Nothing like a good CONAN yarn. The Tor books are entertaining. Some are good and some are HORRIBLE. But it seems very few of them actually capture the essence of the character. This book, like all TOR stories in the series is formulaic sword and sandal. If you are a Conan Fan, then they are good because you can discern the personality traits and put it all together for yourself. If not then you are probably going to laugh and write the character off as silly. ( )