Conan: City of the Dead

By: John C. Hocking

Narrated by: Bradford Hastings

Two epics in one as Conan the mercenary faces hideously transformed wizards and undead creatures in action-packed fantasy combining Robert E. Howard’s trademark sword and sorcery with concepts straight out of Lovecraftian horror.

Combines the classic Conan and the Emerald Lotus with the all-new, original Conan and the Living Plague.

The long-awaited follow-up to Conan and the Emerald Lotus brings John C. Hocking back to the sagas of the Cimmerian.

In Conan and the Emerald Lotus, the seeds of a deadly, addictive plant grant sorcerers immense power, but turn its users into inhuman killers.

In the exclusive, long-awaited sequel Conan and the Living Plague, a Shemite wizard seeks to create a serum to use as a lethal weapon. Instead he unleashes a hideous monster on the city of Dulcine. Hired to loot the city of its treasures, Conan and his fellows in the mercenary troop find themselves trapped in the depths of the city’s keep. To escape, they must defeat the creature, its plague-wracked undead followers, then face Lovecraftian horrors beyond mortal comprehension.

©2024 John C. Hocking (P)2024 Blackstone Publishing

What R.E. Howard fans have been waiting for.

I have read and reread and listened to the original Robert E. Howard Conan stories repeatedly for over a decade. I’ve always been on the hunt for something that is Conan and captures that lightning in a bottle. I haven’t found it until now. This book is superb. I hate to say that Hocking doesn’t have his own voice however, he must have spent a lifetime studying Howard’s prose and syntax like an academic, dissecting and deconstructing it in order to create some that is both new AND faithful to REH’s vision. I have to say he did a magnificent job. It’s one thing to become a prolific writer in one’s own right, it’s another to be able to emulate a prolific writer and not have it come off as gauche or trite. I can’t say enough good things about this book and the efforts that the author went through to pay homage to not only the original author, but the character and setting as well. Absolutely well done.

The well worded prose. They brought intense life to the world.

That there aren’t more books by this author. If any agent or publisher had any wits they would commission more stories.

conan

I liked the narration and the story was fun I hope for more soon in the future

Breathtaking Revitalization of Conan, and 2 in 1!

This made me utterly speechless. John C. Hocking, through sheer power of poetic, paced, purple, perfect prose, props up this palpable pastiche, playing to the people who paid the price of patience for so many problematic periods, whose passions this is plainly in praise of.

Aliterations aside (oops), I will start by saying one thing. Read this. Apparently the first book here was published thirty years ago, as Conan and the Emerald Lotus, a book I have been desperate to read for years but unable to find. The second book was never published, but known by the name Conan and the Living Plague.

As I only recently got into Conan and Sword and Sorcery as a genre in the past few years (around my thirties), I desperately delved into every Howard story I could get my hands on, until I finished the final page of the final Conan story (Del Rey edition). Since then my desire for more Conan has been insatiable, and I've discovered many great authors since then who still carry the torch. Howard Andrew Jones, Scott Oden, to name a few. John C. Hocking was well known within the community for having written a great pastiche, but until now I just had to take people's word for it. Well, finally I can formulate my own opinion, as I have read both books contained herein. After reading, I have to say I wholeheartedly agree with the overall sentiment. John C. Hocking has made two great books. Not only pastiches, but books. Not only can he write Howard, but more meaningfully, the man can write. If he came up with a new Conan story or an original character, I'd be first in line for the next one. I can't imagine waiting decades for the deserved recognition he is about to receive. Titan has made a brilliant and calculated decision in pulling these stories out into the forefront. There are other pastiches out, and some coming, and I have nothing wrong to say about any of them, but I would posit that John C. Hocking has cracked the very particular code that is necessary to embody the atmosphere, character features, lore of the Hyborian Age, peculiarities of Lovecraft's influence on Howard's work and the weirdness that follows, knowledge of pulps and classic adventure tales, Conan's respect for innocents, for women, etc. There's quite a lot that goes into it, and most pastiches seem to forget or overplay certain aspects of Howard's work, whereas both of these stories hit the sweet spot and kept the hits coming. Hefty action, believable dialogue and characters, thrilling plots, intrigue, betrayals, suspense, it kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. The stories themselves are just the right length, too. The Conan the Barbarian Novelized film, also read by the brilliant Bradford Hastings, overstayed it's welcome about halfway in for me, and I mostly quite enjoyed that. In many ways it had parts that were better or worse than the film. But these two stories were just right. Conan stories should never be too long, as although his life is truly epic, it is spread out over many mini episodes and short adventures that give a refreshing restart after not too long. A new cast of characters, a new era in Conan's life, his story is almost best experience non-chronologically, as it keeps things varied and fills in the dots in an interesting way. One moment he is an old king, and then a young sailor. Emerald Lotus and Living Plague keep this tradition, as one gets the sense these episodes could be from two very different times in Conan's stories life.
All I ever wanted was more Howard, and was disappointed when people couldn't achieve it, but now I realize I don't just want more Howard, I'll happily take more Hocking as well!

This is a great book!

this was a great tale of our favorite barbarian! I loved it!I have been searching for something I would enjoy as much as I enjoyed this book! I highly recommend it to anyone who loves Swords and Sorcery stories!

Conan meets D&D

I did like to see Conan back and about in a new book. Subtle hints and references to past classics and a bit of Lovecraft and am convinced this is certainly the same barbarian as recorded previously. Though there is a modern fantasy RPG infusion where Wizards have much more offensive magic spells than the subtle and ancient Sorcerers Conan had dealt with in the past. the stories themselves seem like D&D modules , not that it's a bad thing but it does make it a little predictable, though that's the only true gripe I can conjure.

Great story with fantastic performance.

The performance was perfect. Each character had unique voices and the voice for Conan was very fitting. A great listen, highly recommend.

Worth the Wait

I’ve been waiting 20 years to read this and it was so worth it. Absolutely one of the best Conan pastiches out there! Highly recommended.

Two Conan stories for fans, by a fan

True to the spirit of the original Conan pulps by Robert E Howard, we get two novellas starring Conan in this book: Conan and the Emerald Lotus, and Conan and the Living Plague.

One is billed as a sequel to the other but they are mostly standalone so you can listen and re-listen to each at your own convenience.

The narrator is a great voice actor and brings many different characters to life, including of course Conan himself.

You can tell from the writing that the author is a big fan of Conan and puts a lot of references and Easter eggs from past Conan stories that will delight fans of the series, while being subtle enough that a new Conan reader will not have need read every past story to understand. Of course, I highly recommend doing exactly that (at least the original REH pulps) but not because of this book alone.

Would love to see more from this author if he is ever able to keep writing for Conan.

Loved it way more than I should have

Super excited about new Conan books. I enjoyed this book way more than I had any right to. Great action and plot pacing. Absolutely loved it!!