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Adventures of Conan
Conan and the Shaman's Curse by Sean A. Moore
Nightmares come to life when Conan falls victim to the insidious curse of a dying shaman. Conan realizes that something deeper is at work when his nights are filled with horrific dreams of bloodshed that threaten to drive him mad. Now, Conan will need all his might--wits as sharp as his sword--to break free from the Shaman's nefarious hex. Original.
Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 12, 2022
This was the second of the three Conan novels that Moore completed before his early tragic death. It's written in a fun and very enthusiastic style, with Conan battling a baffling series of myth-inspired giant monsters as well as delusional nightmares brought on by the titular curse. It would not be mistaken as the work of Howard, but it has the same charming comic book/pulp feel. Set in young Conan's mercenary days, it has much more humor than de Camp's work, and is fast-paced and action-packed. I remember being a little bemused by the title, wondering if they'd finally run out of descriptive words with which to follow Conan The.
October 21, 2022
En närmast parodisk mängd klyschor för så lite text. Undvik den.
May 28, 2019
While visiting Iranistan a local shaman decides he doesn't much care for Conan, probably because Conan has killed all the shaman's friends and stabbed him to death. As he dies he places a curse on Conan. Conan has been cursed by so many dying men that he pays it no heed, and is soon too busy fleeing from a band of tribesmen to worry about curses. Swimming to a ship nearby offshore, Conan finds it is captained by a Stygian who had two ears before he met Conan, so his welcome is not overtly friendly. The final manifestation of the curse and the appearance of Scylla and Charybdis lead to Conan being washed ashore on a desert island.
Conan's island adventure introduces him to a race of people descended in part from giants, so they are really tall. They are in a generational war with giant vultures from another island. The war is going badly and will be lost unless the chosen one collects the mythic weapon from the lost city in the deadlands. Which Conan volunteers to do. So he fights giant spiders, giant ants, giant flesh-eating plants, and giant warriors to fulfill the chosen one's destiny and fight more giant vultures.
There's a lot of arcane lore behind the island people, and Conan's adventure in the jungle is entertaining. The politics of the tribesmen are intricate, perhaps overly so. But most disappointing is the shaman's curse. For a book actually named Conan and the Shaman's Curse the curse plays a very small part in the story. Conan goes days at a time without even thinking about it. It does give him nightmares which would drive a man crazy, but luckily they don't come too often. Conan and the Jungle Giantess would have been a better name, since the curse hardly added anything to the story at all.
Conan's island adventure introduces him to a race of people descended in part from giants, so they are really tall. They are in a generational war with giant vultures from another island. The war is going badly and will be lost unless the chosen one collects the mythic weapon from the lost city in the deadlands. Which Conan volunteers to do. So he fights giant spiders, giant ants, giant flesh-eating plants, and giant warriors to fulfill the chosen one's destiny and fight more giant vultures.
There's a lot of arcane lore behind the island people, and Conan's adventure in the jungle is entertaining. The politics of the tribesmen are intricate, perhaps overly so. But most disappointing is the shaman's curse. For a book actually named Conan and the Shaman's Curse the curse plays a very small part in the story. Conan goes days at a time without even thinking about it. It does give him nightmares which would drive a man crazy, but luckily they don't come too often. Conan and the Jungle Giantess would have been a better name, since the curse hardly added anything to the story at all.
October 24, 2024
A passable Conan pastiche from Sean A. Moore, but definitely a step down from his first. As usual, there's plenty of action with Conan slaying all manner of hellish creatures. The action is clearly written and easy to visualise, and there were some great moments of Conan surviving against unimaginable odds in a heroic fashion - as we all expect from these books.
Even so, this novel was a bit all over the place. It wasn't very tightly plotted (the titular Shaman's Curse barely plays any role in the story), the tribe and its people weren't nearly interesting enough for them to take up so much of the book's focus, and there was way too much convoluted exposition that just became painful to read after a certain point.
A soft three stars from me. Not great, not terrible... but after Moore's Conan the Hunter, I expected better. Here's hoping his third and final pastiche is a return to form.
Even so, this novel was a bit all over the place. It wasn't very tightly plotted (the titular Shaman's Curse barely plays any role in the story), the tribe and its people weren't nearly interesting enough for them to take up so much of the book's focus, and there was way too much convoluted exposition that just became painful to read after a certain point.
A soft three stars from me. Not great, not terrible... but after Moore's Conan the Hunter, I expected better. Here's hoping his third and final pastiche is a return to form.
July 29, 2022
Mám rád Conanovo heroické fantasy podávané poutavě, rafinovaně, s nadšením a dobře napsané. Bohužel tomu tam zde není. V drtivé většině knihy se doslova tupě běhá po džungli. Ano sice se zde bojuje s pavouky a netvory, ale není to ono. Tato kniha mi doslova nesedla a ač jsem na ni byl zvědavý, tak spíše zklamala. Vrátil jsem se k ní po letech zda se můj názor změní a bohužel.
June 20, 2012
A decent Conan story. Not the best, but far from the worst of the Tor books. Enjoyable.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews