So I was in a goodwill not too long ago,searching for anything that might be remotely interesting in the books section;when I came across an old paperback bearing an unmistakable cover done by Ken Kelly,one of my favorite artists in the S&S (sword and sorcery) genre. What I found strange about the cover was a muscular Conan like figure,wielding both a sword and battleaxe,except this barbarian had horns on his head,pointed ears and eyes like a reptile of some sort. "This isn't Conan!" I said to myself. But yet, I recognized Ken Kelly's artwork anywhere,he was after all the go-to guy in Conan artistry,after Frazetta of course. The book's title wasn't up to par with Conan either,I mean The Alien? Seriously? But it was only fifty cents,so I caved in and bought it for the measly asking price.
Once I got it home,I sat it aside,where it collected dust for the next two months. I figured,I'd probably never read it,but it's got a nice cover by one of my favorite artists,so to me it was worth hanging on to for that reason alone.
Then came a day a few months later when I was really bored out of my skull. You know,One of those slow days where clipping your own toenails sounds like more fun than it actually is? So In looking for something stimulating to do,I decided to try reading this damned book,which was starting to seem like the proverbial elephant in the living room. I thought for certain it was going to be your typical Conan rip-off...I honestly judged the book by it's cover and was sadly proven wrong....to a degree
It's been several months since I've read the book,but I wanted to give a synopsis of the story within the best areas of my memory. If I left out details,this is mostly intentional as I can't push every detail of the book on this minute amount space and still keep your solid attention...also that would be copyright infringement ;)
So,the story went a little something like this:
A very wealthy blacksmith and his wife ( dwarves) find an orphaned baby on the side of the road. At first they're reluctant to take it in,but eventually do so at the whims of the blacksmith's wife. They take this unusual baby home and raise it as their own,calling him 'Godranec' who comes from a race of beings called the Nyarlethu,who as he grows older, knows nothing about;save for small flashes of vague memories.
Over the next few years,the wife tires of the child and completely loses all notion of wanting anything to do with it,due in part to his strange appearance. At this point she gives Godranec to her husband as a slave,who puts him to work in the kitchens. He soon discovers that working in the kitchens is a near death sentence as he must endure daily beatings and constant threats of death from the head cook. His only friend during this time is a small human girl who works in the kitchens along side him. After a time,they become friends,forming a bond with one another. But this friendship never lasts long as one day the cook grows angry at her and decides to chop off her hands,leaving her to bleed to death. This of course saddens and enrages Godranec,but he knows he's far too weak to do really anything about it.
As the years roll on,Godranec continues his work slaving away in the kitchens,when suddenly his dwarf master approaches him,informing him of his decision to give him a higher-ranking position as payment for his years of loyal service.
For the next couple of years,Godranec worked the forge,crafting many things from various metals. Swords,plowing shears that sort of thing. Over time his master becomes more and more proud of his ability to masterfully shape things . In secret,he dreams of escape,and eventually crafting weapons of own,even those imbued with magic runes which he came to possess in the form of a magic dagger that the town sheriff had brought to him. The dagger in question had belonged to a murderer and was to be melted down due to it's magical and dangerous properties. Godranec instead kept it for himself; later fashioning it into a magic spear. In addition,he also crafts for himself a sword and magic battle axe which he inscribes with the same runes found on the dagger.
His master's trust also extends to lending out a small home for him down by the river's edge,where late one night he encounters a group of strange lizard-men who give him a few insights into the nature of his mysterious race.
A few years pass,and by now his muscles are well honed from the time spent working the forge. He finally decides that it's time to make his escape,but he still has one task to complete before doing so. He manages to sneak into the cook's bedroom,the one who killed his friend many years past,he murders her in her bed,and flees into the night,across the dark river near his home.
Clearing the river,he finds himself deep in the forest,where many exotic predators live. As he travels an unbeaten path through the woods,he is attacked by all sorts of strange creatures along the way,such as giant spiders,fire snakes,strange beastmen,pygmy demons,a giant worm and poisonous lizards who swarm the banks of the river to feed. Along the way he comes across a giant red and green tiger entangled in a massive spider web. He frees the cat and together they become traveling companions for a time,each taking care of the other through the hostile terrain.
