Zenobia, Woman Who Needs Not Saving

 

This authorized Book Club Edition edited by Karl Edward Wagner is schweet! Included are quite a few extras—a couple of illustrations, tidbits from Howard's personal letters, editorial digressions on the mysterious chapter 20, et cetera...

At the start of Howard's only Conan novel, I became a bit distraught. I thought, "My God, why am I reading this?" Within a few pages things really took off and I was entrenched.

Scattered throughout are several brilliant little one or two sentence epiphanies of Conan's (this novel denoted the end of the middle-aged barbarian's known career). Upon discovering them, you think to yourself, "Wow, that is truly an exquisite example of simply stunning prose".

The story is character rich and keeps you guessing (despite the canabilization of previous Conan stories of Howard's). I was quite pleased at the appearance of vampire Princess Akivasha.

The chapters in which massive war scenes are described reminded me quite a bit of Josephus, Tacitus, Lord of the Rings.... My favorite chapters however were those in which Conan was alone, in a dark dungeon, with his own thoughts and his blade. Lovely and nostalgic.