Conan: City of the Dead

De: John C. Hocking

Narrado por: Bradford Hastings

Duración: 15 h y 33 m

Resumen del Editor

Two epics in one as Conan the mercenary faces hideously transformed wizards and undead creatures in action-packed fantasy combining Robert E. Howard’s trademark sword and sorcery with concepts straight out of Lovecraftian horror.

Combines the classic Conan and the Emerald Lotus with the all-new, original Conan and the Living Plague.

The long-awaited follow-up to Conan and the Emerald Lotus brings John C. Hocking back to the sagas of the Cimmerian.

In Conan and the Emerald Lotus, the seeds of a deadly, addictive plant grant sorcerers immense power, but turn its users into inhuman killers.

In the exclusive, long-awaited sequel Conan and the Living Plague, a Shemite wizard seeks to create a serum to use as a lethal weapon. Instead he unleashes a hideous monster on the city of Dulcine. Hired to loot the city of its treasures, Conan and his fellows in the mercenary troop find themselves trapped in the depths of the city’s keep. To escape, they must defeat the creature, its plague-wracked undead followers, then face Lovecraftian horrors beyond mortal comprehension.

©2024 John C. Hocking (P)2024 Blackstone Publishing

Breathtaking Revitalization of Conan, and 2 in 1!

This made me utterly speechless. John C. Hocking, through sheer power of poetic, paced, purple, perfect prose, props up this palpable pastiche, playing to the people who paid the price of patience for so many problematic periods, whose passions this is plainly in praise of.

Aliterations aside (oops), I will start by saying one thing. Read this. Apparently the first book here was published thirty years ago, as Conan and the Emerald Lotus, a book I have been desperate to read for years but unable to find. The second book was never published, but known by the name Conan and the Living Plague.

As I only recently got into Conan and Sword and Sorcery as a genre in the past few years (around my thirties), I desperately delved into every Howard story I could get my hands on, until I finished the final page of the final Conan story (Del Rey edition). Since then my desire for more Conan has been insatiable, and I've discovered many great authors since then who still carry the torch. Howard Andrew Jones, Scott Oden, to name a few. John C. Hocking was well known within the community for having written a great pastiche, but until now I just had to take people's word for it. Well, finally I can formulate my own opinion, as I have read both books contained herein. After reading, I have to say I wholeheartedly agree with the overall sentiment. John C. Hocking has made two great books. Not only pastiches, but books. Not only can he write Howard, but more meaningfully, the man can write. If he came up with a new Conan story or an original character, I'd be first in line for the next one. I can't imagine waiting decades for the deserved recognition he is about to receive. Titan has made a brilliant and calculated decision in pulling these stories out into the forefront. There are other pastiches out, and some coming, and I have nothing wrong to say about any of them, but I would posit that John C. Hocking has cracked the very particular code that is necessary to embody the atmosphere, character features, lore of the Hyborian Age, peculiarities of Lovecraft's influence on Howard's work and the weirdness that follows, knowledge of pulps and classic adventure tales, Conan's respect for innocents, for women, etc. There's quite a lot that goes into it, and most pastiches seem to forget or overplay certain aspects of Howard's work, whereas both of these stories hit the sweet spot and kept the hits coming. Hefty action, believable dialogue and characters, thrilling plots, intrigue, betrayals, suspense, it kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. The stories themselves are just the right length, too. The Conan the Barbarian Novelized film, also read by the brilliant Bradford Hastings, overstayed it's welcome about halfway in for me, and I mostly quite enjoyed that. In many ways it had parts that were better or worse than the film. But these two stories were just right. Conan stories should never be too long, as although his life is truly epic, it is spread out over many mini episodes and short adventures that give a refreshing restart after not too long. A new cast of characters, a new era in Conan's life, his story is almost best experience non-chronologically, as it keeps things varied and fills in the dots in an interesting way. One moment he is an old king, and then a young sailor. Emerald Lotus and Living Plague keep this tradition, as one gets the sense these episodes could be from two very different times in Conan's stories life.
All I ever wanted was more Howard, and was disappointed when people couldn't achieve it, but now I realize I don't just want more Howard, I'll happily take more Hocking as well!

Good Conan

Well done from start finish. Fun and exciting book. The story is original with all one would expect from Conan.

Loved it way more than I should have

Super excited about new Conan books. I enjoyed this book way more than I had any right to. Great action and plot pacing. Absolutely loved it!!

The best Conan novel in a long time.

There are scarcely any Conan stories on audiobook, which is a shame. Luckily, this one is awesome!