The other day, I unceremoniously decided I wanted to get back into reading fiction.
I love me some audiobooks, but there's something about sitting down somewhere quiet and turning pages that audio narration — as marvellous as it is — doesn't come close to.
However, there were conditions:
The books needed to be fast, bingeable, and on the shorter side, given how quickly my days can unravel with two boys under two years old.
But that's easier said than spread when the average fantasy book is 600 pages long (don't quote me on that; it's purely anecdotal).
So what was I to do?
Well, after a double espresso, an idea struck me…
Revisit books from the pulp era.
Unlike 21st-century writers who've been/are heavily incentivised to write longer books for reasons I won't get into right now, writers back then didn't have the luxury to knead their prose or explore every crevice of their world.
No, they had to write pithy.
They had to parachute readers straight into the action, or else they'd be forced to battle the fires of a steel factory for the rest of their miserable lives.
Oh, how I wish pulp never left us…
In any case, one of the stand-out titles from that bygone era was the sword and sorcery series, Conan the Barbarian by Robert E. Howard.
And that's exactly what I picked up over the weekend.
Now, guess how much I shelled out for the complete e-book collection?
£20?
£15?
£10?
Nope.
I snagged this puppy for the criminally low price of…
£0.49.
For that paltry sum, I feel like I practically stole it from the man's crypt.
For what it's worth, I'd gladly have paid £20+ for this collection, if not for the simple fact that each story averages 15-30 pages long, which is already a HUGE box checked for me.
Whether I end up enjoying the series, however, is yet to be seen, and given it was published in the 1930s, I suspect the writing will be interesting in parts.
But hey, for 49p, I cannot complain.
And as I still feel utterly criminal for paying so little, the next best thing I can do is point my ever-loyal, ever-hungry band of Legionnaires to his work.
So if you're also looking for something fast, episodic, and action-packed, then go ahead and pick up the collection before Robert hikes up the prices from the other side:
US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0839M1VW2
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0839M1VW2
AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07HCD69LQ
(Sorry, my Canadian Legionnaires, but I couldn't find the title anywhere on your store. Just say the word, and I'll be the first to lob maple syrup at Amazon's HQ.)
DJJW