Conan - Blood of the Serpent: The All-New Chronicles of the Worlds Greatest Barbarian Hero

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Some fans argue that the original Howard work is all we need, but others still yearn to see Conan set out on new adventures. Stirling's Conan is vital and fun to root for: a cosmopolitan who seeks to learn about other cultures, Conan is sometimes a principled hero driven by loyalty to friends, battle comrades, and the downtrodden; other times, Conan is a bloody mercenary who seeks freedom, personal fulfillment, adventure, and the all-too-human joys of food, drink, sleep, comfort, and. 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. The eyes under his brows were volcanic blue and his features bluntly, ruggedly carved, with close-shaven jowls. Together and apart, Conan and Valeria carve a bloody swath across deserts and jungles, their footsteps dogged by the evil magic of the serpent-worshiping Stygian priesthood.

But newcomers to Conan and existing fans who love the character and are open to other voices are encouraged to take a look. Read Red Nails instead – and save yourself the time, money, and grief of slogging through this embarrassing affront to Howard’s legacy. I always root for slaves in a slave revolt but protecting the Stygian gold and their own lives are Conan and Valeria’s concern.It reads like a Star Trek or Star Wars IP novel that machine guns off nod after nod, Easter Egg after Easter Egg.

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. It is a virtually untouched era for historical fiction other than the great Empire novels by Sam Barone.

But for a property like this, and a publishing gap this big for a character this anticipated, I was expecting more. I get the sense it has fallen far short of a Brandon Sanderson-like sales response; I hope it’s at least moderately profitable.

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.See, there is a dialogue exchange occurring in the opening scene of Red Nails that functions as expository backstory to the thrilling tale that follows. The good thing is, in my humble opinion, that Stirling does not even try to copy or imitate Howard's style.