Conan the Valiant

Rating:
Summary: Conan imposter.
Review: I am not a Robert E. Howard-only Conan book fan (although Howard is clearly the best), and have found other author's efforts at fleshing out Conan tales very enjoyable. This particular book, however, was not enjoyable. It was more like a chore that required a lot of discipline to continue reading. I still thought of bailing out with only about 60 pages to go!
Maybe the cover art, with the demon that looks like Yoda on steroids, made it impossible for me to take the demons in the book seriously. The artist, Ken Kelly, is superbly talented, but this was one of his weaker efforts.
Green dedicates this book to a Guild of Exotic Dancers. He should have - the scenes that include exotic dancers in this book are the only memorable ones. These only take up about 25 pages or so, however, and the rest of the book is forgettable. The characterization is shallow and fails to pull you into the story. There is never really any sense of danger throughout the book; it is the most moodless book I have ever read. The endless references to spells are tiresome. No settings are successfully created. The female leads in the story prance about in the buff for almost the entire book. It is as if the plot is so weak that the only thing that the author can do to gain the readers attention is to describe someone discarding their tunic every chapter. Believe it or not, fellas, it loses its appeal real fast.
Conan is scarcely recognizable, has no wit, and is basically a big guy with a big sword and big libido. It may well be that Green has matured as a writer since penning this book, but I'll never trust him with my time again. If you are committed to reading every Conan book on the planet, this should be on the bottom of the pile. Why Tor ever published this book is beyond me.

Rating:
Summary: Conan the Valiant
Review: This was a pretty good read. Conan had the help of some colorful characters that enhanced the book. The ending was the only lacking part. The story, how it unfolds, and detail kept me very interested.