Thongor and his Amazing Barbarian Friends, Part 2

[Lupigis]

Min, I have nothing to add except that you are a hero!

Though I haven't been participating very actively in this thread lately I have been reading it faithfully and I look forward to the next book.

[Nerdanel]

Brak was cool. :) I haven't read all that much Conan since the blatant racism, etc. exceeds my tolerance, but based on what I've read I'd put Brak clearly above Conan.

[Seventh Pup]

Thank you times a million.

[Maia]

Note to demons - be more parsimonious with the whole people-eating thing and for Pete's sake don't share with the cattle! Then a civilization might last you a bit longer.

Hadrios is now blind and one-legged as well as dirt-poor, right? He and Helane must be just a tad sour at Brak, no? Not to mention - what future do they have in Samerind? Depressing. They didn't think to rip a few rubies from people's eye-sockets, did they?

Brak himself is a surprisingly plausible character, though he faints as often as a heroine of a 19th century novel ;). And Helane is a really surprisingly well-rounded and competent love interest for the genre.

Thanks, Min!

[kuroishi]

Thank you very much for Brak, it was very much enjoyable ! I can't wait to see what will come next.

Anyone else noticed that John Jakes also wrote the North & South books that were later adapted into a TV Series with Patrick Swayze ?

Even if he didn't get his share of glory with Brak, it looks like he still had some success in the end. (hell, I think that even my mom had these books when I was a kid)

[MinDonner]

Time to vote on the next one! Sadly, on my last visit to the bookshop, barbarians were in pretty short supply; obviously I've sparked some kind of Thongor revival and there'd been a run on them. So, we have one possible barbarian and one Earthman-on-distant-planet to choose between....

Wizard of Storms - Dave van Arnam

This 1970 paperback looks very much like Kothar, and is even dedicated to Lin Carter. The front cover blurb:

Thunderbolts flashed from his fingers and the Universe trembled with the sound of his satanic laughter.

The back cover blurb:

QURVAL, THE WIZARD OF STORMS

took pride in his madness, exquisite pleasure in the pain of his prisoners. Beautiful Laishalla and her friends, Konarr and The Bowman, knew every day brought them closer to a terrible death, yet they were helpless.

Evil and insane, Qurval tormented the universe with catastrophes and howling storms. Through the thunder and the lightning called forth to do his bidding, the Wizard's malevolent laughter rang out, defying anyone or anything to challenge his limitless wickedness.

A new science-fiction fantasy adventure by the author of Star Gladiator, The Players of Hell and Greyland

It also has chapter titles like "The Beast-Doom of Vezhitur" and "Blood Day of the Ancient One" :lol:

------------

Transit to Scorpio - Alan Burt Akers

SCORPIO

On the planet Kregen that circled the brightest star of the Constellation of the Scorpion, two forces contended for that world's destiny. One of them, the Savanti, called in a human pawn from far-away Earth.

His name: Dray Prescot.

His role: Only the Savanti knew.

Dray Prescot confronted a fabulous world - barbaric, unmapped, peopled with both human and inhuman races. But there were always the mysterious Star Lords to watch and check the Savanti's plans. And it soon turned out that Dray Prescot himself had to make such decisions as would change him from a mere pawn to a bolder piece on that planetary chessboard.

There were several Dray Prescot novels on the shelves, but I picked this one as it was the first. The 23rd was the main one that caught my eye, though - for a start, the authorship was credited to "Dray Prescot"; poor Alan Akers usurped by his own creation! The main reason though was the cover, which featured a guy with a sword fighting a T-Rex... which also had a sword! :lmao: Now I kind of wish I'd bought that one instead, but never mind.

This book also has some super illustrations, which have legends like "...with only a monstrous scorpion for crew." and "A Chulik rose into view, a dagger between his teeth."

------------

So. The vote is on. Which one shall we go for next?

[Jussi]

Wizard of Storms.

[kuroishi]

Transit to Scorpio

[Maltaran]

I vote Wizard of Storms - the limitless wickedness sounds like fun.

[Darzin]

Min you are an awsome person, thanks, for doing this. I haven't posted in this thread yet, but I've been laughing the whole time.

I think I'll vote for Transit to Scorpio we need some more cheesy space opera.

[Lummel]

They both sound as though they could have been recommended by the Cheese Board, but my vote goes for the transit to scorpio because I think we could do with a change of scene.

[beniowa]

I vote for Transit to Scorpio.

Great job with Brak, by the way!

[Azmure]

Absolutely love this thread (and the previous one). Great job Min.

And my vote goes to Transit to Scorpio.

[mashiara]

Way to go, Min, thanks for introducing us to Brak! He gave the word barbarian a whole different meaning. :cheers:

Wizard of Storms gets my vote.

[dalThor]

Satanic laughter's always good and my inclination was to go with Wizard but maybe a change of pace would be good. We might get some cheesy Honor Harrington jokes in...

Either one's good for me, looking forward to whichever one you pick.

[Maia]

Teh Wizard. I can't resist some satanic laughter ;).

[Asha—Not Yara!]

Wizard of Storms. The Satanic laughter just sounds like too much fun!

I kind of liked the Brak adventures.. His failures made him a rather endearing character for me, and I wouldn't mind reading some of his other adventures.

[Voland]

Brak was pretty awesome!

My vote goes to Transit to Scorpio.

[Seventh Pup]

I also take pride in my madness and pleasure in the pain of my prisoners. I am happy to have an opportunity to finally read about a hero I can identify with. My vote is for The Wizard of Storms.

[MinDonner]

Wow, a close contest! Looks like Transit to Scorpio just about has the edge though, so hopefully I'll get onto that when I get home. :)