El Borak: The Siege of Lamakan

The Heroic Legends Series

by James Lovegrove

Capturing the electric short fiction energy that led Robert E. Howard to be one of the top fantasy writers of the century, with exclusive serialized eBook stories starring Conan, Solomon Kane, and more by many of today's top writers in fantasy and sword-and-sorcery.
While on an intelligence mission in Central Asia, British Lieutenant John Stock encounters Francis Xavier Gordon, the renowned adventurer better known as El Borak. Called "The Swift," the Texan gunslinger is as at home in the Pamir Mountains as the snow leopards that inhabit them. Times are desperate, Gordon the legendary city of Lamakan, ruled by the mysterious Queen Zohra, is not only very real, but in danger.
Surrounded by encroaching Russian troops, Lamakan faces an existential threat. With Stock desperate to learn more about Queen Zohra, and Gordon desperate to free her people, the two must venture forth into a city under siege and hope to save it. Facing fire from all sides, it is up to the fearless El Borak to rescue the mythical Lamakan from total devastation.

Genres: Adventure, Historical Fiction, Pulp, Fantasy

40 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 24, 2024

About the author

James Lovegrove is the author of several acclaimed novels and books for children.

James was born on Christmas Eve 1965 and, having dabbled in writing at school, first took to it seriously while at university. A short story of his won a college competition. The prize was £15, and it had cost £18 to get the story professionally typed. This taught him a hard but necessary lesson in the harsh economic realities of a literary career.

Straight after graduating from Oxford with a degree in English Literature, James set himself the goal of getting a novel written and sold within two years. In the event, it took two months. The Hope was completed in six weeks and accepted by Macmillan a fortnight later. The seed for the idea for the novel — a world in microcosm on an ocean liner — was planted during a cross-Channel ferry journey.

James blew his modest advance for The Hope on a round-the-world trip which took him to, among other places, Thailand. His experiences there, particularly what he witnessed of the sex industry in Bangkok, provided much of the inspiration for The Foreigners.

Escardy Gap was co-written with Pete Crowther over a period of a year and a half, the two authors playing a game of creative tag, each completing a section in turn and leaving the other to carry the story on. The result has proved a cult favourite, and was voted by readers of SFX one of the top fifty SF/Fantasy novels of all time.

Days, a satire on consumerism, was shortlisted for the 1998 Arthur C. Clarke Award (losing to Mary Doria Russell’s The Sparrow). The book’s genesis most probably lies in the many visits James used to make as a child to the Oxford Street department store owned by his grandfather. It was written over a period of nine months while James was living in the north-west suburbs of Chicago.

Subsequent works have all been published to great acclaim. These include Untied Kingdom, Worldstorm, Provender Gleed, The Age Of Ra and the back-to-back double-novella Gig. James has also written for children. Wings, a short novel for reluctant readers, was short-listed for several awards, while his fantasy series for teens, The Clouded World, written under the pseudonym Jay Amory, has been translated into 7 other languages so far. A five-book series for reluctant readers, The 5 Lords Of Pain, is appearing at two-monthly intervals throughout 2010.

He also reviews fiction for the Financial Times, specialising in the Young Adult, children’s, science fiction, fantasy, horror and graphic novel genres.

Currently James resides in Eastbourne on the Sussex Coast, having moved there in August 2007 with his wife Lou, sons Monty and Theo, and cat Ozzy. He has a terrific view of the sea from his study window, which he doesn’t sit staring out at all day when he should be working. Honest.

Reviews

[Jim Kuenzli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story but didn’t read like an El Borak tale. Some decent stuff from El Borak, yet left me wanting more.

[Gregory Mele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovegrove is a good writer and a great choice for Howard pastiche, so I was intrigued to see how he'd handle REH's oldest, and perhaps most loved (by the author) character.

Overall, good. El Borak has several "phases" of story style in Howard's career and opens himself to exploration. In this case, Lovegrove chooses to make him seen from an external narrator's PoV, perhaps not a bad way to introduce the character to new readers. As a swashbuckler, it's decent but like much of the series, too short. For example, our mysterious queen of a central Asian city-state resisting Tsarist troops might as well not appear, as she is such a non-entity in the story that her build-up as a character is a waste of time.

Nevertheless, I felt like this story was trying to do more and explore more than some of the others in the series and hope Lovegove or others give El Borak more time.

[Phil On The Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good swashbuckling tale.

[Andrew Hale · Rating 4 out of 5]

In honor of Francis Xavier Gordon, I'll make this swift. Maybe. There's no sorcery or deals with the devil, but El Borak certainly feels like El Borak. His handling of the situations and the legend circulating around him in this tale hearkens to Howard's character from what I remember, though I admit I have only read two tales on El Borak (which will change soon). Lovegrove kept it interesting, and the subject matter is enthralling unto itself. I will say though, that I cannot see why Gordon and Stock didn't just cause the avalanche while the Russians slept, instead of having a portion of the Lamakanis sacrifice their lives in a surprise attack. I would look forward to more on The Swift written by Lovegrove and it makes me wish the current Battle of the Black Stone (by Titan Comics) storyline showcased this era of Borak more. Don't let that be a critique against the comic, it's good, and only time will tell where we go.

Slight synopsis: Pundit Aarav Choudhury is very familiar with a specific region of the Pamir mountain system, and as a resourceful, reliable guide, he sets out to help British Leftenant John Stock seek out the famed city of Lamakan, where Queen Zohra is uniting different tribes against Russian incursion. Tsar Nicholas and Major Andrei Razin seek to quell the rebellion while invading the land, as Britain has their own designs for the people and the land. As the world powers play games, Stock must come to terms with the arrival of local legend and peacekeeper El Borak, who plays his own games, with his own rules. Peacekeeping for a Texan easily comes at the cost of laying down a threat, a thrill no amount of gold, women, or fame can compare to.

Bèlit
Bone Whispers by Michael Stackpole 3/5
Shipwrecked by V. Castro 3/5

Bèlit & Conan
Terror from the Abyss by Henry Herz 3/5

Bran Mak Morn
Red Waves of Slaughter by Steven L. Shrewsbury 3/5

Conan
Black Starlight by John C. Hocking 5/5
The Child by Brian D. Anderson 4/5
Halls of Immortal Darkness by Laird Barron 3/5
Lethal Consignment by Shaun Hamill 3/5
Lord of the Mount by Stephen Graham Jones 4/5
Shadow of Vengeance by Scott Oden 4/5

El Borak
The Siege of Lamakan by James Lovegrove 4/5

Kull & Brule if you know what's good for you
The Talons of Deep Time by Francesco Dimitri 5/5

Solomon Kane
Banquet of Souls by Steven Savile 4/5
The Hound of God by Jonathan Maberry 5/5

[Ben A · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really fun, swashbuckling kind of story that made me want to read more of the original REH El Borak stories (as I've only read a few).

[Kenneth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first El Borak story in this new iteration of REH pastiche. I rated it four, but might give it four and a half. We see El Borak from the POV of a secondary character. There was some mushy plotting here, El Borak's reputation is a plot device that keeps the action going when it maybe shouldn't. It's lazy. And hey, of course he has some dynamite in his bag. Doesn't everyone?

Many of these shorter works that have come out feel like they are opening salvos in a longer story. This one wraps up in a more convincing fashion, while still feeling like it should have been longer, true novella length, to really do what it wanted to do. Certainly not the worst they've given us.

[NOLA Bert · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Good Adventure Yarn

This is the last of the Heroic Legends ebook stories from Titan/Heroic Signatures. I’ve never read any Francis Xavier Gordan “El Borak” stories by Robert E. Howard, so I can’t compare Lovegrove’s take on this character to the original, but I thought this was a pretty good adventure yarn. The story takes some time to get to any action and that’s my main complaint. But once the action gets going, the story flies to a rousing conclusion.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the ones I have waited for the longest. I wasn't disappointed considering some of the duds we have gotten. This story tended to be better. My major criticism is that until the very end, it read more like a Jimgrim story instead of El Borak. More Howard less Mundy. Though I would love to read a Lovegrove take on Jimegrim. Will recommend it to a friend. Good job, Old Horse.

[Gary Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

El Borak

This book in the heroic legends series is based on another one of R E Howard's characters. This is another short book as are most in this series.

It's also good to see more of Howard's characters getting their own stories and a definite recommendation for those that have read the previous books in this series

Enjoy.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Stuff

I am really enjoying the Heroic Legends series, and enjoying authors I like writing new tales of Howard's characters. I can't wait for the next offering, and I look forward to Lovegrove's full length Conan novel coming soon. Check it out.

[Jose Gomez-Rivera]

El Bleak Conan reborn

Excellent short story. It is completely Howardesque and thoroughly enjoyable. I fully recommend this tale of high adventure. Great story

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good start to reviving Robert E Howard's El Borak. Hopefully Lovegrove will be encouraged to take this start and develop it into a novella.

[Ray A · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent recreation of a pulp adventure story of the 1930s. James Lovegrove captures the flavor of the original author, while maintaining a solid narrative rhythm and readability.

[doowopapocalypse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good but might have been better if not presented as a recounting of the events.