This author needs an English class. He can't put together sentences. The vast majority of this novel was written with sentence fragments. This made for some seriously jumpy reading.

I found this book difficult to read because of all the sentence fragments. At least one out of three sentences are fragmented throughout this novel (and the series). While I understand that the use of a sentence fragment can be effective when used sparingly, this author has written an entire trilogy comprised almost entirely of fragments!

Honestly, it makes the author look as though he has no command of the English language at all.

His Cimmerians wear ponchos, which seem wildly out of place for the culture, and the author misidentifies the Shemites as a black race. Twice in the trilogy he mentions the ebony skin of Belit - a woman Robert E. Howard described as having ivory skin.

The fragments really ruined the novel.
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Set in Cimmeria and closely following the setting established by Robert Howard in his Conan series, Loren had created a new Cimmerian hero, Kern who sets out to defend Cimmeria from invasion. He gathers several followers in his quest as he chases a small group holding prisoners.

Loren set out to create a character similar to Conan, this book did not feel that much like the original series. Conan was mostly a loner, occasionally gathering one or two friends for an adventure. Kern feels more like a leader of groups. His followers are more like members of his clan than his close friends. To me, that is a big difference.

The setting does feel like Conan's world. Conan is still alive, King of Aquilonia, and the characters frequently talk of his exploits. Even to the point of exaggerating their own adventures and retelling them as if performed by Conan. I found this fun.

The book has a lot of battles, described in moderate detail. It includes the supernatural and giants. Very much in the style of Howard.

The book was enjoyable, maybe I was expecting too much. Perhaps it if actually was Conan, I would have liked it more. I think Kern will grow on me. If you like the individual adventurer style of sword and sorcery, you should enjoy this book. ( )

Good use of Robert E. Howards world of Conan to create anohter enjoyable character in Kern. 1/2 Frost Giant and 1/2 Cimmerian makes for one hell of a barbarian. Kern and his foolowers soon grow to legend and this is where the series gets good, continuing in Volumes 2 and 3. The ending is somewhat predictable but ties up the book and leaves you eagerly awaiting the next character to come out of this revitalized world of Conan. ( )