At some point the tiger parts company and the two go their separate ways. After surviving the trials and numerous denizens of the forest,Godranec found himself on a vast plain with huge flying wasps that feed on giant spiders. There were also giant flesh eating lizards ( I assume some sort of dinosaur) roaming the plains.
While passing through the plains he meets a tribe of xenophobic elves who take him under their wing,eventually making him part of the tribe. He knows he can't stay with the elves if he is to ever find his people.
After time spent traveling further along the plains and eventually into a set of foothills,he encroached upon a large mountain with a tunnel carved into it's face by the river long ago.
In the darkness of the cavern,he's attacked by a cave-bear and knocked into unconsciousness.
He wakes up sometime later in a soft bed,surrounded by those of his own kind,who explain to him of his royal heritage and that an exiled wizard in the guise of a giant bird carried him off when he was a baby,leaving him at the mercy of whoever should find him. He's then given a wife ( whom he only met about three pages ago!) and thus the story concludes.....
I enjoyed this book immensely,but I felt that some parts of the story could have been a little better. I mean don't get me wrong,it had a lot of great moments,but there we're many that felt unnecessary or out of place or we're just poorly conceived. Then again,there we're moments when I found myself unable to put the book down,it was this reason why I think the book had many saving graces. There are parts in the story channeled straight from the pages of a Robert E. Howard's works,but then again,not really. I must admit,the only thing that really killed it for me,at least in part....inconsistency of the characters.
The supporting characters left something to be desired,usually only making one appearance and then you never read about that person again. It doesn't exactly give the reader much chance to give a damn about these characters. The monster attacks,which I thought we're fine,we're too numerous to count,and at times grew boring. Nearly every three pages there was always something trying to eat or capture Godranec.
But what bothered me the most,was the end of the story. The final chapter felt similar to the ending of the wizard of Oz,only rushed. I have to assume this was done because of time constraints laid down by the publisher,but for such short chapters;in fact,there we're a lot of parts in the book that felt like things we're rushed to completion.
All that aside,it was a great read that I do recommend. It's not exactly Conan or even a barbarian story for that matter,but worth picking up if you can find an old copy. I think that this book is a good thing,not perfect by any means,but serves it's entertainment purposes for at least an evening or two.
Once I got it home,I sat it aside,where it collected dust for the next two months. I figured,I'd probably never read it,but it's got a nice cover by one of my favorite artists,so to me it was worth hanging on to for that reason alone.
Then came a day a few months later when I was really bored out of my skull. You know,One of those slow days where clipping your own toenails sounds like more fun than it actually is? So In looking for something stimulating to do,I decided to try reading this damned book,which was starting to seem like the proverbial elephant in the living room. I thought for certain it was going to be your typical Conan rip-off...I honestly judged the book by it's cover and was sadly proven wrong....to a degree
It's been several months since I've read the book,but I wanted to give a synopsis of the story within the best areas of my memory. If I left out details,this is mostly intentional as I can't push every detail of the book on this minute amount space and still keep your solid attention...also that would be copyright infringement ;)
So,the story went a little something like this:
A very wealthy blacksmith and his wife ( dwarves) find an orphaned baby on the side of the road. At first they're reluctant to take it in,but eventually do so at the whims of the blacksmith's wife. They take this unusual baby home and raise it as their own,calling him 'Godranec' who comes from a race of beings called the Nyarlethu,who as he grows older, knows nothing about;save for small flashes of vague memories.
Over the next few years,the wife tires of the child and completely loses all notion of wanting anything to do with it,due in part to his strange appearance. At this point she gives Godranec to her husband as a slave,who puts him to work in the kitchens. He soon discovers that working in the kitchens is a near death sentence as he must endure daily beatings and constant threats of death from the head cook. His only friend during this time is a small human girl who works in the kitchens along side him. After a time,they become friends,forming a bond with one another. But this friendship never lasts long as one day the cook grows angry at her and decides to chop off her hands,leaving her to bleed to death. This of course saddens and enrages Godranec,but he knows he's far too weak to do really anything about it.
