Conan: Black Starlight (2023) - John C. Hocking
Before diving into this series of e-books, which promises to
capture the spirit of the original Conan tales, I'd read very little
Robert E. Howard. I've since started reading the complete Conan stories,
and I've found that this one really did nail it.
Firstly, props to Hocking for crafting Black Starlight to be entirely accessible to any reader despite being a direct sequel to his own Conan and the Emerald Lotus. He doesn't include an exposition dump, yet he is able to clue the reader in just enough to keep them from getting lost. What you have is an extremely accessible sword-and-sorcery tale that is riveting from start to finish.
In an effort to cross the River Styx undetected, Conan and friends end up in what seems to be a ghost town, but they are soon set upon by zombies and richly described demons that attempt to kill the travelers and steal the sorceress Zelandra's supply of Emerald Lotus, a powerful plant that fuels her magic and feeds an addiction.
I expected pure fantasy escapism, but the core motif of addiction lifted this short tale to unexpected heights. Zelandra attempts a balancing act of weaning herself from the drug—the past use of which might kill her regardless—while using it sparingly to escape demonic forces attempting to steal it for themselves. The drug places every character, including the antagonists, in danger, and you're left with the sense that the entirety of this terrifying world has been twisted through its exploitation. Perfectly paced, the plot gleefully rockets through well-written action and nightmarish tableaus. You'd be hard-pressed not to finish it in one sitting. Highly recommended.
Firstly, props to Hocking for crafting Black Starlight to be entirely accessible to any reader despite being a direct sequel to his own Conan and the Emerald Lotus. He doesn't include an exposition dump, yet he is able to clue the reader in just enough to keep them from getting lost. What you have is an extremely accessible sword-and-sorcery tale that is riveting from start to finish.
In an effort to cross the River Styx undetected, Conan and friends end up in what seems to be a ghost town, but they are soon set upon by zombies and richly described demons that attempt to kill the travelers and steal the sorceress Zelandra's supply of Emerald Lotus, a powerful plant that fuels her magic and feeds an addiction.
I expected pure fantasy escapism, but the core motif of addiction lifted this short tale to unexpected heights. Zelandra attempts a balancing act of weaning herself from the drug—the past use of which might kill her regardless—while using it sparingly to escape demonic forces attempting to steal it for themselves. The drug places every character, including the antagonists, in danger, and you're left with the sense that the entirety of this terrifying world has been twisted through its exploitation. Perfectly paced, the plot gleefully rockets through well-written action and nightmarish tableaus. You'd be hard-pressed not to finish it in one sitting. Highly recommended.
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