This book was for July, and I thoroughly had fun! It read like a comic book, what with the introduction of the key good players and bad players, the exaggerated physical traits, abilities, and physique, and of course, the soft, supple, descriptions of the allure of women (it wasn’t as superfluous as I thought or have read elsewhere, but the story’s still very much written in a chauvinistic lens).
"Conan the Barbarian" is a very popular tale in my childhood growing up, and in the media I consumed, so I was immediately interested in picking this book up. I love the rich lore that the author and creator of Conan, Robert E. Howard, has concocted for Conan and his other characters; he is also super involved with the Cthulhu Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft. In fact, they were good friends and often collaborated with one another and included each others’ characters as Easter eggs in their own works. I want a friendship like that.
The book is rich in landscape description, which is absolutely right up my alley; I love arduous description of inane living, and this book delivers, minus the inanity because it’s so full of action and adventure, as any Conan story generally is. Like a comic book, Conan is the titular character, and is probably based off Celtic peoples in real life when analyzing the word choices to describe Conan’s build and and physical appearances.
Conan is super strong, super heroic, the man every man wants to be and every woman wants to be with, etc. etc. Full of gallantry and close dances with death, the book was an easy and entertaining light read, and makes me think of my childhood concocting fantasies of battles ala Narnian-style so bloodshed and violence isn’t exactly touched upon, but the feeling of determination, strength of conviction, and valor for fighting for something meaningful.
It’s a good short story, and I just might pick up the rest of the series. Juuuust maybe.
4/5
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