Book Review: Red Sonja - Consumed

The warrior Red Sonja, the famous fiery She-Devil of Hyrkania, has never concerned herself with the consequences of her actions. She’s taken what she wanted, from treasure to drink to the companionship of bedfellows. She’s fought who deserved it (and sometimes those who didn’t). And she’s never looked back.

But when rumors start bubbling up from her homeland—rumors of unknown horrors emerging from the ground and pulling their unsuspecting victims to their deaths—and a strange voice begins whispering to her in her sleep, she realizes she may have to return to the country that abandoned her. And finally do the only thing that has ever scared her: confront her past.

Red Sonja: Consumed by Gail Simone will be published on November 19, 2024. Orbit Books provided an early galley for review.

As a comic reader, I've been familiar with Simone's writing for several decades and with the character of Red Sonja since the late 1970's. The combination of these two women in a single project was, therefore, worth my checking out.

The novel starts off as standard sword and sorcery fare. The places and a few names are what tie it to the classic heroine and her world. Yet this tale of love spurned, and vengeance sought could easily have featured any characters, either new or known. The fact that Red Sonja's name is on the title will likely pull in more readers.

And, for me, that was part of the problem. During much of the first half when we get chapters with Sonja's part of the story, it is often just her traveling alone or encountering those who want to take advantage of her (which she is more than able to put an end to). But because she was without an ally (besides her horse) to converse, I felt like it was missing out on some of that great character interplay that I enjoy from Simone. Sure, we see some of that in scenes here and there with other characters, but those are not who I am reading a Red Sonja novel for.

I did find that things picked up a bit, especially for what I was looking for, just before the second part of the book kicked off. Once all the players were on the board and moving into place, the story felt a bit more interesting and satisfying.