183 replies to this topic

[skeletorjr]

As far as I can tell, it's hardcover first, with the inevitable paperback release long after I've spent my 25 bucks on the hardcover. Harry Turtledove is a great writer, in my humble opinion, and I'm anxious to see what he does with Conan. I love the idea that Tor is starting their new books with a young Conan, I wonder if this is the beginning of a new series that will be published in more of a chronological order of Conan's life and new (old?)
adventures.

PS- I want to see more Conan from John Maddox Roberts

[Amra31]

I am with you there skeletorjr John Maddox Roberts is a great Conan author and i would like to see him do some more books as well

[Dragon Girl]

Who did the cover art?

[TheFreebooter]

Charles Keegan.

[nabonidus11]

I like that cover art! Keegan steps up! I like the Conan the Rebel artwork as well. Instead of Braveheart I see some of the old Roman flicks, even a touch of Gladiator. The cover looks like the one about the Celtic Queen who fought and eventually lost to the Romans.

Any way, I'll pick it up. It sort of carries out the Roman names that REH used for the Hyborians, at least in Aquilonia, Servius Gallanus as an example.

[Kane]

According to the Barnes and Nobels website it is now in stores.

A mini reveiw can be found on the conan.no site.

[alex]

Yes, and apparently there are different covers, as I bought the hardback today and it wasn't Keegan's but one by Julie Bell.

I tried the web to let everybody here get a look at it, (It shows young Conan hunting a wolf) but I can't find a pic of it anywhere.

[budgie]

Bwaaaa

I cant find a UK release date or price yet.. any of our British contingent know?
Budgie

[Kane]

Yes, and apparently there are different covers, as I bought the hardback today and it wasn't Keegan's but one by Julie Bell.

Which means I'll have to go out and get two copies of it!!!

[Isaacson]

Hi .

Budgie Wrote :

>I cant find a UK release date or price yet.. any of our British contingent know?
Budgie .

- Sorry , I personally couldn't tell you as yet Alan . I was running a search for this myself yesterday , but couldn't come up with a date .
If you're thinking of buying a copy new , your best bet would be to pre-order it from one of your local book-chains or the online stores ( WH Smith and AmazonUK are taking advance orders ) .

Cheers , Danny .

[Ironhand]

Well, I guess it's my turn to give a review of HT's Conan of Venarium? based on the preview in the last pages of his Rulers of the Darkness? Granted, there's a sort of conflict of interest here, since I've written a story on the same topic. So fire me.

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HT attributes Conan's strength to genetics, and a youth spent as an apprentice in his father's blacksmith shop, with no reference to climbing hills and mountains. At least he didn't spend his youth as a slave, and the Cimmerian attitude toward slavery is made abundantly clear. The Cimmerian culture seems loosely based on Scottish clans. Turtledove's Cimmerians are hard, stern, implacable, and unyielding. This is all to the good. But despite this, Turtledove's Cimmerians seem too civilized, living in a village with streets, and craftsmen; the most outdoorsy occupation seems to be sheepherding. The emphasis seems to be urban rather than tribal. Where is the barbarism? It's ironic that this complaint is coming from me, since Aguaman, Gray Man, and Snow have all accused me of making my Cimmerians too civilized.

It is interesting that Turtledove has drawn a parallel between Conan and REH: both are caretakers for mothers who are dying of consumption(?) or some such disease.

Turtledove's Aquilonians seem very real. Bear in mind that Turtledove is one of the foremost military writers in Science Fiction, although he emphasizes the horrors of war, rather than the glories of war as do David Drake or Jerry Pournelle.

[emerald]

Ironhand, that was a completley unsatisfying review.
You make comments on the Background of the story, but say doodly-squat about the actual tale.

C'mon, man. So the Cimmerian village didn't match your vision.
What about the plot?
What about the action?
What about the sorcery?
What about CONAN?

[Kane]

What about the plot? 
What about the action? 
What about the sorcery?
What about CONAN?

Having finished the novel last week, I'll add my remarks to those of Ironhand's and answer emerald's questions.

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD, READ AT OWN RISK!!!







LAST CHANCE TO TURN BACK!!!

We all know that this story is about the invasion of Cimmeria by the Aquilonians. As far as HT goes in covering that material he provides a good story. The lack of resistance met in entering the lands, and the build up to the final battle is handled in a realistic manor. Conan is ready to go out and fight the invaders singlehandly. Only his father, my fovorite character, knows that a force larger then a single village will be needed to stop the Aquilonians. To this end Conan's village must suffer the occupation untill enough tribes/clans are gathered together to mount a counter-strike.

The action sequences are some of the best that I've read in any Conan knockoff. Here HT's ability as writer truely shines. His description of combat and battle are on par with REH's. If there is any fault in this area of the novel, it is that he, at times, centers too much on the invaders and not enough on the Cimmerians.

In the area of sorcery and magic, the book and HT, completely falls down. There is only one scene where the supernatural occurs and it fails to add any elements to the plot. In fact, all the after effects could have been handled by just introducing a couple of extra natural events. IMO, the whole scene feels like it was added as either a afterthought or as a crutch to avoid having to add more detailed material later in the story.

I both enjoyed and hated the portrayal of Conan. In some area's he comes across as a young version of REH's Conan and I think to myself that he has nailed the character. Then a page or two later he comes across as a character lifted straight from any WB teen drama. At least he does not whine as much. The scenes of him hunting in the woods and hearding the sheep are well written and show that HT took a little time to try and understand the character and Conan's actions in the final battle of Venarium are well done and this is where HT shows what a true Cimmerian in battle should be like.

