A review by smiorganbaldhead
The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian: Book One by Robert E. Howard

3.0

There are some fun and imaginative stories here, and of course the influence of Conan on the fantasy genre is undeniable. Still, I felt something was missing that kept me from enjoying them as much as I hoped. Conan has almost no internal conflict in any of the stories. In every story he meets a threat and defeats it without any sort of difficult choices or moral conundrums to solve. Once, in the Scarlet Citadel, he chooses not to abdicate his throne to a tyrant, supposedly for the good of his people. However, the decision isn’t emphasized and he might as easily have made his choice for the sake of pride. Without the element of internal conflict, the stories started to feel flat and samey after a while. Still there are some gems with cool ideas, like the Tower of the Elephant.