Bottalk Reviews

eBook by Laird Barron Cover once again by E. M. Gist  From Titan Books and Heroic Signatures Spoilers! Spoilers!  In Stygia, Conan, now a former place guard, puts the head of his previous employer, a southern Prince on a pike. Conan flees North. He enjoys the loneliness of the desert and survives on water and lizards. Conan dreams of Valeria, gets bitten by an Egyptian cobra and slowly starts dying. At the point of death, unable to speak, an old tall hooded woman (the Lady of the Desert) and her gigantic pet tarantula with a humanoid skull appear. The tarantula starts sucking the venom out of Conan, Conan stabs it with his bone dagger. Conan wakes cured in the care of merchant Khal. Khal is going to Corinthia, Conan leaves his new friend when they arrive in Koth. Conan wants to spend his Stygian coins in Korveka. Conan gets harassed by a Hyrkanian. Conan spends his money in a hostel. After a week of partying the money is gone. Conan saves from muggers the khopesh swinging white-haired

eBook by Michael A. Stackpole  Cover by Jenny Frison Illustrations by Patrick Zircher  From Titan Books and Heroic Signatures Spoilers! Spoilers! N'Yaga (shaman of the Black Corsairs) is chilling in his cave, he sees in the bones before him that Bêlit will soon be paying him a visit. Bêlit arrives seeking N'Yaga's wisdom, she's dressed in Shem tribesman robes.  First mate N'Goro, a tall, powerful, scarred hunter brings an antelope has an offering. N'Yaga knows Bêlit's father. Nephew Izefia mentions that Bêlit is dressed as a raider. A threat. Izefia misreads his uncle's scattered bones and is told to prepare the antelope for diner.  N'Goro hands Izefia the antelope and sits behind Bêlit. Bêlit aka The Daughter of the Hawk tosses the shaman's bones to see her own future. N'Yaga sees a black-maned lion aka Conan in the bones, he foresees the events of "Queen of the Black Coast"  Ophir is mentioned. N'Yaga remembers Arthaniel's

eBook by Steven Savile Cover by Guillem H. Pongiluppi  Illustrations by Patrick Zircher  From Titan Books and Heroic Signatures Spoilers! Spoilers!  A storm approaches, since there is no way around it, the captain of the ship decides to go right through it. Solomon Kane is sporting his slouch hat, rapier, and heavy pistols, he starts praying. Solomon tells the Captain that this is a mistake. Young Weasel goes overboard. Kane binds himself to the mainmast with his belt. The ship is torn apart by the raging sea. Kane wakes on a beach, his belt broken, a Japanese girl picks his pockets, Kane grabs her and asks where he's landed. Her brother tells Kane that he is in Odawara (on the island of Honshū. South of Tokyo), the Hotu clan's lands, next to Hideyoshi territory. Kane is brought to the Hotu settlement and fortress. He eats, sleeps and cleans himself. Kane walks through the town around the fort, he spies a marketplace, workshops, people practicing Karate and Kenjutsu. Kane spots

eBook by Henry Herz Cover once again by E. M. Gist  From Titan Books and Heroic Signatures Spoilers! Spoilers!  Our favourite freebooters: Bêlit, the Queen of the Black Coast and Conan are on board The Tigress, the bireme oared warship is known by its painted menacing eyes and feared red long narrow flag.    Conan, wearing his horned helmet, an Hauberk from Nemedia and a cuirass, gorget and pauldrons all from Koth, spots a cog sailing by its lonesome. Bêlit really wants to ram the merchantman. Conan and his ebony reavers board the ship. Conan cuts a dude in half with his broadsword from Aquilonia. All the sailors still crossing swords on the trading vessel get killed. This carnage gets our pirates some grain, rum and amphorae of olive oil. Bêlit wants to go home to her haven. The Tigress, now damaged, is taking on water. Conan tells the boatswain to slow the ship down, they start removing water from the vessel. They arrive at Bêlit's magically concealed island retreat. Our buccane

