This review originally appeared at Grimdark Magazine on March 3, 2025.

Conan the Barbarian #17

By Jim Zub (Writer) and Danica Brine (Artist) – Titan Comics – December 4, 2024

Review by Robin Marx

Launching the “Twisting Loyalties” story arc, Conan the Barbarian #17 depicts Conan adventuring alongside the pirate queen Bêlit. Having served at her side for close to a year under the assumed name of Amra the Lion, Conan joins Bêlit and the crew of their vessel The Tigress for some rest and relaxation in the port town of Kyros. Conan and his beautiful captain settle in for a night of passion at a posh inn called the Hidden Haven, but reckless bandits hoping for an easy score literally drop in on the pair.

In the original source material, Conan’s time at sea with Bêlit is related in Robert E. Howard’s 1934 story “Queen of the Black Coast.” While that story begins with the barbarian throwing in his lot with the crew of The Tigress and concludes with Bêlit’s tragic death, the largely unchronicled gaps in the narrative have been fertile ground for subsequent creators. “Conan the Pirate” is a premise that immediately appeals, and Bêlit is one of the strongest female characters in Howard’s literary output. In the classic Marvel Comics Conan the Barbarian title, Roy Thomas showed Conan and Bêlit voyaging together for nearly 40 issues (1976-1979), and this era in Conan’s career was also revisited in Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan’s 25-issue Conan the Barbarian series (Dark Horse Comics, 2012-2014). While Bêlit has appeared in both flashbacks and in spirit (e.g., Conan the Barbarian #8), this marks her first appearance alive and in the flesh with Conan in the current Titan Comics title.

While this issue only offers a brief and—so far—landbound depiction of Conan and Bêlit, it feels good to see the pair back in action again. In both the artwork and the narration, Bêlit is portrayed as being appropriately competent and ruthless, and the issue concludes with a hint of the greed and ambition that led to her eventual demise in “Queen of the Black Coast.” From a storytelling standpoint, so far, so good.

Danica Brine is an interesting choice as an artist. While a handful of women (Rebecca Puebla, Ashley Izienicki, etc.) have done covers for Titan Comics’ Conan the Barbarian, Brine is the first to handle the interior artwork. She doesn’t have the deepest resume, but she did handle a variant cover for Conan the Barbarian: Battle of the Black Stone #3, and she previously worked with Conan scribe Jim Zub on some cover artwork for his Image Comics series Wayward (2014-2018). It appears that her most extensive work to date was for 2022’s Chef’s Kiss, a wholesome-looking gay romance comic from Oni Press. Perhaps due to that background, both Conan and Bêlit appear a little, for lack of a better term, “cute” in this issue. Her Conan is still brawny, but it feels like he’s rendered in a way that is more geared to appeal to heterosexual women readers than the more common scarred, veiny, brutish depictions of Conan. Brine’s version of Bêlit is beautiful but not as overtly sexualized as some versions of the character. Conan the Barbarian is quite a change of pace from Chef’s Kiss, but the violence in this issue is presented sufficiently dynamically, if not as gory as combat scenes we’ve seen from artists like Doug Braithwaite and Jonas Scharf.

Conan the Barbarian #17 brings back sword & sorcery’s original power couple, and it’s great to see Conan and Bêlit reunited. The series also features a fresh new look, and I suspect the artwork will be an area of special interest during this story arc.

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This review originally appeared at Grimdark Magazine on February 22, 2025.

Red Sonja: Consumed

By Gail Simone – Orbit – November 19, 2024

Review by Robin Marx

Red Sonja: Consumed by Gail Simone opens with the titular redheaded “She-Devil with a Sword” dealing with the tricky aftermath of a successful heist. After seducing Ysidra, barbarian queen of a nomadic tribe, Red Sonja absconded with a priceless golden armband called the Hunter’s Asp. Not only does she find herself pursued by Ysidra’s tireless Wolf Pack, but an equally implacable assassin is also sent after Sonja when she stiffs the treasure’s prospective buyer and keeps the Asp for herself. And although she views herself as rootless and living only for the present, circumstances conspire to drive her back to her devastated homeland of Hyrkania, where a traumatic reckoning awaits with both her own personal history and that of her people.

