Brak the Barbarian by John Jakes

John Jakes, of course, is well known today for his popular historical fiction sagas such as the Kent Family Chronicles (Bicentennial series), the Crown Saga, and the North and South trilogy.  But before he turned to that genre he was a pretty successful science fiction and fantasy author.  As a great fan of Robert E. Howard, Jakes began writing his first Brak the Barbarian story in the 1960s, a Conan pastiche and homage to Howard. 

Apparently it was fun to write so he continued on to write quite a few more. This volume contains five stories that cover a time when Brak journeyed from his birth place in the northern steppes towards the warm, rich lands of Khurdisan in the South.  But by the end of this volume, he still hadn't reached his goal and I have to wonder if he ever does make it.  I'll need to read the rest of the volumes to find out.  Regardless, this journey gives a great excuse for Brak and his broadsword to get mixed up in one wild and weird adventure after another. The stories here really do stand alone and only occasionally mention a character or location from a previous story. I believe I’ve read all of the available Conan stories by Howard and these stories are certainly written in the same vein, using a similar story-telling style.  Pure sword and sorcery adventure and fun to read.