'Conan and the Songs of the Dead' – Joe R. Lansdale & Tim Truman (Dark Horse)

Before I get started, it's worth pointing out that I bought the Dark Horse edition because I thought I'd try and at least look like I was trying to be careful with my money this month... I've got a little more money for food then but if I'd bought the Marvel edition, I would have had 'Songs of the Dead' and some extra stories as well. A victory for prudent spending then but a setback in my quest to have loads of cool 'Conan' comics. Oh well, learn from my mistakes and all that... ;o)

It's been a rough week, this week, so I thought a little 'Conan' would be a nice way to draw a line under the crap and then head towards the weekend. 'The Songs of the Dead' has been sat on the 'Comics TBR Pile' for a while so I thought I'd give it a shot. And now...? Well, I'm so glad I read it and, at the same time, I've given myself a little telling off for not having read it sooner. I may have just discovered my favourite 'Conan' tale that wasn't written by Robert E. Howard...

The Cimmerian travels to the aid of an old ally in the wretched wastes of Stygia - a desert harboring wealth undreamed of, even for the barbarian. Soon his pursuit of the ancient treasure reveals a conniving spirit and undead guards. Dust from the desolate land meets blood, and a dark-hearted sorcerer brings forth strange abominations from this unholy mix. Only the cool head and cold steel of the Cimmerian can save all creation from the horror that awaits.

I often think it must be the easiest and yet most difficult job to write a 'Conan' story. Let's take living up to Robert E, Howard out of the picture because, well... you're never quite going to make it. Nope, what I'm talking about is having all the ingredients at hand, for writing a 'Conan' tale (it's sword and sorcery, the ingredients are fairly obvious) but having to come up with something snappy and original to make your story stand out from the rest of the 'Conan' stories, written by people in exactly the same position, trying to do exactly the same thing.

Well, Joe R. Lansdale nails it on both counts. The sword and sorcery ingredients are cooked to perfection with an over arching quest that's punctuated, in all the right places, by encounters that push the plot on with that playful energy that you get in all the best sword and sorcery tales. It's all handled superbly and makes for a very smooth read where I didn't notice the pages turning.

That by itself would be plenty enough to make the story work but Lansdale injects a note of humour that not only makes 'The Songs of the Dead' stand out from the rest of the pack but also had me laughing out loud at all the little asides . Honestly... I spend all this time looking for a book that will make me laugh and 'Songs of the Dead' was sat there, in front of me, the whole time. Conan is far too taciturn to be without a travelling companion and the thief Alvazar is the perfect character to help us discover that Conan has a sharp, dry wit that makes for some amusing back and forth between the two of them. And that's the thing, Alvazar gives as good as he gets which means there's a little Conan's armour and he's not completely invincible after all. It's easier to get behind someone with a little weakness, in their character, and it's also another reason to root for Conan. After all, Alvazar can't have all the best lines, can he? Even the evil wizard has a few chuckles in him which you'd half expect from an evil wizard but it's still good to see the laughs coming from all directions.

My experience of Timothy Truman's work was limited to his writing the later Dark Horse 'Conan' comics so I hadn't seen his art until now. Again, I'm really glad I did. Truman not only captures Conan brilliantly but also the world around him in it's lush and brutal glory. It really encourages you to take your time with the story, you won't want to miss anything, and that can only be a good thing with a tale like this. And the monsters that he draws... Bloody hell they are awesome (and that last one makes you wonder what Truman's nightmares are like, seriously).

Can you tell I thoroughly enjoyed 'The Songs of the Dead'? Well, I did and I think you will too if you haven't read it already. You haven't...? Go and do something about that.