Conan the Raider is a fantasy

Fantasy

Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

 novel written by Leonard Carpenter

Leonard Carpenter

Leonard Paul Carpenter is an American technical writer and author of fantasy and science fiction. An account identifying Carpenter as a pseudonym of a supposed Bulgarian author named Plamen Mitrev, appears to be false.-Works:...

 featuring Robert E. Howard

Robert E. Howard

Robert Ervin Howard was an American author who wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. Best known for his character Conan the Barbarian, he is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subgenre....

's seminal sword and sorcery

Sword and sorcery

Sword and sorcery is a sub-genre of fantasy and historical fantasy, generally characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent conflicts. An element of romance is often present, as is an element of magic and the supernatural...

 hero Conan the Barbarian

Conan the Barbarian

Conan the Barbarian is a fictional sword and sorcery hero that originated in pulp fiction magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, several films , television programs, video games, roleplaying games and other media...

. It was first published in paperback by Tor Books

Tor Books

Tor Books is one of two imprints of Tom Doherty Associates LLC, based in New York City. It is noted for its science fiction and fantasy titles. Tom Doherty Associates also publishes mainstream fiction, mystery, and occasional military history titles under its Forge imprint. The company was founded...

in October 1986. It was reprinted by Tor in September 1987.

Plot

In the deserts of Shem, Conan tracks a thief who took from him the jewel known as the Star of Khorala. He finds the man, but the gem is missing. He is saved from death by thirst by an encounter with the caravan of Otsgar the Vanir, into which he is welcomed due to his previous acquaintance with Isaiab, a Shemite he had known in Arenjun. Otsgar's party turns out to be a band of tomb robbers, though their expedition proves disppointing, even with Conan's aid. They gain little, and death traps and tomb guardians with the heads of crocodiles combine to dispatch all but Conan, Otsgar, Isaiab, and two others, the Stygian woman Zafriti and the Shemitish rebel Asrafel.

The thieves regroup in Abaddrah, Isaib's home town, a city-state on the River Styx, bordering Stygia. The king, Ebnezub, is having a great tomb constructed for himself on the advice of the exiled Stygian prophet Horaspes. He is likely to need it soon, as his queen Nitokar has been poisoning him. The thieves hope to plunder the new tomb and the ancient catacombs underlying them. Conan investigates the catacombs between flings with Zafriti and Abaddrah's princess Afrit and a spell in captivity during which he must battle an antagonist armed with snakes.

The situation escalates when the villainous Horaspes unleashes his true scheme, and an army of the undead attacks Abaddrah. After much mayhem, Conan comes out of it all with the jewel he sought in the first place.

Reception

Reviewer Harvey Ryan considered the novel "the best Leonard Carpenter entry in the series I've yet read," writing that "it starts weakly and episodically, but slaps together a busy and exciting conclusion." He felt it "heads into Indiana Jones territory, and is basically an Egyptian tomb-robbing adventure in a fantasy setting." Despite "the derivative tomb-robbing plot [i]t has a touch more horror to it than other pastiches, and I always appreciate a pastiche writer willing to dig down into the more horrific side of the Weird Tales legacy."

Reference

• Fantastic Fiction entry for Conan the Raider