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