Brak the Barbarian Before John Jakes became known for historical fiction, he wrote a series of "clonans" (i.e. Conan-like heroes based off of Robert E. Howard's hero). Jake's hero was: Brak the Barbarian. In his introduction, Jake says he merely wanted to have more stories of the ones he liked. With a little more effort, he could have a really neat hero. Instead, he took a cookie cutter mold of Conan, stripped him free of specific goals, and set him on a general trip "south" toward Khurdisan, an apparently dreamy place worth seeking with one's life and soul... but not apparently good enough to tell the reader about.
Horror and action are good: Jake's writing of Brak excels when he employs his version of horror/Lovecraft-themed weirdness. There are true moments of neat-trippiness and terror that I wish he had done more often.
Shallow motivations are bad. Countering this, Jake over-stressed the "barbarian is more civil than city-folk" theme that RE Howard was known to push (i.e. Brak is always the more honest and honorable than any of the civilized people he crosses). Also, there is the matter of inappropriate attire: no matter the environment (whether its the Ice-marshes or the desert), he wears a loin cloth and rides a pony (he has four ponies in five chapters, each one is new since the others die). He is giant, and must look ridiculous on a pony. And he has braided hair, that is strangely described as "savage." This book has 5 chapters that chronicle Brak's life after being outcasted for reasons unknown and never told to the reader.
I chronicled my own adventure with Brak. I would recommend reading the first and fourth chapters:
Chapter I The Unspeakable Shrine: Brak is indeed a Conan clone; hailing from icelands; wearing loincloth in a tundra? Yob-Haggoth antagonist-god is Lovecraftian. Trippy scenes with Adriane (Yob-Haggoth supporter). Anti-civilization themes echoes REH's approach. More entertaining than cheezy.
Chapter II: Flame Face: This was a sub par story. Brak leaves the ice marshes in his loincloth only to take a slow route to Khurdisan, his random goal in life. He spends months working to buy a pony to carry him south ? Really... A pony? Then instantly gets captured and imprisoned in a mine for 50 days. No worries he escapes, of course, and the random villain gets her due justice.
Chapter III: The Courts of the Conjurer: was par with Ch1. A decent adventure story, some betrayal, and a creature named Fangfish (akin to the nomenclature of Ch2's Doomdog). More "barbarians are more civil than civilization" commentary. Still Brak's desire to ride small ponies and wear no clothes seems forced. Pretty shallow personality and goals.
Chapter IV: Ghosts of Stone: This is the best so far. A ghost city called Chamalor, the best follow up to ch1. A good dose of horror and more info on Septegundus, undying evil wizard. The Thing That Crawls, T'muk, is a nice Lovecraftian creature. Enjoyed this story.
Chapter V: Barge of Souls: Brak meanders south via a battlefield. The good parts include interactions with ghosts and haunted war grounds. Too much weird coincidence undermines some really great touches. Minor spoilers: [ There is an evolution of a shield design which was very thoughtful; this was countered by Lord Hel (antagonist) and his Tiger men being nefarious but stupid (they betray a prince, accidentally get rid of the body...but then they need a body for an obvious ritual...but lucky ho... Brak looks like man they need, but they need him dead...but they don't kill him when they have him restrained...instead they decide to drug him...but they don't do that well...Brak escapes... WTH?). At the end Brak could stay with a Queen, who begs him to stay. He says no....I have to go to Khurdisan. She pleads, Why? He says, I don't know. Then leaves on a pony? WTH? He says, he must go in part because of the great stories he has heard. Well that's nice. The reader has heard none of those by the end of book one. That's right, we still don't have a glimmer of what motivates the hero by the end of act one, except that he seems to like to ride ponies. (S.E. Lindberg, GoodReads)
Sword and sworcery tales by Fritz Leiber and Jack Vance are characterized by a poetic style, clever plots, and witty dialogue. The Brak stories are characterized by a leaden style and humorless dialogue. There is, however, action a-plenty. Here are two random samples:
The Hellarms seemed to have scores of the whiplike tentacles. One went streaking for Brak's scabbard, swaying in the air just a hand's width from the place where Marjana's wine-colored scarf was knotted. The orifice of the tentacle opened and closed and emitted whistling, sucking noises with an insane frequency not matched by the orifices of the other tentacles which came slithering and crawling toward Brak to surround him and strip off his skin.
The stories are: "Devils in the Walls" (Fantastic 1963), the first of the Brak stories; "Ghoul's Garden" (Flashing Swords #2, 1974), "The Girl in the Gem" (Fantastic, 1965), "Brak in Chains" (aka, "Storm in a Bottle," Flashing Swords_#4, 1977), and "The Mirror of Wizardry" (Worlds of Fantasy #1, 1968). "Devils in the Walls" and "The Girl in the Gem" received cover illustrations (by Vernon Kramer and Ed Emshwiller, respectively). The book version of "Devils in the Walls" is expanded from its original magazine version.
