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Conan: Spawn of the Serpent God: A Scourge of the Serpent Men Novel
A new chapter of the Titan comics & Heroic Signatures massive narrative Scourge of the Serpent Men. A thrilling story about Conan the Barbarian facing violent abominations written by Bram Stoker Award Winning Author Tim Waggoner
Uzzeran, a sorcerer, and his serpent men take over Ravenhold monastery, a sanctuary for humans who have been experimented on by sorcerers. Uzzeran intends to create a race of human-serpent men hybrids. The sorcerer conducts unspeakable experiments on the residents, hoping to learn how to create hybrids. However, he fails and the residents become hideous monsters.
A monk named Renwick and a resident named Valja escape and go to the city of Charnhelm in search of help. There they encounter Conan battling several young warriors out to make a name for themselves by killing him. Valja hopes Conan can free Ravenhold from Uzzeran and the monstrosities he’s created, but Conan is uninterested. Vaija’s pleas hold no sway over Conan, but he relents when he learns that Uzzeran is the sorcerer. Conan has unfinished business with the sorcerer and sees an opportunity for revenge. The trio band together and form a team to fight Uzzeran and reclaim Ravenhold.
Uzzeran, a sorcerer, and his serpent men take over Ravenhold monastery, a sanctuary for humans who have been experimented on by sorcerers. Uzzeran intends to create a race of human-serpent men hybrids. The sorcerer conducts unspeakable experiments on the residents, hoping to learn how to create hybrids. However, he fails and the residents become hideous monsters.
A monk named Renwick and a resident named Valja escape and go to the city of Charnhelm in search of help. There they encounter Conan battling several young warriors out to make a name for themselves by killing him. Valja hopes Conan can free Ravenhold from Uzzeran and the monstrosities he’s created, but Conan is uninterested. Vaija’s pleas hold no sway over Conan, but he relents when he learns that Uzzeran is the sorcerer. Conan has unfinished business with the sorcerer and sees an opportunity for revenge. The trio band together and form a team to fight Uzzeran and reclaim Ravenhold.
- GenresFantasySword and Sorcery
352 pages, Hardcover
First published October 28, 2025
23 people are currently reading
63 people want to read
About the author
Tim Waggoner
279 books765 followersTim Waggoner's first novel came out in 2001, and since then, he's published over sixty novels and eight collections of short stories. He writes original dark fantasy and horror, as well as media tie-ins. He's written tie-in fiction based on Supernatural, The X-Files, Alien, Doctor Who, Conan the Barbarian, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Grimm, and Transformers, among others, and he's written novelizations for films such as Ti West’s X-Trilogy, Halloween Kills, Terrifier 2 and 3, and Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. He’s also the author of the award-winning guide to horror Writing in the Dark. He’s a four-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award, a one-time winner of the Scribe Award, and he’s been a two-time finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award and a one-time finalist for the Splatterpunk Award. He’s also a full-time tenured professor who teaches creative writing and composition at Sinclair College in Dayton, Ohio.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 24, 2026
A good, solid Conan outing. Nothing special but still enjoyable. Epic settings, a diverse cast of characters and companions, and of course bloody and viscous battles.
November 9, 2025
Another hard one to rate. Titan is working their comic and book angles together for the last couple of releases. This book goes along with the current serpent men/ Set angle in the comics.
The book starts out well with a young Conan and a young Zamoran woman named Valja. This takes place shortly after the Tower of The Elephant as they are still in the City of Thieves. Valja is a seasoned thief and Conan is still learning the trade. After some shenanigans, they eventually meet up with a priestess of Mitra and a Kushite Shaman to stop a powerful Stygian Sorcerer from creating Serpent lords from mixing humans and serpent men via vile sorcerous means. They end up stopping the sorcerer as Conan destroys the Eye of Set during the ritual. The cool part is this all takes place in the lower levels of the collapsed Tower of the Elephant.
The second part of the book takes place 15 years later as Set sets things in motion through various individuals. The same Sorcerer is involved with another attempt as the second Eye of Set has been unearthed. Conan is around 33 at this time and is at the height of his powers. Through various means, the crew reunited with a new Khitian warrior Conan met as Caravan guards. The main action takes place in a magical fortress in the mountains called Ravenhold. With the help of mountain apes (Yes a Thak reference) and The Spider God Zath’s Wolf sized spiders, and even the help of Ishtar and Mitra, they defeat the sorcerer, stop Set, and many other creatures.
