Books and Comics I Read in June 2026

Between a busy month at work, making plans for a much-needed vacation, driving halfway across the US and back (more details to come in an upcoming post), and the heat of summer, not only did I not get much reading done, but I also took forever to write up my notes for what I did read.  Well, I’m finally back so here are some reviews!

Jangar! Slaves of the MInd Mage by L. D. Whitney. (Cliffhanger Press, 2026)

A barbarian raised in the jungle fights to save a woman from savage beast-men. This novelette was a really fun read. A fast-paced sword & sorcery jungle adventure with some world building deftly mixed in. An interesting mix of Tarzan and Conan. I love the cover art by Mike Hoffman as well as the cover design, which is done in the style of the old Ballantine Tarzan paperbacks.

This is the first of a series of six planned stories. The first five will be released as eBooks while the sixth will be included in a collection of the previous stories in paperback. Looking forward to reading more. 

Rating: Five Atlantean swords out of five. 

Conan the Barbarian #32. Written by Jim Zub, art by Doung Braithwaite. (Titan Comics, June 2026)

I’m reading Titan’s Conan the Barbarian in trade as I stopped buying single issues of comics quite a while ago, but I couldn’t resist picking this one up as it’s a done-in-one story. A mysterious woman hires Conan to safeguard her across a desert. It starts out as an adventure story and then becomes something more with its twist ending. This felt like something that would have been published in Weird Tales. The more I think about the ending, the more questions I have. In any case, I really enjoyed it and it was nice to read a stand-alone story. 

Rating: Four Atlantean swords out of five. 

Conan and Dragonero #1. Written by Luca Enoch and Stefano Veitti, art by Lorenzo Nuti. (Titan Comics, May 2026)

When I went to my local comic book shop to pick up Conan #32, I told myself that I wouldn’t pick up anything else… but then I saw this and the item below and I caved. This was a complete blind buy which turned out to be an entertaining read. After Conan is pulled into another world that has dragons, he meets Dragonero, a famous dragonslayer.

I did some research and I learned that Dragonero is a long running Italian fantasy comic. Dark Horse published one volume in English in 2009. This first issue of a seven-issue mini-series has a nice European style art and does a good job of setting things up. I’m not sure how the mix of standard fantasy and sword and sorcery is going to play out, but I’m on board so far. Now, do I wait for the trade or continue to buy single issues…

Rating: Three and half Atlantean swords out of five. 

The Savage Sword of Conan Reforged #1. (Titan Comics, October 2025)

This magazine sized comic is basically a color version of The Savage Sword of Conan, as each issue includes color versions of stories that originally appeared in black and white. I wasn’t planning on picking this up as most of the modern re-coloring of old comics that I’ve seen have been pretty awful, but after flipping through some issues I have to say the coloring done for this is quite good. That and the fact that my local comic shop had a copy of the Boris Vallejo variant cover, plus that it was still at cover price, got me to come away with another single issue. It includes adaptations of two of Robert E. Howard’s most famous Conan stories, an illustrated version of Howard’s poem "Cimmeria," an essay by writer/artist Patrick Zircher, and some pinups. A pretty nice mix. The stories are:

“The Frost Giant’s Daughter” 

Written by Roy Thomas. Art by Barry Windsor-Smith.

(Savage Tales #1, 1971)

“The Tower of the Elephant”

Written by Roy Thomas. Art by John Buscema and Alfred Alcala. 

(Savage Sword of Conan #24, 1977)

The stories are well adapted, the art is fantastic, and as I mentioned the coloring is very well done. Between the stories and the extras, they really knocked it out of the park with this. 

Rating: Five Atlantean swords out of five. 

It’s still pretty hot but things have calmed down, so I’ve been doing more reading this month. We’ll see if I can keep it up. 

Books I Read in March 2026

Just one book and one comic collection this month

Arcane Arts and Cold Steel by David C. Smith (Pulp Hero Press, 2025)

I enjoyed David C. Smith’s Tales of Attluma so much last month (and which I still plan to post a longer review of) that I read his recent book on writing sword & sorcery. It begins with what sword & sorcery fiction is and what it is not and then does a deep dive on how to write sword & sorcery fiction using numerous examples from both classic and contemporary authors. It’s a gold mine of information. I learned a lot and I discovered quite a few authors that are new to me. Highly recommended for readers of the genre as well as aspiring writers. 

