Conan The Valorous

Adventures of Conan

by John Maddox Roberts

In his native Cimmeria, Conan discovers foreign sorcerers defiling the most sacred place in the land as they struggle for the power to command the very gods. As ancient blood-enemies of his people invade, Conan must unite the ever-feuding clans to face an even greater foe... Demons ride to war on the slopes of Ben Morgh.

Genres: Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Fiction, Novels

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 15, 1985

About the author

aka Mark Ramsay

John Maddox Roberts is the author of numerous works of science fiction and fantasy, in addition to his successful historical SPQR mystery series. The first two books in the series have recently been re-released in trade paperback.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the first Conan novel that Roberts wrote, and I believe it was the first in the Tor series not written by Robert Jordan. I thought Roberts did a good job of incorporating the existing Howard/de Camp/Jordan/etc. infrastructure into his own story. This one is set between The Bloodstained God and The Frost Giant's Daughter. There's a long essay by de Camp at the end of the book that tries to incorporate all of the stories that existed at the time into a single chronology; they eventually gave up, I believe. Heere, Conan returns to Cimmeria, and the setting is very well and convincingly described. There's plenty of action, a little romance, and an odd but engaging side-trip adventure. It's a well written fantasy and would be a fine and perhaps better-regarded stand-alone adventure if the protagonist were differently named.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first of the eight novels that John Maddox Roberts wrote in the fifty-book Tor Series, and the first not penned by Robert Jordan (later of The Wheel of Time fame). In William Galen Gray's chronology it is the thirtieth Conan tale, following Howard's The Bloodstained God and taking place before Howard's The Frost Giant's Daughter.

I commend Roberts for providing an excellent look at life in Cimmeria. I contrast this with the disappointing approach that Harry Turtledove used in Conan of Venarium. The barbarians live in stone huts and put up hide tents; they don't occupy what is basically a medieval village. The people are nomads and fierce warriors. They fight each other, only coming together when driven by exceptional circumstances. Maddox Roberts also depicts the enmity between the Cimmerians and the Vanheim, an important characteristic of life in the north.

The tale begins with Conan hastily swearing to perform an errand for Hathor Ka, a Stygian sorceress. Conan blindly agrees to the task without getting the details first. Really, it's hard to buy that he was so hard up for money that he just jumped into this deal. Apparently Maddox Roberts wanted to get the story moving so he skimped a bit on the Call to Adventure. Regardless, once he agrees, Conan is committed to visiting a sacred cave in his homeland and things get going.

As Joseph Campbell wrote in The Hero With a Thousand Faces (a must read for any fantasy fan):

"The first encounter of the hero journey is with a protective figure (often a little old crone or old man) who provides the adventurer with amulets against the dragon forces he is about to pass. What such a figure represents is the benign, protecting power of destiny."

A wizened old man reads Conan's future in the very first chapter. He then sells Conan a protective amulet in chapter two. Drawing on Campbell's Monomyth strengthens sword and sorcery tales and Maddox Roberts is clearly familiar with Campbell's work and works elements of the Hero's Journey into the story.

The author weaves together Conan's journey, the Cimmerians' trouble with demon raids, a Vanheim invasion into Cimmeria and a complex plot involving three competing sorcerers on a quest for god-like power. This story has a lot going on and it's all deftly handled.

The book is low on the Conan sex scale, with our hero bedding a rescued chieftaness in the Border Kingdoms. This happens almost halfway through the book and he doesn't sleep with any other females in this tale. Maddox Roberts gives us one of the most believable amorous conquests in the entire Conan saga. It doesn't follow the usual "My, what huge muscles you have, take me, you savage!" line.

I very much enjoyed Conan the Valorous. Despite the flawed opening, it's one of the better pastiches and its look at life in Cimmeria is very well done. The complex plot is more than weighty enough to carry the story forward to the very end and a highlight of the Tor series.

[Clint · Rating 4 out of 5]

JMR’s first Tornan. It takes Conan back to his native Cimmeria. Like all the Tornan’s it feels rushed and if the hero were not explicitly Conan, it would be a better story. I would place this as one of the best Tornan pastiche I’ve read so far.

