Texas writer smackdown: two takes on heroic fantasy

 It's another of those classic matchups -- established Texas writer Robert E. Howard versus (relative) newbie Rick Riordan duking it out for the king of heroic fantasy. But wait, you say? Riordan as a Texas writer? Wonder no more, dear friends. Back before writing his way into the land of myth, Riordan, born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, took honors for his mystery series starring Jackson "Tres" Navarre. I like to think the surname of his breakout series hero, Percy Jackson, was a nod to Tres.

In the other corner is Howard, also born, lived, and died in Texas, with almost innumerable Conan stories to his credit, not to mention the likes of a slew of other heroes, movie spinoffs, etc.

Today, I'm featuring short reviews of one of the most famous Conan stories, "Red Nails", paired with a recent Riordan entry in the Percy Jackson oeuvre, The Wrath of the Triple Goddess. Each story features that classic threesome: a guy, a girl, and the monstrous house of a witch. What could possibly go wrong?

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Red Nails

A beautiful and dangerous woman flees through a dark forest, fearing pursuit from a band of pirates. Not that she has anything against pirates in general. She was one of their crew. But when one of them attempted to rape her, she had no choice but to kill him. And the rest of the crew didn't take kindly to that form of "no." 

REH

Hoping she's finally outrun her would-be assassins, she stops to reconnoiter, only to find one follower still on her trail: Conan. Luckily, he's more impressed with her sword work than the rest of her (not that he doesn't have an eye for gorgeous dames!). 

After polishing off a deadly dragon (impressed with their potential as food sources), Conan and the woman, who gets a name, Valeria, about half a dozen pages into the story, catch sight of a distant city and set out, seeking shelter.

The city consists of a single, enormous, multi-roomed house. But though it's immaculate and richly furnished, they find no evidence of inhabitants until they stumble upon an eerie, murderous masked figure and rescue one of its intended victims. The survivor informs them that the city/house is home to related but warring factions that have been at each other's throats for decades. (The story's title, Red Nails, refers to the nails one faction drives into a post to keep track of its kills.)

The survivor guides them to his faction's leaders, Prince Olmec and his beautiful consort Tascela, who overlooks Conan but is intensely drawn to Valeria. And as the slaughter of the warring factions drives each side toward extinction, Conan and Valeria learn the reason for their insane strife and the deadly meaning of Tascela's fascination with the younger woman,

Who will win and who will lose in what Howard himself described as his bloodiest and sexiest Conan tale?

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The Wrath of the Triple Goddess

Teenaged demigod Percy Jackson desperately needs recommendation letters from a few more Olympian gods to gain admission to the college of his choice, where his demigod girlfriend, Annabeth, is already assured of entry. So, what choice does he have when Hecate, goddess of witchcraft and magic, offers a recommendation in return for the "small favor" of house/pet sitting her mansion while she tours the world during her annual Halloween vacation? The mansion, of course, must be in immaculate condition, ditto Hecate's strange and deadly pets, upon her return or the recommendation will be forfeited.

Luckily, Percy has Annabeth and his best friend, the satyr Grover, to keep order while he attends the high school classes he missed while out saving the world in previous adventures.

But when the temptation to taste one of Hecate's deliciously dangerous brews overcomes Grover, the resulting spell trashes the entire mansion and unleashes the witch's pet hellhound and polecat into the wilds of New York City, the three friends must seek additional supernatural aid to find the beasts and put the house back in order. Or forfeit Percy's college recommendation, possibly even his life.

Luckily, Annabeth's research reveals an entire nearby graveyard full of pioneering New York ghosts who may be able to help if the friends can secure the aid of their ghostly leader. Too bad he was a demigod himself, a son of Hecate. And he's held a grudge against his mother, and everything associated with her for oh, about the last 400 years.

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Well, readers, who do you choose? Classic writer Howard or newbie(ish) Riordan? I'd love to hear your comments!

For me, Red Nails bears the weight of being the last of Howard's published Conan tales, not seeing print until after his suicide and the death of his mother, with whom he had, shall we say, an interesting relationship? And although I love many of Howard's never goody-goody female characters, he vented all his frustrations of money worries, race, and homophobia in ways that will seem creaky with age to some readers, or right for new readership for others.

Riordan's take on the classic story formulas is definitely 21st-century. And maybe it's just me, but I like the focus on working together as his demigod characters do than with the lone rangerishness of Conan. But I still vent at Netflix for dropping the ball about another Conan revival!

Totally by the way, but despite his disappearance from screens, lots of the Conan tales are still available. I found Red Nails in Prion publishing's Conan the Barbarian, among the Dallas Public Library's trove of Howardiana. Probably in multiple outlets as well.