39 replies to this topic

[trev78]

Does anyone remember the old Brak books by John Jakes i read one years ago. What happened to Brak? i went on John Jakes website and could not find one reference to brak! not even an acknowledgement!.

[Kane]

About the best write up for Brak that I've seen can be found at the following;

http://www.dodgenet....ossom/Brak.html

[Crom]

Odd, when I was rooting around my older paperbacks I came across a copy of Zothique, a collection short stories by Clark Ashton Smith and edited by one Lin Carter. Geez, I'd forgotten I had this...

Don't suppose that you would either sell or trade that collection?

Sorry, Kane. Now that I've rediscovered it I'll never let it go.

Continuing the subject of Brak, I have Brak the Barbarian versus the Sorceress. 1969, 60c Canadian -- you don't see that anymore. The paperback sports one of the best Frazetta covers ever, IMHO.

I have another one by Jakes that was a satirical poke at REH and Conan. It's called Mention my Name in Atlantis and features Conax the Chimerian out to save the maiden Aphrodisia. I kid you not. It has some funny moments, especially when he describes Conax's muscles quivering uncontrollably whenever he gets mad.

[deuce]

John Jakes is known around the world for his historical novels, especially those set during the American Civil War (or "The War of Northern Aggression") . What a lot of people don't know is that he is a long-time REH fan and he wrote S&S novels and stories starting WAY back. Those tales were about Brak, a tawny haired barbarian from the North who was on a quest to find golden Khurdisan. Jakes also wrote a couple of excellent novels set during the Crusades: I, Barbarian and King's Crusader. Check 'em out

[deuce]

Oh yeah... His fantasy novels Witch of the Dark Gate and The Last Magicians are decent as well. I also think he wrote some Westerns at one point.

[Almuric]

http://www.gwthomas.org/jkl.htm

On this site I found a curious reference. Under the John Jakes entry is written:

"In the ?Prefatory Note? in Brak the Barbarian Versus the The Mark of the Demons, Jakes claims he has finished the final Brak tale in case he dies unexpectedly. A future volume seems likely."

I've never read that Brak novel so I never knew about this. Could it be true? If so, I hope it one day sees print. Brak may be a second-tier S&S hero, but I've always wanted to see him finally reach Khurdisan.

BTW, this is a great site for discovering S&S authors you've never heard of before.

[deuce]

Thanks for the link, Almuric. A nicely-done site. I like how he mentions Gene Wolfe and Keith Taylor. However, the Michael Shea entry is seriously outdated.

[Sermon Bath]

I very highly recommend the Brak books by John Jakes............essentially conan with a blond wig..ha........they are really good and very gritty.....Brak takes a lot of punishment!!! Brak and the mark of the demons is a sword and sorcery classic.............Jakes said he wrote those books because nobody was writing conan at the time and he loved conan

dont pass on Brak!!!

ps these were started in 1963 so they predate the conan stuff by other authors

these tales were published in the pulp Fantastic Stories of Imagination and featured all of the great writers like lieber, ellison, etc etc.........you can buy these magazines dirt freakin cheap off ebay

Edited by xssurdinynexes, 14 May 2007 - 06:18 PM.

[Almuric]

Why did this get shunted to the Bran Mak Morn page? It's not about an REH character.

[deuce]

No idea, Almuric. I'm on it. BRAK Mak Morn, maybe? There shouldn't be any confusion now.

[Strom]

Why did this get shunted to the Bran Mak Morn page? It's not about an REH character.

Opps - my bad. Shaking the rust off!

Thanks Deuce! Sorry Almuric.

[Almuric]

That's okay.

[Sermon Bath]

I was digging through my books looking for some Bradbury. Didn't
find any of that but I did find this Brak novel featured in the nov
and december issues of FANTASTIC STORIES OF IMAGINATION

I have always found Brak pretty darn entertaining and some of
the better old pulp style Howard pastiche going. I'm looking
forward to reading this little novel. Anybody else familiar with it?
I'm sure it was probably reproduced in book form in the seventies
or eighties. I have some of those but don't recall this particular
tale. Jakes sure makes Brak suffer, I do remember that...he gets
cut up, beat up, stove up etc etc...the guy takes his lumps for honor
Jakes is sorta a second tier writer but I appreciate the guy.
He was writing sword and sorcery in the early sixties when pretty
much nobody else was. Got to give it to him for that if nothing
else.

[Kortoso]

I remember reading some Brak. Unfortunately that's about as much as I remember.

[Sermon Bath]

yeah, Brak isnt something you cant forget. On the other hand its decent, if fairly disposable,
sword and sorcery....of course it leans heavily on the Conan model...virtually Conan pastiche

[The Adventurer]

yeah, Brak isnt something you cant forget. On the other hand its decent, if fairly disposable,
sword and sorcery....of course it leans heavily on the Conan model...virtually Conan pastiche

I have a couple of Brak novels that I've never got around to reading. Also a have two of the "Jongor" titles (but there are three of them in all, so I would pick up the missing title before I read them).

How many Brak books are there? I have "The Mark of the Demons" & "Brak Vs the Sorceress"


TA

[PaulMc]

yeah, Brak isnt something you cant forget. On the other hand its decent, if fairly disposable,
sword and sorcery....of course it leans heavily on the Conan model...virtually Conan pastiche

I have a couple of Brak novels that I've never got around to reading. Also a have two of the "Jongor" titles (but there are three of them in all, so I would pick up the missing title before I read them).

How many Brak books are there? I have "The Mark of the Demons" & "Brak Vs the Sorceress"


TA

There are four that collect stories (and/or single novels)

'Brak the Barbarian'
'The Mark of the Demons'
'Brak Vs the Sorceress'
'Brak: When Idols Walked'

Apparently there is a fifth? 'Fortunes of Brak' - don't know if that is a re-tread of earlier stuff or not.

John Jakes Wikipedia entry

[The Adventurer]

There are four that collect stories (and/or single novels)

'Brak the Barbarian'
'The Mark of the Demons'
'Brak Vs the Sorceress'
'Brak: When Idols Walked'

Apparently there is a fifth? 'Fortunes of Brak' - don't know if that is a re-tread of earlier stuff or not.

John Jakes Wikipedia entry

Sorry mate, I've just done this Wiki thing myself (after being lazy and asking for others to do it for me).

I shall pick up the other three titles (that "fortunes of brak" is a fifth book in the series according to this link...)

http://www.gwthomas.org/jkl.htm


TA

[PaulMc]

There are four that collect stories (and/or single novels)

'Brak the Barbarian'
'The Mark of the Demons'
'Brak Vs the Sorceress'
'Brak: When Idols Walked'

Apparently there is a fifth? 'Fortunes of Brak' - don't know if that is a re-tread of earlier stuff or not.

John Jakes Wikipedia entry

Sorry mate, I've just done this Wiki thing myself (after being lazy and asking for others to do it for me).

I shall pick up the other three titles (that "fortunes of brak" is a fifth book in the series according to this link...)

http://www.gwthomas.org/jkl.htm

Hey - cool! That's a good guide. I've been missing Dale Rippke's "Heroes of Dark Fantasy" site something fierce. This might help with the jones.

[Almuric]

Fortunes of Brak is a collection of five short stories not collected in the other volumes, including the very first Brak story, "Devils in the Walls".