S. M. Stirling

Leaning even more heavily into the high magic elements that have been gradually introduced into the series actually seems to be improving it at this point, rather than how I felt it detracted previously. I think in the previous book or two it was still straddling an uncomfortable place between fantasy and alternate history that just didn't read well, especially without possibly unreliable narrators to support the dichotomy. Really embracing the fantasy elements has helped take it out of that show more genre uncanny valley space into something a little more coherent. Still, I think as a whole it would have been more interesting as a strictly non-magical post-apocalyptic alternate history.
I'm not sure how intentional it is, given that Tolkien and his influence are part of the created world, but there is also what feels like an increasing amount Tolkien-esque 'walking' narrative. Extremely long descriptions of the natural environments the various characters are traveling through. While I don't object to that in theory, as much of the territory covered in 'High King' is a retread of territory traversed by the characters in previous books without significant change. The space might better have been used switching viewpoints back to events in the west coast more frequently and covering more of those. And while Stirling does a great job at describing mass pseudo-medieval combat, its also starting to feel like overtrod and repetitive territory at this point. There starts to be some payoffs to events in previous books, but maybe not enough given the length here.
In short, I think if you were a fan of the initial Change novels for their alternate history post-apocalypse, you'll find increasingly less to like here as it moves more into fantasy and Tolkien territory. If you're a fan of fantasy, this might really be where the series starts to get interesting for you, and thanks to an abundance of refreshers on previous settings and relationships, you probably won't be too lost jumping in at this point.
I have two or three books left in what I got from my aunt's basement, and I'm not liking it enough to actively purchase anything past that point, but still interested enough to polish off what I have. show less

In some senses, it is hard to do a Mars book these days, now that we know it to be cold and dead to anything bigger than a microbe. But Stirling neatly retcons Mars, peopling it with alien humans (not an oxymoron) and wild creatures. A la Burroughs, there are sword fights aplenty and love interests rescued. Most fun for me is the Martians' language. If you ever enjoyed tales of Barsoom, do yourself a favor: kick back and read this book. Savor it. And pray for a sequel.

I didn’t think it was possible to write a boring Conan story. Apparently I was wrong.

In this latest adventure—a prequel to Howard’s superior Red Nails—Conan meets Valeria for the first time and together they lead a mercenary group to escort a relief troop for a local mine. After a brief slave rebellion, Valeria kills a nobleman who tries to have his way with her and escapes the authorities by running headlong into the wilderness (Hyperborea’s African savannah) whilst being pursued show more by the nobleman’s vengeful brother and Conan himself (for the sole reason of wanting to have his way with her).

We aren’t off to a great start here and the author does nothing to lift it either. A rather chatty Conan spends much of his time describing Stygian culture, geographical landscapes, cooking, how he dresses and accounts of the various grasses and trees he sees. All the stuff that most accomplished authors know to leave out—especially in a sword and sorcery tale.

Occasionally Conan fights something in his way, including crocodiles, baboons and a cheetah. The fights are brief and end in the same way—a quick two handed sword slash. No tension and very little brutality that often hallmarks his fight scenes. Eventually he gets into slightly more robust fights, but it really wasn’t worth trudging through 250 pages of tedious exposition to get there.

Lacking in the punchy, action packed and darkly atmospheric prose of Howard’s originals or the high adventure of later authors who took up the mantle (Sprague de Camp, Karl Edward Wagner, Poul Anderson and so forth), it’s very hard to recommend this to any fan of Conan or even fantasy stories. Some amazing illustrations by Robert De La Torre and brief moments of fun are unable to offset what is otherwise an utterly dull, bloated and padded out adventure. show less

Well, that was underwhelming as all hell. So much for the "pulse pounding" return of Conan.

I think this should have been called Conan - Plod of the Serpent because man, this book dragged. Very little actually happens, and Stirling pads out the books with explanations on...well, everything.

The food. The money. Hunting techniques. Cultural things for the various countries. Strategy. Landscape.

...so...much...explanation...

Which, if it helps the story, okay. But one of Elmore Leonard's most show more famous writing rules is to leave out the parts that people skip. Stirling seems to have gathered up all those skippable parts and stuffed them into this story to make it novel length when, at best, this should have been a novella.

I didn't really think Conan could be boring, but I found myself drifting all the time I was reading this.

Honestly, I think Stirling read a bunch of Conan stuff just so he could make fact lists. I think he completely ignored the snappy tautness of Robert E. Howard's writing...one of the main strengths of any Conan story. Oh, well, that and the sorcery that Stirling hints at, but doesn't really dive into with both feet like Howard did.

Absolutely not recommended. And by god, I hope to hell he doesn't write another one, but if he does, this kid's staying well away from it. show less