Conan the Barbarian Vol. 5: Twisting Loyalties by Jim Zub, Danica Brine, and Doug Braithwaite (Titan Comics, August 2025)

This collects issues 17-20 of Titan’s Conan the Barbarian comic. The four issues cover two okay stories, one in which Conan and Belit attempt to steal a Stygian artifact and one that takes place later in which Conan is being stalked by something through the jungle. Not my favorite of the run so far but still enjoyable. It was cool to see a character show up from the original Marvel Comics Run. 

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.

Books I Read in February 2025

 Two books and one comic this month.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (Book of the Month Club, 1994. Originally published in 1892)

Although I liked some of the stories more than others, I enjoyed reading about the characters and their adventures so much that I have to give this collection five stars. It's a big step up from the first two novels which I re-read a few years ago. I think Sherlock Holmes works best as short stories. Now I’m in the mood to re-watch the Granada TV series starring Jeremy Brett.

Into the Maelstrom edited by Marc Gascoigne & Andy Jones (Black Library/Games Workshop, 2000)

When I buy a book there’s no guarantee that I’ll get to it anytime soon. For example, I think I bought this anthology of stories set in the Warhammer 40K gaming universe around fifteen years ago! Well, I finally read it and enjoyed most of the stories. The 40K universe is a wild mix of military SF, dangerous aliens, bioweapons, psychic powers, and supernatural monsters. My favorite stories were by Alex Hammond, Barrington J. Bayley, Gav Thorpe, and William King. 

When I bought this, I picked up two Warhammer fantasy books as well. Now that I’ve finally jumped in, I’ll probably read more soon. Look for a more detailed review of this anthology next month. 

The Savage Sword of Conan, Vol.1 by Various (Titan Comics, 2025)

This collects the first three issues of Titan’s black & white magazine sized Conan comic. Besides the stories there’s a map, an essay, and pinups. I really enjoyed this even though I didn’t care for the art in the first story at all. I thought that it was so wildly inconsistent and so weirdly photoshop-like in places that it kept pulling me out of the story. On the other hand, I loved the combination of story and art in every single one of the other stories. I’ll definitely keep reading Savage Sword, but I’ll probably stick to the trades. 

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!

Books I Read in June 2024

Three books this month. I was planning on reading more, including some westerns for June on the Range, but I fell into a real reading slump towards the end of the month. I think a combination of the summer heat and some long hours at work did me in. 

The Conquering Sword of Conan by Robert E. Howard (Ballantine Books, 2005)

This third volume of Del Rey’s Conan the Barbarian series collects Robert E. Howard’s final Conan stories as well as a number of extras. While two of the stories came across as standard Conan sword & sorcery tales, Howard tried new things with the other three after becoming influenced by stories of the American frontier. As with the previous volumes I liked some stories more than others but the collection as a whole is outstanding. 

Doctor Who and An Unearthly Child by Terrance Dicks (Target Books, 1981)

Watching the new season of Doctor Who got me in the mood to read some of the Target novelizations which I have fond memories of.

This one written by the prolific Terrance Dicks, is of the very first serial from 1963, but not published until 1981. School teachers Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright follow their mysterious student Susan to a junkyard. There they wind up meeting The Doctor, entering the TARDIS, and they all travel back in time to the stone age. 

The Doctor isn’t as likable as he becomes in later stories and the adventure involving cave people isn’t as compelling as later stories, but it was interesting reading such an early adventure from when they were still developing the character. Written in a simple style, it was a quick, light, and fun read. I was also going to read The Pyramids of Mars, but that will have to wait until next month. (Update: I didn't get to it.)

Non-fiction 

The Celts: A Very Short Introduction by Barry Cunliffe (Oxford University Press, 2003) 

After reading Song for a Dark Queen by Rosemary Sutcliff last month I became interested in learning more about The Celts. I had heard good things about the Very Short Introduction series of books so thought I would start with this. I enjoyed some of the chapters but most of the book was a slog. It felt like three books in one. I found the middle chapters titled “Gauls and Romans,” “Britons and Romans,” and “Interlude: the story so far,” as well as the final summary chapter, the most interesting. The first half was written in a style that was too academic and dry for me and the last few chapters on what “Celtic” means today didn’t hold my interest. The Further Reading section at the end looks useful though. 

Here's hoping I can get back into a reading groove next month.

Books I Read in March 2024

 Sword & sorcery, two Irish authors, a book on writing, and a comic book this month. 

The Hour of the Dragon by Robert E. Howard (Berkley Medallion, 1977)

After his enemies use an ancient sorcerer to depose him, King Conan fights to regain his throne. Howard revisits ideas from earlier stories in this novel-length Conan tale and I think he does so effectively. I liked the episodic nature and the large cast of characters, as an older, more mature Conan travels across Hyboria encountering past allies and foes. The chapters set in Stygia were a favorite. On the other hand, there were quite a lot of chance encounters and Conan got knocked out a lot. While I don’t think this is Howard’s best Conan tale it was still a great read.

