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Rating: Summary: Another flawed, but ultimately satisfying collection. Review: CONAN THE WANDERER, the fourth volume in Ace's chronological exploration of author Robert E. Howard's most famous hero, contains the least number of stories of any of the previous books in the series. Only four tales appear in the book, all of them lengthy, with three written entirely by Howard, or in "posthumous collaboration" with editor L. Sprague de Camp. The last story in the book, "The Flame Knife," is an epic tale that takes up half the book, and from what de Camp writes in the introduction, this is a somewhat shorter version than the original.Lin Carter returns for CONAN THE WANDERER to assist de Camp with another pastiche to open the book. All four of the stories in this volume place Conan in remote regions, largely desert, of Howard's Hyborian Age, adventuring among Middle Eastern and subcontinental Indian analogs. The Carter/de Camp pastiche is no exception, picking up with the Cimmerian hero just a few short months after the events related at the conclusion of CONAN THE FREEBOOTER. Unlike prior pastiches in the Ace series, though, "Black Tears" isn't particularly good. The other Carter/de Camp Conan stories in the Ace volumes to this point have a certain Howardian flair to them. The ostensible reason for the pastiches is to fill in the gaps left in Howard's notes and writings, and Carter/de Camp stories have performed that function well; the tales have been interesting in and of themselves. "Black Tears" has a derivative sense about it that weighs down the narrative. We get the feeling we've read these phrases before, and Conan's solution to an ages-old problem is just a bit too simple even for Howard's straightforward hero. Thankfully the rest of CONAN THE WANDERER is better, though again the rougher edges of Howard's 1930s-era sensibilities can make for some tough reading for the uninitiated. The story following "Black Tears," "Shadows in Zamboula," places Howard's raging bigotry on full display in a narrative featuring black cannibals and ancient rites of blood sacrifice. The tale is still a fast-paced action yarn that doesn't skimp on the violence and sex appeal, but it's not one of Howard's best Conan for those used to the comic book and film versions of the character. The book picks up pace through the next story, "The Devil in Iron," and climaxes in a frenzy of combat and bloodletting in "The Flame Knife." In this final story, Conan leads a band of fearless warriors in search of secret long-hidden in broken country of stone and dust, only to find combat, combat and still more combat. More body parts fly and more blood spatters in this story than in any from the series up to this point, with all of the action written in Howard's hard-charging style. By the time the reader reaches the conclusion of this lengthy tale, all the bad memories from "Black Tears" and "Shadows in Zamboula" will be dispelled. Though not the best book in the series, CONAN THE WANDERER delivers the goods, and ends with the hero ready to pursue more adventure in books to come.
Rating: Summary: Four tales of Conan as Raider, Thief, Pirate and Mercenary Review: The four tales in "Conan the Conqueror" cover most of the main aspects of the career of Robert E. Howard's character: raider, thief, pirate, and mercenary. (1) "Black Tears" by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter is one of several pastiches written by the duo based upon hints in Howard's note and letters to fill up gaps in the saga. It takes place after the classic story "A Witch Shall Be Born" (in "Conan the Freebooter") as Conan leads his band of Zuagirs eastward to raid the cities and caravans of the Turanians. King Yezdigerd reacts by sending out a strong force to entrap Conan. (2) Shadows in Zamboula" by Robert E. Howard has Conan destitute after a week of guzzling, gorging, roistering, ... and gambling. This is an above average Conan the Thief story. (3) "The Devil in Iron" by Howard has Conan returning the seas as a pirate, putting together a crew from among his old friends the kozaki and the Red Fellowship of Vilayet Sea. Conan and his crew stumbled upon an inhuman creature and mayhem ensues. (4) The longest story in this collection, "The Flame Knife" was one of four uncompleted manuscripts by Howard completed by de Camp. This novella was originally an adventure in modern Afghanistan entitled "Three-Bladed Doom" staring Francis X. Gordon, Howard's brawny, brawling Irish adventurer. De Camp transformed the story into a Conan tale. After King Yezdigerd crushes the Kozak host, Conan retreats southward with a sizeable band and joins the army of Kobad Shah, king of Iranistan and one of Yezdigred's strongest rivals. These stories are rather standard fare, evidencing in part the problems de Camp and Carter had in filling all the gaps in the Conan saga. Certainly these are stories you would read out of a sense of completeness rather than because there are any real gems to be found within.