All of the stories are written to formula. All feature monsters of some type, and all feature beautiful women. The beautiful women fall into two categories: those who survive and those who Come To Bad Ends. The women who come to bad ends are usually either black-hearted villainesses or sympathetic women who go insane. Readers with a taste for bad Conan pastiches (such as Lin Carter's Thongor stories) may actually love the Brak stories. But don't say that I didn't warn you. (Paul Camp, Amazon)
Brak the Barbarian verus the Sorceress (Witch of the Four Winds) This fine tradition in adventure storytelling – fast in pace, high on action, and usually low on detailed characterisation or psychological complexity, with the stakes generally far lower than your usual save-the-world-or-die-trying blueprint for epic fantasy which Tolkien pioneered – produced a vast number of proponents and imitators. Perhaps the finest to follow Howard’s lead in the true sense, though, was John Jakes, who created a character clearly directly inspired by Conan, Brak the Barbarian.
While heading for Khurdisan, our hero Brak crosses the desolate territory of the Manworm and encounters the beguiling sorceress who provides the novella with its title: Nordica Fire-Hair, who – in true Howardian, Conanesque fashion – practises human sacrifice as part of her ‘art’. I won’t offer spoilers, but of course Brak’s mighty sword is brought out and he is charged with saving the day and taking on the powerful sorceress.
Although he would never have existed if Howard had not created his mighty-thewed barbarian protagonist, Brak is not Conan – at least, not quite. He’s far stupider, for one thing: although the bulging biceps and sullen expression tend to lead people to assume Conan the Cimmerian isn’t especially bright, Howard’s original stories reveal a far more cunning and enterprising man. He has to be, in order to survive, outwit his foes, think on his feet, and track down the treasure (and so on). Brak is neither cunning nor enterprising, and he takes a colossally long time to come up to speed with the plot. He’s so slow that even Dr Watson would tut at his obtuseness.
The Brak novellas are every bit as pulpy as Howard’s original stories from the 1930s. Jakes’ writing lacks the innovative spark and the pure energy we find in Howard, but then that’s hardly a surprise. Might as well moan that John Webster doesn’t offer the same ingenious metaphors that Shakespeare does. But Jakes can spin a fine yarn and The Sorceress proved an enjoyable way to pass a few hours. And for the fantasy nerd, eager to discover a sword-and-sorcery author who had somehow passed him by until recently, the existence of the book was fascinating in itself. Great literature, then? No, although Howard’s original stories, I would argue, are – at least in so far as they remain the superlative example of the genre they spawned. But Jakes’ novella offers plenty of action and adventure, and unlike a great deal of fantasy that’s been published since, doesn’t take itself too seriously. We need a bit of pure escapism from time to time, and one could do worse than Brak the Barbarian. (Dr. Oliver Tearle, Interesting Literature)
When the Idols Walked Do you like Conan but wish it were written in a more over-wrought style? Would you enjoy reading many varying descriptions of Brak's hair/loincloth/musculature? (A TASTE FOR THE CURIOUS: "Yellow/wrapped tightly/ropey.")Much like a parent/teacher conference or employee evaluation, I will start with the positive. Gore. The gore is excellent and there are piles of it everywhere. The monsters are neat. The villians are all described to be oily and repulsive IN THE EXTREME. As a matter of fact, everything is described in the extreme. Nothing is boring or ordinary. Everything is horrible or opulent. I happen to like that. Subtlety is a meek man's game.
SPEAKING OF MEN, oh goodness, is this a book series with you guys in mind! Pretty much all the ladies are trecherous evil soceresses who want to destroy our yellow, ropey-arm-muscled hero. But only after they seduce him! That sounds bad, but, really, Jake's inner brain demons are more amusing than offensive.
Regardless of the book's sexism, purplest of purple prose, and sheer stupidity, it's fun entertainment. For crying out loud, the ghost of a lady-crazed murderer possesses a stone idol! What does the murderer/idol statue do with it's newly-minted life? It destroys a fountain. That's good fun!
Now for the whip: This book doesn't work as well for me as the first Brak book. The first Brak book really clips along in a series of mini-adventures and hilariously bad poetry that reads like the most earnest of black metal lyrics. This book is not quite so charmingly paced.
