''Conan the Defiant'' is a

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

novel by American writer

Steve Perry Stephen Ray Perry (born January 22, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and frontman of the rock band Journey during their most successful years from 1977 to 1987, and again from 1995 to 1998. He wrote/co-wrote ...

, featuring

Robert E. Howard Robert Ervin Howard (January 22, 1906 – June 11, 1936) was an American writer who wrote pulp magazine, pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. He created the character Conan the Barbarian and is regarded as the father of the sword and sor ...

sword and sorcery Sword and sorcery (S&S), or heroic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent adventures. Elements of Romance (love), romance, Magic (fantasy), magic, and the supernatural are also ...

hero

Conan the Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero created by American author Robert E. Howard (1906–1936) and who debuted in 1932 and went on to appear in a series of fantasy stories published in ''We ...

. It was first published in trade paperback by

Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles. History Tor was founded by Tom Doherty, ...

in October 1987, with a regular paperback edition issued simultaneously by the same publisher, and was reprinted in August 1988. A British edition was published in paperback by Orbit Books in January 1990.

Plot

Conan falls in with Cengh, a priest of the Suddah Oblates, who is conveying a jewel known as the Source of Light back to his temple. Unfortunately, his talisman is coveted by a necromancer, Neg the Malefic, who plans on raising an army of undead warriors with the jewel's magic. When an agent of Neg murders Cengh and steals the jewel, Conan seeks vengeance for his friend. Joining forces with a warrior woman, Elashi, and a beautiful

zombie A zombie (Haitian French: ; ; Kikongo: ''zumbi'') is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. In modern popular culture, zombies appear in horror genre works. The term comes from Haitian folkl ...

, Tuanne, Conan tracks the murderer back to his master. They overcome numerous menaces on the journey towards Neg's stronghold, including the Men With No Eyes, henchmen of the One With No Name, and a swarm of spiders. Finally, Conan faces and kills Neg himself in a great battle.

Chronology

Internal evidence indicates that Perry's later Conan work '' Conan the Indomitable'' directly follows this novel, though in the comprehensive Conan chronology of William Galen Gray,

Sean A. Moore Sean A. Moore (April 20, 1964 – February 23, 1998) was an American fantasy and science fiction writer, and computer programmer. His primary significance as a writer is for his three pastiche novels featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery ...

's '' Conan the Hunter'' is placed between the two books.

Reception

Writing on one of Perry's other novels, reviewer Ryan Harvey assessed the author's Conan corpus as "goofy," noting that he "has a reputation among Conan fandom for overkill and general silliness." Ryan does rate this book above Perry's later novel '' Conan the Free Lance''. Don D'Ammassa writes of the book that "Perry's version of the Hyborian world is rather darker than is portrayed in most other pastiches, and he always tells a good story."D'Ammassa, Don
"Conan the Defiant"
(review o

. Oct. 25, 2017.

References

External links

{{Conan 1987 American novels 1987 fantasy novels Conan the Barbarian novels American fantasy novels Fiction about human–zombie romance Tor Books books American zombie novels