“No more threats,” snapped Conan. “Speak against any one of us again and I’ll split your skull. We stand or fall together now.”
Conan: City of the Dead by John C Hocking is two Conan novels in one.
Conan and the Emerald Lotus was published in 1995.
Conan and the Living Plague was published in 2024 with the release of this two-book edition.
The original Conan character was created back in the 1930s as a serial published by Robert E Howard.
Since Howard, there have been many authors who have added onto the Conan lore.
I’m not going to break each book down separately because I found them equally engaging and fun to read. Both involved multiple POVs with interesting characters. And I must say, I was surprised by the amount of sorcery and magic in both books since the Cimmerian despises magic and magic wielders.
Conan is also not a lone wolf mercenary in these books. He is not like the Schwarzenegger barbarian without a past some of us got to know in the movies. He understands a lot more than people give him credit for. He is intelligent in a common-sense sort of way that makes him a great addition to the parties he joins. He’s not just brawn, muscle and steel.
Conan’s adventures are due to the sorcery of others, and he would die if not for the behavior of his companion sorcerers, but they would die also without him. It is a good symbiotic relationship Conan develops in both stories. And not everyone in his parties can be trusted. Conan is wise enough to understand this as well.
Still, I found the stories best when Conan’s barbaric strength was required more than the magicians and sorcerers.
I really enjoyed both offerings and found the adventures crisp and impactful, seasoned with enough details to put the reader squarely in Conan’s world.
I give this offering 4 stars. I would have preferred a little more swordplay and a little less sorcery, as would Conan.
Allen M Werner is the author of the epic dark fantasy tale The Crystal Crux Series.
Author Allen M Werner 
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