When the Idols Walked (Brak the Barbarian, #4) in Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy"

Dec 29, 2016 Derek rated it it was ok

Shelves: sword-and-sorcery

At one point Brak idly wonders how evil sorceress Ilona came to to the Kingdom of Two Bays and how she got the ear of Huz al Hussayn the dishonored merchant, and how she convinced him to take her into his service for purposes of his revenge. It's ironic, first because this thought happens as the city is being invaded and Brak is literally spending the battle handing catapult ammunition--rocks--up a defensive wall, and second because he has just voiced the reader's question. Ilona and Huz's story At one point Brak idly wonders how evil sorceress Ilona came to to the Kingdom of Two Bays and how she got the ear of Huz al Hussayn the dishonored merchant, and how she convinced him to take her into his service for purposes of his revenge. It's ironic, first because this thought happens as the city is being invaded and Brak is literally spending the battle handing catapult ammunition--rocks--up a defensive wall, and second because he has just voiced the reader's question. Ilona and Huz's story sounds much more interesting.

Instead, we're stuck with Brak. Aside from moments of necessary insert-barbarian-here heroism, he is more witness/observer of events than one directing or taking advantage of them. He falls into adventure by virtue of being press-ganged, enters service with an honorable merchant who rescues him, becomes involved with the wartime troubles of this city-state, and so forth. Most of the time he is watching and listening as Phonicos and others discuss what is happening.

Why aren't both perspectives explored? It's not like there are big surprises in store: Jakes nails Chekhov's Gun firmly to the mantel and ensures it is well lit. Any piece of information dropped in front of the reader--meaning, carefully exposited by Phonicos to Brak in passing--will indeed be followed up later in a completely expected manner.

The biggest peculiarity of the writing is that Jakes will take a perfectly serviceable scaffold and graft unnecessary things to it, always reaching for the fantastical when the mundane would serve just as well. Why was the Gord fleet defeated? Not by "the superior sea power of a strategically-positioned city-state who have successfully resisted their warlike neighbors", but by "illusion magic of a powerful wizard who will conveniently disappear for the rest of the story". Why was the Two Bays army defeated? Not by "the superior land power of a disciplined, larger army", but by "scythe-chariots" (view spoiler). What menace must Brak battle while careening in a sled down a subterranean waterway? Not "snake/lizard/slug/nothing-its-dangerous-anyways", but "three-headed regenerating gooney bird". How does Brak defeat the animate statue destroying whole swaths of the city? Okay, a reasonable one may not exist, but there has to be one better than (view spoiler) ...more

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