‘Devils In The Walls’ – John Jakes (taken from ‘Swords Against Tomorrow’, edited by Robert Hoskins)


Well, work has been crazy this week (again) and watching Twitter go through whatever it seems to be going through right now has made for compelling (if a little confusing) viewing but I did manage to get a little reading done this week. Just a little but you know what? Sometimes that’s all you’re going to manage and that’s ok 😉 Better to read than not at all, even if it’s only a little bit here and there.

I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned this already, but I saw ‘Swords Against Tomorrow’ for 50p, in Michael’s Bookshop, and there was no question about it, I had to have it. Part of that is down to the fact that I will always buy old school ‘Sword and Sorcery’ and Fantasy, especially if it’s only 50p. It brings back happy memories of rooting through piles of old books in markets and strange little second-hand bookshops on the coast, that’s always a good thing for me 😊 Not just that though, I saw John Jakes’ name on the cover and had a pretty good idea that this would be another stop on my journey through the adventures of one Brak the Barbarian. And I was right 😊

By a real stroke of luck (for me anyway, I love reading things in order), ‘Devils In The Walls’ picks up Brak’s journey pretty much straight after the events of ‘The Mark of the Demons’ and sees Brak waylaid and sold as a slave to a woman who offers Brak his freedom, if he can fulfil what may prove to be an impossible task. Her father’s fortune lies within the ruins of the family estate, all Brak has to do is to bring it out again. Leopards prowl these grounds though and even if Brak manages to escape their claws, he must still contend with the devils in the walls…

We’ve been travelling down this road for a while now and true to form, Jakes fills this part of the trek to Khurdisan with lots of familiar landmarks. Brak learns once again that ‘civilised’ people are not to be trusted and that the only way out the resulting predicament is to trust his sword arm and fight, even against sorcerous foes. It’s the same themes as we’ve encountered previously and I wouldn’t be surprised if you were wondering whether Brak will ever learn his lesson and maybe stay away from the villages and cities. That wouldn’t make for much of a story though and the resulting escapades through Mirande’s old estate may not do anything new but they are very entertaining and lets be honest, if you’re like me and picking up a collection of old ‘Sword and Sorcery’ tales, you’re going to be happy with what you find here. An engaging character (again, for me anyway) with a mission to fulfil that involves a fair bit of swordplay.

Actually, there is a little bit of a difference that made Brak just a little more interesting to follow this time round. Throughout the preceding books, Brak has got himself a reputation for shying away from the supernatural (albeit for very good reason), whether those powers are good or evil. This time round though, Brak is prepared to take a little bit of a risk (for him) and work with the supernatural to get himself out of a fix. It doesn’t seem like much on paper, but this is a real shift in his character and I’m hoping that this is explored in future tales, we’ll see.

I know the score… ‘Devils In The Walls’ will likely only interest fans of Brak’s adventures but it’s an entertaining read nevertheless and offers little hints of what could be a potential change in direction for the barbarian. My wanderings with Brak will continue 😉

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