With this, I have read all but two of the JMR Tornans. JMR is consistently entertaining. I should seek out books by him other than his Tornans.

First printed in 1985, there is a high chance I read this at that time. I was in high school and I read every Tornan I could get my hands on. If it were printed prior to 1990, there is a high chance I read it.

Even so, it was new to me. Too many decades for this to crawl into my long term memory bank.

[Sotiris Karaiskos · Rating 4 out of 5]

They say the author's Conan books are on a different level than most related books and I think this proves it. There is of course a typical story for the genre, with our hero returning to his homeland and continuing his usual activities of killing his enemies, rescuing half-naked women and facing powerful sorcerers, the description of these events, however, is clearly superior, without haste and sloppiness and makes us enjoy this interesting adventure more. To this we add a greater willingness from the author to describe the world of Conan and so we have a book that is essential for those who want to read something more about all this and I believe that it would not disappoint the rest of the fantasy readership.

Λένε ότι τα βιβλία του συγγραφέα για τον Κόναν βρίσκονται σε ένα διαφορετικό επίπεδο σε σχέση με τα περισσότερα σχετικά βιβλία και νομίζω ότι αυτό το αποδεικνύει. Υπάρχει φυσικά μία τυπική ιστορία για το είδος, με τον ήρωα μας να γυρίζει στην πατρίδα του και να συνεχίζει τις συνηθισμένες του ασχολίες όπως να σκοτώνει τους εχθρούς του, να σώζει ημίγυμνες γυναίκες και να αντιμετωπίζει πανίσχυρους μάγους, η περιγραφή αυτών των γεγονότων, όμως είναι σαφέστατα ανώτερη, χωρίς βιασύνη και προχειρότητα και μας κάνει να απολαμβάνουμε περισσότερο αυτή την ενδιαφέρουσα περιπέτεια. Σε αυτό προσθέτουμε μία μεγαλύτερη διάθεση από το συγγραφέα για να μας περιγράψει τον κόσμο του Κόναν και έτσι έχουμε ένα βιβλίο απαραίτητο για όσους θέλουν να διαβάσουν κάτι περισσότερο για όλα αυτά και πιστεύω ότι δεν θα απογοήτευε και το υπόλοιπο αναγνωστικό κοινό της φαντασίας.

[Derek · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the better Conan pastiches. Robert’s style really captures the spirit of Howard’s world and characters.

[Truls Ljungström · Rating 4 out of 5]

En utmärkt Conan-roman. Huvudpersonens huvudlöshet i kombination med vilja att göra rätt ger den struktur som behövs. Intrigen är klassisk - ett tidsbegränsat uppdrag, med saker som hindrar dess genomförande. De flesta av de andra följda karaktärerna är trollkarlar, vilket också skapar en spännande perspektivskillnad. Mitt problem med den, som begränsar mig till 4/5, är att det faktiskt bara finns en intrig, och att sidokaraktärerna aldrig har blandade motiv. Det gör att texten blir teatralisk; detta är iofs en genrekonvention, men en som hedras bättre genom att bryta mot den.

Jag rekommenderar boken för alla som uppskattar genren.

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is John Maddox Roberts' first Conan pastiche and the first Tor Conan book not written by Robert Jordan.

It starts off swiftly with Conan hired by a Stygian witch to make a quest to the mountain of the chief Cimmerian God, Crom. Then the plot kicks into high gear as other factions have the same goal in mind.

The most interesting section in the book is a long but ultimately irrelevant side quest as Conan aids the queen of a tribe in the Border Kingdom, but much of interest happens elsewhere in the narrative. Eventually of course all the characters meet for the final showdown.

For pacing and general characterization, this is a top-notch pastiche. Unfortunately there are some relatively minor flaws. Roberts converts the essentially deistic Cimmerian faith of Howard's stories into one where Crom is more accessible. Also, the literal Deus ex machina climax is out of joint with the rest of the book.

Overall, I rank this story among the best Tor pastiches. As noted, it does have flaws, but its strengths more than make up for those.

[COdy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty manly.