As a character, Red Sonja has a long and involved history. While working on Conan the Barbarian for Marvel Comics, writer Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor-Smith came up with the character as a female foil to Conan. They looked to original Conan creator Robert E. Howard for inspiration, taking the swashbuckling heroine “Red” Sonya (note the Y, not J) of Rogatine from Howard’s 1934 historical adventure “The Shadow of the Vulture,” transplanting her in heavily modified form from 16th century Vienna to Conan’s Hyborian Age. Given a revealing costume (albeit not initially the armored bikini with which the character would later become indelibly associated) and dramatic origin story, Red Sonja became an instant hit after her introduction in 1973. In addition to numerous appearances within the pages of Conan the Barbarian, Red Sonja went on to star in her own comic titles, first at Marvel and currently at Dynamite Entertainment.

While a handful of Red Sonja prose novels exist, Red Sonja: Consumed is the first to be published since 1983. This novel is also notable for its author: Gail Simone. Not only is Simone an experienced Red Sonja writer, her 2013 19-issue Dynamite Entertainment run with the character is one of the most acclaimed in the character’s multi-decade history. And while various authors have had many different portrayals of the character, in this reviewer’s opinion, Simone’s is the most fun. Sexual assault is often a part of Red Sonja’s backstory, as an inciting incident that (along with some divine intervention in the form of a sympathetic goddess) leads her to become an indomitable swordswoman. Sonja is often depicted as adhering to a vow of chastity, refusing to be bedded by any man unless he bests her in combat. Both in her tenure on the comic and in this novel, Simone dispenses with all of that. No rape-based origin story, no goddess, no vow of chastity. Simone retains Sonja’s fearlessness and deadly allure, but she’s no longer a warrior nun. Simone’s Sonja is earthy. She still wears the trademark bikini, but one gets the sense that she wears it for herself, not to titillate every alehouse yokel. She’s brave and capable, but occasionally surly, spiteful, and flippant. She doesn’t always have the best hygiene or odor about her. Her carousing sometimes gets her in trouble. Far from chaste, she’s both pansexual and voracious (regrettably absent from the novel, “I’m Red Sonja, I’m everybody’s type” is a memorable quote from Simone’s comic run). Simone allows her to be an imperfect mercenary swordswoman with both admirable qualities and flaws, who enjoys the full spectrum of pleasures permitted by her freewheeling lifestyle. Happily, the heroine presented in Red Sonja: Consumed is the same one we know from Simone’s reign on the comic.

Appealing characterization aside, perhaps inevitably, Red Sonja: Consumed reads like a first novel from an established comic book creator. The pace remains speedy throughout, but the plot wanders before tightening up in the last third of the book. While infrequent, there are jarring instances of “head hopping,” where the perspective wanders between multiple characters within a single scene. Betrayed queen Ysidra and the psychotic assassin Sylus are compelling characters, but they disappear for long stretches of the narrative, to the story’s detriment. The setting of the novel—still the same Hyborian Age inhabited by Conan, even though the characters have different ownership today—is somewhat vaguely rendered, but that seems a perennial issue with the Red Sonja comics as well.

On the positive side of the ledger, however, Simone’s background as a comic writer results in intensely vivid visuals. Throughout the novel I found myself effortlessly imagining various events as full-page comic spreads. Combat scenes are frequent, graphic, and vicious. Sonja brutally dismantles her opponents, going the extra mile to make sure they stay down permanently. The supernatural threat that reveals itself late in the book is also presented in a deliciously creepy manner.

