You wanna bad-arsed de Camp conversion??

[kintire]

Yeah the critics made it seem like it was anti-Conan when he considered settlling down w. his Zamoran sex-xlave and started working as a blacksmith

The crtics made it seem anti-conan? I read it, and I thought it was anti Conan all by myself.

To be fair, it might have made a decent short story if you had taken the tale up to when he arrives in Yezud and then cut directly to the rescue theft. But there's and entire half book of insipid drooping over a prissy characterless mommy's girl rammed in between them.

 

[Phobos]

I´m currently reading The sword of Skelos, and I´ve readed The Spider God also, And both of them got a painful lack of action, with booooring descriptions of cleavages, breasts, hips and whatever... Understand me: I LOVE female body, but when I get a Conan book, I want action, danger, agresivity.

Btw: Sword of Skelos or some of the Robert Jordan ones are worse than Spider God.

 

[djd]

I remember quite enjoying Skelos at the time it came out - I must revisit it sometime! It has that nice little map in the front too

 

[kintire]

Is Skelos the one where Offut goes ludicriously berserk with a thesaurus?

That was pretty poor, its true

 

[djd]

I really liked Offut's stories in the Thieves World anthologies... Not the greatest of writers technically perhaps but a decent storyteller I thought

 

[Supplement Four]

Yeah, I think Offutt's trilogy is pretty good. Conan and the Sorcerer/Conan The Mercenary/Conan and the Sword of Skelos were all pretty doggone good.

They have the dark, gritty feel that Jordan misses (although I think Jordan's tales are better). I especially like the end of Skelos where Conan moves through the castle, a reaver, a slayer. Good stuff.

I think Offutt feels more like de Camp than Howard, though. I read Offutt and I think I'm reading de Camp doing a pastiche.

Again, it's not GREAT Conan, but I think its good Conan.

 

[Jacek]

I, on the other hand, enjoyed most the part with desert combat and the arrival of those camel-riding Shirki or whatever they were called.

Apart from that I don't care who the writer is provided that he has an interesting story and serves it in an interesting manner. That doesn't change the fact that myu all-time favorite are The Hour of the Dragon and Behind the Black River though.