• Conan: Blood of the Serpent

  • The All-New Chronicles of the World's Greatest Barbarian Hero
  • By: S. M. Stirling
  • Narrated by: Bradford Hastings
  • Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (170 ratings)

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Conan: Blood of the Serpent  By  cover art

Conan: Blood of the Serpent

By: S. M. Stirling
Narrated by: Bradford Hastings
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Publisher's summary

The pulse-pounding return of Conan, the most iconic fantasy hero in popular culture

Conan the Barbarian, the world’s most famous fantasy hero, returns in an all-new novel tied directly to the famous works by his legendary creator, Robert E. Howard.

In this story, set early in his life, Conan has left his northern homeland to cut a bloody swath across the legendary Hyborian Age. A mercenary, a soldier, a thief, and a pirate, he faces conquering armies, malicious sorcerers, and monstrous creatures—against which he wields only the sword held in his powerful grasp.

The first new Conan novel in more than a decade, Blood of the Serpent leads directly into one of Robert E. Howard’s most famous sword-and-sorcery adventures, “Red Nails,” which as a bonus feature is included in this volume.

©2022 Conan Properties International LLC (“CPI”) (P)2022 Blackstone Publishing

What listeners say about Conan: Blood of the Serpent

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Conan is back, and more gritty and real than ever!

I've said it a million times, no one is going to top Howard. So S. M. Stirling comes in and decides he wants to build on the history of Conan by telling a story in his early years, without trying to imitate or outdo Howard in any way.

This was a great decision. Stirling writes to his own strengths. He really knows how to capture the intimate close-up nature of adventuring in the savage Hyborian Age, with all the creatures, cultures, languages and worldbuilding we have loved for a century. Most important of all is that he has almost perfectly encapsulated the character of Conan. He knows how Conan speaks, how he acts, what motivates and drives him, what he looks like, how he feels about other people, and on and on. It is a closer look at the character, yet not in any way unfamiliar, than we've ever had.

Unfortunately the story does steer off in certain directions on occasion as little side plots come about, and don't come to a meaningful conclusion. It's not a huge complaint. There is a lot here to love, and the enjoyable writing style and intelligent, well-researched lore and prose is highly compelling. I'm not going to lie, I could feel the man tears welling as I began to be reunited with one of my favorite characters of all time.

And on that note I have to mention the stellar voice narration ability from Bradford Hastings. He pronounced things a little different from what I'm used to but his characterizations, gruff and gritty Conan voice, smooth narration all came together in a much appreciable way. It was voice butter for my ear bread.

I loved this book. It is almost everything I was hoping for and expecting. Stirling, I haven't read any of your other works (YET) but I am a huge fan of what you did here. I can see a few people getting disappointed by the weaker sorcery elements in a sword and sorcery tale, and honestly it felt more like a grimdark / epic low fantasy rendition than the classics. You experience the grit, the realism, the detailed explanations of foods and wines, clothing and cultures, military formations, etc.

As I mentioned it feels like it's blurred the lines between modern dark fantasy and classic heroic fantasy, but still left me completely satisfied. Yes I thought this would be more about larger than life heroes fighting larger than life villains in a mystic but savage landscape, and instead I got more of a grounded, up close view of what Conan's day to day life is like when he first meets Valeria and fights for a mercenary band of sorts. Once a thief, once a pirate, once a king. He is always interesting, far more complex than the dumb brute stereotype would try to suggest of him. And here, he is just right. I even detected a hint of an old west cowboy on his steed in the early 1900s plains of Texas, just as Howard must have felt as he envisioned some of his characters back in his day.

It's a solid product in the end, well worth buying for Conan fans or non fans. I could easily recommend this kind of book to almost anyone. Most of my friends would love it. I think the only people who will struggle are Howard purists who won't like the genre blend. But the world and characters are perfect. Especially Valeria who makes for an entertainingly cunning and capable female lead. I absolutely suggest you read this, especially the audio edition (and the hardback as it has some neat illustrations and a new map). I am pleased, but by Crom whoever made this brilliant decision in the first place had better get you back on board for some followups, Stirling, because I need my fix. Perhaps this time with even more sorcerous baddies!

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Weird end

Ends abruptly without resolving a main plot point. Otherwise not bad but not great either.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Valeria: Blood of the Serpent

Let me begin by saying this book has a lot to like. The descriptions of the food, cultures, people and natural vistas of REH's world are absolutely fantastic. Conan's reminiscing of his homeland of Cimmeria would be captivating and among the PROs I have listed but their length, timing and overuse shift it into the CON category for me.

The first half of this book is why I titled this review as I did; on no less than 3 occasions our iron-thewed barbarian hero watches from the sidelines as Valeria participates in the main action. The first and last are excusable, the second is so utterly out of character for Conan I began to fear Valeria would usurp Conan's place in his own story. Avoiding spoilers, Conan watches from the shadows as Valeria duels a gang of men who outnumber her more than five times and not only carries the day, but does so in such good health she can scramble up the side of a building Assassin's Creed style. In case the author ever reads this I say to him; if you'd like to write a story or stories focusing on Valeria of the Red Brotherhood, I and many other Conan fans would read it happily.

The second half of this book is a bit better, if a bit meandering. Avoiding spoilers again it is fun (if scatterbrained) sustained chase across a pre-historic Africa that sees Conan stumble into a bit of a side quest in much the same way the players might ignore the plot hooks of an exciteable DM.

Overall this is a passable and occasionally fantastic Hyborian romp, despite my scathing tone it is clear that the author has a passion for the source material and is thrilled to write in a world he loves, and I can hardly blame him if that excitement got the better of him in places.

I look forward to reading more of your work in this world of Sword and Sorcery, sir.

Quick notes on the performance; Overall solid with occasional bizarre mispronunciations, usually of the words "Cimmeria" or "Cimmerian" despite correct pronunciation elsewhere, I suspect an error in editing.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • A
  • 10-19-23

An excellent telling in Howard's style!

I'm hoping there's more on Conan's horizon from Sterling! Really enjoyed this "prologue" to Red Nails. Also very fine narration.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Entertaining read

Good, well-told story. Stirling gets the character better than most pastiche authors. It made me want to re-read “Red Nails” next, and continue the adventure.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A lot of fun for fans of Conan

If you like conan give it a try, it really gets the vibe of the originals right. If you have never listened to a conan book this isn’t a bad place to start either.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Conan is back!

A well written tale in the style of the old Conan sagas that I fell in love with as a kid.
It has made me want to go back and re-read all the books again! I certainly hope S.M Stirling feels compelled to write another tale of the sword weilding Cimmarian. I will buy it immediately upon release. Thanks

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Conan:Blood of the Serpent

A very good cone and tail. The author was very familiar with the Hyborian age and the references to that age were very welcome.
A true Conan aficionado will appreciate this prelude to one of the greatest Konan stories ever written

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Different from the Conan I used to read.


Descent story. Leaves you hanging for the climax... next book better come our soon.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good story, great performance

I thoroughly enjoyed the story. It stretched a bit long during the "chase" and it seemed like the author just had so many ideas that it was difficult to fit it all in without it seeming like a jumble of events.

That being said the experience was enjoyable and I appreciated getting to experience a Conan story through his eyes.

I am also glad the author didn't attempt to ape Robert E. Howard's style. The author has a good voice that was easy to fall into.

The audio performance was top tier. I hope to see a pairing of this author and narrator for future Conan adventures.

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