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Von Bek #1-2,4 omnibus US
Von Bek - omnibus of The War Hound and the World's Pain, The City in the Autumn Stars, The Dragon in the Sword and The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius
This volume of Moorcock's dark fantasy contains The Warhound and the World's Pain, The City in the Autumn Stars, The Pleasure Gardens of Felippe Sagittarious, and The Dragon in the Sword. In order to reclaim his lost soul, Captain Graf Ulrich von Beck must obtain for Lucifer the Holy Grail, the Cure for the World's Pain.
704 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1992
36 people are currently reading
1,163 people want to read
About the author
Michael Moorcock
1,165 books3,619 followersMichael John Moorcock is an English writer primarily of science fiction and fantasy who has also published a number of literary novels.
Moorcock has mentioned The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Apple Cart by George Bernard Shaw and The Constable of St. Nicholas by Edward Lester Arnold as the first three books which captured his imagination. He became editor of Tarzan Adventures in 1956, at the age of sixteen, and later moved on to edit Sexton Blake Library. As editor of the controversial British science fiction magazine New Worlds, from May 1964 until March 1971 and then again from 1976 to 1996, Moorcock fostered the development of the science fiction "New Wave" in the UK and indirectly in the United States. His serialization of Norman Spinrad's Bug Jack Barron was notorious for causing British MPs to condemn in Parliament the Arts Council's funding of the magazine.
During this time, he occasionally wrote under the pseudonym of "James Colvin," a "house pseudonym" used by other critics on New Worlds. A spoof obituary of Colvin appeared in New Worlds #197 (January 1970), written by "William Barclay" (another Moorcock pseudonym). Moorcock, indeed, makes much use of the initials "JC", and not entirely coincidentally these are also the initials of Jesus Christ, the subject of his 1967 Nebula award-winning novella Behold the Man, which tells the story of Karl Glogauer, a time-traveller who takes on the role of Christ. They are also the initials of various "Eternal Champion" Moorcock characters such as Jerry Cornelius, Jerry Cornell and Jherek Carnelian. In more recent years, Moorcock has taken to using "Warwick Colvin, Jr." as yet another pseudonym, particularly in his Second Ether fiction.
Moorcock has mentioned The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Apple Cart by George Bernard Shaw and The Constable of St. Nicholas by Edward Lester Arnold as the first three books which captured his imagination. He became editor of Tarzan Adventures in 1956, at the age of sixteen, and later moved on to edit Sexton Blake Library. As editor of the controversial British science fiction magazine New Worlds, from May 1964 until March 1971 and then again from 1976 to 1996, Moorcock fostered the development of the science fiction "New Wave" in the UK and indirectly in the United States. His serialization of Norman Spinrad's Bug Jack Barron was notorious for causing British MPs to condemn in Parliament the Arts Council's funding of the magazine.
During this time, he occasionally wrote under the pseudonym of "James Colvin," a "house pseudonym" used by other critics on New Worlds. A spoof obituary of Colvin appeared in New Worlds #197 (January 1970), written by "William Barclay" (another Moorcock pseudonym). Moorcock, indeed, makes much use of the initials "JC", and not entirely coincidentally these are also the initials of Jesus Christ, the subject of his 1967 Nebula award-winning novella Behold the Man, which tells the story of Karl Glogauer, a time-traveller who takes on the role of Christ. They are also the initials of various "Eternal Champion" Moorcock characters such as Jerry Cornelius, Jerry Cornell and Jherek Carnelian. In more recent years, Moorcock has taken to using "Warwick Colvin, Jr." as yet another pseudonym, particularly in his Second Ether fiction.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
August 2, 2011
Von Bek is probably my favorite incarnation of the eternal champion - mainly due to the setting I believe. Set in war-torn Europe, a flintlock fantasy. I like how Von Bek is a more pragmatic eternal champion as opposed to Corum and Elric (two of MM's other eternal champion incarnations). The story is quite unique, and the interpretation of how one interprets the history of good and evil (in Christian mythology) is "put on the writer's block". An excellent read - I felt that MM built up Von Bek's character more than other guises of the eternal champion, and the world came across as more..."clear" (if such can be said about the suspension of disbelief).
