''Conan the Defiant'' is a

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

novel by American writer

Steve Perry Stephen Ray Perry (born January 22, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of the rock band Journey during their most commercially successful periods from 1977 to 1987, and again from 1995 to 1998. He also wrote/co ...

, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero

Conan the Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films (including '' Conan the Barbarian'' and '' Conan the Destroyer'') ...

. It was first published in trade paperback by

Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles, and is the largest publisher of Chinese sci ...

in October 1987, with a regular paperback edition issued simultaneously by the same publisher, and was reprinted in August 1988. A British edition was published in paperback by

Orbit Books Orbit Books is an international publisher that specialises in science fiction and fantasy books. It is a division of Lagardère Publishing. History It was founded in 1974 as part of the Macdonald Futura publishing company. In 1992, its parent ...

in January 1990.

Plot

Conan falls in with Cengh, a priest of the Suddah Oblates, who is conveying a jewel known as the Source of Light back to his temple. Unfortunately, his talisman is coveted by a necromancer, Neg the Malefic, who plans on raising an army of undead warriors with the jewel's magic. When an agent of Neg murders Cengh and steals the jewel, Conan seeks vengeance for his friend. Joining forces with a warrior woman, Elashi, and a beautiful

zombie A zombie ( Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in w ...

, Tuanne, Conan tracks the murderer back to his master. They overcome numerous menaces on the journey towards Neg's stronghold, including the Men With No Eyes, henchmen of the One With No Name, and a swarm of spiders. Finally, Conan faces and kills Neg himself in a great battle.

Chronology

Internal evidence indicates that Perry's later Conan work ''

Conan the Indomitable ''Conan the Indomitable'' is a fantasy novel by American writer Steve Perry, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in trade paperback by Tor Books in October 1989; a regular paperback ed ...

'' directly follows this novel, though in the comprehensive Conan chronology of William Galen Gray, Sean A. Moore's ''

Conan the Hunter Conan the Hunter is a fantasy novel by American writer Sean A. Moore, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in paperback by Tor Books in January 1994. Plot After facing a sewer monster ...

'' is placed between the two books.

Reception

Writing on one of Perry's other novels, reviewer Ryan Harvey assessed the author's Conan corpus as "goofy," noting that he "has a reputation among Conan fandom for overkill and general silliness." Ryan does rate this book above Perry's later novel ''

Conan the Free Lance ''Conan the Free Lance'' is a fantasy novel by American writer Steve Perry, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in paperback by Tor Books in February 1990. It was reprinted by Tor in D ...

''.

Don D'Ammassa Donald Eugene D'Ammassa (born April 24, 1946) is an American fantasy, science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts ...

writes of the book that "Perry's version of the Hyborian world is rather darker than is portrayed in most other pastiches, and he always tells a good story."D'Ammassa, Don
"Conan the Defiant"
(review o

. Oct. 25, 2017.

References

External links

{{Conan 1987 American novels 1987 fantasy novels Conan the Barbarian novels American fantasy novels Human-zombie romance in fiction Tor Books books Zombie novels