While there are some rough edges, Red Sonja: Consumed is a fast-paced and entertaining dark Sword & Sorcery novel. The book is an easy recommendation to existing fans of Simone’s work on the Red Sonja comic book, but no prior experience with the character is necessary. Readers with a strong emotional investment in the more classic depiction of the character, with the assault survivor and vow of chastity elements intact, might balk somewhat at the messier heroine Simone presents us with, however. Feisty fantasy heroines are more common now than in decades past, but Red Sonja remains one of the best. While I enjoy and respect the work of earlier creators like Roy Thomas and Frank Thorne, Gail Simone’s rendition is the most modern and fun.

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This review originally appeared at Grimdark Magazine on January 9, 2025.

Conan the Barbarian: Battle of the Black Stone #4

By Jim Zub (Writer) and Jonas Scharf (Artist) – Titan Comics – December 4, 2024

Review by Robin Marx

Conan the Barbarian: Battle of the Black Stone #4 opens with Conan succumbing to the injuries incurred during his last encounter with the Beast of the Black Stone. Kirowan calls upon his occult knowledge, making a significant personal sacrifice to resurrect Conan and simultaneously allow Brissa to remain in the physical realm. Only half of the Heroes of Man survive, yet the goal remains the same: to track down and destroy the source of the Black Stone’s power.

As promised, this final issue in the miniseries culminates in the titular Battle of the Black Stone. This scene is artist Jonas Scharf’s time to shine, and he makes full use of it. Dismemberments and decapitations abound. And while by now Brissa has been illustrated by multiple artists, in this reviewer’s opinion Scharf’s rendering appeals the most. She appears alluring but tough and physically robust, a believable Pictish scout rather than a pinup model who has picked up a spear. The momentum and violence of the massive Beast of the Black Stone also effectively comes across on the page. Seeing John Kirowan shooting magic mind bolts like Doctor Strange is a little eyebrow-raising, however.

While the artwork is first-rate, taken as a whole, Conan the Barbarian: Battle of the Black Stone feels far from essential. The miniseries was overstuffed with characters. Even with the prologue shorts in The Savage Sword of Conan #4, readers were not allowed much time with the cast, and as a result their individual appeal too often fails to shine through and their deaths fail to have much narrative weight. Either halving the number of heroes appearing in this miniseries or taking another year to feature these characters singly in The Savage Sword of Conan would have given the crossover event a much firmer foundation.

On the more positive side, after a year of teasing across the first twelve issues of the flagship title, the identity of the cosmic entity ultimately responsible for the Black Stone is a fun revelation certain to be appreciated by fans of the original Marvel Comics Conan the Barbarian. Writer Jim Zub could not have made a better choice. For those readers lacking that familiarity, the accompanying Jeffrey Shanks essay provides some entertaining and enlightening context regarding said entity.

While the missed opportunities and underutilized characters in Conan the Barbarian: Battle of the Black Stone are regrettable, the climactic battle is genuinely exciting. The event still feels like a brazenly commercially motivated effort to (re)launch a Robert E. Howard comic universe, but—with the apparently obligatory Conan-facilitated crossover event out of the way—perhaps the characters incompletely showcased in this four-issue miniseries will live up to their full potential in their own solo titles.

Postscript: Solomon Kane: The Serpent Ring was announced in late December, to release in March. Writer/artist Patch Zircher previously handled Kane’s appearances in Titan Comics’ The Savage Sword of Conan issues #1-4.

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This review originally appeared at the New Edge Sword & Sorcery blog on July 8, 2024.

Hurled Headlong Flaming

By Matt Holder – Spiral Tower Press – April 29, 2024

Review by Robin Marx

It is the year 1291 and the coastal Mediterranean city-state of Acre is under siege. After cutting a bloody swath through the Levant, the tide has turned against the European Crusaders. They find themselves surrounded by the Mamluk Sultanate and losing their foothold on the Holy Land. Traumatized by the insanity of the times and desperate to intervene, an unnamed Bishop begs the assistance of Islamic scholar and mapmaker Yaqut al-Hamawi. The cataclysm foretold in the Book of Revelation appears to be rapidly approaching, and the Bishop seeks sacred texts that may help humanity better cope with the tumult to come. To reach the otherworldly library housing the sacred texts, the Bishop must embark on a harrowing–in both the conventional and theological senses of the word–journey into the mythic underworld, risking both his body and soul.

