I liked this book for the cheesy dumb humor, such as scenes like “but we have many beers” “yes that’s what I need, many beers” when they really meant different kinds of beer, or when Sonja introduces herself to a foe, with a lot of buildup, and he’s actually never heard of her anyway. It had the tone of a comic book.
However, I felt like there were way too many flashbacks that added very little to the story, or really long chapters that follow another corner of the story that isn’t relevant. For example, there’s a chapter towards the beginning that goes through this one farmer guy’s whole life of trying to get this one woman to want to marry him, but he’s not successful enough. I thought maybe this was about to be a villain origin story with how involved it was getting. But nope, it was the whole life story of just a guy who gets killed, even though the next chapter already has someone finding out that some people were just killed in a particular way. We didn’t need a long backstory about it.

A CLASSIC sword & sorcery story with a few modern updates, like multiple POVs, which add to the tension and help with understanding more characters, adding depth to what would otherwise be a fairly straightforward adventure. I really enjoyed the world-building blurbs before each chapter, too. Call me crazy!
Listen: It's Red Sonja. She is who she is, and she sees no reason to be any other way. Why should Conan have all the fun?

I really like Gail Simone’s run of Red Sonja comics. I was very intrigued to see what she would do in a longer format without pictures. Red Sonja:Consumed is very good. It takes a little time to bring the pieces together, but once it does, it flies. I definitely recommend it for appreciators of a barbarian adventure, women who take charge of their own destinies, and cranky horses.

It starts with a queen and a jeweled asp. Sonja has stolen a prized piece of jewelry from Queen Ysidra. She seduced Ysidra and gained her trust with the intention of stealing the asp for a client. Sonja is a hurt people who hurts people. She had a client, yes, but she was also scared of the loving future Ysidra imagined for them. The trauma Sonja suffered as a child reverberates through the book, from the prologue to the aftermath of victory.

Simone has reimagined Red Sonja’s background and fleshed out her character. Characters are pushed into action by love and by revenge, but this isn’t a romance. There’s no happily ever after for the lovers to enemies to lovers, but there are other kinds of satisfaction in the ending.

I will warn you though, if you have a spider phobia, Red Sonja: Consumed is not going to help. Along with the sword and sorcery fantasy is a healthy dollop of horror. A lot of people and creatures die, often horribly. It gave me a cathartic cry in the end. I’m excited to see where Simone takes Red Sonja next.

I received this as an advance reader copy from Orbit Books and NetGalley. My opinions are my own, freely and honestly given.

Sonja's latest score isn't going as planned. While she got the trinket she wanted, the escape did not go as well. Now she's on the run from Queen Ysidra , furious over the theft and Sonja breaking her heart.

And as this is happening, something mysterious is happening in Hyrkania, Sonja's homeland...

Some writers don't transfer well from comics to novels, but Gail Simone manages it nicely. She weaves several plots together neatly, with interesting characters and exciting action scenes.

Gail acknowledges the various incarnations of Sonja while also doing her own thing. The world itself is very well realized, and I'd love to read more books by her in this setting.

Four out of five stars.

Red Sonja: Consumed by Gail Simone

This is an adventurous tale, with a character that you may not like. She is challenging to befriend. There is a hopefulness in the story, that is inspiring...in a sense, till the main character...leaves you, holding the bag, or without the bag (for she took that, too). There is a mysterious, for the person that we are trying to get to know, is reflective, but not all together trustworthy in the tale. Because of this, we become sad for the characters that are around her, and at times the tension is palpable (even for the reader). You want to like/love her, but he doesn't need/want you to

It is fairly evenly paced, so as not to be pedantic, nor break-neck. I didn't want to put it down, and it kept my attention, even when I did step away...and was able to jump back into the story...without any refreshing. Read it in three days.

It is a character-driven driven story. I knew there was a plot, but I wasn't that worried about it. I was just basically interesting in getting to know the character and how she was dealing with each adventure as it came to her.