[Isen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Conan is a strange drug. The original stories are hardly the epitome of high art, and from all accounts the innumerable spinoffs run the gamut from terrible to aggressively mediocre. But though you put the book down and seek to get on with your life, the book does not put you down. Hyboria whispers in your ear. At times pressing on your back with a voluptuous breast, at others caressing your chin with a slimy tentacle. Increasingly you find yourself asking, what would Conan do? Inserting the towering barbarian into novels, histories, workplace meetings, in an attempt to make sense of the situation. But it gets harder and harder to fool yourself. To find meaning where Conan isn't. There is only so many times you can loop Arnie on Youtube. You have to go back.

So I found myself picking up Conan the Valorous, the first of Roberts' Conan novels. The plot finds Conan at the tail end of a gambling spree that left him broke but far from helpless in a Khorshemish tavern. A fiendish sorceress hires Conan to carry out a magical ritual for her in Crom's cave in Cimmeria, and the plot dictates that Conan accepts. The author then tries to paint Conan's acharacteristic acceptance as a whim of the gods, but it's not terribly convincing. In the succeeding adventures Conan kills a motley assortment of people and demons, beds a border queen, and punches a bull in the face.

What's not to like? Well, for a start, much of the book is not about Conan. The multiple villains get much more facetime than they deserve, especially given how easily they die when they finally cross paths with our hero. Then there is far too much magic. The supernatural, of course, always had a place in Conan's world, but the art of weird fiction is to hint rather than state. Once the monsters, gods, arcane geometries and the like are sufficiently fleshed out, they cease being horrors on the borders of sanity but just another plot device for Conan to crush. And lastly, perhaps half the book takes place in Cimmeria, and it is hard to think of a more boring people. We are introduced to some half dozen barbarians who are not Conan, but the author tries so hard to pretend they are imposing and worthy of respect because they are vaguely related to Conan, whilst the reader just waits impatiently for them all to leave.

I think overambitious, is the one word I would use for this book. Too many plotlines, too many eldritch forces, too many non-Conan characters. As a result not only do we get skinted on Conan, Hyboria itself seems almost lacking. Still, I need my fix, and this scratched it somewhat.

[H. P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve said before that John Maddox Roberts is neck-and-neck with Robert Jordan for best writer of Conan pastiches, but that he GETS Conan better than any other writer of pastiches I have read. Conan the Valorous helps firm up my conclusion. Setting a Conan story in Cimmeria is a ballsy move, but Roberts is the right writer to pull it off.

The story opens with a newly broke Conan accepting a commission to carry a certain thing to Cimmeria and perform a certain rite on a mountain holy to the Cimmerians. Chronologically, Robert Jordan (wearing his editor hat) placed Conan the Valorous directly before the original Robert E. Howard tale “The Frost Giant’s Daughter.” That short story takes place in Nordheim, so Conan the Valorous gives Conan a reason to travel back to the north.

Putting Conan in Cimmeria is tricky. One of Conan’s defining traits is that he is a Cimmerian OUTSIDE OF Cimmeria. To the outlanders he encounters, he is a barbarian far from home. He is neither of those things to the Cimmerians in his native land. But he left his home for a reason. Cimmerians are the ancestors of the Gaels, the “men that God made mad, for all their wars are merry, and all their songs are sad.” Conan carried his gigantic melancholies with him from Cimmeria, but the gigantic mirth he returns with are unwelcomed and eccentric. The Cimmerians care nothing for his exotic adventures or the riches won and spent. He cares nothing for the clan obligations that dominate Cimmerian life or for dreary herding.

Roberts threads this needle with aplomb. The Conan scenes, and Conan does dominate the book, are very good.

Conan the Valorous’ great failing is a recuring one with Tor’s Conan pastiches. The sort of generic wizards populating the generic fantasy novels that dominated mall bookstore fantasy sections in the 1980s and 1990s keep slipping in. Conan the Valorous is at its best when it features Conan. The more wizards appear, the worse it gets. (Although I did appreciate the peculiar wizard from the far East who was probably more than a little modeled on Mako’s wizard from the first Conan movie.)