Matt Holder’s HURLED HEADLONG FLAMING is the debut release from Spiral Tower Press’ newly established Keen Blades imprint. The publisher of WHETSTONE: AMATEUR MAGAZINE OF SWORD AND SORCERY, Spiral Tower Press also seeks to use Keen Blades to release new and original works of briskly paced fantasy adventure, specifically focusing on novella-length tales “that test the boundaries of what sword and sorcery can be.” In his introduction, editor Jason Ray Carney cites the “psychocartographic” nature of HURLED HEADLONG FLAMING as one of the novella’s core attractions. Like John Milton’s PARADISE LOST and Dante Alighieri’s DIVINE COMEDY before it, HURLED HEADLONG FLAMING blends a spiritual journey with a tour of various otherworldly locales. Unlike with a more conventional fantasy travelogue, these places are not to be taken merely at face value; they are often laden with additional significance, either imbued with allegory or providing object lessons for the pilgrim.

While the prelude and coda take place in the human realm, the underworld journey at the heart of the novella is divided into three distinct parts. During “Part I – The Matter of War,” the Bishop undergoes a symbolic rebirth, emerging naked and scorched into the underworld. Before long he is pulled into brutal conflict with a variety of opponents of vastly differing physiques, some human in form, others unmistakably demonic in nature. Recalling al-Hamawi’s advice, the Bishop must fight until he is “fluent,” shedding enough blood to attract the attention of powerful demons able to aid him in his quest. This first section of the book is visceral and relentless, showing a man of the cloth demolishing every obstacle in his path. Despite this section’s relatively brief page count, Holder delivers an epic, operatic montage-style depiction of the chaos of war.

Abandoning the limited third-person perspective of Part I, “Part II – The Matter of Truth” abruptly shifts to a Socratic dialogue-style format. Having successfully gained an audience with powerful demons, the Bishop must prove himself worthy of admission into the infernal city that houses the library he seeks. Three demons compel the Bishop to give a persuasive lecture on the nature of authority and truth. While conducted in a more genteel manner than the previous blood-drenched section, Holder gives the sense that this is merely a battle of a different sort.

“Part III – The Matter of Taking” marks another drastic transition in prose style, this time adopting a first-person epistolary presentation in the form of pages from the Bishop’s journal. Plunged into an infernal city of obelisks and blackened glass, a “churning cauldron of flesh” populated by both human souls and demons alike, the Bishop must orient himself and find a path to the library. “This place will not let you leave until you have completed your labors,” the Bishop is admonished, and he is forced to endure more hardship and despair en route to the library.

The extreme shifts in tone and prose style across the three parts of the underworld journey are disorienting, but this feels intentional. Even with the benefit of his initial coaching from al-Hamawi, the Bishop is constantly forced to react to unexpected developments and threats. Swiftly moving from gritty war epic to philosophical debate to claustrophobic horror, each presented with a different perspective, also cleverly serves to keep the reader on the back foot.

For what is ostensibly a spiritual journey, HURLED HEADLONG FLAMING is profoundly concerned with the flesh. The Bishop is not allowed to cleanly and luminously flit from scene to allegorical scene as an incorporeal soul. No, the Bishop is very much confined to his physical form. Over the course of his journey he is scraped, burned, pierced, torn, raked, abraded, bruised, lanced, and gouged. His corpus is constantly soiled with blood, sweat, dust, filth, and other distasteful stains. Although the underground imbues him with supernatural resilience, every footstep of progress he makes is nevertheless paid for in blood and perspiration. While he is still preoccupied with questions of sin and spiritual salvation, both the Bishop and the reader are constantly reminded of the fleshly vehicle he uses to navigate the underworld. This felt like a calculated rejection of philosophical dualism. Holder seems to suggest that the body and the soul cannot be separated, you carry your body and its weight with you. Even in Hell, a twisted ankle is a setback.

