'The Queen of the Black Coast' – Robert E. Howard

It was probably inevitable that after watching 'Conan the Barbarian' and 'Conan the Destroyer', I'd want to go to the source (as it were) and read a little Robert E. Howard 'Conan'. I don't know if you're the same but the closer I get to Christmas, the more I find myself reading comfort reads (instead of the actual books that I should be reading, sorry!) and Robert E. Howard's 'Conan' is very much one of these, a lot of fun to read and they don't ask an awful lot of you while you're reading them ;o) The beauty of Howard's 'Conan' output is that there's always a story to match what you're looking for, whether it's short and snappy or something a little more involved. This time round, I fancied something a little longer so decided to read 'The Queen of the Black Coast', a story that I hadn't read for a long time...

'The Queen of the Black Coast' sees Conan fall foul of civilized men once again (although I'd say that killing a judge is wrong, wherever you're from) and literally jump on the first ship leaving harbour. The captain is headed for Kush and Conan decides that Kush is as good a place as any to visit, certainly better than hanging around and waiting for his pursuers to arrive.

Or is it? After a few days at sea, the ship is attacked by none other than Belit, 'The Queen of the Black Coast'; the crew are massacred but Conan catches Belit's eye and all of a sudden, Conan is a pirate and sharing a bed with Belit. Their adventures will take them up the poisonous waters of the black river Zarkheba and will end amongst the ruins of a long dead civilisation...

There is a lot happening in 'The Queen of the Black Coast' but essentially, this is the adventure that I think probably comes the closest to stopping Conan in his tracks and achieving that destiny of his. No, not like that, Conan is as powerful as he has ever been and there's nothing here that will put him in any real danger. No, it's Belit herself who I think comes really close to making Conan just another pirate raiding merchant ships and not a future king. Belit is like a force of nature (and delivers all her dialogue in a style to match, no wonder Conan is smitten) and Conan appears quite happy to follow in her wake, at least while the plunder and lovemaking suit him. And it does, at least for a while.

I suspect that while a life of pirating, with Belit, would have suited Conan, it probably didn't suit Howards plans to sell more stories of the larger than life barbarian. After all, Conan needs to be wandering if his stories are to remain fresh. That's not good news for Belit as it feels like Howard knew that these two would never willingly part and their world probably isn't big enough for two such powerful characters to seize their own destinies. That being the case, well... The tales of Belit the Pirate Queen probably wouldn't sell as well as Conan's tales so she has to exit the stage. It feels like a sorry way for her to go out, blinded by treasure, but to be fair, she does a whole lot better than her nameless black pirates who just seem to march to their deaths without any hint of agency at all. The ones who are named still die, just slightly more drawn out than their comrades. I don't know if Howard was racist but it's pretty clear that he doesn't treat his black characters particularly well.

With all the love (and flowery dialogue from Belit), you'd be forgiven for thinking that there's not a lot of room for much else. Well, you'd think that but you'd be wrong. I've already mentioned that the death count is large and that's because it's Conan. Wherever he goes, people (and other things) die. In this respect, 'The Queen of the Black Coast' is a standard 'loot the ruined temple' story but Howard adds a hint of horror, to the proceedings, that kicks the tale up a level. I'm not a hundred percent sure that Black Lotus would give Conan the power of plot exposition but it does set an almost Lovecraftian scene; you know the one, the world is older than we'll ever know and we weren't the first race to settle here, that one. A tale of adventure becomes a lot more then and it also helps to set the scene for the final foe that Conan must fight (which perhaps not surprisingly, feels a little muted after what happened to Belit).

'The Queen of the Black Coast' feels like a pivotal tale in Conan's life, one where his life could have gone in a very different direction. What happens is inevitable then but there is a lot to get your teeth into in the meantime. I'm glad I picked it up again.