The book also includes an extended sequence in the Border Kingdom between Nemedia and Cimmeria. The entire sequence may have been added to pad out the page count to mass market paperback standards, and it has little to no relevance to the larger story. But it would have made a fine novelette on its own, and I welcomed the diversion.

[NOLA Bert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apparently I read this one before when I was attempting to read the William Galen Gray Conan Chronology. I only remembered the first part of the book, which makes me think I didn’t finish this one before (I got burned out on reading the Tor pastiche novels by that point in the chronology). Roberts has a good reputation for his Conan novels and this one is pretty good. Conan is tricked into undertaking a mission for a sorceress.

Starting out in Khorshemish in Koth, Conan makes his way back to Cimmeria, but is delayed in the Border Kingdom to help a chieftainess whose daughter was abducted by a rival chieftain. I think I liked this subplot more than the overall story. Roberts gives some interesting detail on the culture and people of The Border Kingdom. There is some really good action in this subordinate story. In the play-by-mail game, Hyborian War, The Border Kingdom starts out allied with Nemedia. This makes sense as the Border Kingdom described in this novel consists of a loose confederation of petty fiefdoms. Why wouldn’t Nemedia just absorb The Border Kingdom? Although what Nemedia gets out of an alliance with The Border Kingdom is as much a question.

What I didn’t like about the main plot is that it’s epic in scope. One of those world-ending events that the hero needs to thwart. But I did like that Conan only gets involved in a haphazard way. However, a Khitan mountebank tells Conan that the gods have plans for him—maybe he’s just joking, but there are other hints the gods are involved to some extent in the events that transpire in the story, something I can’t stand in a Conan tale.

Once the story moves to Cimmeria, Roberts gives lots of interesting detail about the life of regular Cimmerians, seemingly drawn from Irish and Scottish history. Roberts gives us a window into understanding why Conan would leave Cimmeria and prefer to live elsewhere. The finale was a disappointment, however (see my point above about gods getting involved in the lives of mortals in the Hyborian Age).

Conan mostly acts like Conan in the book. He does say, “pardon me,” at one point when asking for information from a stranger. Conan the Polite Gentleman. There are a couple of times Roberts’s dialogue seems misplaced. Overall, I give this Conan pastiche novel three out of five stars.

[Stuart Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Conan is tricked by a sorceress into taking a quest which leads him back to his homeland of Cimmeria. After killing some guys and getting cursed he rescues a princess and punches a bull in the face before he finally arrives home. There he finds the clans being gathered because of an unknown threat harassing the land. Conan must go to Crom's holy mountain to fulfill his quest, where a gathering of wizards vie for untold power. A great battle involving all of Cimmeria, some Vanirh, some Aesir, some lizardmen, some insectmen, and some formless creatures from the abyss ensue.

One of my favorite Conan stories. A rare visit to Cimmeria is truly enjoyable as we get to see what kind of people Conan grew up with and learn how he is viewed by them. Mostly they think the southland has made him soft and he should settle down and raise children and sheep. Only in Cimmeria is a man considered a weakling when he makes a pile of snow into a pillow instead of just sleeping with his head on stone. No one is impressed by Conan's size and no one cares about his exploits in the civilized lands. He's just the odd boy who would rather sleep in a bed and ride a horse instead of eating oat porridge and feuding with his neighbors like a proper Cimmerian. Really well written and befitting a place high in the mythos.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating 3.5

A better Conan pastiche than normal I thought.
A weak beginning but once the story began moving it became much better.
The main plot was okay, the side quest was a good one and probably a short story/novella on its own right.
I thought the various descriptions of the creatures being summoned by the wizards/witches were very Cthulhu mythos-like … most effective but should they be in a Conan story?
The ending was okay, pretty much as I expected to be honest. The god Crom was different to how he is described in REH stories assuming that it was he who appears at the story’s climax.
I didn’t mind that though as overall I enjoyed this read and found it to be a better than expected Conan story.
Rating is difficult as although it was easily 3.5 it didn’t quite do enough for me to up the rating to a GR 4.

Overall a definite recommendation if you want to try a Conan story outside of REH and you can find a copy.

