Let’s start this review with a riddle: When is an author’s character not an author’s character? Taking the point aside that an author’s character becomes something else when the reader reads it, I believe that generally it’s often when the book/film/story is adapted into something else.
The relevance of that here? Well, this book uses a character often thought of as belonging to one of Fantasy’s most influential vintage writers, but in actual fact is by someone else. (I’m getting ahead of myself here. I’ll explain in a moment.)
From the publisher: “Hot-headed, charismatic and always unapologetically herself, Red Sonja, the ferocious She-Devil and barbarian of Hyrkania, has never concerned herself with the consequences of her actions. She’s pursued all her desires, from treasure, to drink, to the companionship of bedfellows. She’s fought those who deserve it (and sometimes those who didn’t). And she’s never looked back.
But when rumours start bubbling up from her homeland – rumours of unknown horrors emerging from the ground and pulling their unsuspecting victims to their deaths – she realises she may have to return to the country that abandoned her. Sonja must finally do the only thing that ever scared her: confront her past.”
So: Red Sonja is often thought of (as I did, I’ll be honest!) as being the creation of Robert E. Howard, one of Fantasy’s all-time great writers. She’s seen as a counterpoint to Howard’s more famous creation, Conan, now about 100 years old. This identification with Howard may also be because of the 1985 film movie version of Red Sonja, starring Brigitte Nielsen, that was made to cash-in on the popularity of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s film versions of Conan, which although poorly scripted, was visually striking, admittedly.
But here’s the thing, and also the connection to my riddle at the beginning – Howard’s character is not named Red Sonja but Red Sonya, in the story The Shadow of the Vulture, published in 1934. Furthermore, Sonya was not the swordswoman of popular image, but Red Sonya of Rogatino, a gun-toting 16th century woman fighting against the Ottoman empire.
So how has this connection come about? Well, it was Marvel Comics, with writer Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor-Smith who created the iconic sword-and-sorcery version of the redhead fighting in a chain-mail bikini that most recognise today, in 1973. Although Howard is credited as an inspiration in the 1985 film, it is not his Sonya that most people know.
And now we have the character reimagined by Gail Simone, who previously has been known for her work on the comics of Batgirl, Birds of Prey and Wonder Woman, not to mention Red Sonja herself.
So, with this in mind, what do we have here? Clearly, this is a re-imagining of the Marvel Comics character. And as is perhaps to be expected, this 21st century version of Sonja has characteristics that may have been less noticeable in 1973, never mind the 1930’s, but perhaps more in keeping with the expectations of new readers. Simone’s Sonja is an example of how Howard’s and Marvel’s stories of muscle-bound men and masculine prowess can be revalued. I’m pleased to say that there’s not a chainmail bikini in sight; instead, this Sonja is a more complex and nuanced creation.
Simone manages to interweave the events of the present with the backstory of Sonja’s origins, and her complex drives. We learn of her dreams, inspirations and desires. Whilst at times she can seem to be amoral, highly sexed and not one given to overthinking, as you read further into the book this description is rather a simplification of Sonja.
This modern attitude is reflected in Sonja’s sexual appetites, which are given some detail here (although not too graphically!) Sonja is unabashedly bisexual here (or is that polyamorous?) – she begins the book coming out of a relationship with Ysidra, the Queen of the Nomads (otherwise known as the country of Turan) and before long is having relationships with men, women and couples.
Such modern attitudes are also reflected in some of the graphically fruity language throughout. The expletives are upgraded to a more modern vocabulary. Whilst we get a few choice cries – “Mithra’s fist!” and phrases such as “insect-humping wretches!”, we also get invectives such as “Run right over this filthy bitch, oh lord of all steeds.”.
Thirdly, much of the book deals with outsiders – Sonja is one, an exile from her homeland of Hyrkania, which the backstory does much to explain. However, the theme of displaced people and refugees is a constant presence in the novel, a contemporary issue seemingly never far away from us even today.
On the bigger scale, much of the world-building feels like the supernatural feel of Howard’s Weird Tales stories. We have ancient artifacts and equally primeval gods, not to mention the vile creatures they create. Simone does well to hint at an ancient history, of ancient tribes and races and magical creatures from the occult that do the baddies’ bidding.
Simone’s reimaging takes Howard’s Weird Tales occultish leanings and turns them into something more contemporary, whilst still nodding to their past. The world is brutal and at time viciously unpleasant. The fight scenes are impressive, if rather gory. Limbs are torn graphically from bodies, entrails spread with seeming abandon, seemingly gallons of blood spilt along the way. This may not be for everyone!
Nevertheless, Red Sonja: Consumed is a bold reimagining of a classic character in a classic Fantasy setting; Simone manages to recreate Sonja as a more detailed character with nuances that go beyond the comic book version.
I will admit that I wasn’t sure whether I was going to enjoy this at first. Other re-imaginings in my experience have sometimes been too earnest, too reverential, too tied up with the setting and the character’s legacy to be wholly successful. I’m pleased to say though that my initial concerns were misguided. Simone’s version manages to give Sonja respect and also balance the legacy of the past with contemporary values. It is clearly a book written with a love of the past history of Howard’s and Marvel’s worlds, without being a slavish reiteration of the past versions. I enjoyed it a lot.
RED SONJA: CONSUMED
By Gail Simone
Published by Orbit Books, 21 November 2024
384 pages
ISBN: 978 0356 520 605
Review by Mark Yon
