Titan Books had a 99-cent sale on a number of their Heroic Legends short stories recently, so I picked up the Conan stories I was missing and I got caught up.
Conan: The Amulet of Nakamar by Brendan Deneen (Titan Books, 2025)
Shortly after the events of “The Tower of the Elephant,” a young Conan is approached in a tavern and hired to recover a stolen jewel. This felt much too generic and the writing didn’t grab me. I found the constant references to Conan’s childhood training repetitive and some passages seemed to contradict each other. Disappointing.
Rating: Two swords out of five.
Conan: Marked for Death by Tim Waggoner (Titan Books, 2026)
Conan and his mercenary companions encounter supernatural trouble after a job gone wrong. I really enjoyed this. A great mix of mystery, action, and horror.
Rating: Four swords out of five.
Conan: The Treasures of Tortage by Robbie MacNiven (Titan Books, 2026)
I wasn’t expecting a story from the perspective of another character, but the prose grabbed me from the first sentence and never let go. The twist that comes was well done and the ending stuck landing. I'm glad that I didn't read the story description beforehand as it has a spoiler. This is my favorite of the four I read. I loved how Conan is shown using his cunning as well as his strength in this story.
Rating: Five swords out of five.
Conan: The Green God of Leng by Gavin G. Smith (Titan Books, 2026)
After people across the land are plagued by strange dreams, Conan is asked to help fight off the source of the nightmares. At the end we get a pretty wild final battle. This story has some nice nods to H.P. Lovecraft including the appearance of the Plateau of Leng. Well done.
Rating: Four swords out of five.
Three great stories of four. Not bad.
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