A Scourge of the Serpent Novel by Tim Waggoner
Cover by Jeffrey Alan Love
From Titan Books and Conan Properties International
Also available unabridged on audiobook from Blackstone Publishing, read by Bradford Hastings
Spoilers! Spoilers!
The Deities of Robert E. Howard's Hyborian Age are rallying against the sinister snake-god Set (the great serpent Jörmungandr) who is busy preparing for the arrival of the even more wicked Woeful Eye (Shuma-Gorath?) who is planning a conquest of Conan's planet.
Set recruits Stygian sorcerer Uzzeran (Master of the Revenants (corpses steered by Set shadow-snakes)), Shengis (Uzzeran's Stygian servant who wears the Snare amulet that ensnares Serpent-Men) and Rynthia (a Zamorian woman who was raised by sorceress Nabishut).
Ishtar (fertility goddess of the Shemites) recruits Conan and Valja (a Zamorian woman).
Mitra (god of the Hyborians symbolized by The Phoenix) recruits Naerys (an Ophirian priestess of Mitra & a former test subject of Uzzeran seeking revenge).
Earth/Nature spirits recruit Anot (a Kushite Shamanka of the Wild) and the M'lima (Thak the ape-man's people).
Zath (the Spider god) recruits an army of arachnids aka the Brood of Zath.
Yun (god worshipped in Khitai) recruits Qiang (a 200-year-old, nearly immortal katana-wielding Khitan warrior from Rou-Gen).
Crom (god of the Cimmerians) recruits NO ONE.
Arenjun (Zamora), the city of thieves (not Shadizar). A young Conan and his girlfriend Valja steal a sacred statuette of Ishtar in her warrior aspect.
It is the Spring Solstice when great feats of sorcery can be performed. Uzzeran is using the ruins (who are still suffused with mystic energy) of The Tower of the Elephant and the Eye of Set (an ancient magical jewel) for his ritual. To ward off the Woeful Eye, Uzzeran has to create hybrid creatures: Serpent Lords (a fusion of Humans & Serpent-People) for Set.
Shengis captures Hutai the Nemedian who is actually Kekk, a Serpent-Man. Uzzeran's rite is interrupted by our heroes. Conan shatters the Eye of Set! A shard goes into Uzzeran's left eye, another enters Valja's thorax (making her "Undead") and another goes through Kekk's brain and lands into Shengis' head (Shengis and Kekk must now share one body).
15 YEARS LATER!
A 33 year old Conan and Qiang are working as caravan guards for the Turanian Sülale of Delger, wife Erya, bad son Hakan, good son Cemil, brother-in-law Kuta and niece Aigia. Qiang and Conan foil Erya, Hakan, Kuta and Aigia's plot to appropriate Delger's caravan. Hakan sends a message to Urak the Hyrkanian aka The Birdman: "Slay Conan and Qiang".
A second Eye of Set lies inside the castle of Ravenhold (constructed by Khitan sorceress Pingxia out of the Skycrest mountain) hidden within the Kezankian mountains.
With Rynthia's help, Uzzeran's Revenants kill everyone on staff at Ravenhold. The departed are transformed into Revenants.
Set sends giant serpents to slay our heroes, the M'lima terminate them all.
In Charhelm (city in Zamora), The Birdman sends Conan and Qiang into a trap.
Unbeknownst to Uzzeran, the second Eye of Set turns Shengis-Kekk into the very first Serpent Lord: Akh.
Conan & Co arrive at Ravenhold. Uzzeran unleashes his Revenants and the monsters from the castle's menagerie to kill our heroes.
Rynthia turns Akh into a stone statue, Akh uses his Snare medallion to become a disembodied soul.
As sources of power for his ultimate Serpent Lords ritual, Uzzeran uses the scales of a dead Dire Wyrm (a giant green serpent created by Set), the second Eye of Set and all the magical energy residing within Ravenhold, including the magic artifacts, Valja's shard and young Taolin who is suffering from a generational curse (thanks to sorceress Irass).
