Conan the Relentless
cover of Conan the Relentless | |
Author | Roland Green |
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Cover artist | Ken Kelly |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Series | Conan the Barbarian |
Genre | Sword and sorcery |
Publisher | Tor Books |
Publication date | 1992 |
Media type | Print (Paperback) |
Pages | 279 pp |
ISBN | 0-812-50962-5 |
OCLC | 25533769 |
Conan the Relentless is a fantasy novel by American writer Roland Green featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in paperback by Tor Books in April 1992, and was reprinted in April 1998.[1]
Plot
After the events of "The Lair of the Ice Worm", Conan enters the Border Kingdom. Encountering a group of bandits, he learns that the guards of the caravan they plan to raid are led by Raihna, a female adventurer he had previously encountered in Conan the Valiant. This news leads him to abandon his inclination to join the bandits and come to the defense of Raihna instead. Afterwards the two enter the service of Eloikis, theoretical king over the restive, semi-independent lords of the country, who needs their aid against a powerful count and two demon-controlling wizards. The story follows their adventures as the king's troubleshooters, which ultimately lead to their rescue of his daughter and grandson. But their partnership dissolves when Rhiana decides to marry one of the king's guards, and Conan resumes his wanderings, heading south.
Reception
According to reviewer Lagomorph Rex the book "felt like mostly what it was, filler, but decent filler rather than horrid filler." He considers it "not a bad little story," but "[p]lot wise there wasn't a whole lot going on that we haven't seen before," and it is "to[o] long for the scanty plot which it was built around." Nonetheless, he finds it "especially interesting in that it reintroduced a character we had seen previously, adding a lot to her character, and then wraps her story up with a nice conclusion." Among the Tor Conan writers he ranks Green's writing beneath that of John Maddox Roberts and Robert Jordan, but "far superior to Leonard Carpenter or Steve Perry."[2]
Notes
References
Preceded by Conan the Rogue |
Tor Conan series (publication order) |
Succeeded by Conan the Savage |
Preceded by "The Lair of the Ice Worm" |
Complete Conan Saga (William Galen Gray chronology) |
Succeeded by Conan the Savage |