HURLED HEADLONG FLAMING succeeds in fulfilling Keen Blades’ stated objective of pushing the boundaries of Sword & Sorcery. The battle mayhem of Part I and the bizarre cityscape of Part III showcase deliver the kind of exciting martial action and phantasmagorical imagery present in much of the best Sword & Sorcery fiction. But the novella also demonstrates a pensiveness uncommon in the subgenre, however. Michael Moorcock’s stories often toy with philosophical themes, but it’s difficult to imagine him dedicating a third of a book to a Socratic dialogue. Otherworldly journeys figure prominently in C.L. Moore’s Jirel of Joiry tales, but without the Middle Ages-flavored religiosity of HURLED HEADLONG FLAMING. Rather than core Sword & Sorcery fans, I would be quicker to recommend this book to readers who enjoyed the grimdark medieval horror of Christopher Buehlman’s BETWEEN TWO FIRES. HURLED HEADLONG FLAMING may sit uneasily in the Sword & Sorcery category, but the grit, fast pace, propulsive action, and hallucinatory imagery are likely to appeal to S&S fans, nonetheless.

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on December 16, 2021.

Lady of the Lake

By Andrzej Sapkowski, David French (Translator) – Orbit – March 14, 2017

Review by Robin Marx

A satisfying and epic conclusion to one of the best fantasy series I’ve read in quite some time. The climax comes fairly early and the last third of the book is denouement, but it feels earned rather than indulgent. Sad to see it end.

★★★★☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #Fantasy #AndrzejSapkowski #DavidFrench #LadyOfTheLake #TheWitcher

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on November 19, 2021.

The Tower of Swallows

By Andrzej Sapkowski, David French (Translator) – Orbit – May 17, 2016

Review by Robin Marx

To be honest, much of this book felt like it was treading water. The main characters are still all separated and on their various drawn-out journeys. There are interminable flashbacks and more minor characters than seem entirely necessary. But the excitement really ramps up in the last quarter of the book, and that ended up salvaging it for me. I usually like to space out entries in a series by reading books from other authors, but the finale to this intrigued me enough that I plan to head directly into the next volume.

★★★☆☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on September 13, 2021.

Baptism of Fire

By Andrzej Sapkowski, David French (Translator) – Orbit – June 24, 2014

Review by Robin Marx

Ciri is still missing and Geralt is still searching for her. He meets people along the way and things happen. The sorceresses are Up to Something.

Fun characters, fun setting, but this book suffers from being the middle book in the series. I imagine the next book will be more eventful.

★★★☆☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on February 18, 2016.

Deadhouse Gates

By Steven Erikson – Tor Books – September 1, 2000

Review by Robin Marx

I...think I give up.

This is not a bad book. Parts of it are pretty great, actually, especially everything dealing with Coltaine's Chain of Dogs. There are fascinating characters and some of the scenes are truly epic and vividly drawn. The problem is that Erikson makes very little effort to engage the reader. He's made an amazing, intricate world with fleshed-out societies, novel magic, numerous human and non-human peoples, but the author is so frustratingly obtuse and opaque about everything, to an extent that is completely counterproductive from a storytelling standpoint. His biggest fans gleefully celebrate this: “Erikson doesn't spoon-feed the reader!” I hate tedious exposition, info dumps, and “As you know, Bob” tactics as much as the next guy, but there's a difference between trusting in the audience's intelligence and pushing them into the deep end and flooding the pool with more water.

Erikson loves scenes where mysterious characters do cryptic things for unexplained reasons. Many times this pays off 100 pages down the line with some kind of revelation: “Ah ha! That guy was laying the groundwork for this to happen!” Just as often, however, there is no payoff. At least not in the current volume. Perhaps in a future book, who knows? Fans of the series say that Malazan Book of the Fallen benefits from repeated readings, but with 10 main books and an estimated 9,000 pages, that's an investment of time that many people—myself included—are unwilling to make.