August 24, 2013
The second volume of White Wolf's collected Moorcock reads much like the first, in that two-thirds of the book is fantastic and one-third falls flat. I absolutely loved the first two Von Bek stories - they are exactly the kind of dark quasi-historical fantasy I have a taste for. The third part stars Erekose (from volume 1) in a team-up with a 20th century Von Bek. I just couldn't get into it, even though it's a continuation of the earlier stories. Interested readers may want to just track down The War Hound and the World's Pain and The City in the Autumn Stars separately.
January 4, 2009
I have always been a fan of Michael Moorcock's work. I expected Elric to be my favorits of his works, but then I discovered War Hound and the World's Pain. It's an adventure tale with a message about how the lies we tell to anyone, even ourselves, only serve to make the world around us a worse place.
April 6, 2013
There's an old story about about Michael Moorcock, which I may have said before - as a young writer, he decided that he could routinely produce 15,000 words a day without it causing him undue strain. And so he did. Even taking weekends off (or possibly using them to edit New Worlds or hang out with Hawkwind) that translates into three modestly-sized novels every fortnight.
Moorcock's workrate, when you put it like that, is impressive enough, but it's only when you look at the 'by the same author' list at the front of a recent edition of one of his books and see the immense number of works recorded there that it really strikes home that this man is a cottage industry as much as a literary figure. We can disagree about the actual quality of much of his early work, or indeed about whether some of his more self-consciously literary output isn't just pretentious bibble-bobble (The Condition of Muzak and Entropy Tango, I'm looking at you), but what's certain is that this is a huge body of work. One doesn't so much read Moorcock's books as travel through his world.
And every now and then you find yourself unexpected and disconcerting. Which brings me to the collected edition of Von Bek, which I had the pleasure of reading just recently. The edition I picked up contained two novels and a short story, and was billed as the first volume in the Eternal Champion sequence - this despite the fact that the novels involved are mid-to-late period Moorcock and the title of the Champion is never used in the body of the texts.
The first novel, The War Hound and the World's Pain, is recognisably a Moorcock fantasy in the archetypal vein - the protagonist is a lone warrior, cynical, dangerous, on an ominous but still noble quest, accompanied by a loyal subordinate. In this instance he is von Bek, a German mercenary late of the Thirty Year War, who finds himself retained by Lucifer to find the Holy Grail and make possible the creation of a better world. (His first name is 'Ulrich', which in itself is enough to make Moorcock-savvy readers go 'Ahh,' and nod sagely.)
Moorcock's quest-fantasies are ultimately all so samey that it's easy to see why the great man goes to such lengths to give each series its own twist and distinct flavour. In this case it's mainly through the use of a historical real-world setting (not that this is much gone into), and the framing of the central conflict in explicit terms of Heaven and Hell. You could certainly argue that this is a good deal less imaginative and interesting than one would expect from Moorcock, but it gives the story a certain resonance. It all boils down to a finely-judged mixture of sex, violence, and theology, with a harder edge to it than in some other iterations - von Bek and his companion don't demur at a little cold-blooded murder and rape along the way. It's less colourful and bizarre than, say, one of the Hawkmoon books, but also arguably more mature, if a little earnest.
The sense of a writer changing gears is only increased by The City in the Autumn Stars, the novel which comprises most of this volume. This is very much not a case of more of the same, as a quest narrative is notably absent. Set in the 1790s, this is the tale of another von Bek (a descendent of the original narrator) who finds himself fleeing the French Reign of Terror and winding up in Mirenberg, a fictitious central European city seemingly modelled on Prague.
For nearly all of the first half of the book there are only hints of a fantastical element (shades of The Brothel in Rosenstrasse, a - the Doctor Who fan in me rushes to the surface - 'pure historical' von Bek novel, apparently not a part of the Champion sequence and so not collected here) - but then the main characters travel by balloon into another world, where they discover the fantastical counterpart to the 'real' Mirenberg. It seems that a rare metaphysical convergence is at hand, which will set the course of the world for many years to come. Everyone has their own idea as to how this should be exploited (except von Bek himself, who is letting himself be led around by his male member for a lot of the book), but doing so will require possession of the Holy Grail - so it's fortunate that the von Beks have a genetic affinity for the thing...