Rating: Summary: Four tales of Conan as Raider, Thief, Pirate and Mercenary Review: The four tales in "Conan the Conqueror" cover most of the main aspects of the career of Robert E. Howard's character: raider, thief, pirate, and mercenary. (1) "Black Tears" by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter is one of several pastiches written by the duo based upon hints in Howard's note and letters to fill up gaps in the saga. It takes place after the classic story "A Witch Shall Be Born" (in "Conan the Freebooter") as Conan leads his band of Zuagirs eastward to raid the cities and caravans of the Turanians. King Yezdigerd reacts by sending out a strong force to entrap Conan. (2) Shadows in Zamboula" by Robert E. Howard has Conan destitute after a week of guzzling, gorging, roistering, ... and gambling. This is an above average Conan the Thief story. (3) "The Devil in Iron" by Howard has Conan returning the seas as a pirate, putting together a crew from among his old friends the kozaki and the Red Fellowship of Vilayet Sea. Conan and his crew stumbled upon an inhuman creature and mayhem ensues. (4) The longest story in this collection, "The Flame Knife" was one of four uncompleted manuscripts by Howard completed by de Camp. This novella was originally an adventure in modern Afghanistan entitled "Three-Bladed Doom" staring Francis X. Gordon, Howard's brawny, brawling Irish adventurer. De Camp transformed the story into a Conan tale. After King Yezdigerd crushes the Kozak host, Conan retreats southward with a sizeable band and joins the army of Kobad Shah, king of Iranistan and one of Yezdigred's strongest rivals. These stories are rather standard fare, evidencing in part the problems de Camp and Carter had in filling all the gaps in the Conan saga. Certainly these are stories you would read out of a sense of completeness rather than because there are any real gems to be found within.
Rating: Summary: Four tales of Conan as Raider, Thief, Pirate and Mercenary Review: The four tales in "Conan the Wanderer" cover most of the main aspects of the career of Robert E. Howard's character: raider, thief, pirate, and mercenary. (1) "Black Tears" by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter is one of several pastiches written by the duo based upon hints in Howard's note and letters to fill up gaps in the saga. It takes place after the classic story "A Witch Shall Be Born" (in "Conan the Freebooter") as Conan leads his band of Zuagirs eastward to raid the cities and caravans of the Turanians. King Yezdigerd reacts by sending out a strong force to entrap Conan. (2) Shadows in Zamboula" by Robert E. Howard has Conan destitute after a week of guzzling, gorging, roistering, whoring and gambling. This is an above average Conan the Thief story. (3) "The Devil in Iron" by Howard has Conan returning the seas as a pirate, putting together a crew from among his old friends the kozaki and the Red Fellowship of Vilayet Sea. Conan and his crew stumbled upon an inhuman creature and mayhem ensues. (4) The longest story in this collection, "The Flame Knife" was one of four uncompleted manuscripts by Howard completed by de Camp. This novella was originally an adventure in modern Afghanistan entitled "Three-Bladed Doom" staring Francis X. Gordon, Howard's brawny, brawling Irish adventurer. De Camp transformed the story into a Conan tale. After King Yezdigerd crushes the Kozak host, Conan retreats southward with a sizeable band and joins the army of Kobad Shah, king of Iranistan and one of Yezdigred's strongest rivals. These stories are rather standard fare, evidencing in part the problems de Camp and Carter had in filling all the gaps in the Conan saga. Certainly these are stories you would read out of a sense of completeness rather than because there are any real gems to be found within.
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