MOON OF BLOOD

"Moon of Blood," a Conan pastiche written by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter in 1978, is a direct sequel to "Beyond the Black River." As such, the two beg comparisons, mostly unfavorably to "Moon of Blood."

I was pretty excited to read this one because of the dynamite Savage Sword cover painted by Earl Norem for when Roy Thomas adapted the story in November 1979. But my disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined to report that "Moon of Blood" is a pretty middling Conan story. 

"Moon" is more meaningful in its continuity than it actually is as a quality story. It certainly represents a big step forward in Conan's career. Everywhere Conan goes, he gains the admiration and loyalty of fighting men, be they pirates of the Red Brotherhood, Zuagirs of the desert, the armies of Khoraja, or now the forces of Aquilonia. Conan earned their trust to delay the invasion of the Picts in "Beyond the Black River" and he has since ascended to the role of Captain in the Aquilonian army.

As usual, Conan is the smartest, most cautious, most tactful leader of the bunch. I actually felt like this was quite a ding against the story. Whereas Conan is always on his back foot in "Black River" as the best-laid plans fail and further up the stakes, Conan is just... always right in this story. If he says hordes of Pictish fighters are about to pour over the horizon, you can look up and count the seconds on one hand before you see the enemy. 

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However, it is rather notable that by the end of this story, Conan has achieved the rank of General for Aquilonia and is supposedly off to the capital city of Tarantia to meet King Numedides (though our next story, "The Treasure of Tranicos," picks up with Conan still in the Pictish Wilderness).

With such a major personal victory for Conan, it's disappointing that "Moon of Blood" is just a vastly inferior version of "Beyond the Black River." Conan is once again in the Pictish Wilderness, they once again team him up with a younger fighter a la Batman and Robin, there's once again an evil sorcerer leading the Picts, and the town of Velitrium is once again threatened. Everything's just a little less satisfying here, though. 

Flavius is less interesting and less fun to be around than Balthus was. 

The shaman Sagayetha who is apparently Zogar Sag's nephew (weirdly enough, my copy of Conan The Swordsman spelled it "Zogar Zag" instead- there are strange little variations in spelling all across the Conan world) is dispatched all too quickly. He manages to get one snake bite on Conan before the Cimmerian unceremoniously and very easily lops his head off.

There is a little bit of fun to be had with the upper ranks of the Aquilonian army betraying their country because of bureaucratic infighting leading them to think they'll be replaced. The best scene in my estimation is when Conan and Flavius wade into a river up to their necks, with foliage on their heads to hide themselves from the Picts. In a daring episode of crucial war reconnaissance, they stay there for hours in the cold water until they spy the Picts and their traitorous Aquilonian.

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Unfortunately, "Moon of Blood" doesn't do much to build on the themes of "Beyond the Black River." Its predecessor was a tour de force with really strong philosophy, but the sequel just kind of gestures at a few of the same ideas. 

"Beyond the Black River" took a surprisingly anti-imperialist stance, and and "Moon of Blood" has just a few lines that hint at similar ideals. Conan notes that treaties between the Aquilonians and the Picts were perhaps unfair or even entirely invalid, similar to how the US government squeezed Native American tribes into making deals not in their interest and then completely abandoned their side of the bargain. Google the Sand Creek Massacre if you need to.

"'What do you mean "plucked"?' said Arno with indignation. 'The land was bought from them, piece by piece, by legal treaties bearing royal seals.'

Conan snorted: 'I know those treaties, signed by some Pictish drunken ne'er-do-well who knew not what he placed his mark upon. I love not Picts, but I can understand the fury that drives them now.'"

So that seems kind of progressive. 

I have the world's smallest gripe about characterization as well. Conan says, "Praise be to Crom" at one point, which just seems weird. Though Conan seems to believe in him and swears by him all the time, I don't think I've ever once heard Conan send praises to Crom. By Conan's own admission, Crom seems to be an incredibly hands-off deity, so it seems unlikely that he would interfere much here.

"Moon of Blood" was adapted into the story for Savage Sword 46, as previously mentioned. It also became a role-playing module using the GURPS system and words as the second part to an adventure started with "Conan: Beyond Thunder River," which seems to be their "Beyond the Black River" adaption.

We'll still be in the Pictish wilderness next time to round out a sort of trilogy with "The Black Stranger," AKA "The Treasure of Tranicos."

★★☆☆​☆

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