The Good:
-Conan is a badass
-The book moves along with a good pace
-Plenty of other Conan story tidbits throughout
-Valja is a good character
-The Stygian Sorcerer has a lower caste Stygian servant who gets merged with the spirit of a serpent man after the first battle. Their back and forth in his mind is extremely fun.
-Bar fighting
The not so good:
-Too much time spent on character development for a Conan/Sword and Sorcery story.
-Conan is missing from large swaths of the book (He should always be the main focus)
-The weird Mother Set angle that Titan made Tim use because of the comic storyline.
-Ravenhold seemed more Dungeons and Dragons than Conan
You have to take a Conan novel length Pastiche for what it is. This book was fun. It will never be Howard. It’s not as good as John Maddox Roberts Tor Conan books or Hocking’s Titan Release. It falls somewhere in the line of Jordan’s Conan books or Offutt’s Conan. Better than Leonard Carpenter, Green, Poul Anderson, Wagner, DeCamp, Moore, Sterling, Lebbon, Lovegrove, etc.
The book starts out well with a young Conan and a young Zamoran woman named Valja. This takes place shortly after the Tower of The Elephant as they are still in the City of Thieves. Valja is a seasoned thief and Conan is still learning the trade. After some shenanigans, they eventually meet up with a priestess of Mitra and a Kushite Shaman to stop a powerful Stygian Sorcerer from creating Serpent lords from mixing humans and serpent men via vile sorcerous means. They end up stopping the sorcerer as Conan destroys the Eye of Set during the ritual. The cool part is this all takes place in the lower levels of the collapsed Tower of the Elephant.
The second part of the book takes place 15 years later as Set sets things in motion through various individuals. The same Sorcerer is involved with another attempt as the second Eye of Set has been unearthed. Conan is around 33 at this time and is at the height of his powers. Through various means, the crew reunited with a new Khitian warrior Conan met as Caravan guards. The main action takes place in a magical fortress in the mountains called Ravenhold. With the help of mountain apes (Yes a Thak reference) and The Spider God Zath’s Wolf sized spiders, and even the help of Ishtar and Mitra, they defeat the sorcerer, stop Set, and many other creatures.
The Good:
-Conan is a badass
-The book moves along with a good pace
-Plenty of other Conan story tidbits throughout
-Valja is a good character
-The Stygian Sorcerer has a lower caste Stygian servant who gets merged with the spirit of a serpent man after the first battle. Their back and forth in his mind is extremely fun.
-Bar fighting
The not so good:
-Too much time spent on character development for a Conan/Sword and Sorcery story.
-Conan is missing from large swaths of the book (He should always be the main focus)
-The weird Mother Set angle that Titan made Tim use because of the comic storyline.
-Ravenhold seemed more Dungeons and Dragons than Conan
You have to take a Conan novel length Pastiche for what it is. This book was fun. It will never be Howard. It’s not as good as John Maddox Roberts Tor Conan books or Hocking’s Titan Release. It falls somewhere in the line of Jordan’s Conan books or Offutt’s Conan. Better than Leonard Carpenter, Green, Poul Anderson, Wagner, DeCamp, Moore, Sterling, Lebbon, Lovegrove, etc.
November 17, 2025
Of Titan’s Conan books I like this most beside John C. Hocking’s Conan and the Emerald Lotus. It doesn’t have quite as high ambitions as the others, and is pretty meat and potatoes, but it’s cooked just right.
Blood of the Serpent was a cool idea as a prequel to Red Nails but it just never got the vibe right. Cult of the Obsidian Moon had an amazing idea of combing Howard’s James Allison character with Conan but fell so short of the promise of that idea. Song of the Slain was a good old Conan story but again just never got the vibe quite right.
This one gets the vibe just right. The first half takes place right after Tower of the Elephant. It feels like Conan much moreso than the others. It also perfectly encapsulates the “days of high adventure” feel of the genre and hits those escapists notes just right.
The second half feels a little less right in terms of the vibe. It feels a bit less horror and a bit more comic book or video game-y but the action and characters are so well done it doesn’t disappoint. It’s not as pure as the meddling of gods seems a bit too overt and Conan, if reluctant, is still too comfortable with magical allies. It ties in all the elements of the first half well and provides an enjoyable conclusion.