There is a fairly strong character development in the story, though she, herself doesn't really grow too much, other than understanding her limitations...by the end.

No, she's really not that loveable...though I was investing in how she was doing at each point in her life. I actually felt sorry for her...for she felt like she was alone, and really didn't need companionship...to be strong.

The cast was fairly diverse. Good and bad people, plus the undead humans (dwyers), undead spiders and other creatures of fantastical elements.

...and yes, the flaws of the main character...is the main focus of the story...to the benefit or detriment of those around her.

4.0 Stars

My only knowledge of this character...is from the 1985 film...with Brigitte Nielsen and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

This year, I have also been reading all of Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian stories (and have yet to read ANYTHING with Red Sonja (at least to my knowledge. I hope I do, before the year ends.

This story has been written by someone, who has a full understanding of the character (for I've seen some of the graphic novels she's done)...and I look forward to someday reading them (though I'm not a big comics/graphic novel fan). They just look too good to pass up.

Red Sonja is not a protagonists that you're suppose to love. She is almost unlovable. She's gruff and dismissive. She is only in it for her own satisfaction, until...she isn't.

There is a growth that happens through the book, as the story is also not a linear tale. There are portions of the story that are told as the present, but after we've already gotten to know her and the type of Red Devil that most people associate with her...ruthlessness.

There are also sections of historical elements that preface each chapter, which I thought was interesting...in an historical aspect. Grounding the telling of the tale...in some sort of reality.

I do hope that the author writes another book with this character, for which she understands and conveys very well...in my opinion.

I also want to thank Net Galley, for giving me the opportunity to read an eArc version of the book...and to give my fair and honest opinion of what I read. Thank you,

Folks who know me in real life know I don't generally associate with other redheads (figure we go Highlander rules so that's why our territories don't cross). But when I saw "Red Sonja: Consumed" was going to be written by Gail Simone, and later that Felicia Day was going to narrate, I had to support the red. Out 19 November 2024, thanks Orbit and Hachette Audio for arcs.

The She-Devil of Hyrkania, Sonja lives by her own rules, fights when she wants takes what she wants, and thankfully has a great horse to get her out of messes. Kind of a feral Julie d'Aubigny but with more throat punching and less opera singing. We join her mid-fleeing from her betrothed, a nomadic queen who Sonja just stole from, who isn't pleased with this turn of events. Her paths cross with folks ready to rob her, upcharge because of her origins, and one actively hunting her (with his own bag of crazy). When she hears that something is plaguing her homeland nothing could make her return to help. Well, almost nothing.

Narrated by Felicia Day, the bloodthirst that came over the headphones was a bit shocking to hear from you but I dug it.

Reasons to read:
-Sonja is a blast
-The side povs are all great in their own right
-Support the well written redheads, I loathe when a redhead in a story is there just to tick a box or to be an object
-Learned some new red hair based insults
-The importance of just stabbing things because they get going
-Proper animal husbandry results in caved in chests of foes

Cons:
-Well damn that's a lot of dead bodies

Unfortunately I couldn’t even get past 4 chapters. I have read one of the comic books and I liked it but I just didn’t like read this at all.

I picked up this book because of name recognition (ie Gail Simone was a writer from one of my favorite video games of all time, Tomb Raider (2013)) and had no idea it was IP. But it’s obvious from the very beginning that Simone does most of her writing for visual media (ie comic books and video games) because the prose is frankly not good.

I appreciate the casual queerness, the gore, and the snappy dialogue, but reading the descriptions and narrative was painful.

I don't read a lot of comics, and have not read or watched any version of Red Sonja before this book. So, this review is from the perspective of a complete newbie to this character/universe.

I pretty much loved this book. It was a great way to escape the real world for awhile. I felt there was a good amount of background/lore/origin-story via the excerpts at the beginning of each chapter, and also a good amount of action. There were a few jarring/abrupt changes in POV, but otherwise the pacing worked well for me. I just thoroughly enjoyed this introduction to Red Sonja, and would happily read a sequel if there ever is one.

