Red Sonja: The Ring of Ikribu

Hello to all you Terrifically Armed Sword-persons! 

So, I'm going to tell you all straight up:  I like the movie "Red Sonja".  Always have, and I make no apologies for it.  

Naturally, my discovery of Red Sonja--and Conan himself--were from the movies made back in the early eighties.  Yes, I like "Conan the Barbarian".  I also like "Conan the Destroyer" even though most people seem to malign that movie.  And I've always loved "Red Sonja", which apparently puts me into the minority.

It was a fair few years before I got into reading my fantasy instead of watching it.  But eventually the Choose Your Own Adventure books led me to "The Hobbit" (thanks to the Rankin/Bass animated film" and then to "The Lord of the Rings".  They were pretty much the only fantasy I would read for a few years.

Then I discovered Dungeons and Dragons, and the Dragonlance Chronicles, and Appendix N.  I was very curious about the list of authors and novels that appeared in Appendix N.  Slowly, I discovered some of the authors on that list, which led me to stories by Howard, and Lieber, and Brackett, and Moorcock.

Of course, as a character, Red Sonja is a special case.  She's part of Conan's world of Hyborea, so she was created by Robert E. Howard, right?  Well, yes and no.

According to Marvel comics writer Roy Thomas, when they were adapting Conan into comic book form, they wanted a selection of characters who could return from time to time, and not just die in the adventure they were introduced in.  They had an easy time finding male characters in the original stories, but had a more difficult time finding suitable female characters.

Then he found her:  Red Sonya of Rogatine.  She was not in a Conan story, but was the sidekick of a Germannic knight in a pseudo-historical adventure.  The story was called "The Shadow of the Vulture", and apparently she kicked ass.  Roy decided this would be a suitable character who would be able to fight beside Conan.  So with a few tweaks to her character, he imported her into the world of Hyborea.  

She was instantly popular, and soon had her own spin-off comic.  Eventually, there were novels written about her--she's gone full circle!

I was surprised and delighted to learn that there were a series of books about Red Sonja.  I found the first book "The Ring of Ikribu" in a second-hand book shop a few years back, and finally got around to reading it.  It was written by David C. Smith and Richard Tierney, and I believe they wrote all six books in the series.

The book starts off with a foreword by Roy Thomas explaining the inception of Red Sonja as we know her, which I summed up here.  

Now for the story (mild spoilers)...

An evil sorcerer (is there another kind?) seeks the Ring of the Elder God Ikribu, so that he might live forever and wield even more power.  Upon learning the Ring is hidden somewhere in the ancient city of Suthad, he invades it with an army of demons, driving out King Olin and his citizens.

King Olin sends out officers to recruit mercenaries to form an army and take his city back.  One of these mercenaries is Red Sonja.  During the lengthy adventure Sonja gets to fight a barroom brawl, battle winged demon-things, tentacle monsters that burst from the ground, mutinous mercenaries, sinister cultists, an enchanted swamp (no, really!) and various magical traps in the wizard's lair.

She met some interesting characters...most of them die by the end of the book, but I expected that.  Some of them died sooner than I expected, but *shrug* whatcha gonna do?

The very last chapter kind of annoyed me, but I don't really want to say why because it could be a major spoiler...for a book from 1981...that isn't that easy to find (cheaply) nowadays...  Well, the final confrontation with the wizard just didn't go as I expected or hoped, and I found it rather disappointing.  Other than that, I liked the book, and do plan to read book 2, since I have it.

Are you a Red Sonja fan?  Would you like to find some of these books?  Your best bet is eBay, but some of the prices a little high in my own humble opinion.

Well, I guess that's all I have to say about that.  I have other things I should be working on now.  But I'll be back in a couple of weeks to talk about...uh...something else!

Until then, I wish you all...

Good Adventuring!
Timothy A. Sayell

Love and Monsters

Howdy you Tenacious Apocalypse Survivors! 

How ya doing?  Seen any good movies lately?  Well, I saw one that I thought was pretty good, and I'm gonna tell ya about it.  Partly because it was pretty good, and partly to let you know that I watch some more modern stuff, too.

In case you missed the title of this particular post, I'll tell ya that the movie is "Love and Monsters".  

In case you don't know, "Love and Monsters" is a post-apocalyptic story about a guy who has been hiding in a bunker for seven years, finds out that his girlfriend is still alive in another survivor colony and decides to take the perilous journey to go to her.

How did the world end in this one?  Well, there was a massive asteroid headed for Earth, but that's not what got us.  Several governments fired nuclear missiles at it, to break it up and destroy it.  Kinda like in "Armageddon", except we didn't have to leave the planet.  Anyway, it worked!  The asteroid was demolished into smaller pieces and missed Earth!  

However, the chemicals in the rockets wafted back down to Earth and began to mutate all the lesser, vermin-type wildlife.  Little nuisance things like mice and insects grew to gargantuan size and went on a rampage.  About 95% of humanity died fighting them back while the rest hid in bunkers and shelters.

But our story is about Joel, played by some guy named Dylan O'Brien.  I'd never heard of this guy before, apparently he's in those "Maze Runner" movies.  

On a slight sidetrack:  I only know one actor in this whole movie, and that's Michael Rooker.  I know him because he's Yondu in "Guardians of the Galaxy" (the blue guy with the arrow that he controls by whistling).  In this, he's a wandering survivor.

Back to Joel.  His hometown was "ground zero" for the mutagenic chemicals, and his parents died while trying to evacuate the town.  He only survived because he was pulled into a pickup by some passing strangers.  

Anyway, apparently he managed to fix a ham radio and they were able to contact other survivors in other colonies.  He found out that his girlfriend, Aimee, is still alive.  After years of lonely brooding, he decides to go find her because being with her "was the last time he was truly happy".  

So, he packs some supplies and heads out on an 85 mile trek that should take him at least 7 days to travel.  Along the way he meets a dog mourning for his former master, a pair of survivors making their way to a new location high in the mountains where the monsters don't seem to go, and even a robot who was saving it's last hour of power for someone to find her.

And he does run into monsters!  Giant bugs!  Giant frogs!  Carnivorous worms!  Giant snails!  This movie felt like a cool combination of Gamma World and Fallout!  

I don't really want to tell you everything, after all, I don't want to ruin it for you if you decide to watch it.  But I DO recommend that you watch it!  It was pretty cool, and it was entertaining.

I streamed it on Amazon, and its got to be on DVD by now if you want to go that route.  

I also feel obligated to point out that if you like this movie, you might like my "Mutant World" stories, so check 'em out!

Until then, I wish you all...

Good Adventuring!
Timothy A. Sayell