I think the the idea of telling a Conan story connected across two sections of his life, with many tie-ins to his other adventures, is a good idea even if it’s not as lofty as some of the other setups in the Titan signature series.
It just ekes out a five stars from me. I do feel like the first half is much stronger and truer to Conan but the whole is still a solid action packed romp.
Also given the subject matter of this book I really hope Titan decides to do Kull books and Tim Waggoner is selected to write them.
It’s good, greater than the sum of its parts, and a great read if you’re in the mood for some good ole fashioned sword and sorcery.
Blood of the Serpent was a cool idea as a prequel to Red Nails but it just never got the vibe right. Cult of the Obsidian Moon had an amazing idea of combing Howard’s James Allison character with Conan but fell so short of the promise of that idea. Song of the Slain was a good old Conan story but again just never got the vibe quite right.
This one gets the vibe just right. The first half takes place right after Tower of the Elephant. It feels like Conan much moreso than the others. It also perfectly encapsulates the “days of high adventure” feel of the genre and hits those escapists notes just right.
The second half feels a little less right in terms of the vibe. It feels a bit less horror and a bit more comic book or video game-y but the action and characters are so well done it doesn’t disappoint. It’s not as pure as the meddling of gods seems a bit too overt and Conan, if reluctant, is still too comfortable with magical allies. It ties in all the elements of the first half well and provides an enjoyable conclusion.
I think the the idea of telling a Conan story connected across two sections of his life, with many tie-ins to his other adventures, is a good idea even if it’s not as lofty as some of the other setups in the Titan signature series.
It just ekes out a five stars from me. I do feel like the first half is much stronger and truer to Conan but the whole is still a solid action packed romp.
Also given the subject matter of this book I really hope Titan decides to do Kull books and Tim Waggoner is selected to write them.
It’s good, greater than the sum of its parts, and a great read if you’re in the mood for some good ole fashioned sword and sorcery.
November 28, 2025
Conan: Spawn of the Serpent God takes the character of Conan and puts him in the trappings of an Epic fantasy instead of his regular genre, Sword-and-Sorcery.
I don't knock that effort and respect to what Waggoner attempt, but for me, it just didn't work.
It's not a bad story, and the writing is solid, I just expected something a little more from such a prolific author.
I don't knock that effort and respect to what Waggoner attempt, but for me, it just didn't work.
It's not a bad story, and the writing is solid, I just expected something a little more from such a prolific author.
November 11, 2025
This is the best Conan novel I've read in years.
Waggoner doesn't imitate REH, but plays vigorously and respectfully with the world Howard created. The story is engaging and exciting, it keeps the juices pumping from page one. Waggoner's prose struck me as less eldritch than Howard, but the tale certainly doesn't lack for sword-slinging melees and eldritch horror. The characters and situations feel true to the original; Waggoner's characters, even the spear-carriers, have backgrounds and specific reasons for being in that place, at that time, carrying that specific spear.
The conclusion is satisfying, and I was left curious about what that ancient future held for the surviving characters.
This was a fun and exciting read, and I hope to see more from Waggoner in this series.
Waggoner doesn't imitate REH, but plays vigorously and respectfully with the world Howard created. The story is engaging and exciting, it keeps the juices pumping from page one. Waggoner's prose struck me as less eldritch than Howard, but the tale certainly doesn't lack for sword-slinging melees and eldritch horror. The characters and situations feel true to the original; Waggoner's characters, even the spear-carriers, have backgrounds and specific reasons for being in that place, at that time, carrying that specific spear.
The conclusion is satisfying, and I was left curious about what that ancient future held for the surviving characters.
This was a fun and exciting read, and I hope to see more from Waggoner in this series.
February 16, 2026
Dark Muse News: Reviewing Conan – Spawn of the Serpent God by Tim Waggoner
https://www.blackgate.com/2026/02/12/...
Conan: Spawn of the Serpent God is sooooo Zamorian!
Spawn of the Serpent God reads as a sequel to Howard's "Tower of the Elephant." One year after that story, Part I of the novel presents Conan as a nineteen-year-old roaming the temple district in the Maul; this is part of the City of Zamora, which is the capital of the district of the same name in Robert E. Howard (REH)'s continent of Hyboria (see map). Zamora is also known as "City of Thieves." Of course, Conan is compelled to revisit the tower ruins!
