CONAN SAVAGE (TR) [Paperback]

 

 

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So I'm a fan of Conan, a big fan. Got a lot of the books, have a feel for the various authors that have tried their hand at writing him. Leonard Carpenter can be sketchy when penning the mighty-thewn Cimmerian. This time out, he turns in a pretty damn good yarn. Conan is in some town, gambling, drinking and wenching away the goods from his last escapade when he gets sent off to a slave mine on trumped up charges.
He wins free of the slave mine through sheer physical prowess, and washes up on the shores of a river...somewhere. Cool idea: he has no earthly idea where he is. West of a lot of places, east of more and so on. So he gets busy and survives. Really good character development as he hunts, traps and outfits himself reasonably well from nothing. Literally buck nekkid.
He then suffers another setback and winds up somewhere else. I should mention that these interludes are as a result of purely natural, non-freakish causes. So he starts over and is getting down to business when he runs across a rather stone age hunter/gatherer tribe. They're very believably primitive and naive, but Conan rises to a position of relative prominance and winds up as a noteworthy hunter. All's going well again, but then a calamity befalls the tribe and he heads out on a mission of vengance.
All the while this is happening, a truly creepy supernatural figure is rising to power elsewhere. Now, in the majority of Conan stories, there's this wizard, or sorceress, and they live in a castle, and they want to raise a demon, or retrieve a lost book of spells (e.g a first edition, virgin skin-bound copy of the Book of Skelos), or some damn talisman/jewel (Eyes/Teeth/Fangs/Heart of BelCarNatRagTharizmYarNok) or another which will give them power unknown since they fall of the dark kingdom Acheron. And so on. So they hire, beguile or somehow ensnare Conan into their plot, and he eventually kills the demon and/or the wizard (unless its Thoth Amon, who never gets around to killing Conan) and rides off with a horse, some loot and a chick. Good stuff, no doubt.
What you have here is a truly spooky-ass...character. Just plain creepy. Stephen King/Clive Barker creepy. Good job. It really isn't obvious at first, either. That brings me to one of the things I like about this novel: it's unpredictable. All of a sudden, Conan (of all people) is LOST! Credibly, but lost all the same. Big river, empty plain for miles, a few hills, not a soul in sight. You don't know how it will end, or what will happen next. It's good to go off the beaten path so long as you don't get lost, and this novel stays on-mission: the auther opens up the character and adds new layers, all the while staying true. So forget Carpenter's Conan the Gladiator (a.k.a. Conan Frigging Faints), and disregard Conan Goes To The 'Nam (I actually couldn't finish it): my man Leonard delivers the goods herein. You get sides of Conan you don't normally (suffering setbacks), doing unusual things (living in the wilderness) and all of the things you like: being strong, smart, cunning and forthright. Feral, sly, indefatigable, and above all: barbaric. Damn fine Conan, buy it.

"Conan the Savage" is probably the best these Conan books are likely to get. Conan is imprisoned and manages to escape. There he begins a life all alone in the wilderness, sort of Tarzan style. Then he meets a wild tribe that has never been in contact with civilization. He is content as a hunter / gatherer and with his common law wife. Then a Voodoo sorcerous comes along and destroys Conan's good life, and he vows revenge. This is one of the better books, fighting with bears, Conan's ingenuity with his wits and nature, and a truely spooky villianess. It's really good.

As my title says, I thought this book was good, but not the best.The villain was rather unique and as the book progressed, I was wondering how Conan would ever come into contact with her.The whole thing with the mine in the beginning was pretty cool, and I liked how the author showed Conan's outdoor survival knowledge.Too bad this story hasn't been made into a movie or comic-because of Songa.It was good, but not one of the best.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Conan the Savage .........excellent story!
One of the best Conan adventures, a quality story from beginning to end. All Conan fans will be pleased to own and read this book! Read more

Published on Jun 27 2000 by kevone

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must For Conan Fans
I really enjoyed Conan The Savage. The author remains true to the Conan character that the great Robert E. Howard created. I recommend this book to ANY Conan fan.

Published on May 6 2000 by Heath Lantz

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