Robin Marx's Writing Repository

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on January 15, 2013.

Brak the Barbarian / Mark of the Demons

By John Jakes – Open Road Media – July 31, 2012

Review by Robin Marx

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.

★★★☆☆

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