(This is the full review taken from my Goodreads review)

eARC Review: Red Sonja: Consumed by Gail Simone 🗡️

This review is going to be a little bit weird because while I want to write about my overall thoughts on the book, I also want to bring attention to a trend that I’m seeing happen with this book that is leading me to wonder why fantasy as a genre is not only a multifaceted, but is also now being heaped with expectations that I’m seeing becoming a rather a bit of a trend in romantasy. 😕

But first my thoughts. I thought this was a great introduction to a comic book character who is getting a revamp on not only her image, but also her backstory. Simone has done an incredible job taking this character from being a simple sex symbol that male comic book readers could obsess over to being a woman who not only takes shit from no one, but has built herself up from the ground after a traumatic childhood. Sonja is brash, hot tempered, and uncouth. I honestly enjoyed her take-no-nonsense from people while still keeping her values close to her heart. You can tell that she has taken a lot of work on herself to be not only where she is personality wise, but also mentally. I also loved that Simone revitalized her image into that of a sexually free woman who knows what she likes and embraces her bisexuality. 💋

This gets me into the discussion that I would like to have about this book. I’ve noticed that this book has been primarily reviewed by readers who haven’t done their research into the character, but also are showing their biases. Yes, this character started off as a character that was made for male eyes and male desires, but why not celebrate the reclaiming of her with a woman author? Yes, she sleeps around, but why are we not celebrating that this woman isn’t being tied down to the first man or woman that she’s slept with? Yes, she’s still described as having her comic book outfit of a simple bikini like chain mail and leather combo, but why are we not celebrating a woman who is literally wearing what she wants instead of what society demands she wears? Why are heaping modern biases of womanhood on a fictional character? I don’t want to point fingers, but since romantasy has come to great prominence in the fantasy world, I’ve noticed a few things that might point to why some readers have issues with this character. 😑

For one, a lot of readers of romantasy (and now fantasy) are expecting FMC’s to be young, like 19 early 20’s and a virgin to boot. They not only are supposed to be kickass, but also worldly even though they’ve never really left the safety of their village/castle/family. They are supposed a virign because they are waiting for the one (primarily a man) to rock their world and make them ridiculously horny. And when they do finally get into the sack with what is most likely an older man (or hell some weird imagining of a fairy), then they can’t imagine leaving this partner. Not only that, but they are also happy to wear skin revealing clothing now that they are with that right person because before, it was too much to show their skin to someone who hasn’t seen them naked. . . Sound familiar? 🥱

So then we get to the FMC of this book: an older woman (I’m going to assume late 20’s) who is clearly not a virgin that loves wearing clothing that helps her move better. Do you see where I’m going here? Even though she doesn’t have one particular partner that she stays with, she’s still a human who wants and needs love, she just happens to go about it differently than what most readers would want to see in a FMC. So what about the fantasy readers who are more interested in a woman warrior going back to save her country? Oh no, because this was a comic book before it was given the chance to be a novel is too much of a reason to not be labeled as fantasy. This leads me to the question of what is fantasy then? What do we label as fantasy and what do you not label as fantasy now? 🧐

These are the thoughts that I had while reading because seriously, why all the contradictions? I had a great time reading this book and honestly will happily give this five stars if that means pissing off the people who claim that a scantily clad, sexually free warrior of a comic book character doesn’t belong in fantasy books. 😈

I do wish we had more information as to how Sonja became the warrior that she is in the book, but I’m going to assume either this will be answered in future installments, or hell I’ll go get me the comics just to get the answers that I need (obviously the ones written/headed by Simone). Big thank you goes out to Orbit Books and NetGalley for accepting my request to read this in exchange for an honest review. I loved seeing a woman being who she is no matter what society expects her to be, and huge thank you to the author, Simone, for giving new life to this character. ❤️

Publication date: November 19!