[Jean-Sébastien Goulet · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book I read by John Maddox Roberts and it was very good, interesting and original.

This author doesn't have the brutal style of Robert Howard, but has got a very good grasp on the character of Conan.

In this book he goes back to Cimmeria and it was the first time I read about Cimmeria and the way of its people and he managed to make it very interesting.

On the way to Cimmeria Conan goes on a "side-quest" to help some people that live close to Cimmeria and the conclusion to that side-quest was absolutely epic and got me hooked on that author.

The best quote from the book was a Khitan character speaking to Conan about a demon coming from "the spaces beyond our planets" and the he wrote :

"Conan, who was not sure what a planet was, refused to be impressed."

Loved it, it was great!

Read it, it's lots of fun.

[Robert D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tricked into giving his word of honor Conan must travel from Khorshemish in Koth back to his northern homeland by the autumnal equinox. To make matters worse it was a sorceress that tricked him. Along the way Conan encounters assassins sent by a rival sorcerer, a young queen in need of a champion, and his native land beset by demons that have killed villages and carried off the women and children. Unknown to Conan a celestial event is about to take place over the Cimmerian's sacred mountain and various sorcerers are vying for a chance to claim godlike powers.

The author constructs the book in sections with adventures on Conan's travels. Thus it really reads as 2 short stories and a novella brought together with a theme.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mean, it's a pastiche - The story was about what you'd expect: a mischaracterisation of Conan as a noble savage and arguably 'good' person, a straightforward plot, and a contrived and convenient ending.

But the novel contribution Roberts makes in this in an expansion and examination of Cimmerian people and their culture. I really enjoyed the quieter moments with Conan interacting with his Cimmerian kin, his pride about them but his personal recognition about how different he is from his people and how he doesn't belong. For such a two-dimensional character, this was surprisingly refreshing character development.

[Alex Budris · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well-written Sword and sorcery adventure with a rousing finale. Reality-ripping thaumaturgy, hordes of monsters, and epic battle scenes with gore a plenty.“ All around Conan was a demented battle being carried on by screaming men and things from a nightmare. (p[g 232)” What’s not to love here? Easy three stars. Nice use of Lovecraftian abominations from beyond time and other dimensions foreign to human senses. Kudos. I’m looking to read a bunch of these all in a row, and I imagine my reviews may start to get repetitive. I have a feeling, for example, that I will describe each one as ‘a lot of fun.’ Fun, indeed, by Crom!

[Paladin Soul · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't believe I read this in two days. The last Conan book I read was Conan the Victorious, which took me six days to read. In my humble opinion, Valorous is so much better. Most importantly, I feel that the characterization of Conan is better. After reading Victorious, I realized I didn't really like Conan much at all in that book.

[Djordje · Rating 3 out of 5]

UKUPNA OCENA ★★★✫ 3.5
- Radnja ★★★
- Okruženje ★★★✫
- Pripovedanje ★★★✫
- Likovi ★★★

UTISAK - natprosečna avantura o Konanu, sa dosta natprirodnih stvari i magije, ali nedostaje malo bolji zaplet i kvalitetniji prikaz samog Konana. Novela je svakako bolja od Conan the Rebel i Conan The Road of Kings.

[Jeff Mayo · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really want to like this book because I received it as a birthday present forty years ago. But, I was a Conan fan. The Marvel Comics version that ran from 1970 through 1993. The many books were of varying quality. To me, none of them, even the source material from book #1, lived up to the visuals of the comics.

[Steven Streeter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Standard Conan fare. Well-written pulp fiction, some Cthulhu elements thrown in, nice escapist literature. The sort I really enjoy reading. I recommend this for people who just want to turn their brains off and enjoy a book as a book. I rated it 3 stars, but in reality it would be 3 1/2.

[Kenny Ketner · Rating 4 out of 5]

JMR is becoming my second favorite Conan author after REH. He gets it. Lots of action in this one, plus a cameo from a top tier villain.

[Vämpiriüs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Čtivá a zábavná kniha, která je dobře napsána. Jen to finále mi přišlo poněkud volnější.

