Conan the Savage (Tor)

Conan the Savage is a Conan novel by Leonard P. Carpenter.

Synopsis
After a gambling dispute erupts into violence and death, Conan of Cimmeria is condemned to the hellish mine pits of Brythunia where no man has ever escaped - or survived. But Conan breaks free and disappears into the wilderness, far from civilization, where he spends fishing and hunting and into the eager arms of Songa, a forest maiden.The story then involves Conan getting accepted into her tribe.

The second  story plods along about Tamsin-an orphan,who uses her family in a raid.All she has a rag doll,she Ninga and passed into an adopted family.She is  abused by them and a bunch of local kids.She gains some acceptance by a local priest and rise in power begins,via the evil dolls powers.

Still Tamsin and her doll, the demon-goddess Ninga has seized control of Brythunia and her insatiable appetite for human sacrifice threatens to devour the world. Only one man can strike at the very heart of Ninga's religion of blood. A man who carries death in his eyes... Conan the Savage.The story wanders,until the two meet in an unclimatic end,as the doll vanishes and Tamsin is back to square one-a nobody.Conan exites-the end.

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The novel follows two parallel storylines. In the first, Conan is sent to a Brythunian prison mine after he accused his gambling opponent of cheating. Escaping via an underground river, he ends up in a wild region, where he is badly injured in his fight with a bear. He is nursed back to health by Songa, a woman from a local tribe, with whom he eventually settles. Conan finds her tribe's culture and way of life as simplicity rewarding. However, his idyllic life is disrupted when Brythunian soldiers, under orders to locate a magic jewel in possession of the tribe, attack and destroy their village.

The other narrative is the life-story of a sorceress named Tamsin, who, as a child, watched in horror as her mother is raped and killed by mercenaries in the service of Typhas, the king of Brythunia. Tamsin seeks vengeance after she and her doll begin manifesting disturbing magical powers; the doll being possessed by Ninga, a minor deity. Tamsin challenges the kingdom's main cult, in time establishing Ninga's in its place, murders King Typhas, and becomes queen of Brythunia herself. As the fate of Songa's tribe assets, Tamsin's rule proves she is just as corrupt and evil as that of her predecessor.

The two plot threads converge when Conan shows up in Brythunia's capital seeking vengeance. He battles Tamsin, eventually destroying her doll and its powers.

Characters

 * Conan
 * Tamsin


 * Ninga
 * Songa


 * Aklak



Minor Characters

 * Regnard


 * City proctor sergeant


 * Tjai


 * Basifer


 * Prince Clewyn


 * King Typhas
 * Einholt
 * Velga
 * Higgin (Old)
 * Tamsin's Mother
 * Tamsin's Father
 * Gurda
 * Arl
 * Arnulf the Good

Locations

 * Brythunia
 * Brythunian Mines


 * Kezankian Mountains


 * Shihar



Publication history

 * Conan the Savage (novel) &bull; Leonard P. Carpenter &bull; Tor November 1992