eBook by Shaun Hamill Cover once again by E. M. Gist  From Titan Books and Heroic Signatures Spoilers! Spoilers!  A prequel to Robert E. Howard's The Tower of the Elephant. Kordava, the capital city of Zingara. Barkeep, Mugido is watching a young Conan who is wearing trousers and a shirt. A bored, cash-strapped Conan is observing the ships floating in the harbour. Zingaran sailor, first mate, Flavio de Palma the Bold from the Fortune’s Dawn enters the watering hole, he offers the barbarian youth a fresh ale, employment and adventure. Sailing ships and the sea are still a mystery to Conan. Flavio is seeking mercenaries to safeguard a valuable cargo that needs to go to Aquilonia (one day Conan will sits upon the throne of Aquilonia). Apparently, the Shirkri River is squirming with pirates Flavio and Conan find the Fortune’s Dawn, a carrack with three masts.  It is Conan's very first time on a ship. Conan meets the crew: Lookout: Marco of the wooden leg Helmsman: Anen of the gold

eBook by Brian D. Anderson  Cover once again by E. M. Gist  From Titan Books and Heroic Signatures Spoilers! Spoilers!  Mekahumet, a vermin less city south of the Shemite border, ruled by Boa constrictors and cats.  To pay off his debts, Arnold Schwarzenegger... oops, I mean Conan is now working for the Magistrate Lanitar. Conan is in Jabari Ishman's tavern and is offered poisoned beer. Pregnant pause. This gives birth to a bar brawl. Conan, as per his contract, dispatches every single guild assassin and thief inside the dive... in just minutes. He finds another mug of ale, this time untainted and downs it. The pleased Magistrate gives our Cimmerian another assignment. A super sexy noblewoman guides a concupiscent Conan to a small but superb armoury where he finds wealthy merchant Barathis Akken. The sword of Asgardian warrior Sven Orthan Half-Blood with its nice Northmen runes catches Conan's eye. Yulivaria, a dark sorceress, has kidnaped Barathis Akken's noble wife Gadran

eBook by John C. Hocking Dedicated to Roy Thomas (Conan comic book writer and editor) Cover once again by E. M. Gist  From Titan Books and Heroic Signatures Spoilers! Spoilers!  A sequel to CONAN AND THE EMERALD LOTUS! Yes, the fan favourite Conan pastiche from 1995. With their Little Shop of Horrors adventure with the wizard, Ethram-Fal now in the rear view mirror, the emerald lotus addicted long legged sorceress Lady Zelandra of Akkharia desires to return home, to do so Conan and friends have to cross the River Styx from Stygia to Shem. Seeking a boat, our heroes arrive at the village of Quenah, but it's a ghost town. They sleep in an abandoned tavern, thinking of searching the docks the next day. Two living corpses appear! One steals the sorceress's last stash of eldritch drug (the crushed seeds of a deadly, addictive lotus plant that enhances her magical powers and that she is tapering off over time to be free of it) while the other zombie is just a distraction brandishing

eBook by Stephen Graham Jones Cover by E. M. Gist  From Titan Books and Heroic Signatures Spoilers! Spoilers!  Herdsman Jen Ro's French kissing cow rouses our blood caked Cimmerian from his slumber. Conan remembers being part of Shen-ga's raiding party, something must have turned sour on the battlefield because he realizes that he is now lost in the mountains. Conan collapses back to sleep in cowpats.  Conan finally awakens surrounded by cattle, and with Jen Ro's water, he washes the blood of battle from his body and loincloth. Jen Ro, a black lotus addict, cuts a steak from his narcotized cow's flank and miraculously heals the new wound with a mixture of glowing purple moss and black lotus. Jen Ro starts cooking the meat, but the starving Cimmerian can't wait and consumes it rare. Conan asks for more, Jen Ro goes to another drugged cow and brings more meat and wine.  Jen Ro mentions Trinnecerl, a village where he usually sells his purple glowing horned bovines. But

