicide in 1936.

Review

Glad we finished on a strong one rather than a weak fizzle. As I mentioned, this was the last Conan, and this was due to Weird Tales not paying their bills. During the Great Depression, Weird Tales had failed to pay Howard the $1500 owed for his work, so Howard took his pen elsewhere and wrote Westerns instead.

The story starts with Valeria, who, having just killed a would-be rapist, is now on the run. This classic strong, decisive, beautiful female lead soon catches Conan's attention, who gives chase. Upon reaching her, they talk as if they have a past, one I don't remember if it was ever written in another story. We then get a classic Howard sexual tension paragraph before a creature appears to feast on their horses. Soon the pair are working together to survive the story.

I'm glad this story happened. The last few kind of felt like a blend/retelling of the same story. Conan does what Conan does best, and we end up with a great little adventure piece set within an ancient city. Worth the read.

But where to next? Some Star Wars titles, with Judge Dredd and Aliens, have sat on the shelf for far too long. So some Sci-fi is in our future. Thanks for reading!

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Book Review 229 // The Phoenix on the Sword by Robert E. Howard

We have finally reached the age of Conan. As you may know, having read this blog, I am attempting to read a huge chunk of Robert E. Howard tales, and in an exciting turn of events we have finally reached the ages of Conan. Now as a product of the 90s, I have fond memories of the cartoon show Conan the Adventurer. So I am keen to see how these compare (I also remember Arnies version too).

Title: The Phoenix on the Sword

Author: Robert E. Howard

Blurb: Robert Ervin Howard (1906-1936) was an American pulp writer of fantasy, horror, historical adventure, boxing, western, and detective fiction. He is well known for having created the character Conan the Cimmerian, a literary icon whose pop-culture imprint can be compared to such icons as Tarzan of the Apes, Sherlock Holmes, and James Bond. Voracious reading, along with a natural talent for prose writing and the encouragement of teachers, conspired to create in Howard an interest in becoming a professional writer. One by one he discovered the authors that would influence his later work: Jack London and Rudyard Kipling. It's clear from Howard's earliest writings and the recollections of his friends that he suffered from severe depression from an early age. Friends recall him defending the act of suicide as a valid alternative as early as eighteen years old, while many of his stories and poems have a suicidal gloom and intensity that seem prescient in hindsight, describing such an end not as a tragedy but as a release from hell on earth.

Format: 48 pages, E-book (buy on Amazon using my sweet affiliate links)

Review

Okay, this is what I wanted, some classic hack-and-slash adventure! The strange thing about this tale is that Conan is an old man and already king. He has seemingly overthrown the old kingdoms' rulers and installed himself as king. Such a simple but effective story as Conan is visited in his dreams by a long-dead wizard called Epemitreus. This Wizard warns Conan of a plot to assassinate him and when he awakes he is beset by his foes. 

A great amount of fighting and bloodshed happens as Conan fights for his life and faces off against the leader of the conspirators and the monsters they summon. At no point did there feel like a dip in the action, great pacing, and the characters were intriguing. Ultimately a short, punchy, tale but by Crom an impressive first outing for Conan. I can't wait to read more.

Book Review 221 // The Shadow Kingdom by Robert E. Howard

It's happening, people! Slaine is slowly converting me over to fantasy. Not completely sure of my reasoning, but I picked up the 860-ish page Kindle book of Robert E. Howard - Conan the Cimmerian Barbarian: The Complete Weird Tales Omnibus. This is a book collecting a lot of short stories, so I will be sprinkling these in amongst the book reviews as some light filler pieces. Enjoy!

Title: The Shadow Kingdom

Author: Robert E. Howard

Blurb: A story of Kull, first published in Weird Tales, August 1929. (wow, that tells you a lot!).

Format: 32 pages, ebook

Buy the whole book on Amazon and read along with me!

Review

A pretty good intro to Howard's writing. Kull, it turns out, is a barbarian from Atlantis. Who has managed to claim the throne of Valusia and is now the crowned King. But soon Kull is discovering it is easier to take a crown than keep it and he learns of a race of shapeshifting reptilian humanoids who are manipulating everyone through guile. A nice build-up to the action and soon we are hacking and slashing like all good Sword and Sorcery stories.

I really enjoyed this opening piece, it was also nice to get an introduction explaining the piece and where it sits within the Conan adventures. It is basically an early Conan draft, building off this idea of a barbarian king and lizardman villains.

You can't help but feel the inner conspiracy theorist come out as you think of Shadow Governments controlling the general population through manipulation and guile. Is this a look into our own future? Hahaha. If it is I welcome our cold-bloodied overlords!

Let me know your thoughts on what many view as a classic.