As the years roll on,Godranec continues his work slaving away in the kitchens,when suddenly his dwarf master approaches him,informing him of his decision to give him a higher-ranking position as payment for his years of loyal service.
For the next couple of years,Godranec worked the forge,crafting many things from various metals. Swords,plowing shears that sort of thing. Over time his master becomes more and more proud of his ability to masterfully shape things . In secret,he dreams of escape,and eventually crafting weapons of own,even those imbued with magic runes which he came to possess in the form of a magic dagger that the town sheriff had brought to him. The dagger in question had belonged to a murderer and was to be melted down due to it's magical and dangerous properties. Godranec instead kept it for himself; later fashioning it into a magic spear. In addition,he also crafts for himself a sword and magic battle axe which he inscribes with the same runes found on the dagger.
His master's trust also extends to lending out a small home for him down by the river's edge,where late one night he encounters a group of strange lizard-men who give him a few insights into the nature of his mysterious race.
A few years pass,and by now his muscles are well honed from the time spent working the forge. He finally decides that it's time to make his escape,but he still has one task to complete before doing so. He manages to sneak into the cook's bedroom,the one who killed his friend many years past,he murders her in her bed,and flees into the night,across the dark river near his home.
Clearing the river,he finds himself deep in the forest,where many exotic predators live. As he travels an unbeaten path through the woods,he is attacked by all sorts of strange creatures along the way,such as giant spiders,fire snakes,strange beastmen,pygmy demons,a giant worm and poisonous lizards who swarm the banks of the river to feed. Along the way he comes across a giant red and green tiger entangled in a massive spider web. He frees the cat and together they become traveling companions for a time,each taking care of the other through the hostile terrain.
At some point the tiger parts company and the two go their separate ways. After surviving the trials and numerous denizens of the forest,Godranec found himself on a vast plain with huge flying wasps that feed on giant spiders. There were also giant flesh eating lizards ( I assume some sort of dinosaur) roaming the plains.
While passing through the plains he meets a tribe of xenophobic elves who take him under their wing,eventually making him part of the tribe. He knows he can't stay with the elves if he is to ever find his people.
After time spent traveling further along the plains and eventually into a set of foothills,he encroached upon a large mountain with a tunnel carved into it's face by the river long ago.
In the darkness of the cavern,he's attacked by a cave-bear and knocked into unconsciousness.
He wakes up sometime later in a soft bed,surrounded by those of his own kind,who explain to him of his royal heritage and that an exiled wizard in the guise of a giant bird carried him off when he was a baby,leaving him at the mercy of whoever should find him. He's then given a wife ( whom he only met about three pages ago!) and thus the story concludes.....
I enjoyed this book immensely,but I felt that some parts of the story could have been a little better. I mean don't get me wrong,it had a lot of great moments,but there we're many that felt unnecessary or out of place or we're just poorly conceived. Then again,there we're moments when I found myself unable to put the book down,it was this reason why I think the book had many saving graces. There are parts in the story channeled straight from the pages of a Robert E. Howard's works,but then again,not really. I must admit,the only thing that really killed it for me,at least in part....inconsistency of the characters.
The supporting characters left something to be desired,usually only making one appearance and then you never read about that person again. It doesn't exactly give the reader much chance to give a damn about these characters. The monster attacks,which I thought we're fine,we're too numerous to count,and at times grew boring. Nearly every three pages there was always something trying to eat or capture Godranec.
But what bothered me the most,was the end of the story. The final chapter felt similar to the ending of the wizard of Oz,only rushed. I have to assume this was done because of time constraints laid down by the publisher,but for such short chapters;in fact,there we're a lot of parts in the book that felt like things we're rushed to completion.
All that aside,it was a great read that I do recommend. It's not exactly Conan or even a barbarian story for that matter,but worth picking up if you can find an old copy. I think that this book is a good thing,not perfect by any means,but serves it's entertainment purposes for at least an evening or two.
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