Conan and the Amazon

Conan and the Amazon

Cover of first edition
Author	John Maddox Roberts
Cover artist	Ken Kelly
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Conan the Barbarian
Genre	Sword and sorcery
Publisher	Tor Books
Publication date	1995
Media type	Print (Paperback)
Pages	276
ISBN	0-8125-2493-4

Conan and the Amazon is a fantasy novel by American writer John Maddox Roberts, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in paperback by Tor Books in April 1995. It was reprinted by Tor in April 1999. ^[1]

Plot

Fresh from a failed rebellion in Brythunia, in which he served as a mercenary on the opposing side, Conan joins forces with a tribe of native warriors led by Achilea (former queen of the Amazons). Achilea is guiding a pair of mysterious twins in their search the ancient city of Jangar. The warriors travel across Zamora, Koth, and the Stygian Desert before crossing a range of southeastern mountains.

Conan's allies eventually reach the city, cursed by the gods after an ancient battle. Jangar is still in good condition despite its supposed desertion and was, in fact, never abandoned. The citizens, who loathe the sun, live within a subterranean city beneath the ruins of their old one.

Caught between the evil agenda of his demonic employers and the Jangarians, Conan finds himself trapped in his battle with a giant crocodile as the city approaches its eventual destruction.

Reception

Don D'Ammassa, writing of Roberts' Conan novels, noted that "[a]lthough Roberts did not recreate Howard's character exactly, making him more intellectual and less inclined to solve every problem by hitting it with a sword, his evocation of the barbaric setting is superior to that of most of the other writers contributing to the series." ^[2] This novel, D'Ammassa writes, "was pretty good but it was actually the least interesting of Roberts' Conan novel[s]." ^[3]

Reviewer Ryan Harvey considered Roberts "the most consistently entertaining" of the Tor Conan authors, showing "deft ability with storytelling and action scenes, and a thankful tendency not to overplay his hand and try to ape Robert E. Howard’s style. ... However, Roberts had his down moments, and alas he stumbled at the finish line. Conan and the Amazon is the last of Roberts’s Conan novels. It’s also his poorest." He rates it "above average for the Tor novels, [but] a disappointment for its author. It moves too slowly, and the action is jumbled into a hasty mess at the conclusion." ^[4] In another place he notes that he "would hate to judge John Maddox Roberts based on Conan and the Amazon ... [a] poor work... from [an] otherwise skilled pastiche writer..." ^[5]

Notes

1. Conan and the Amazon title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
2. D'Ammassa, Don (February 2006). Encyclopedia of fantasy and horror fiction. Infobase Publishing. p. 292. ISBN   978-0-8160-6192-1 . Retrieved 23 August 2011.
3. D'Ammassa, Don. "Conan and the Amazon" (review). Nov. 26, 2017.
4. "Black Gate » Articles » Pastiches 'R' Us: Conan and the Amazon" . Retrieved Apr 29, 2020.
5. "Harvey, Ryan. "Conan and the Death Lord of Thanza" (Review), Jan. 2, 2005". Archived from the original on April 22, 2015. Retrieved Apr 29, 2020.

References

• Fantastic Fiction entry for Conan and the Amazon

Preceded by Conan the Gladiator	Tor Conan series (publication order)	Succeeded by Conan and the Mists of Doom
Preceded by Conan and the Death Lord of Thanza	Complete Conan Saga (William Galen Gray chronology)	Succeeded by "The Devil in Iron"