Conan the Marauder

Adventures of Conan

by John Maddox Roberts

In the fabled lands far beyond the Vilayet Sea, Conan of Cimmeria faces his most deadly challenge. The warlord Bartatua plans to unite the Hyrkanian tribes and sweep across the world in conquest, while the Turanian wizard Khondemir plots to use Bartatua's ambition to further his sorcerous schemes. Ishkala, haughty Princess of Sogaria, and Lakhme, seductress and spy, weave their own intrigues as the power of gods is drawn to the City of Mounds, ancient necropolis of the Hyrkanians. Every hand is turned against Conan, and he can only be Conan the Marauder

Genres: Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Fiction

277 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

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]

Roberts' third Conan novel is another pretty good pastiche of Howard's iconic character. I thought his descriptions of the world and peoples was quite good, as he basically introduces Genghis Khan and his horde to Hyrkania, and the individual characters were memorable, too. His style was a bit slower and more measured and less like Howard's no-holds-barred-all-out-pulp-attack, but I enjoyed the story. Good Ken Kelly cover, too.

[Christopher Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having only read Maddox' excellent SPQR series I was eager to read this. I never knew that he'd written any Conan stories, but apparently his work is well regarded as a Conan writer.

I was not disappointed. This isn't quite Howard's Conan, but it is definitely his world, and retains the feel and content of that age almost as if a historian wrote the novel. Maddox does such a good job recreating a fictitious setting that at times its easy to believe this was a real time and place.

The overall story is solid, with memorable characters, including several striking and interesting women, a poet swordsman, a wicked sorcerer (is there ever any other kind in Conan?) and a horde of proto-Mongols.

There are few flaws, mostly Conan being entirely too garrulous and chatty, and a lot of excessively convenient timing (every time someone eavesdrops or spies, its exactly what they need to hear), but overall a fun, gripping story.

[Stuart Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Conan is wandering across the Eastern steppes when he encounters the Hyrkaenean horde. They have recently united under a new khan and are planning world domination. Conan proves himself worthy to join their gang and goes raiding. The khan's woman doesn't like Conan, and the city the horde is planning to raid harbors a wizard, and the combination of these two cause Conan a great deal of trouble.

Conan will fight for basically anybody that pays him. He'll turn pirate and raider when it's convenient, and bandit and thief when nothing else turns up. Here is Conan at his most barbarian. A bunch of wild tribesmen want to raid every city they can find, kill or enslave every person that is not part of their tribe, and not stop until they have conquered the world, and Conan is perfectly OK with that. He doesn't personally kill unarmed people and civilians, but the men he leads certainly do. In all his years of piracy and banditry it has happened hundreds of times, but it's generally not made as clear as it is here that Conan's honorable protection of the weak only applies to those directly in front of his sword. He manages to avoid a fight when it is unnecessary, but orders a slaughter when it serves his purpose, and leading a vicious horde into a peaceful city doesn't bother him at all. Entertaining to see Coan written as a true Cimmerian untempered by his years in civilization.

[Phil On The Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good fun returning to the world of Hyborian Age. The novel was pretty good.

[Pierre Armel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not expect much from this book (even though I had read somewhere that JM Roberts’ Conan pastiches were above average) and was quite positively surprised by it. A solid story, obviously a lot of research on real world mongols, interesting characters and a well handled climax end up making this book a very entertaining yarn. Sure, Roberts’ Conan seems a bit out of phase with REH original creation (a bit too wise in my opinion) but that is a minor point in the overall enjoyment of this book. Some Conan pastiches were so bad I did not even finish them. This is definitely not one of those.

[Isen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Conan the Marauder is Roberts' third Conan novel. Conan is captured by not-Mongols while trekking over the steppe, and is conscripted into not-Genghis' army. A sorcerer and a concubine are also around for some reason, as are some tentacles.

It's a decent read, with a few lines of top-notch banter, and of all of Roberts' novels so far, this one feels the most like Hyboria. The downside is that it doesn't feel as much Conan. Much of it is a love letter to horse archers and steppe conquerors, and for much of the book we join Conan in adoring the Ushi-Kagan who, really, does nothing to deserve it. At least not in the events described here. About halfway through Conan loses all reason for being in this story, but he sticks around anyway, and like the two previous novels we again have to deal with father-figure Conan as he teaches another insufferable youth about such wisdom as only a towering wall of muscle can provide.

[Aaron White · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well plotted book, in my opinion. Conan was much to well seasoned and an expert in everything. He had none of his impetuosity and could have stood to have a few faults. Aside from this, the author created a fun world with many different factions that wasn’t complicated, but lent itself to an interesting situation where I was never sure who to root for, aside from Conan of course.

[Jean-Sébastien Goulet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good little book. Very... military. It was not the best I have read from this author but it was still engaging and fun.

For once, Conan doesn't get the girl(s)! It was alright, I'll read more. 4 stars.

[Jeff Mayo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Typical Conan published in 1988. It doesn’t fit in the traditional timeline. It is neither good nor memorable.

[Lewis Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

"A man's character is his destiny, and a fool will die a fool's death no matter how fully he is warned."

Conan the Marauder is the 13th book in the Tor run and one I quite enjoyed. Taking place in the steppes between Khitai and the Vilayet Sea, I was excited to read a story set so far east in the Hyborian Age, in distant lands readers rarely get to visit.

This book's strengths come from the many quotes and actions that show Conan's capabilities as a travelled, learned warrior. Conan sometimes gets misinterpreted as a dumb brute, but Maddox shows a great understanding of Howard's character through his wit, cunning, intellect, pragmatism, and resourcefulness. He also does so in just the right ways, portraying Conan's intelligence in a blunt, brutal, survivalist manner that isn't always easy to capture.

From Conan teaching lessons to the young poet-warrior Manzur, to him talking about his past professions and travels, this book had some of my favourite excerpts from the whole Tor run despite not being among my favourite.

Still, I have a few criticisms. Nothing drastic, but this book took a long time to "grab" me despite my initial excitement. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it, but the story wasn't all that captivating for the most part.

There were also a few plot issues. One was that some Hyrkanians refused to battle on their burial grounds at night after their leader suggested it for spiritual reasons... but later, when Conan suggested it, they just did it and it wasn't a problem. Another is that there were a thousand Hyrkanian riders surrounding the battle to prevent anyone escaping... but Conan left with Manzur and Ishkala (the latter two being enemies of Hyrkanians) as though the riders were simply no longer an issue.

Yet the book ended on its highest note, with Conan going full berserker while the sorcerer Khondemir summoned a Lovecraftian demon from the skies over the bloodshed. This just about pushed the book to four stars instead of three for me, and so I finished it feeling very satisfied!

And now I leave you with another great quote...

"It is a fool who thinks that books and reading weaken a man."

[Charles · Rating 2 out of 5]

Conan pastiche.

[Oz · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an okay book. Being my first Conan novel, it has at least convinced me to read more of the series.