[East Bay J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having just read another of Roberts' Conan pastiches, Conan And The Treasure Of Python, I have to say the man seems to be possessed of a limited number of ideas. Roberts, not Conan. Again we have ships and pirates and ancient gods and some Lovecraftian Cthulhuisms. Regardless, it was an entertaining read and light years ahead of the writing of Nyberg, Carter or DeCamp. I like that Conan revisits his homeland and becomes embroiled in the simple politics of his people. Roberts handles the character well and writes well, to boot.

The essay at the end of the book, Conan The Indestructable, is by L. Sprage DeCamp and is his feeble attempt to put in order the various Howard Conan stories and pastiches written up to that time. Frankly, he does a poor job. To those interested in putting the dozens of Conan stories and novels in order, I highly recommend William Galen Gray's chronology over any other.

Though the cover is credited to Boris Vallejo, I have a difficult time believing it. If that's not a misprint, this is among the least of Vallejo's many fantasy paintings. Perhaps this was done when he was twelve or thirteen.

[Rob · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this off of my bookcase on a whim, read the first chapter and decided that I was in the mood for a light fantasy romp.

The last Conan book that I read was around 20 years ago, and I remember enjoying it immensely (mind you, I was really into role playing games back then, so that may have been why). I believe that Robert E. Howard's original Conan tales were shorter stories, while this novel by John Maddox Roberts is a novel.

Did I like it? Well, I did, but that was because I was in the mood for some fluff. It's quick to read and has some good action (Conan loves to slice and dice!). It's downfall is that the midsection of the story is completely unrelated to the beginning and end sections. It's like a short story was stuffed in between another story. Also, the ending seemed rushed, like the author was on a deadline or something.

Alas, if you are in the mood for some fantasy fluff involving barbarians, witches & warlocks, and a few bloody brawls, then this book should hit the spot.

[Robert Fenske · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story had several good moments. But they never add up to make the story truly amazing.

The whole first third of the book has Conan go on a side quest that was exciting and entertaining. My only problem is that it never actually ties itself into the main story. But I'll admit, the action in this section of the book was a page turner and well written.

The description on the back of the book is extremely over exaggerated. As Conan is hardly involved with bring the Northern clans/tribes together. Although we see a glimpse of the Northern politics of the barbarians, it's never enough to make this novel stand out or really add anything to the mythos of the series. (If you want a better look at the politics of the Cimmerians check out: 'Age of Conan: Legends of Kern')

At times there were a few elements that just didn't make too much sense. Demons on the Cimmerian holy mountain and all we're given is one sentence on why they're there. There are other instances that also lack detail and seem half-assed at times.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first Conan book I have read outside of comic book form that was not written by Howard. At first, I had expected the author to imitate Howard's style, but he doesn't even try to do that. And that isn't necessarily a bad thing. What matters most to me is that the character still seems like Conan. He really does act the part, but there might have been a couple of times throughout the story where Conan talks a little too much, which seems a bit out of character. But that is just a minor gripe.

The story moves at a good pace. The action is just as bloody as you would expect from Conan. Though since Roberts style is less poetic than Howard the fights feel a bit more gory than a classic story. Overall it's an entertaining read and I would definitely read any other adaptations of Conan that this author put out.

[Lewis Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book we got to see Conan's homeland and fellow peoples of Cimmeria. It was refreshing to leave the deserts of Vendhya, Zamora, and other such locations in favour of a colder, more solemn setting. The story was also gripping and memorable, if a little overkill at times.

However, there are a few noticeable faults here. One is that Roberts describes Cimmeria as treeless, which is not at all accurate. Cimmeria is primarily forests and mountains. Another was the use of Crom. Crom is repeatedly described as a cold, harsh god who doesn't even answer prayers... yet in this book he seems to directly intervene at the end. Definitely not in key with Howard's Crom.

Still, a fun novel, if not the best of Roberts' Conan pastiches.

[Charles · Rating 2 out of 5]

Conan pastiche

[Keith B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book when I was 15 and have read it enough to have to tap the cover together. A good pastiche of Howard's original Conan.