Hyperborian Age Revisited

I don't get to posting that much. On top of that, this type of thing isn't in my wheelhouse, so nobody really reads this stuff anyway... but just in case you do... and like Conan stories, read, or listen, to the book above. 

John C. Hocking includes two stories in this volume, Conan and the Emerald Lotus and Conan and the Living Plaque. Both are pretty good stories, and if you get the audio book, it is read by Bradford Hastings, who does a damned good job. Hasting's take on Conan's voice and personality is very fitting in my humble, or not so humble, opinion. 

The first story, Conan and the Emerald Lotus, follows Conan as he gets himself caught in a battle between three sorcerers and the mysterious emerald lotus. This story really feels like an R. E. Howard Conan story. Conan functioning in the interests of Conan, gets himself embroiled in this mage competition, and it's not really a competition, but more of an intrique bound up in ambition, betrayal, and addiction. It's a very interesting premise. It's my favorite of the two, I have listened to it several times.

The second story is, as I am sure you have guessed, Conan and the Living Plague. It's very interesting plot considering what we all lived through in 2020. Anyway, this story ties into the prior story and connects the big barbarian to a gent he meets in the beginning of Conan and the Emerald Lotus. Serving as mercenaries, Conan and Shamtare are selected as part of a "secret" mission to raid a city that has supposedly been completely wiped out in a deadly plague. Little do they know that the plague is more than just some bacterial disease, and they end up in some kind of Lovecraftian horror story. I shall say no more. 


Read, or listen, to them both. You will enjoy. 

The images are not related to the stories by the way, but how can you have a post about Conan without some cool artwork?



Location: Virginia, USA

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