Books and Comics I Read for Cimmerian September 2025

Two books and two volumes of comics this month.

Old Gods and Other Tales by Scott Oden (Independently published, 2025)

I absolutely loved this collection of historical fiction, fantasy, and sword and sorcery tales, especially the historical fiction. I enjoyed some stories more than others but as a whole this was an excellent read. Look for a more in-depth review in the future. 

Conan the Barbarian Vol. 4: Frozen Faith by Jim Zub and Doug Braithwaite (Titan Comics, 2025)

This volume collects issues in which Robert E. Howard’s story “The Frost Giant’s Daughter” is expanded upon. Between savage battles and flashbacks to Conan’s childhood, we learn how he comes to believe what he believes regarding the existence of Crom and other gods. An excellent combination of story and art. 

The Savage Sword of Conan Vol. 2 by a variety of writers and artists. (Titan Comics, 2025)

This collects issues 4-6 of Titan’s black & white magazine-sized Savage Sword of Conan. Quite the mixed bag. Issue 4 includes one Conan story and five back up stories featuring other characters. Not much happens as each story is a prologue to Titan’s Black Stone crossover event. I enjoyed Solomon Kane by Patrick Zircher and El Borak by Ron Mars and Mike Perkins as they felt more like complete stories as well as prologues.

The high point for me was the story by Jason Aaron and Geoff Isherwood from issues 5 & 6 in which King Conan encounters a witch as well as a cult of witch-finders. I also enjoyed the prose fiction short story by Matthew John from issue 6.

Lots of great pin-ups, but the rest of the stories and art just didn’t connect with me.  So far Conan the Barbarian has been knocking it out of the park, but I’ve found Savage Sword to be pretty uneven, but I guess that’s to be expected with an anthology series. 

Conan: City of the Dead by John C. Hocking (Titan Books, 2024)

This collects two books, Conan and the Emerald Lotus (1999) and its long-awaited sequel, Conan and the Living Plague (2024). I didn’t get to the sequel, but I finished the first one. 

In Conan and the Emerald Lotus, Conan deals with sorcerers, the undead, and a monstrous plant. It takes a few chapters to get started as it introduces a number of characters, but once it gets going it’s a real page turner. I quite enjoyed Hocking's prose as it brought the Hyborian Age to life and Conan felt like Robert E. Howard's Conan. Looking forward to reading more of Hocking's work, which I'll definitely be reading some of next month.

Short Stories and Comics I Read for Cimmerian September, 2024

My original plan for Cimmerian September was to read Conan: Blood of the Serpent by S.M. Stirling and then some of the Conan paperbacks that I’ve collected over the last few years. Unfortunately, I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump lately and it didn’t help that I couldn’t get into Blood of the Serpent. It took me three weeks just to get through the first few chapters. I haven’t given up on it yet but I’m finding the first part really, really slow paced. So, I came up with a new plan. 

At the beginning of the year, I read “Conan: The Shadow of Vengeance” by Scott Oden and I loved it. Here’s a link to my post that includes a review:

We Learn by Writing: Books I Read in February 2024

I figured now is a good time to read the other Conan stories by other authors featured in the Heroic Legends series. These stories were just what I needed. 

“Conan: Lord of the Mount” by Stephen Graham Jones (Titan Books, 2023)

I enjoyed the two horror novellas I read by Stephen Graham Jones, so I was looking forward to this. It grabbed me right from the start. Fast paced, action packed, and Conan pretty much felt like Conan.

 

“Conan: The Child” by Brian D. Anderson (Titan Books, 2023)

Action, twists, and interesting characters. Written in a contemporary style while still feeling true to the character of Conan. Even though I could see where things were heading, this was a really fun read. Brian D. Anderson is an author new to me and this story makes me want to check out his other work. Scott Oden's story and this one are my favorite of the Heroic Legends Conan stories published so far.

“Conan: Lethal Consignment” by Shaun Hamill (Titan Books, 2023)

A young Conan is hired as a guard on a ship. Even early in his career I would have expected Conan to be more confident than he’s depicted here and some of the modern vocabulary took me out of the story. Other than that, it was a quick fun read. 

“Conan: Terror from the Abyss” by Henry Herz (Titan Books, 2024)

Conan and Bêlit face a Lovecraftian horror from the deep. A fast-paced story with an abrupt ending. The strengths of this story lie in its great descriptions and use of vocabulary. Conan praying to Crom felt very out of character though. 

“Conan: The Halls of Immortal Darkness” by Laird Barron (Titan Books, 2024)

I’ve heard good things about Laird Barron and have a few of his books but until now I haven’t read anything by him. After being bitten by a snake and having a weird vision, Conan is hired by a mysterious woman and an old man. As much as I liked the writing, I wasn’t sure what to make of this story until I got to the end, which really won me over. I really need to get around to reading more of Laird Barron.

There’s one story that I didn’t get to, “Conan: Black Starlight” by John C. Hocking. It takes place between his two books Conan and the Emerald Lotus and Conan and the Living Plague, both which are included in Conan: City of the Dead, which was published this year. I ordered a copy this month but it’s one of the books that I didn’t get to.

I did get to the Conan the Barbarian comic though:

Conan the Barbarian Vol. 2: Thrice Marked for Death written by Jim Zub, art Doug Braithwaite, coloring by Diego Rodriguez, and cover art by Roberto De La Torre. (Titan Comics, 2024)

Volume 2 collects issues 5-8 of Titan’s Conan the Barbarian comic. While haunted by memories of Bêlit, Conan joins a group of thieves for a heist. Of course, things don’t go as planned. Jim Zub continues to write a great Conan and the art by Doug Braithwaite is impressive, especially his splash pages.

That finishes up my Cimmerian September. I may read some spooky stuff for October but I’m not making any definite plans as I hardly ever stick with them. We’ll see what happens.

Cimmerian September

Cimmerian September is a reading event in which people read Conan stories, either Robert E. Howard’s originals, pastiche versions, or comics. Since I recently finished reading the original stories, I figured now would be a good time to dive into some of the pastiche novels that I’ve collected over the last few years. 

First up is Conan: Blood of the Serpent by S.M. Stirling from 2022. This is a prequel to Howard’s last Conan story, “Red Nails.” The book includes Howard's story and has some great illustrations by Roberto De La Torre who has done artwork for the new Conan comic from Titan. I'm also planning on reading the new book by John Hocking, Conan: City of the Dead. It includes two books, Conan and the Emerald Lotus from 1995, and its new sequel, Conan and the Living Plague. The original edition of Emerald Lotus goes for high prices so it's nice that it's included in this new edition. After these, who knows? I have lots to choose from as you can see below.

Here are Bantam editions and a Tor edition of The Road of Kings by Karl Edward Wagner:

Two from Ace by Andrew J. Offutt:

Three Tor editions by Sean A. Moore:

Four Tors by John Maddox Roberts:

If you have any suggestions for which Conan pastiche I should read next, please let me know!