Conan: City of the Dead

By: John C. Hocking

Narrated by: Bradford Hastings

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

The well worded prose. They brought intense life to the world.

That there aren’t more books by this author. If any agent or publisher had any wits they would commission more stories.

conan

I liked the narration and the story was fun I hope for more soon in the future

What R.E. Howard fans have been waiting for.

I have read and reread and listened to the original Robert E. Howard Conan stories repeatedly for over a decade. I’ve always been on the hunt for something that is Conan and captures that lightning in a bottle. I haven’t found it until now. This book is superb. I hate to say that Hocking doesn’t have his own voice however, he must have spent a lifetime studying Howard’s prose and syntax like an academic, dissecting and deconstructing it in order to create some that is both new AND faithful to REH’s vision. I have to say he did a magnificent job. It’s one thing to become a prolific writer in one’s own right, it’s another to be able to emulate a prolific writer and not have it come off as gauche or trite. I can’t say enough good things about this book and the efforts that the author went through to pay homage to not only the original author, but the character and setting as well. Absolutely well done.

Absolutely phenomenal!!!

Terrific writing, narration, and production. I wish more audiobooks were at this level. Very true to the source material.

Two Conan stories for fans, by a fan

True to the spirit of the original Conan pulps by Robert E Howard, we get two novellas starring Conan in this book: Conan and the Emerald Lotus, and Conan and the Living Plague.

One is billed as a sequel to the other but they are mostly standalone so you can listen and re-listen to each at your own convenience.

The narrator is a great voice actor and brings many different characters to life, including of course Conan himself.

You can tell from the writing that the author is a big fan of Conan and puts a lot of references and Easter eggs from past Conan stories that will delight fans of the series, while being subtle enough that a new Conan reader will not have need read every past story to understand. Of course, I highly recommend doing exactly that (at least the original REH pulps) but not because of this book alone.

Would love to see more from this author if he is ever able to keep writing for Conan.

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!!

Great story with fantastic performance.

The performance was perfect. Each character had unique voices and the voice for Conan was very fitting. A great listen, highly recommend.

Worth the Wait

I’ve been waiting 20 years to read this and it was so worth it. Absolutely one of the best Conan pastiches out there! Highly recommended.

The best Conan since the original

Does it feel different? A bit, but let's be honest nobody is going to be able to write him like Howard did. Is it in the spirit... very much so.
recommended.