This round, Yag-Kosha is not reprised; instead, the tower is infested with Set's minions! Who the hell is Set? Well Set is the titular serpent god. The staging is a beautiful mashup of the original Howard Conan mythos blended with the fan-revered 1982 movie adaptation, in which Arnold Schwarzenegger plays the thiefing barbarian, and whose archenemy was Set's cult (images below). The movie paid homage to the "Tower of the Elephant" by switching out a giant spider for a giant snake in a tower that Conan enters to steal a gem. Spawn of the Serpent God plays on nostalgia, the short story, and the movie. In place of the magical jewel of the short story (the Heart of the Elephant), we are exposed to a similar magical gem called the Eye of the Serpent. Plenty of serpent horrors abound.
Uzzeran, the evil sorcerer of Set, invites confrontation from Conan and a small team that includes Anot (a shaman, more on her below in the Excerpts), Naerys (a priestess of Mitra), and the thief Valja. Avoiding spoilers, the mission goes spectacularly sour for everyone involved, protagonists and antagonists alike. Part 2 of the Novel addresses the bizarre repercussions after a 15year span. During this time, Conan befriends a sword-wielding Khitan named Qiang. The novel culminates with an epic confrontation that rivals Tolkien's Battle of the Five Armies conclusion to The Hobbit.
Expect Tie-ins to Zamorian Elements
• Towers, Serpents & Black Lotus from REH's "Tower of the Elephant" and the 1982 Movie
• As mentioned above, Conan revisits the titular "Tower of the Elephant" in Zamora. That was REH's third published Conan story; see Jayem Wilcox's illustration for the 1933 edition of Weird Tales below.
• In "Tower of the Elephant," REH had Conan paired with the Prince of Thieves Taurus, who employed Black Lotus powder to kill a bunch of lions guarding the tower. That drug is prominent again!
• REH's tower had no serpents, but the 1982 Conan movie featured Set and a Tower of the Serpent (as detailed above)
• Waggoner equates Set with other godlike serpents like Lovecraft's Yig
• The magical jewel called the Eye of Set builds on the mechanics of REH's Heart of the Elephant gem
• Ape-Men from REH's "Rogues in the House"
• Ape-Men roam Zamora, so expect them. Recall Thak? He was a half-pape/half-human being introduced in REH's "Rogues in the House" (Weird Tales, 134). Thak resided in the mountainous fringes of Zamora.
• Frank Frazetta painted a red-cloaked Thak assailed by Conan in 1966, and the piece covered the 1967 Conan collection from Lancer/Ace (it's iconic, see the painting below).
• Thak inspired the Hall of Mirrors creature in the 1984 movie Conan the Destroyer.
• Spiders and Zath
• Spiders roam Zamora. Big ones!
• Robert E. Howard presented a large, nameless spider in"Tower of the Elephant." The 1977 cover to Savage Sword of Conan #24 captures that well.
• The Spider God Zath was introduced in L. Sprague de Camp's 1980 novel Conan and the Spider God. Conan encounters it in the city of Yezud, Zamora.
