Conan Indomitable

by Steve Perry

Book Overview

All Conan wants to do is make his way in peace, but the evil necromancer Katamy Rey has named him as his next victim.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812508602
• ISBN13: 9780812508604
• Release Date: September 1990
• Publisher: Tor Books
• Length: 273 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.3" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Comedy by way of chaos

Sadly some people don't quite seem to "get" this book. But just as in Perry's previous Conan book,Conan The Defiant Perry uses the central unifying theme in the world of Hyperboria, that chaos rules all and that men's lives are insignificant (as with all good pulp), and channels it through humor and adventure. The humor in "Defiant" was, granted, much more dry. [I absolutely loved the spiders following their prey after he'd become a zombie, just like 'uh. WTF?' Just a brilliant idea.] Essentially most usually use the idea of the world being chaotic and men's lives meaningless as a horrific idea; but some, like Perry for Conan and Sandy Mitchell for Warhammer 40K, play with the concept that, if these axioms are true, then it also means that, while anything bad can happen at any time and there is no justice, ANYTHING can happen at any time, which can really lead to ANY outcome. This outing, perhaps some were put off by the humor, since it's broader. It's not meant to be taken seriously. It's not meant to be ponderous or weighty, it's just fun, breezy adventure with a high dose of humor. Now, yes, I know you might be 'hmmm'ing, saying, well, oftentimes that just means that an author has been lazy and obviously doesn't care about the characters. Not true. Though sometimes a little too on the nose (the most egregious example of this is the line, 'Conan was nothing if not pragmatic'), Conan seems to act completely in character in this book, never acting differently to make a joke. And, as I believe someone else pointed out, the best part about the book is the buddy story between the cyclops and the giant worm, a story which, while it's told humorously, is nonetheless touching. [They obviously need a spinoff novel.] In further defense, I'd say Perry decided to make this humorous and then use that as a challenge to himself as a writer to do BETTER with his prose. Perhaps fearing too much sword & sorcery had dulled his pen, he seems determined to make the wit in this as well thought out as possible. I think the best instance is when he describes the witch, naked, standing on her boat, legs spread, the wind running through her hair. The care with which the "hair" line is placed right after the "spread legs" line makes it obvious he's trying to get the reader to imagine a specific type of hair, ending in a kind of ... literary humor. Shenanigans of this sort abound in this novel, from the ridiculous (the worm thinking of pros and cons: 'but on the other coil...') to the sharp-edged (Conan figuring out how to beat Elashi in a verbal fight). Is much of it fairly skippable? Yes, I suppose so, if you're just wanting the story. There are a LOT of POV sections from the people chasing Conan & co. and very few of them really add much to the story, but in the end, what do these Tor books really add to the Conan canon (that's confusing to type) anyway? Isn't the point to be amusing and entertaining, while, one hopes, well-written? In the end, very enjoyable b