Overall: 4/5 ⭐️

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Red Sonja: Consumed by Gail Simone is a third person multi-POV dark epic fantasy starring one of the comic book characters Gail Simone is best known for writing, Red Sonja. Sonja has lived a nomadic life, moving from place to place and not planting roots. When she’s asked to return to her homeland in order to stop an evil force from taking over, she agrees to go and might finally find a home for herself.

Each chapter opens with excerpts that provide worldbuilding or more details about Sonja’s life, such as poems, bits of media inspired by Sonja’s life, or parts of essays or lectures about Sonja herself. These bits and pieces show the lasting impact of Sonja on the world at large but also how, as a historical figure of epic proportions, has a lot of people wondering what is fact and what is fiction. We do get some chapters focused on her childhood, particularly during and after the raid that destroyed her entire village and her family, that further shows the myths might very well be true because magic is real in this world but seems to have died out. For long-time fans of Red Sonja as a character, this could provide some very cool details that they might really be craving.

I was not familiar with Red Sonja beyond the name in general as I’m not a big reader of American comics, but I didn’t feel lost or like there was vital information I was missing. Gail Simone knows how to tell a story full of action that peels the layers back so that there’s enough mystery for the reader without being overwhelming. I appreciated how the story was laid out because there was no way I was going to read years of comics I wasn’t totally interested in in order to read an epic fantasy novel that I was open to reading to finally learn more about this iconic character.

Sylus, one of the main characters we are in the head of, is not a comfortable POV to be in. The way he thinks about women is reductive and he thinks a lot about people’s Hidden, their desires and inner intents, and seems to believe everyone is inherently evil including himself. Characters like this help to show the shades of gray in characters like Sonja doesn’t mean they are bad people and that the real predators are the ones who want to hurt others and take delight in it. Sylus not my favorite kind of character to read, but there is a need for characters like him and I understand why he’s there in this dark epic fantasy story.

Content warning for mentions of SA and child abuse

I would recommend this to fans of the character Red Sonja and Gail Simone, readers who have been curious about Red Sonja or Gail Simone’s work but aren’t really into American comics, and those looking for a dark epic fantasy with a messy Bi female lead

Red Sonja: Consumed tells the story of everyone’s favorite scantily clad, flame haired, sword maiden.
In the hands of Gail Simone, who has written the character in comics many times, I wasn’t disappointed, but I also was.
All of the parts with Red Sonja herself, I enjoyed very much. All of that was as I expected.
Whenever it shifted perspectives to Sylus and Ysidra, I lost a little bit of interest. They just didn’t capture my attention the way they should have.
Gail Simone writes with a deft and creative hand building the world of Red Sonja.
If this is a first novel by the author, I’ll be interested in seeing what she puts out next.

So I went into this not knowing any of the background for this character but I absolutely loved this as a fantasy book. I think the book pulled you in right away and the background information before the chapters I also enjoyed. When I found out this was from comic books I thought was even more amazing because I am a huge Marvel nerd!

Thank you, NetGalley, Orbit Books, and Gail Simone for this ARC!

I read this courtesy NetGalley and Orbit Books. As a fan of Gail Simone’s comics work, I was intrigued by the idea of her tackling the character of Red Sonja. I came into this novel fresh—I hadn’t read any Robert E. Howard (shamefully), I hadn’t read any of the comics—so all I had to judge the work was Simone’s storytelling. What I found was a complex story with strong narrative, well-developed characters, and a satisfying read. I look forward to more.
#RedSonjaConsumed #OrbitBooks #NetGalley

I can see how this would work for some people, but it absolutely was the wrong book at the wrong time for me. I couldn't get into the writing style (what works for comics does not work in prose) and can see myself giving it another try sometime down the road, knowing more what it will be like going in.

I asked my husband about the character of Red Sonja and told him that a lot of the criticism of early readers and the 'over-sexualizing' of the character, and his response was, Then this book isn't written for them."

