Conan the Destroyer

I've been waiting to read this since I first became a Robert Jordan fan, having loved the movie since I was a kid (yes, I like the movie). This book does a great job of bringing movie/comic book Conan a lot closer to Howard's Conan, even though Jordan's Conan is much more of a nice guy with feelings and everything. Also, Jordan does pan to the fire, but this book has the R-rated bits that were taken out of the movie script (or edited to get the PG rating), and also includes a lot more background and plot devices.

Jordan's style is a bit lofty in places, e.g. some sentences beginning with “did they,” but for the most part it is as straight forward as Conan himself. Having read a couple other Jordan Conan pastiches, I would recommend this one above those: it just seems better prepared and better edited than Conan the Triumphant.

The only drawback to this book is that it's hard to find: I had to get it off eBay. Never seen it in a used bookstore, and it's not part of the Tor omnibus editions.