eBook by Steven L. Shrewsbury Cover by Gary Gianni (that Raven helmet is pretty fly! Brân means Raven) Illustrations by Patrick Zircher  From Titan Books and Heroic Signatures Spoilers! Spoilers!  The past... We are witnessing the last great battle of Bran Mak Morn. Picts and Romans are fighting. Bran Mak Morn, of the blood of Brule the Spear-slayer (the friend of King Kull of Valusia who reigned thousands of years ago before Atlantis sank) kills a Decurion (a Roman cavalry officer). Alaric and Bran's son Gallam are also there. Old Scottish priest Father Rogan stirs Dr. Elijah Blackthorn from his vision/reading. Dr. B, a psychometric archaeologist with the Miskatonic Institute of Technology awakens in an ancient Scottish Episcopal church, the Rosslyn Chapel. Dr. B spots Purple sashes of Advent (violet is the colour of royalty) anticipating the arrival of the King of Kings, Jesus Christ. Dr. B has a special talent, artifacts talk to him, he only has to touch them and their secrets

eBook by Violet Castro Cover by Jenny Frison Illustrations by Patrick Zircher  From Titan Books and Heroic Signatures Spoilers! Spoilers!  A storm is battering Bêlit's ship the Tigress, crewmates are flying overboard. First mate Seneka, an expert tracker, is trying to protect Bêlit from the storm, They've been together for five years. The Tigress stops moving suddenly, they have hit land, an island. Hassan starts assessing the damage. Bêlit hits the beach, removes her boots and devours a fallen blood fruit from a nearby tree.  Hassan needs to work on the mast and to cut down trees to repair the Tigress's belly. Seneka, Mithras and Zeke will gather fruit, coconuts and make a fire. Nora will fish. They eat under the clouds that are obscuring the stars and preventing them from knowing their position. They start exploring the island in teams. Zeke and Mithras into the jungle. Nora and Homer to the left. Horus and Ajani to the right. The teen Mithras returns to tell Bêlit that N

eBook by Scott Oden Cover once again by E. M. Gist  From Titan Books and Heroic Signatures Oden? The dude who wrote the introduction to "Sword Woman and Other Historical Adventures" AND THE IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND CONAN UNCONQUERED Deluxe Edition exclusive 9000-word ebook set during the events of Black Colossus using the Yaralet fragment? Yes, the one and the same. Spoilers! Spoilers!  A sequel to Robert E. Howard's The Devil in Iron. While awaiting his new city lord from Aghrapur, the reticent new regent of Khawarizm, old Ghaznavi is enjoying expensive wine from Kyros in his study. Karash Khan, the shapeshifting leader of The Nine (The dude has 8 Sicari "brothers". Get it?) appears. The former counsellor of Turan desires to avenge his fallen lord, Jehungir Agha (killed by Conan in Devil in Iron on Xapur, an island on the Vilayet Sea).  To get his payback, Ghaznavi promises to turn over The temple of Erlik to the Sicari, a splinter cult of Erlik. Our Cimmerian comman

eBook by Jonathan Maberry Cover by Guillem H. Pongiluppi Illustrations by Patrick Zircher From Titan Books and Heroic Signatures Spoilers! Spoilers! Very loosely based on the real life of Thiess of Kaltenbrun aka the Livonian werewolf. Swedish Livonia, near the Baltic Sea, 1598 AD, about a couple of years after the events of "The Return of Sir Richard Grenville". Solomon stumbles upon a strange massacre: a farming community decimated by Kurt Grieg, a Nachzehrer from Austria and his gang of brigands. Will Kane file a grievance with the state of New York or will he unleash a world of hurt on the demonic Kurt? Will the villagers be avenged? Will our heroes get to the chopper on time? You'll have to download the ebook to find out. It's a well-researched narrative that lifts the veil on the secrets of the benandanti werewolves of Italy. We discover that these "Good Walkers" are actually benevolent Catholic lycanthropes that serve God. Each born with a caul, a mas