Excerpts from Conan: Spawn of the Serpent God
Classic Conan Melee
The Aesir woman kicked a chair toward Conan's face to distract him as she attacked. He caught it with his left hand before it could hit him and slammed it against the skull of the Turanian foolish enough to attack from the side while the Aesir came at him from the front. Blood jetted from the man's nostrils and ears as the side of his head caved in and he went down. Dealing ith the Turanian took only seconds, but that was more than enough time for the Aesir to hurl her hatchet at Conan as she ran. The weapon spun end over end as it flew toward his chest -- aimed for the largest part of his body to have the best chance of a strike -- and if Conan had been anyone else, the hatchet would have cut through his chainmail and into his breastbone. But the Cimmerian fought as much from instinct as from training and experience, and his sword arm moved of its own accord with cat-like swiftness, striking the hatchet's metal head with a loud clang and swatting the weapon out of the air. p239
Sorcery & Abominations
Uzzeran continued chanting, his voice nearly deafening at this close distance. Loathsome tendrils of dark energy stretched from the ebon gem to penetrate the foreheads of both the boy and the creature. But as horrifying as this was, the worst part was the transformations that were occurring to each of Uzzeran's test subjects. patches of scales would arise on the boy's flesh, only to fade, and the snake-head's scales would be replaced by smooth, human skin in places, only to revert to their original shape and texture. In addition, each subject's face took on aspects of the other's, the boy's features became more reptilian, the snake-head's more human. The changes to their bodies appeared and disappeared every few seconds, and watching the cycle repeat revolted Conan on a primal level... An additional pair of black tendrils lanced forth from the mystic orb and came at Conan and Valja so fast that neither of them had time to react. The tendrils struck their chests and entered their bodies with ease, as if flesh and bone were no more substantial than air to them... p123
Characterization
[Anot] has been raised to worship the Old Serpent and as a child regularly witnessed the sacrifice of outsiders to the dread demon-god. She had cheered and clapped along with the others as priests plunged sharp stone blades into the chests of nonbelievers and tore out their still-beating hearts from their bodies and held them up for all to see. She had marveled at the great black snakes that slithered forth from the jungles to devour those hearts and then sway hypnotically, as if dancing to silent, dark music. At times, parents overcome with religious fervor would snatch up one of their children and rush forward to offer it to the serpents, who swallowed the little ones with ease, especially the infants. Anot had lived in fear her parents would offer her to the giant snakes one night, but they never did. Instead they sacrificed her older brother, Onor, to Damballah's avatars, and she had watched in horror as Onor slid down one of the serpent's throats, his muffled screams still audible from inside the monster... p79
Wait, there's more Scourge of the Serpent?
This is a stand-alone book! But notice the byline on the cover, it is a Scourge of the Serpent Novel. At first, I thought, 'Cool, there will be more novels.' That is not the case, but there are six associated Scourge of the Serpent comics. Heroic Signatures orchestrated a mini-series of sorts that tied several comics to this book. Jim Zub, lead writer of Conan Comics, explained the reading order on his blog and it was later expanded on HowToLove Comics. In short, the series kicks off with a free comic book (available online), connects to a prelude in a Conan and Savage Sword of Conan comic, and those flow into a series of four comics connected to this novel.
Below is the reading order for Conan the Barbarian: Scourge of the Serpent. It includes the core miniseries, prelude comics, and even a tie-in novel.
https://www.goodreads.com/series/4318...
1. Conan the Barbarian: Scourge of the Serpent – Free Comic Book Day 2025 (Prelude). Written by Jim Zub. Art by Ivan Gil. Link to free digital copy
2. Savage Sword of Conan (2025) #10 (Prelude). Written by Jim Zub. Art by Doug Braithwaite.
3. Conan the Barbarian: Scourge of the Serpent #1 (of 4). Written by Jim Zub. Art by Ivan Gil.
4. Conan the Barbarian: Spawn of the Serpent God (tie-in novel, written by Tim Waggoner
5. Conan the Barbarian: Scourge of the Serpent #2 (of 4) Written by Jim Zub. Art by Ivan Gil.
6. Conan the Barbarian: Scourge of the Serpent #3 (of 4) Written by Jim Zub. Art by Ivan Gil.
7. Conan the Barbarian: Scourge of the Serpent #4 (of 4) Written by Jim Zub. Art by Ivan Gil.
Don't want to track down the comics individually?
You can get five of the six in a single book on May 5, 2026. It will have all but the Savage Sword #10 issue; or in other words, Conan the Barbarian: Scourge of the Serpent collects Conan: Scourge of the Serpent #1-4 and Conan the Barbarian Free Comic (i.e., #1,3,5,6,7 from this list, covers featured in image).
https://www.blackgate.com/2026/02/12/...
Conan: Spawn of the Serpent God is sooooo Zamorian!
Spawn of the Serpent God reads as a sequel to Howard's "Tower of the Elephant." One year after that story, Part I of the novel presents Conan as a nineteen-year-old roaming the temple district in the Maul; this is part of the City of Zamora, which is the capital of the district of the same name in Robert E. Howard (REH)'s continent of Hyboria (see map). Zamora is also known as "City of Thieves." Of course, Conan is compelled to revisit the tower ruins!
