This is not quite a spin-off from Robert E. Howard’s Conan stories, or at least it is and it isn’t. A character named Red Sonya (with a “y” not a “j”) made a very brief appearance in Howard’s fiction. Red Sonja is however essentially a brand new character.
The setting is ostensibly Howard’s mythical continent of Hyboria. The great thing about Hyboria is that it encompassed many different nations with many different cultures so the fact that Red Sonja inhabits a world that is more medieval than dark age barbarian does’t matter too much.
Red Sonja is a mercenary who is hired by Olin, a king whose kingdom was stolen from him by the sorcerer Asroth. Recruiting mercenaries won’t be easy - even the bravest man is reluctant to face sorcery. But Sonja is broke so she accepts the offer.
We get a brief backstory on the heroine and it’s pretty conventional - she lost her family and her honour to bandits. She had an encounter with what she assumed was a goddess. Sonja was given the strength and skill of a great warrior but had to pledge never to give herself to any man who could not defeat her in combat.
At this stage it seems like this will be run-of-the-mill sword-and-sorcery with a large dash of girlpower. Sonja seems like a standard kickass action heroine, in other words essentially a female character who could just as easily have been male. It all feels a bit generic.
But don’t give up - this book gets better and better as it goes. It also gets a lot darker.
Olin’s army sets out to reclaim his city of Suthad and the terrifying nature of Asroth’s sorceries becomes more apparent. The army’s march becomes a march into Hell. Asroth conjures up monsters which is bad enough but it’s when Olin’s warriors find themselves battling against their own slain comrades who have been zombie-fied that morale starts to crack.
And disoyalty becomes a problem. Olin’s mercenaries were never keen to begin with and they soon abandon him. Even his own troops are increasingly wondering if their suffering are worthwhile - maybe they’re up against an invincible enemy, and maybe defeat will mean worse things than death.
One thing I like is that Asroth’s magic isn’t all-powerful. The monsters are not as formidable as they look. The zombie warriors are unskilful and vulnerable. It’s the gruesomeness and the disgustingness of the creatures and the fact that Asroth is able to keep creating them that creates fear, and it’s the fear rather the creatures themselves that is the enemy.
Asroth remains offstage for most of the story which makes him more menacing. And there are villains who may not be straightforward villains, and allies who may be very untrustworthy, and they make the story a lot more interesting. Duke Pelides had been a servant of Asroth. Now he has joined Olin, but whose side is he really on?
And there are the Stygian priests of Ikibru. They’re enemies to Asroth, but whether that means they’re good guys or just another faction of bad guys remains to be seen.
It’s all about a magical ring. Asroth wants it. The Stygian priests want it. Duke Pelides wants it. Red Sonja has it, but she doesn’t know what to do with it. She’s not a sorceress so she cannot unlock its full powers. But would it be wise to entrust it to either Olin or Duke Pelides?
Sonja has personal matters to worry about as well. Olin is in love with her and wants to sleep with her. And she is discovering that despite her vow she is still a woman and she has emotional and physical needs and she could easily fall in love with Olin.
The authors keep things moving along in a brisk fashion, the action scenes are handled well and there’s some very effective very visceral horror. And an excellent atmosphere of paranoia and doom.
This is a hugely entertaining novel. Highly recommended. Now I need to find more of the Red Sonja novels.
It was the positive review at Paperback Warrior that convinced me to buy this book.
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