Great news for sword and sorcery fans -- a brand new Conan novel will be released by Titan Books in October. Entitled, "Blood of the Serpent", it is written by renown alternate history writer S.M. Stirling.
"Conan the Barbarian, the world’s most famous fantasy hero, returns in an all-new novel tied directly to the famous works by his legendary creator, Robert E. Howard.
Mercenary, thief, soldier, usurper, Conan has faced conquering armies, wicked sorcerers, and monstrous creatures, wielding a savage sword that cuts a bloody swath across the Hyborian Age. In this all-new novel tying directly into Howard’s definitive canon, Conan is a paid mercenary in a remote Stygian town. There he meets Valeria of the Red Brotherhood, a brilliant swordswoman whose skills lead him to recruit her to the mercenary group. Her take-no-prisoners approach runs afoul of the corrupt politics, and a price lands on Valeria’s head. Seeking to survive, she and Conan become entangled in the vengeful schemes of a priest of Set, the serpent god.
A superstar of novels, short fiction, comics, video games, films, and an upcoming Netflix series (!), his adventures have inspired many of the most popular authors of the 20th and 21st centuries. This is the first in a series of brand-new, officially licensed standalone adventures, with spot illustrations throughout and a bonus: the original “Red Nails” short story by Robert E. Howard himself."
And here's news about the Netflix series from Deadline.com:
EXCLUSIVE: Netflix has put in development an epic live-action series based on Conan, the iconic sword-and-sorcery character created by writer Robert E. Howard, I have learned.
I hear the project, from Fredrik Malmberg and Mark Wheeler’s Pathfinder Media, is the first in a deal between Netflix and Conan Properties International, owned by Malmberg’s Cabinet Entertainment. The pact gives Netflix the exclusive option to acquire rights to the Conan literary library and develop works across TV and film, both live-action and animated.
The move would fit into Netflix’s strategy of acquiring globally recognizable IP to build an universe of films and TV series, including Roald Dahl’s novels, The Chronicles of Narnia books and comics publisher Millarworld.
A search is currently underway for a writer/showrunner to pen the Conan adaptation and director to helm the project. Malmberg and Wheeler will serve as executive producers on the potential series through their Pathfinder Media.
Pulp fiction author Howard introduced Conan the Barbarian, aka Conan the Cimmerian, in a series of short stories, first published in 1932 in Weird Tales magazine. The Conan stories ushered in a new genre of writing: Sword and Sorcery. Through the years the original tales have inspired over a thousand comic books, one hundred novels, three feature films, two television series, multiple video games, and a vast range of collectibles, toys, and more, worldwide.
The character was most famously played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1982 feature Conan the Barbarian, which made him a global superstar, as well as the 1984 sequel Conan the Destroyer. In the 2011 Conan the Barbarian reboot, produced by Malmberg, the title role was played by Jason Momoa.
Conan the Adventurer animated series and spinoff Conan and the Young Warriors ran from 1992-94, followed by a short-lived 1997 syndicated action-adventure series, Conan the Adventurer, toplined by Ralf Möller.
Two years ago, a Conan drama series, based on the works by Howard, was in development at Amazon from Ryan Condal, Miguel Sapochnik, Warren Littlefield, Pathfinder Media and Endeavor Content. Wheeler and Malmberg previously produced Syfy’s Blood Drive.
Visit S.M. Stirling's webpage HERE:
