John Jakes became a best selling writer with his Civil War trilogy, North and South, which has sold millions of copies worldwide. He is also the author of The Kent Family Chronicles. But, before all this success, John Jakes wrote Science Fiction and Fantasy.
Although best known for his Brak the Barbarian (a Conan clone) series, Jakes also wrote a couple of paperback originals for Lancer Books in the early 1970s. Master of the Dark Gate (1970) introduced a solider of fortune named Gavin Black who found himself in an adventure involving multiple Earths and a cabal that was about to invade our Earth and conquer it.
Witch of the Dark Gate (1972) picks up where Master of the Dark Gate left off. Gavin Black battles the High Kings of Shulkor (rulers of Earth Three) to stop them and their evil plans. Jakes provides plenty of fighting, battles, and lovely women. But, to be truthful, the best thing about Witch of the Dark Gate is Frank Frazetta’s classic artwork on the cover. GRADE: C
I remember reading some of Jake’s Brak stories in Fantastic in the mid 60’s and thought them pretty awful.
You know, I have some FANTASTIC issues with Jakes stories in them and some later anthologies, but don’t remember a one…I suspect this means I didn’t find them as tedious as Lin Carter’s similar attempts in later issues (Stephen King on amateurish fantasy writing tolerated in “our” community: “It’s like…Lin Carter, forever!”–interview conducted by Charles Platt in DREAM MAKERS II).
The Bicentennial Series, cannily timed to come out in ’75-’76, put Jakes on the bestseller lists just before the NORTH AND SOUTH sequence did, and the tv miniseries of the first bugcrusher, THE BASTARD, was the second major offer of the commercial syndication/ad hoc network Operation Prime Time, Paramount and Universal’s partnership with station owners to get back (in Paramount’s case) into running their own network, after the early ’50s Paramount Television Network and the eventual UPN/CW/merger with CBS. (The first offer from OPT was an adaptation of a novel by a writer almost inarguably worse than Jakes, and perhaps even worse than Carter, Taylor Caldwell.)
And, as I didn’t state explicitly, THE BASTARD and the rest of the Bicentennial Series were the Kent Family Chronicles. I seem to recall that some of the tv stations clearing THE BASTARD used KENT FAMILY CHRONICLES as a title instead, to protect tender psyches and broadcast licenses.
Todd, the KENT FAMILY CHRONICLES generated a lot of money for everyone involved including John Jakes.
Todd, John Jakes wrote prolifically and, in the end, struck gold with THE BASTARD (and the rest of that series) and NORTH AND SOUTH.
Steve, compared to Conan, Brak was very inferior.
Well that is a classic piece of Frazetta all right. Would have looked bitchin’ on the side of a van circa ’76.
As for Jakes, I remember him being big right around the time I shifted gears from science fiction to “straight” fiction. I can actually recall cracking open one of the NORTH AND SOUTH books in a local bookstore and finding his writing dull to the point of being impenetrable. Like trying to read a block of wood.
Byron, THE BASTARD was a surprise best seller and the publisher hyped the rest of the KENT FAMILY CHRONICLES so they all turned into best sellers. The power of Marketing!
Well, the timing was right as well…CBS TV did their “Bicentennial Minute”s and all…
Todd, exactly! Timing is everything!
You couldn’t go into a bookstore in the 70s without taking the risk that a huge display of the Kent Family Chronicles might fall on you, and I finally gave in to my curiosity and read the first one, or part of it. It was years later that I learned that he’d started out writing fantasy, but I’d already had enough and didn’t try anything else.
Michael, John Jakes aspired to be a Mid-List Writer but won the Publishing Lottery with THE KENT FAMILY CHRONICLES and NORTH AND SOUTH. Not the most gifted writer…but Jakes was sure Lucky!
I did read the NORTH AND SOUTH books, and I remember the TV versions of the KENT FAMILY CHRONICLES, though I don;t think I ever read one of the books. I certainly didn’t read his fantasy stuff, but I do love the Frazzetta cover.
Have a good weekend in Ohio!
Jeff, Ohio is sunny with temps in 50s this morning. A chance of rain later tonight. Diane and Carol plan to do a lot of baking today. I’m going to hide out and get some reading done! Have a nice weekend!
A cover like this one would scare me off but I am not the potential audience for it.
Patti, Frank Frazetta artwork graced the covers of plenty fantasy paperbacks in the 1960s and 1970s. His distinctive style sold a lot of books!
Back in the day, I was hooked on Brak the Barbarian, fully knowing the writing was atrocious. Despite being third-rate Robert E. Howard, the Brak stories had a certain power to them. I have not been able to get into other books by Jakes (the historicals, the westerns, the mysteries, other SF and fantasy — and didn’t he write some softcore for Beacon Books?), although I did slog through MENTION MY NAME IN ATLANTIS. I couldn’t even get into his tough guy P.I., five-foot, one-inch Johnny Havoc. His spy-guy series of short stories for THE SAINT MYSTERY LIBRARY and THE SAINT MYSTERY MAGAGAZINE (1959-1961) were complete misfires. On the other hand, the guy could buy and sell all of us many times over. So there’s that.
There is justification to compare Jakes with Lin Carter but the comparison should not be taken too far. Throughout his career Carter was a fan writ large and never lost that focus. Jakes was a hack who would sell to any/every market until he hit on the money machine with his Kent Family series, more of an opportunist than a writer. Between the two, I’d choose Carter.
Jerry, I completely agree with your analysis of Lin Carter and John Jakes. Carter was an avid fan and that perspective appears in all his books. John Jakes was a commercial writer who could produce private eye novels, SF, fantasy, and historical doorstops…if the price was right.
Carter’s avidity made his Doc Savage take-offs amusing…his tone-deafness to language made his much more frequent Conan pastiches intolerably boring.
Todd, I totally agree with you on Lin Carter’s Conan pastiches. I admit that I read–and liked!–Carter’s Doc Savage take-offs!
Have tried reading North and South so many times but have always left it after a few or more pages. This doesn’t interest me at all though when I looked at the cover I thought it might be a lost masterpiece.
Neeru, NORTH AND SOUND is not a lost masterpiece. It’s a mainstream novel aimed at a particular audience. If you want to read a Civil War masterpiece, read The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara.
George, I didn’t mean North and South, I meant the book you have written about. When I just saw the cover I thought it might be a lost masterpiece but after reading your post, it doesn’t appeal to me at all. I’ll look for The Killer Angels though to me a civil-war is the worst type of war and brothers killing brothers makes it very tough to read.
Neeru, I agree with you about the American Civil War (and wars in general). During the Civil War General Sherman said famously, “War is Hell.” It certain is in Ukraine right now with thousands of civilians killed and injured. Many critics have called THE KILLER ANGELS the best Civil War novel ever. If you read it, you might want to follow THE KILLER ANGELS with a P. G. Wodehouse novel to lift your spirits.