Over all I would give this book a three out of five.
There are a lot of little areas that I have problems with. Ironhand already mentioned the lack of hills and mountains. To this I will add that Conan's village is in the wrong area of Cimmeria. REH stated that the village was located in the north west of Cimmeria, in the novel it is located within a couple of weeks walk of the Cimmerian/Aquilonia border.
Another problem that I have is the use of bow and arrow by the Cimmerians. While I can understand that if they had them they would make extensive use of them, I seem to recall that in an outline of Conan's life he did not learn how to use the Bow untill he was a mercenary in the Turian army.

Where the story really holds up is in the description of the secondary characters. Conan's father is well written and wholly beliveible as a Cimmerian. The peices dealing with the soliders garrisoned in a strange land ring true to someone who has been in that situation.

Overall a good, not great, book.

[alex]

The whole emphasis on young Conan's unusually large physique was ridiculous. The Bossonians and Gundermen goggle and gasp at the 12 year old with the huge feet.
Conan is not a freak, I would have prefered a story about a real Cimmerian boy, who acquire their frames because of the constant activity and hardship in a rough naked country. In my view all Cimmerians are roughly the same physically.

The plot was not very hard to come up with. Any self respecting author could have done it. It's coming across that's the hardest with any writer, HT comes through with intelligence and a very easy to read story. It's better then some of the others.

The action and sorcery was the best part. And you can see HT's talent clearly here.

I was never any good at writing reviews.

Incidentally the cover image posted earlier in this thread has been changed. I never touched it. So I guess the Amazon url got updated. Check it out!

[Ironhand]

Ironhand, that was a completley unsatisfying review.
You make comments on the Background of the story, but say doodly-squat about the actual tale.

C'mon, man.  So the Cimmerian village didn't match your vision. 
What about the plot? 
What about the action? 
What about the sorcery?
What about CONAN?

I didn't read the whole story. I only read a couple of preview fragments in the back of "Rulers of the Darkness". I thought I explained that.

[red nails]

, Hi all, i am going to add my pennies worth having finished the book. I must say i enjoyed the book, compared to many of the other pastiches this had some good detailed characters, (the gunderman, the Aquilonian farmer etc). The plot is fairly straightforward and is mostly what you would expect as it loosely follows Conan's early history; and this is where the problem lies. I feel that HT has taken pieces of REH's storyline (and done them well), but has added/left out other pieces, which if you have read REH's stories really jars. Hence the static village, (i had always envisioned the Cimmerians as somewhat nomadic, and certainly a little more brutal to each other). I agree about the lack of mountains - the village feels set in the wrong place. For me though where the novel falls down is the gratutious inclusion of magic/supernatural elements which i felt were badly done and really felt like plot devices - i am sorry to HT for saying this, but i wish someone had the guts to write a Conan story that does not include a damn snake!, or a sheep stealing demon - what was that all about???, and the "Gandalfian" seer......... I always thought that Conan had a distrust and even fear of magic, but comes across as quite willing (as does his family, having used wizards to try and heal his mother!!!!!) as being ok about it. Also, i thought Conan was about Sixteen when he stormed Venarium, or was that when he broke the bulls neck? - cant remember on that one.

I enjoyed this book but there is a fair bit wrong with it depending on your perspective of Conan vis REH and the other pastiches. Also, the book is not very long, and why TOR, the decision to release it in hardback making it expensive (at least here in the UK).

[red nails]

, Hi all, i am going to add my pennies worth having finished the book. I must say i enjoyed the book, compared to many of the other pastiches this had some good detailed characters, (the gunderman, the Aquilonian farmer etc). The plot is fairly straightforward and is mostly what you would expect as it loosely follows Conan's early history; and this is where the problem lies. I feel that HT has taken pieces of REH's storyline (and done them well), but has added/left out other pieces, which if you have read REH's stories really jars. Hence the static village, (i had always envisioned the Cimmerians as somewhat nomadic, and certainly a little more brutal to each other). I agree about the lack of mountains - the village feels set in the wrong place. For me though where the novel falls down is the gratutious inclusion of magic/supernatural elements which i felt were badly done and really felt like plot devices - i am sorry to HT for saying this, but i wish someone had the guts to write a Conan story that does not include a damn snake!, or a sheep stealing demon - what was that all about???, and the "Gandalfian" seer......... I always thought that Conan had a distrust and even fear of magic, but comes across as quite willing (as does his family, having used wizards to try and heal his mother!!!!!) as being ok about it. Also, i thought Conan was about Sixteen when he stormed Venarium, or was that when he broke the bulls neck? - cant remember on that one.

I enjoyed this book but there is a fair bit wrong with it depending on your perspective of Conan vis REH and the other pastiches. Also, the book is not very long, and why TOR, the decision to release it in hardback making it expensive (at least here in the UK).

[red nails]

For UK members, the book has been issued with a different cover and is hardback. It costs a whopping ?18.95 for a very small book. You can get a USA copy from Murder one, located in Charing cross road, London, they are very helpful., just search Murder one in Yahoo for their website. If you have problems, post and i'll see if i can find their e-mail address.

[sat]

FYI, there's an online CONAN OF VENARIUM excerpt at

http://www.amazon.co...g=5#reader-link

from the start -- rather than somewhere further in, as was the excerpt in the back of the paperback of "Rulers of the Darkness" -- of Turtledove's CONAN retcon...

[Kane]

And another thing, am I the only one who has a problem with the way women are treated in the novel?

Shouldn't they have been shown as having a stronger will and a little more direct?