Customer Reviews

Brak the Barbarian (Brak Series)

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Brak - It's the sound you make when trying to clear something unpleasant from your throat; and in this case it's awfully apt. The renewed interest in swords and sorcery fiction in the 1960's led to many exciting and worthwhile additions to and expansions of the field. Michael Moorcock turned the genre on its head, while the likes of Karl Edward Wagner developed interesting twists on the established ideas. And somewhere along the line John Jakes made it into print with the most staggeringly derivative, thoroughly uninteresting series you'll find on my bookshelf. I bought the lot at a clearing house for a few pennies and still feel that I overpayed. Wander blindfolded into any bookshop and select a volume at random: it will certainly be head and shoulders above Brak. These are stories you might classify as "sub-Conan" and they try desperately hard to capture the spirit and feel of Howard's best, but in the end read like fan fiction. Trust me on this - life is too short to be spent reading Brak.

This in some early John Jakes, before he got big with the historical fiction and was doing the sci-fi/fantasy stuff. I've been a fan of the Character for nearly forty years and really enjoyed Zelazny's reading. His brak is just a step away from R.E. Howards classic fantasy characters. A good read and fun to listen to.

1960's white male fantasy. Lovely women, hot grease covered chunks of meat, huge broadsword, a half-naked warrior, battles, blood, EVIL! You get the picture. A book full of short stories - Brak was tossed out of his homeland for making fun of their Gods. Now him and his huge sword roam south, towards paradise called Khurdisan. How do you even SAY that? He gets in trouble with an Evil God that sounds like something out of Lovecraft and spends most of his time saving people and doing good.

A good story if you do not wish to think and want second-rate fantasy by a author who loved Conan, The Mouser and Fafhrd, and Cugel - whoever that is.

Brak is going a wandering with a destination in mind. He is definitely the grim and dour sort of barbarian, and not too trusting with the ladies, unlike some others.

He has problems with servants of a Cthulhoid deity, some enslavement, Doomdogs, Fangfish, and does a queen a big favour after she saves him.

He doesn't trust himself enough with women to stay with so off he goes on his barbarian sword carrying ways.

Just average.