Conan the Savage is a fantasy novel written by Leonard Carpenterfeaturing Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in trade paperback by Tor Books in November 1992; a regular paperback edition followed from the same publisher in August 1993, and was reprinted in March 1999.[1]
Synopsis
After a gambling dispute erupts into violence and death, Conan of Cimmeria is condemned to the hellish mine pits of Brythunia where no man has ever escaped - or survived. But Conan breaks free and disappears into the wilderness, far from civilization, where he spends fishing and hunting and into the eager arms of Songa, a forest maiden.The story then involves Conan getting accepted into her tribe.
The second story plods along about Tamsin-an orphan,who uses her family in a raid.All she has a rag doll,she Ninga and passed into an adopted family.She is abused by them and a bunch of local kids.She gains some acceptance by a local priest and rise in power begins,via the evil dolls powers.
Still Tamsin and her doll, the demon-goddess Ninga has seized control of Brythunia and her insatiable appetite for human sacrifice threatens to devour the world. Only one man can strike at the very heart of Ninga's religion of blood. A man who carries death in his eyes... Conan the Savage.The story wanders,until the two meet in an unclimatic end,as the doll vanishes and Tamsin is back to square one-a nobody.Conan exites-the end
Contents
Plot synopsis
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The novel follows two parallel storylines. In the first, Conan is consigned to a Brythunian prison mine after accusing a gambling opponent for cheating. Escaping via an underground river, he ends up in a wild region, where he is badly injured in a fight with a bear. He is nursed back to health by Songa, a woman of a local hunting and gathering tribe, with whom he eventually settles. Conan finds her tribe's simplicity rewarding, but his idyllic life is disrupted when Brythunian soldiers, under orders to find the magic gems Songa's tribe use, attack and destroy their village.
The other narrative is the life-story of the sorceress Tamsin, who as a girl looks on in horror as her mother is raped and her family killed by mercenaries in the pay of Brythunia's king Typhas. She seeks vengeance after she and her doll begin manifesting disturbing magical powers; the doll being possessed by Ninga, a minor deity. Tamsin challenges the kingdom's main cult, in time establishing Ninga's in its place, killing King Typhas, and becoming queen of Brythunia herself. As the fate of Songa's tribe attests, her rule proves as corrupt and evil as that of her predecessor.
The two plot threads converge when Conan shows up in Brythunia's capital seeking vengeance. He battles Tamsin, eventually destroying her doll and her power.Conan the Savage is a brave attempt to do something different with Conan.The beginning is ok,with the Cimmerian in a mine,but later it tries to read like an early Tarzan novel.The second running plot with Tamzin and evil doll Ninga is equally doll
Chronological notes
Reception
Reviewer Lagomorph Rex finds the book "just plain dull," noting its "one saving grace is that it's a quick read." He particularly criticises the "annoyingly bifurcated storyline," observing that "[i]n spite of the strangeness of the Tamsin storyline it's by far the most interesting of the two," "entertaining if nothing else," making it "generally a relief when Conan wasn't on the page." He finds the Tamsin chapters "a more typical fantasy romp, especially if you can separate them from the overall backdrop of the Hyborian Age," in comparison to "the dull, and exceptionally glacial pace of the Conan chapters once he has escaped the mines." He feels the two storylines "converge with a wet thud."[3]
Conan the Savage is a brave attempt to do something different with Conan.The beginning is ok,with the Cimmerian in a mine,
but later it tries to read like an early Tarzan novel.The second running plot with Tamzin and evil doll Ninga is equally dull.frackingConan the Savage reads like a bad imitation of Edgar Rice Burroughs,trying write a poorly plotted Conan novel,where Conan the Idiot does nothing to advance the plot-a terrible story of some dingbat girl and evil doll,that crashes in an anti climatic flop.No one writes Conan like Leonard Carpenter and should,since utter crap page by page.Was an unsold fantasy novel or bad hack crap ?Never was so fracking,by Crom borred.
Conan the Savage is a brave attempt to do something different with Conan.The beginning is ok,with the Cimmerian in a mine,
but later it tries to read like an early Tarzan novel.The second running plot with Tamzin and evil doll Ninga is equally dull.frackingConan the Savage reads like a bad imitation of Edgar Rice Burroughs,trying write a poorly plotted Conan novel,where Conan the Idiot does nothing to advance the plot-a terrible story of some dingbat girl and evil doll,that crashes in an anti climatic flop.No one writes Conan like Leonard Carpenter and should,since utter crap page by page.Was an unsold fantasy novel or bad hack crap ?Never was so fracking,by Crom borred.
NotesAfter a gambling dispute erupts into violence and death, Conan of Cimmeria is condemned to the hellish mine pits of Brythunia where no man has ever escaped--or survived. But Conan breaks free and disappears into the wilderness, far from civilization, and into the eager arms of Songa, a forest maiden. Still the demon-goddess Ninga has seized control of Brythunia and her insatiable appetite for human sacrifice threatens to devour the world. Only one man can strike at the very heart of Ninga's religion of blood. A man who carries death in his eyes.
Customer Reviews
Top Customer Reviews
- ^ Conan the Savage title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- ^ Carpenter, Leonard. Conan the Savage. p. 29.
- ^ Lagomorph Rex. "Hyborean Apocrypha: Conan the Savage" (Review), July 15, 2012.
1 comment:
Conan the Savage is a brave attempt to do something different with Conan.The beginning is ok,with the Cimmerian in a mine,but later it tries to read like an early Tarzan novel.The second running plot with Tamzin and evil doll Ninga is equally dull.It would have better suited,if it was going to be published as a story of Conan's grandfather,since it make a poor Conan story,as do many Conan comics.
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