The Sword of Rhiannon by Leigh Brackett
Pretty good sword and science story. I also picked up The Best of Leigh Brackett, but I haven't started it yet.
Starship Troopers. The book starts with an exciting action scene, but after that the book bogs down. The entire first half of the story is devoted to recounting the protagonist's experiences in bootcamp. It's a sci-fi story about soldiers who are being trained to fight various aliens in outer space, but there isn't a lot of sci-fi content. With a few tweaks it would be indistinguishable from an ordinary real world army story. I also really wish there had been more space devoted to wordbuilding. You get hints about what Earth society is like but that's all. You don't have to go down to the microscopic level, but I don't think I really got the "feel" of what future Earth was really like.
Maybe I just don't get (grok?) Heinlein. This is the fourth of his books that i've read, but I haven't really enjoyed any of them.
The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers. I'm not really enjoying it so I'm probably not going to finish it.
Conan and the Emerald Lotus by John C. Hocking. Novel length Conan pastiche. It's not as good as Howard's very best stuff but I liked it more than most of the original Conan tales. Hocking may not throw as many touchdowns as Howard, but he doesn't throw near as many ridiculous INTs either. Definitely worth a read if you are a fan of the Cimmerian.
Conan: The Road of Kings by Karl Edward Wagner
It's not bad, but it's missing something. It's just not as exciting as it should be. Kind of forgettable, honestly.
Conan the Valorous by John Maddox Roberts
Positives: We get to learn a bit about Cimmerian culture and there are a lot of Lovercraft type monsters.
Negatives:
1) There is a side plot that has no bearing on the rest of the story. It wouldn't be a big deal except for the fact that it takes up 25% of the book! It feels like a novellette that has been inserted into the main story to pad out the length. It really interrupts the flow of the main plot. It would have been better to have kept the two stories separate, imo. Have the first 3/4 of the book be the main story and then have a "bonus" Conan tale after the main adventure.
2) The ending wraps up too fast. The story was building up to an epic battle featuring multiple evil wizards, Cthulhu-esque monsters, Viking mercenaries, and the entire Cimmerian nation - and it all gets wrapped up in a single chapter.
Overall it's not a bad book. I'd rank it higher then The Road of Kings but not as high as The Emerald Lotus. Chapters 4 and 5 are completely skippable.
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I've read all of the Robert E. Howard material I'm going to for now so I'll mention some of my favorites.
Favorite story overall:
Worms of the Earth (Bran Mak Morn)
Top 4 Howard penned Conan stories:
The Scarlet Citadel
The People of the Black Circle
The Tower of the Elephant
Beyond the Black River
Favorite Lesser Known S & S Story:
The House Of Arabu
Favorite Horror Story:
The Black Stone
I haven't read a ton of his horror stories so he may have better stuff out there.
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