I'm not sure if I yet understand how yellow/tightly wrapped/ropey Brak's hair/loincloth/musculature is, so I will continue reading the series anyway. (Sarah, GoodReads)
Mark of the Demons Brak the Barbarian was part of the late 1960s resurgence in the popularity of sword & sorcery and Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian stories. While the series enjoyed a certain degree of popularity as paperback releases, they've been difficult to find for the past 15-20 years, making this e-book release especially welcome. This volume collects the Brak the Barbarian and Mark of the Demons novels, as well as a pair of bonus Brak short stories. The first Brak the Barbarian book is more of a short story anthology than a novel, however.
While John Jakes has apparently become a very successful Civil War-related historical fiction novelist, his Brak stories have never struck me as being particularly well-loved within the sword & sorcery genre. They were created at a time when hordes of writers were churning out cheap and cheerful barbarian stories to take advantage of Conan's paperback popularity. As a result, my expectations for this book weren't particularly high. In the end I was pleasantly surprised, though.
The premise is fairly simple. Brak is a blonde barbarian from the northern steppes. His goal is to reach the fabled city of Khurdisan in the far south. Why he's headed there isn't made very clear, but it doesn't have to be. Brak is the kind of guy who picks a direction and sets off. In his debut story he falls afoul of Septegundus, a dark wizard in league with the evil god Yob-Haggoth. While he defeats Septegundus, the dying foe swears an oath to plague Brak during his travels.
The stories are a bit formulaic. Brak comes to a new location and either encounters some people in need or falls into trouble himself. While extricating himself from the predicament he usually comes into conflict with evil magic or some manner of monster. There's often a femme fatale. In the beginning stories it's almost comical; Brak meets a number of untrustworthy men, but the women are almost invariably gorgeous and evil to the core. Were I Brak, I probably would've buried my broadsword in the head of every beauty I encountered, rather than be betrayed, tortured, or imprisoned any further. Still, this seemed less like misogyny on the part of the author than overuse of a favorite story trope.
While the stories follow a basic pattern, there's enough variation on the theme that I remained interested throughout. The setting is vaguely outlined and the characters aren't especially deep, but there are occasional flashes of brilliance: a particularly original monster or magic curse. And while Brak himself didn't seem to have much of an internal life (his goals tended to be fairly immediate, and spent much of his time reacting to threats than formulating his own plans), he was more than just a carbon copy of Conan. Unlike many pseudo-Conans I've encountered, Brak was more fallible--combat didn't always go his way--and he was more emotional as well. He's openly terrified by some of the monsters he runs into, and he's driven to sob by some of the more trying or tragic circumstances he endures as well.
While Brak and his adventures aren't quite distinctive enough to earn a place among sword & sorcery's classics, they were a fun read. Perhaps the best way to describe them is "solid." Not startling or breathtaking, but well-constructed and without major flaws. I'd recommend newcomers to the genre look elsewhere, but if you're already acquainted with sword & sorcery and have already read through the top-tier stories, Brak the Barbarian is a worthwhile, satisfying read. (Phil, GoodReads)
Mater of the Dark Gate: The Gate of Darkness stood open between the worlds, and the men of Earth faced invasion... from Earth! Gavin Black, once soldier, now newsman, found himself drafted by unseen forces to wage war against that other Earth, and the barbaric hordes that threatened to overwhelm his world. He dared not refuse for the mysterious master Bronwyn had shown him how firmly the strings of power were attached to Black's shoulders. Refusal meant death... not only for Gavin Black, but for the entire planet!
Witch of the Dark Gate: Sequel to 'Master of the Dark Gate' about a great civilization that flourished on Earth 100,000 years ago then before the Ice Age fled thru dimensions into alternate Earths & now wish to reclaim their long-abandoned territory.
Gavin Black stands as Earth’s only defender against the Masters of the Klekton!
A great cover on my "Magnum Science Fiction Original," but it doesn't have anything to do with the story, which is more SF than fantasy. Not a bad read but somewhat slight on story. (Charles, GoodReads)
The Last Magicians: I recall reading this one way, way back in time when I was in late adolescence, meaning my brain hadn't navigated all the way up to my head yet. About the only thing I remember about the book was the fact that the hero had a sword called Red Slut...why that bit of trivia should have lodged in my brain I have no idea. I know my mother would never have permitted me to give my cutlery such a scandalous name, but I thought it had a nice ring to it. It was a pretty good tale and held my interest, which indicates that cardboard castles and maidens in distress must have been involved.(Jim, GoodReads)
Mention My Name In Atlantis: What a humorous, entertaining read.
Hoptor the Vintner is our guide through this frenetic mess during the last days of Atlantis. Hoptor is a Vintner, but his vintages are of a different variety. His world is turned on its ear when he comes under the notice of the authorities and a certain barbarian. Antics and much broken furniture ensue.
Personally I would loved to have seen this as a film. Preferably filmed in the late '60's, starring Benny Hill as Hoptor. Can you imagine? A cult classic maybe? (Richard, GoodReads)
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