This round, Yag-Kosha is not reprised; instead, the tower is infested with Set's minions! Who the hell is Set? Well Set is the titular serpent god. The staging is a beautiful mashup of the original Howard Conan mythos blended with the fan-revered 1982 movie adaptation, in which Arnold Schwarzenegger plays the thiefing barbarian, and whose archenemy was Set's cult (images below). The movie paid homage to the "Tower of the Elephant" by switching out a giant spider for a giant snake in a tower that Conan enters to steal a gem. Spawn of the Serpent God plays on nostalgia, the short story, and the movie. In place of the magical jewel of the short story (the Heart of the Elephant), we are exposed to a similar magical gem called the Eye of the Serpent. Plenty of serpent horrors abound.
Uzzeran, the evil sorcerer of Set, invites confrontation from Conan and a small team that includes Anot (a shaman, more on her below in the Excerpts), Naerys (a priestess of Mitra), and the thief Valja. Avoiding spoilers, the mission goes spectacularly sour for everyone involved, protagonists and antagonists alike. Part 2 of the Novel addresses the bizarre repercussions after a 15year span. During this time, Conan befriends a sword-wielding Khitan named Qiang. The novel culminates with an epic confrontation that rivals Tolkien's Battle of the Five Armies conclusion to The Hobbit.
Expect Tie-ins to Zamorian Elements
• Towers, Serpents & Black Lotus from REH's "Tower of the Elephant" and the 1982 Movie
• As mentioned above, Conan revisits the titular "Tower of the Elephant" in Zamora. That was REH's third published Conan story; see Jayem Wilcox's illustration for the 1933 edition of Weird Tales below.
• In "Tower of the Elephant," REH had Conan paired with the Prince of Thieves Taurus, who employed Black Lotus powder to kill a bunch of lions guarding the tower. That drug is prominent again!
• REH's tower had no serpents, but the 1982 Conan movie featured Set and a Tower of the Serpent (as detailed above)
• Waggoner equates Set with other godlike serpents like Lovecraft's Yig
• The magical jewel called the Eye of Set builds on the mechanics of REH's Heart of the Elephant gem
• Ape-Men from REH's "Rogues in the House"
• Ape-Men roam Zamora, so expect them. Recall Thak? He was a half-pape/half-human being introduced in REH's "Rogues in the House" (Weird Tales, 134). Thak resided in the mountainous fringes of Zamora.
• Frank Frazetta painted a red-cloaked Thak assailed by Conan in 1966, and the piece covered the 1967 Conan collection from Lancer/Ace (it's iconic, see the painting below).
• Thak inspired the Hall of Mirrors creature in the 1984 movie Conan the Destroyer.
• Spiders and Zath
• Spiders roam Zamora. Big ones!
• Robert E. Howard presented a large, nameless spider in"Tower of the Elephant." The 1977 cover to Savage Sword of Conan #24 captures that well.
• The Spider God Zath was introduced in L. Sprague de Camp's 1980 novel Conan and the Spider God. Conan encounters it in the city of Yezud, Zamora.
Excerpts from Conan: Spawn of the Serpent God
Classic Conan Melee
The Aesir woman kicked a chair toward Conan's face to distract him as she attacked. He caught it with his left hand before it could hit him and slammed it against the skull of the Turanian foolish enough to attack from the side while the Aesir came at him from the front. Blood jetted from the man's nostrils and ears as the side of his head caved in and he went down. Dealing ith the Turanian took only seconds, but that was more than enough time for the Aesir to hurl her hatchet at Conan as she ran. The weapon spun end over end as it flew toward his chest -- aimed for the largest part of his body to have the best chance of a strike -- and if Conan had been anyone else, the hatchet would have cut through his chainmail and into his breastbone. But the Cimmerian fought as much from instinct as from training and experience, and his sword arm moved of its own accord with cat-like swiftness, striking the hatchet's metal head with a loud clang and swatting the weapon out of the air. p239
Sorcery & Abominations