The Berkley Medallion edition includes a foreword and afterword by Karl Edward Wagner that gives interesting details about the history of Howard’s only novel-length work.

The Bloody Crown of Conan by Robert E. Howard (Del Rey, 2004)

This collects three long Conan tales by Robert E. Howard, two novellas and The Hour of the Dragon, the only novel-length story he ever completed, along with numerous illustrations by Gary Gianni. I like all the illustrators of the Howard Del Rey collections, but Gianni is my favorite. His pen and ink illustrations really remind me of pulp magazines.

Gardens of Evil: The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard, Volume 6 (Wildside Press, 2015)

This is the sixth volume of a series that collects the fiction and poetry of Robert E. Howard as it originally appeared in Weird Tales magazine. This volume (Kindle version) has six short stories and one poem. Four of the stories are Conan the Barbarian stories, three of which are fantastic. Full review here:

We Learn by Writing: Gardens of Fear: The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard, Volume 6

The Canterville Ghost, The Happy Prince and Other Stories by Oscar Wilde (Penguin Classics, (2010)

This is a collection of Oscar Wilde’s three short story collections. 

The Happy Prince and Other Stories is a collection of five stories for children first published in 1888. The stories are filled with metaphor and allegory exploring themes of responsibility, compassion, and self-sacrifice. They’re not very subtle and while they may have been written for children, there’s plenty of humor, irony, and satire of the absurd for adults to appreciate. My favorite of the three collections.

A House of Pomegranates is a collection of four dark fairy tales first published in 1891. The stories explore themes of class, greed, cruelty, and love. All the stories have beautiful prose, but I thought “The Star Child” was too heavy handed, as was the ending of “The Young King.” On the other hand, “The Birthday of the Infanta'' was a dark gem and I loved “The Fisherman and his Soul,” a deep story that asks questions about love and the soul. I was still thinking about it after finishing it. 

Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime and Other Stories is a collection first published in 1891 originally consisting of four stories. A fifth story, “The Portrait of Mr. W.H.” was added to later editions. It’s not included in this Penguin collection but it’s in the Kindle edition I have. “Lord Arthur Saville’s Crime” and “The Sphinx Without a Secret” are semi-humorous mysteries, “The Model Millionaire” is a quick humorous story, and “The Portrait of Mr. W.H.” is a mystery about the person that Shakespeare dedicated his sonnets to. As with most of Wilde’s work, the stories include irony and satire. My favorite is “The Canterville Ghost,” a gothic ghost story that starts out hilarious but then becomes quite touching.

Dubliners by James Joyce (Penguin Classics, 2014) 

Dubliners is a collection of fifteen stories about Irish middle-class life at the turn of the century, first published in 1914. The stories focus on moments in characters' lives that sometimes lead to some form of self-realization. I loved the prose at times, especially the description of characters. While I enjoyed most of the stories, it took a little extra work. First, I had to refer to the appendix quite often as the stories include a lot of unfamiliar vocabulary and slang. Second, after I finished each story, I read a summary online. This helped me to understand a lot of symbolism that hadn’t been clear to me. Overall, it was worth the effort. The stories are filled with linguistic richness, and some were deeply moving leaving a strong impression on me. 

Two quotes from Colum McCann’s introduction will give you an idea of what the stories are like:

“The triumph of Dubliners is that most of the main characters — and by default, then, the reader — achieve an epiphany. The epiphany is often ambiguous, or faintly suggested. We must work to step into it.”

“The stories in Dubliners, with their sudden endings, their lack of dramatic resolution, their frequent repetitions, call on us, as readers, to constantly evaluate our own everyday lives.”

Non-fiction

Several Short Sentences About Writing by Verlyn Klinkenborg (Vintage, 2013)

While there are a few useful ideas about sentence brevity and the writing process, most of the book consists of overly Zen-like advice which I didn’t find helpful, didn’t make sense to me, or got contradicted in later passages. There’s also quite a lot of repetition. It didn’t help that the book is written in the form of poem-like stanzas that take their time getting to the point. It all became tedious very quickly.

Comics 

The Savage Sword of Conan #1 (Titan Comics, 2024) 

A nice package marred by what I thought was awkward art in the lead story. Full review here:

We Learn by Writing: The Savage Sword of Conan #1 from Titan Comics

That's it for March. I'm currently reading The Fisherman, a horror novel by John Langan. It has a Lovecraftian vibe to it which I'm enjoying so far.