I have to agree with him. This book reads like a novelization of a comic book, quite literally. Each chapter is quick, almost like a full page panel and the characters are not truly fleshed out. Dialogue is quick and would fit in a conversation bubble. There seems to be an action set-piece in every chapter, exactly like a comic book. I see why some would criticize this, as it truly doesn't read like a novel, but more like a narration of an animated tv show. Does it add anything new to the character?...I guess not. It doesn't do anything new for feminism or the fantasy genre as a whole, except for a novelization of a much loved comic book character.

Straightforward and not too deep. Action-packed and a play on a comic favorite.

I didn't have that background coming in to the book so I thought it interesting and a quick read. I didn't feel overly attached to Red Sonja but knowing her backstory (I had to research) it made sense in how the story played out.

She is feisty and likes what she likes. She is violent and hard. Red is anything but easy - and that's many of us. I think this take on her character is engaging and at times thought-provoking.

I'd like a bit more finesse in terms of plot development so that everything connects together better but I liked the book and would recommend it.

Thanks to Orbit Books and NetGalley for the eARC!

dnf

i love badass women i will read any book with one but this book just felt like stereotypes of a badass woman & i just could not handle reading more.
I really did not enjoy the writing, there was something about it that did not work with me

Back in high school, I devoured every sword & sorcery saga I could get my hands on, including Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, Elric of Melniboné, Jirel of Joiry, Conan the Cimmerian, and (in comic book form), Red Sonja. I was a huge fan of her Marvel Comics run, and liked what I’d read of what I’d seen in Dynamite Comics, so I was excited to hear that Gail Simone would be the one to bring her to the page.

That said, I saw some rather negative (and surprising) reviews of Red Sonja: Consumed, so I entered into it with no little trepidation. Having devoured it over the course of a weekend, I can happily say this is the novel that the character has always deserved, as if Simone found some lost manuscript of the late Robert E. Howard and just finessed it for modern readers.

This is vintage sword & sorcery, complete with action, adventure, magic, and monsters. It’s violent and ugly at times, more concerned with survival than hope, and often disturbingly mad. It’s pulp fantasy with a bit more of a soul/conscience than we may have seen decades ago, but what makes it memorable is just how carefully Simone imbues the story with depth. She doesn’t shove contemporary morals or ideals in your face, doesn’t have her heroine make any grand statements about progress or equality, but instead sprinkles with book with subtle details, including the notes and articles from historians that open each chapter, that serve as a sort of internal commentary.

Some readers have described Red Sonja as one-dimensional and stereotypical, but nothing could be further from the truth. She’s a damaged woman, scarred by childhood trauma, who is wandering the world in search of meaning. She’s neither superhuman nor supernatural, and yet that vulnerability is something those same readers have chafed against. Others have complained she’s oversexualized, but this is an example of where Simone has so carefully shifted the telling. Yes, she’s scantily dressed, and some characters do objectify her, but you’re not going to find references to her breast size, heaving bosom, tight butt, or anything else that you may be imagining as you read.

Narratively, I’ve seen complaints about multiple POVs and shifts in narrative which, to be fair, are more hallmarks of epic fantasy than sword & sorcery, but I found they expanded the story and gave it depth – especially in the case of the villain and the monsters – and actually counter the complaints of readers who felt Red Sonja’s POV wasn’t engaging enough early on. Honestly, I feel as if some readers went into it with certain expectations, and abandoned it halfway through, because my experience was nothing but positive.

Red Sonja: Consumed felt familiar where I needed it to, new and fresh where I wanted it to, and surprising in so many exciting ways. A welcome addition to both the sword & sorcery and kick-ass heroine shelves.

I am not a Red Sonja fan, I am, however, a Gail Simone fan. She was able to capture my interest and update the Red Sonja tale to tell a fantastic story without the cringier aspects of Sonja’s past lore. Well done!