It would be different if Erikson made more of an effort to lampshade the numerous little seeds he's planting, or if this was a slim, tightly plotted volume. But very often there's no real hint or foreshadowing that something will turn out to be important, it's just a line or two.

Inserted in the middle of a thick paragraph.

In a 600+ page book.

As a result, there were many intended revelations that just fell flat for me, the dummy unable to retain a minor, mostly inconspicuous detail encountered weeks ago and a couple hundred pages back. “Huzzah! Minor Character has come to the rescue!” the book proclaims, while I'm trying to puzzle out who in the cast of thousands this fellow happens to be, and where he was last seen. (And don't forget, Minor Character might not have even showed up in THIS book, it could have been the previous one.)

Among Malazan fans, Gardens of the Moon is widely recognized as a slog, but “Deadhouse Gates is where things get good.” I really wanted to like this series, but after two books and more than 1,200 pages I think I'm going to have to give the following volumes a miss. If you love both doorstopper fantasy AND books that demand (and REWARD, to be fair) constant and studious attention to detail, this is the series for you. If, like me, you're a less assiduous reader, you're going to have a tough time. Maybe I'm not hardcore enough, or lack the attention span. I would note that Glen Cook's Black Company series, one of the primary influences on the Malazan Book of the Fallen, manages a similar tale of epic fantasy war without presenting it in a package that's so irrationally indifferent to the reader.

★★★☆☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on November 29, 2011.

Night's Master

By Tanith Lee – DAW – November 1, 1978

Review by Robin Marx

First in the Tales of the Flat Earth series, this book is often compared to the 1001 Arabian Nights. While a collection of exotic stories, each linked to its predecessor, the stories are not nested and don't have a particularly Arabian flavor. I was reminded more of classical mythology and Grimm's fairy tales than the Middle East. This is a minor quibble, however, as the stories are enchanting and lush.

“Lush” has always been the best word to describe Tanith Lee's melancholic and erotically-tinged fantasy. While her style isn't particularly ornate, it still evokes as much gorgeous imagery as more verbose writers such as Clark Ashton Smith and Jack Vance. In the field of darkly romantic fantasy, newcomer Jacqueline Carey seems to be getting much of the publicity, but those familiar with both are likely to recognize that Carey is merely rearranging furniture in the house that Tanith Lee built. The Flat Earth was the most compelling fantasy world I've encountered in some time, and I look forward to visiting it again in the next book.

★★★★☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on January 22, 2012.

Battle in the Dawn: The Complete Hok the Mighty

By Manly Wade Wellman – Paizo Publishing – November 17, 2010

Review by Robin Marx

The premise of the Hok the Mighty stories is simple, yet compelling. Hok is a Cro-Magnon, the strongest and cleverest of his kind. Possessed of a more daring nature than his clan-mates, he ranges further than anyone, coming into contact with a variety of interesting peoples (frequently hostile Neanderthals, but also rival tribes and even Atlanteans) and prehistoric monsters.

Hok is repeatedly referred to as “humanity's first hero”, and the fact that everything he does is a first (building the first bow, inadvertently forging the first sword) adds to the excitement. Another fun twist is that Manly Wade Wellman subscribed to the belief that every fable has a hint of truth to it. He alludes to the fact that Hok's mighty deeds are the origin of the Hercules myth by placing him in a desperate struggle with some primitive beast, and then pointing out through a footnote how, distorted and exaggerated by retelling, that battle came to be known as one of Hercules' Labors. It's a minor storytelling trick, but it adds mythic resonance.

The Hok stories are solid entries in the pulp fantasy canon. While not quite as visceral as Robert E. Howard's Conan stories, his adventures compare favorably with the Tarzan tales.

★★★☆☆

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