 First edition | |
| Author | John Jakes |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Frank Frazetta |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Brak series |
| Genre | Fantasy |
| Published | 1969 (Paperback Library) |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 160 |
| OCLC | 2304648 |
| Preceded by | Brak the Barbarian |
| Followed by | The Mark of the Demons |
Witch of the Four Winds is a fantasy novel by American writer John Jakes, featuring his sword and sorcery hero Brak the Barbarian.
The story was first published in the magazine Fantastic Stories of Imagination as a two-part serial in the issues for November and December 1963. It was first published in book form in paperback by Paperback Library in April 1969, with the title changed to Brak the Barbarian Versus the Sorceress. It was reprinted by Pocket Books in November 1977, and by Tower Books (under the shortened title Brak vs. The Sorceress) in 1981. British editions were issued under the title The Sorceress by Tandem in July 1970 (reprinted in 1976) and Star/W. H. Allen in February 1988. It was later, with the original title restored, gathered together with When the Idols Walked and two stories from The Fortunes of Brak into the omnibus collection Witch of the Four Winds / When the Idols Walked, published as an ebook by Open Road Integrated Media in July 2012. The novel has been translated into German [1]
Brak, a blond, braided, and broadsword-wielding barbarian from the frozen north, continues his quest to reach the glorious southern realm of Khurdisan the Golden. In a desolate country, he encounters malevolent magic. Boulders fall in a soundless rain, and a mysterious old stranger appears to know all about him. An invisible horror tears his pony to shreds. It seems he has some mystical foe against whom no mundane weapon can avail.
After saving a shepherdess from the monstrous Manworm, Brak reaches the city of Lord Strann, who rules the region as best he can but is threatened by the alchemist Nordica and her servant, the wizard Tamar Zed. Much of Strann's army has been lured to Nordica's side in the expectation of riches; Nordica's father possessed the knowledge of how to transmute base metal into gold, a secret for which she is thought to have murdered him.
Brak, attempting to aid Strann, is caught by Nordica, joining three other captives--the girl he had previously rescued, an aged sailor, and a duplicitous smith. All four are slated to be sacrificed in a rite to make the gold. They attempt escape, are betrayed, and face more menace from the Manworm along with Nordica's bestial familiar Scarletjaw. Ultimately, Brak is victorious.
Refusing the amorous advances of the grateful shepherd girl, whose attentions he diverts towards Strann's son and heir, Brak continues his journey towards Khurdisan.
L. Sprague de Camp, commenting on the book together with The Mark of the Demons, likens Brak to Gardner Fox's barbarian hero Kothar, calling the character "a virtual twin of" Fox's. "Jakes uses a very small cast of characters, and poor Brak is starved, frozen, and exhausted most of the time. Instead of wearing a warm coat and pants like any sensible Northerner, he runs around in freezing weather naked but for that damned lion skin (with tail). Still, pretty good fun." [2]
John William Jakes was an American writer, best known for historical and speculative fiction. His American Civil War trilogy, North and South, has sold millions of copies worldwide. He was also the author of The Kent Family Chronicles. Jakes used the pen name Jay Scotland among others.
The Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America or SAGA was an informal group of American fantasy authors active from the 1960s through the 1980s, noted for their contributions to the "Sword and Sorcery" kind of heroic fantasy, itself a subgenre of fantasy. When it developed a serious purpose that was to promote the popularity and respectability of Sword and Sorcery fiction.
Conan the Liberator is a fantasy novel by American writers L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in paperback by Bantam Books in February 1979, and reprinted in 1982; later paperback editions were issued by Ace Books. The first hardcover edition was published by Tor Books in June 2002; a trade paperback followed from the same publisher in 2003. The first British edition was from Sphere Books. The novel was later gathered together with Conan the Swordsman and Conan and the Spider God into the omnibus collection Sagas of Conan.
Conan the Barbarian is a 1982 fantasy novel written by L. Sprague de Camp, Lin Carter and Catherine Crook de Camp featuring Robert E. Howard's seminal sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian, a novelization of the feature film of the same name. It was first published in paperback by Bantam Books in May 1982. The first hardcover edition was issued by Robert Hale in 1983, and the first British edition by Sphere Books in April 1988. A later novel with the same title by Michael A. Stackpole was issued by Berkley Books in 2011 as a tie-in with the 2011 remake of the 1982 film.
Conan the Avenger is a 1968 collection of two fantasy works written by Björn Nyberg, Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in paperback by Lancer Books, and has been reprinted a number of times since by various publishers. It has also been translated into Japanese, German and Spanish.
Conan of Aquilonia is a collection of four linked fantasy short stories by American writers L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. The stories were originally published in Fantastic in August 1972, July 1973, July 1974, and February 1975. The collected stories were intended for book publication by Lancer Books, but this edition never appeared due to Lancer's bankruptcy, and the first book edition was issued in paperback by Ace Books in paperback in May 1977. It was reprinted by Ace in July 1981, April 1982, November 1982, August 1983, July 1984, 1986, June 1991, and April 1994. The first British edition was published by Sphere Books in October 1978, and reprinted in July 1988. The book has also been translated into French.