Uzzeran continued chanting, his voice nearly deafening at this close distance. Loathsome tendrils of dark energy stretched from the ebon gem to penetrate the foreheads of both the boy and the creature. But as horrifying as this was, the worst part was the transformations that were occurring to each of Uzzeran's test subjects. patches of scales would arise on the boy's flesh, only to fade, and the snake-head's scales would be replaced by smooth, human skin in places, only to revert to their original shape and texture. In addition, each subject's face took on aspects of the other's, the boy's features became more reptilian, the snake-head's more human. The changes to their bodies appeared and disappeared every few seconds, and watching the cycle repeat revolted Conan on a primal level... An additional pair of black tendrils lanced forth from the mystic orb and came at Conan and Valja so fast that neither of them had time to react. The tendrils struck their chests and entered their bodies with ease, as if flesh and bone were no more substantial than air to them... p123
Characterization
[Anot] has been raised to worship the Old Serpent and as a child regularly witnessed the sacrifice of outsiders to the dread demon-god. She had cheered and clapped along with the others as priests plunged sharp stone blades into the chests of nonbelievers and tore out their still-beating hearts from their bodies and held them up for all to see. She had marveled at the great black snakes that slithered forth from the jungles to devour those hearts and then sway hypnotically, as if dancing to silent, dark music. At times, parents overcome with religious fervor would snatch up one of their children and rush forward to offer it to the serpents, who swallowed the little ones with ease, especially the infants. Anot had lived in fear her parents would offer her to the giant snakes one night, but they never did. Instead they sacrificed her older brother, Onor, to Damballah's avatars, and she had watched in horror as Onor slid down one of the serpent's throats, his muffled screams still audible from inside the monster... p79
Wait, there's more Scourge of the Serpent?
This is a stand-alone book! But notice the byline on the cover, it is a Scourge of the Serpent Novel. At first, I thought, 'Cool, there will be more novels.' That is not the case, but there are six associated Scourge of the Serpent comics. Heroic Signatures orchestrated a mini-series of sorts that tied several comics to this book. Jim Zub, lead writer of Conan Comics, explained the reading order on his blog and it was later expanded on HowToLove Comics. In short, the series kicks off with a free comic book (available online), connects to a prelude in a Conan and Savage Sword of Conan comic, and those flow into a series of four comics connected to this novel.
Below is the reading order for Conan the Barbarian: Scourge of the Serpent. It includes the core miniseries, prelude comics, and even a tie-in novel.
https://www.goodreads.com/series/4318...
1. Conan the Barbarian: Scourge of the Serpent – Free Comic Book Day 2025 (Prelude). Written by Jim Zub. Art by Ivan Gil. Link to free digital copy
2. Savage Sword of Conan (2025) #10 (Prelude). Written by Jim Zub. Art by Doug Braithwaite.
3. Conan the Barbarian: Scourge of the Serpent #1 (of 4). Written by Jim Zub. Art by Ivan Gil.
4. Conan the Barbarian: Spawn of the Serpent God (tie-in novel, written by Tim Waggoner
5. Conan the Barbarian: Scourge of the Serpent #2 (of 4) Written by Jim Zub. Art by Ivan Gil.
6. Conan the Barbarian: Scourge of the Serpent #3 (of 4) Written by Jim Zub. Art by Ivan Gil.
7. Conan the Barbarian: Scourge of the Serpent #4 (of 4) Written by Jim Zub. Art by Ivan Gil.
Don't want to track down the comics individually?
You can get five of the six in a single book on May 5, 2026. It will have all but the Savage Sword #10 issue; or in other words, Conan the Barbarian: Scourge of the Serpent collects Conan: Scourge of the Serpent #1-4 and Conan the Barbarian Free Comic (i.e., #1,3,5,6,7 from this list, covers featured in image).
December 23, 2025
Conan meets thrill-seeking thief Valja, who asks him to help her steal a gold statue of the goddess Ishtar. The theft goes badly, and they're saved by the priestesses of Mitra. As he suspects, the priestesses want something in return: help in their war against Set, the god of serpents and chaos.
Opening with the heist of the gold statuettes of Ishtar, we're introduced to Conan and his current lover, Valja, in their element. It's an interview of sorts for the priestess. At the same time, the Cult of Set is working on sorcery, the Cult of Zath, the spider god is working against the Serpent Men. Set is one of the Great Old Ones, with different names for different cultures, with a plan to fuse Serpent Men and humans through foul magic. The ceremony is one that requires specific conditions, and part 2 of the book takes place fifteen years later. In between the battles are back stories and the motivations of various characters.