11 Serpent Lords are born.
Akh's soul takes over the Dire Wyrm. The Dire Wyrm kills some of the Serpent Lords and Rynthia.
Naerys uses the power of Mitra to immolate the rest of the Serpent Lords.
Qiang dies content.
Conan kills Uzzeran. Uzzeran becomes a doorway to Set's dimension. To stop Set's arrival, Conan inserts the stolen statuette of Ishtar into the Dire Wyrm and guides the snake through the gateway. The Dire Wyrm explodes in Set's void and Conan shatters the second Eye of Set to seal the portal.
Valja and Taolin are now cured of their afflictions.
Conan returns to Charhelm to deal with The Birdman.
Akh is reincarnated by Set as a common snake.
What I did like:
A snake appears foil-stamped in metallic green on the cover. It looks stupendous!
A luxurious looking, sturdy, well constructed, high-quality hardcover from CPI Group (UK) Ltd in Croydon, England!
Scarcely part of Titan Comics & Heroic Signatures' massive narrative event: Scourge of the Serpent. You don't need to read any of the comics to fully enjoy Tim's entertaining tale.
The Revenants are homages to Snake Face from Masters of the Universe?
Bel (god of thieves) mentioned.
Black Lotuses appear.
Ymir the Frost Giant mentioned.
Cimmerian bear shamans mentioned
The Battle of Venarium mentioned.
The Nine Hells mentioned.
Black Ring sect mentioned.
Events from "The Frost-Giant's Daughter", "Legions of the Dead", "Conan and The Spider God" and "The Bloodstained God" mentioned.
Yag-kosha and Sorcerer Yara mentioned.
Damballah, serpent god of the Black Kingdoms mentioned. If you're a fan of the Chucky franchise, you know Damballa.
H.P. Lovecraft's Yig (the Father of Serpents) and The Great Old Ones mentioned.
"The Road of Kings" by Karl Edward Wagner mentioned.
A Paul Reuter and his homing pigeons homage.
Kull's Atlantis and Valusia mentioned.
Hanuman the Ape God mentioned.
Deities: Flame Lord Erlik, Anu, Nergal, Borri the Grey God, Asura and Kali mentioned.
Corin (Conan's father) mentioned.
Thak, Murilo and Nabonidus from "Rogues in the House" mentioned.
Conan fights dirty.
The humour.
Women are ubiquitous in Tim's sword and sorcery story.
What I did not like:
This Conan the Barbarian novel needed more Conan.
No reversible dust jacket featuring alternative evocative Frank Frazetta-like art.
Map illustrator Francesca Baerald is not credited. Not cool!
A dust jacket featuring Valja with Conan would have sold much better.
Yag-kosha does not return.
Conan is much too monogamous.
Tim repeats himself too much.
Naerys never gets cured.
We never see or hear from the Woeful Eye.
NO illustrations by Rob De La Torre? NO illustrations by Richard Pace? NO illustrations by Juan Alberto Hernández. NO illustrations? Zero!? EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTING!
The editor is not doing his job.
It is Messantia not Messentia.
It is Secunderam not Secundarem.
It is Sukhmet not Sukhet.
I give it an 8/10. Gaga over gods and fantastic beasts? This fun sequel to "The Tower of the Elephant" and to "The Road of the Eagles" is just what you're looking for. Fans of zombies and/or of Harry Potter (sorcerers + magical objects + Hogwarts library) will greatly enjoy this fantasy novel.
Aikido experts take note, Tim Waggoner will be back with Conan: Marked for Death (in ebook-only, part of The Heroic Legends Series)!
Support Tim, Titan Books & Heroic Signatures! Go purchase this officially licensed book and ask your local public library to get it also... Oh, and TITAN BOOKS, don't forget, we still need a Heroic Legends Series version of CONAN: UNCONQUERED by Scott Oden!