Conan of Cimmeria is a collection of eight fantasy short stories written by Robert E. Howard, L. Sprague de Camp, and Lin Carter and featuring Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. Most of the stories were originally published in various fantasy magazines. Lancer Books first published the paperback collection in 1969, and reprinted the book in 1970, 1972, and 1973. After Lancer's bankruptcy, Ace Books took over publication. Ace published its first edition in May 1977 and reprinted it in August 1977, 1979, 1980, 1982 (twice), 1984, 1985, 1990, and 1993. Sphere Books published the first British edition in 1974 and reprinted that edition in 1976 and 1987. The book has also been translated into German, Japanese, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish and Italian. It was gathered together with Conan and Conan the Freebooter into the omnibus collection The Conan Chronicles.
Flashing Swords! #2 is an anthology of fantasy stories, edited by American writer Lin Carter. It was first published in hardcover by Nelson Doubleday in 1973 as a selection in its Science Fiction Book Club and in paperback by Dell Books in February 1974. The first British edition was issued by Mayflower in February 1975.
Mention My Name in Atlantis, being, at last, the true account of the calamitous destruction of the great island kingdom together with a narrative of its wondrous intercourses with a superior race of other-worldlings, as transcribed from the manuscript of a survivor, Hoptor the Vintner, for the enlightenment of a dubious posterity is a humorous fantasy novel written by John Jakes purporting to give the "true" history of the sinking of the lost continent of Atlantis. It was first published in paperback by DAW Books in October 1972, and reprinted by the same publisher in September 1975 and August 1976; the later printings featured new cover art by Michael Whelan. A new paperback edition with an added introduction by the author was published by Bart Books in January 1988, and an ebook edition was issued by Open Road Integrated Media in December 2014. The book has also been translated into German and Italian.
"The Witch of the Mists" is a fantasy short story by American writers L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter, featuring the fictional sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian created by Robert E. Howard. It was first published in the August 1972 issue of the magazine Fantastic, and in book form by Ace Books in the paperback collection Conan of Aquilonia in May 1977. The first British edition was published by Sphere Books in October 1978.
Brak the Barbarian is a short-fiction collection by American writer John Jakes, featuring his sword and sorcery hero of the same name.
Conan the Barbarian is a fantasy novel written by Michael A. Stackpole featuring Robert E. Howard's seminal sword and sorcery hero of the same name, a novelization of the feature film of the same name. It was first published in paperback by Berkley Books in 2011. An earlier novel of the same name by L. Sprague de Camp, Lin Carter and Catherine Crook de Camp, based on the original film of which the 2011 version was a remake, was published by Bantam Books in 1982.
Conan the Valorous is a fantasy novel by American writer John Maddox Roberts, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in trade paperback by Tor Books in September 1985; a regular paperback edition followed from the same publisher in September 1986, and was reprinted in January 1992. The first British edition was published in paperback by Sphere Books in September 1987.
Conan and the Emerald Lotus is a fantasy novel by American writer John C. Hocking, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in trade paperback by Tor Books in November 1995; a regular paperback edition followed from the same publisher in September 1999.
Conan the Fearless is a fantasy novel by American writer Steve Perry, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in trade paperback by Tor Books in February 1986; a regular paperback edition followed from the same publisher in January 1987, and was reprinted at least once. The first British edition was published in paperback by Sphere Books in January 1988.
Conan the Triumphant is a fantasy novel by American writer Robert Jordan, featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in trade paperback by Tor Books in October 1983, and was reprinted in 1991; a regular paperback edition followed from the same publisher in April 1985 and was reprinted in January 1987, May 1991, and February 2011. The first British edition was published in paperback by Sphere Books in November 1985; a later British edition was published in paperback by Legend Books in April 1997. The novel was later gathered together with Conan the Magnificent and Conan the Destroyer into the hardcover omnibus collection The Conan Chronicles II, and was later gathered together with Conan the Magnificent and Conan the Victorious into the hardcover omnibus collection The Further Chronicles of Conan.
The Mark of the Demons is a fantasy novel by American writer John Jakes, featuring his sword and sorcery hero Brak the Barbarian.
When the Idols Walked is a fantasy novel by American writer John Jakes, featuring his sword and sorcery hero Brak the Barbarian.
The Fortunes of Brak is a collection of fantasy short stories by American writer John Jakes featuring his sword and sorcery hero Brak the Barbarian. It includes all Brak stories not previously gathered into the earlier books in the series.
Tower Publications was an American publisher based in New York City that operated from 1958 to 1982. Originally known for their Midwood Books line of erotic men's fiction, it also published science fiction and fantasy under its Tower Books line and published comic books in the late 1960s under its Tower Comics imprint. In the early 1970s, Tower acquired paperback publisher Belmont Books, forming the Belmont Tower line. Archie Comics' cofounder Louis Silberkleit was a silent partner in Tower's ownership; longtime Archie editor Harry Shorten was a major figure with Tower in all its iterations.