[2] Chapters 1-11 retell the story of the hero's youth from his birth through the murder of his father and destruction of his village by raiders to the eve of the Battle of Venarium.

Stackpole's version of these events is compatible with the account established in the original tales by Howard, the character's creator, references to which he incorporates into his text.

In the wake of Venarium Conan ventures into an unforgiving world where he survives as a thief, pirate, and warrior on a path of wanton adventure and women.

Reviewer Don D'Ammassa, noting the book's status as a "[n]ovelization of the really awful third Conan movie," feels "[t]he dialogue is flat and uninteresting" and "[t]he story is not much better.

The book is still an improvement on the movie, which I could barely watch, but given the limitations of the source material, there was no way that the author was going to turn this into an interesting story.