The omniscient view gives more insight into the story than the average action movie would, and it splits some of the attention away from the titular Conan. It works here because he's still the main fighter in the battles, which are cinematic and thrilling to read. If you enjoy classic Conan tales, this will be a great read for you.
Opening with the heist of the gold statuettes of Ishtar, we're introduced to Conan and his current lover, Valja, in their element. It's an interview of sorts for the priestess. At the same time, the Cult of Set is working on sorcery, the Cult of Zath, the spider god is working against the Serpent Men. Set is one of the Great Old Ones, with different names for different cultures, with a plan to fuse Serpent Men and humans through foul magic. The ceremony is one that requires specific conditions, and part 2 of the book takes place fifteen years later. In between the battles are back stories and the motivations of various characters.
The omniscient view gives more insight into the story than the average action movie would, and it splits some of the attention away from the titular Conan. It works here because he's still the main fighter in the battles, which are cinematic and thrilling to read. If you enjoy classic Conan tales, this will be a great read for you.
February 3, 2026
Πρώτα από όλα, θα πω πως χαίρομαι ΟΣΟ ΔΕΝ ΠΑΕΙ που βγαίνουν ιστορίες Conan to 2026! Το εκτιμώ και θα τις αγόραζα ακόμη και αν δεν μου άρεσαν τόσο.
Αλλά είναι καλές! Απόλαυσα το βιβλίο περισσότερο από όσο περίμενα. Πάντα κρατάω χαμηλές προσδοκίες, όμως σε αυτό το βιβλίο όλα πήγαν όπως έπρεπε.
Η ιστορία περισσότερο μοιάζει με DnD ιστορία ή αν προτιμάτε Epic Fantasy, παρά με το Sword n Sorcery που προσωπικά περίμενα, αλλά και πάλι, δε με χάλασε. Ο Conan δεν είναι συνέχεια εκεί και απουσιάζει για πολλές σελίδες, καθώς η πλοκή επικεντρώνεται στους χαρακτήρες (κάτι που με ξενίζει λίγο για ιστορία Conan), αλλά και πάλι είμαι οκ με αυτό.
Η ιστορία είναι από τις καλύτερες τις titan περιόδου και αυτό πάντα είναι σημαντικό. Η ροή είναι πολύ καλή και διαβάζεται εύκολα. Γενικά, μου άρεσε.
Θα μου πεις: Σου άρεσε μια ιστορία Conan: Κι όμως, το ευχαριστήθηκα και με άφησε ένα χαμόγελο στα χείλη.
Αλλά είναι καλές! Απόλαυσα το βιβλίο περισσότερο από όσο περίμενα. Πάντα κρατάω χαμηλές προσδοκίες, όμως σε αυτό το βιβλίο όλα πήγαν όπως έπρεπε.
Η ιστορία περισσότερο μοιάζει με DnD ιστορία ή αν προτιμάτε Epic Fantasy, παρά με το Sword n Sorcery που προσωπικά περίμενα, αλλά και πάλι, δε με χάλασε. Ο Conan δεν είναι συνέχεια εκεί και απουσιάζει για πολλές σελίδες, καθώς η πλοκή επικεντρώνεται στους χαρακτήρες (κάτι που με ξενίζει λίγο για ιστορία Conan), αλλά και πάλι είμαι οκ με αυτό.
Η ιστορία είναι από τις καλύτερες τις titan περιόδου και αυτό πάντα είναι σημαντικό. Η ροή είναι πολύ καλή και διαβάζεται εύκολα. Γενικά, μου άρεσε.
Θα μου πεις: Σου άρεσε μια ιστορία Conan: Κι όμως, το ευχαριστήθηκα και με άφησε ένα χαμόγελο στα χείλη.
January 27, 2026
Not unreadably bad but the prose is lifeless and it doesn't really feel like Conan. The desire to do reparative work to unpleasant tropes present in the original material is understandable, but the execution here leads to a lot of bland mush.
January 27, 2026
An instantly enjoyable adventure filled with great supporting characters and a variety of settings that always feel vivid and alive. If you’re looking for body-swapping lizard-men, stealthy ape-men, and giant serpents and spiders, this is most certainly the book for you!
February 20, 2026
I'm a fan of the original Conan stories and have read a good deal of other author's continuation of the adventures and I thought this story went outside the usual framework of the Conan universe. This story is much more fantastical and over the top.
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