On one level this reads like a freewheeling historical pastiche, with very atypical fantasy elements - the fantasy is actually really subdued and quite dark, now I consider it. However, there's clearly more than this going on, but attempting to make sense of it is challenging. Much of the plot revolves around alchemical terms and concepts, and it seemed to me that in some ways this is intended to be read allegorically. Moorcock wears his erudition, both historical and esoteric, very lightly, but this is a hard book to categorise even by his standards.
Nevertheless, it is in many ways quintessential Moorcock, not least in the way it connects with the rest of his work on many levels. Mirenberg, a city existing simultaneously in many worlds, is also known as Amalorm - the obvious implication is that Mirenberg and Tanelorn , both idealised multidimensional cities (the latter from the Elric stories, amongst others), are actually one and the same. The climax revolves around an attempt to alchemically create a perfect, hermaphroditic being - in short, pretty much what actually happens in the climax of The Final Programme, the first Jerry Cornelius novel. Do all these concepts and themes add up to anything more than a collection of Easter Eggs for constant readers of the bearded titan? It would take a braver man than me to give a definite no.
The collection is rounded off with The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius, a piece of avant-garde hipster weirdness from the Sixties, retro-written to tie into the other stories (in the loosest possible sense - the main character is another von Bek and the Grail is mentioned). Set in a devastated Berlin where Einstein, Weill, and Hitler drink in the same bar, one detects the injudicious use of shock, but it's short enough not to be wearisome. by the same coin, it's not enough of a reason to buy this edition even if you like Sixties hipster weirdness: it's the strange historical pastiche of City in the Autumn Stars that's central to this collection. As a whole, not my favourite selection of Michael Moorcock, but very representative of his extraordinary range.
Moorcock's workrate, when you put it like that, is impressive enough, but it's only when you look at the 'by the same author' list at the front of a recent edition of one of his books and see the immense number of works recorded there that it really strikes home that this man is a cottage industry as much as a literary figure. We can disagree about the actual quality of much of his early work, or indeed about whether some of his more self-consciously literary output isn't just pretentious bibble-bobble (The Condition of Muzak and Entropy Tango, I'm looking at you), but what's certain is that this is a huge body of work. One doesn't so much read Moorcock's books as travel through his world.
And every now and then you find yourself unexpected and disconcerting. Which brings me to the collected edition of Von Bek, which I had the pleasure of reading just recently. The edition I picked up contained two novels and a short story, and was billed as the first volume in the Eternal Champion sequence - this despite the fact that the novels involved are mid-to-late period Moorcock and the title of the Champion is never used in the body of the texts.
The first novel, The War Hound and the World's Pain, is recognisably a Moorcock fantasy in the archetypal vein - the protagonist is a lone warrior, cynical, dangerous, on an ominous but still noble quest, accompanied by a loyal subordinate. In this instance he is von Bek, a German mercenary late of the Thirty Year War, who finds himself retained by Lucifer to find the Holy Grail and make possible the creation of a better world. (His first name is 'Ulrich', which in itself is enough to make Moorcock-savvy readers go 'Ahh,' and nod sagely.)
Moorcock's quest-fantasies are ultimately all so samey that it's easy to see why the great man goes to such lengths to give each series its own twist and distinct flavour. In this case it's mainly through the use of a historical real-world setting (not that this is much gone into), and the framing of the central conflict in explicit terms of Heaven and Hell. You could certainly argue that this is a good deal less imaginative and interesting than one would expect from Moorcock, but it gives the story a certain resonance. It all boils down to a finely-judged mixture of sex, violence, and theology, with a harder edge to it than in some other iterations - von Bek and his companion don't demur at a little cold-blooded murder and rape along the way. It's less colourful and bizarre than, say, one of the Hawkmoon books, but also arguably more mature, if a little earnest.
The sense of a writer changing gears is only increased by The City in the Autumn Stars, the novel which comprises most of this volume. This is very much not a case of more of the same, as a quest narrative is notably absent. Set in the 1790s, this is the tale of another von Bek (a descendent of the original narrator) who finds himself fleeing the French Reign of Terror and winding up in Mirenberg, a fictitious central European city seemingly modelled on Prague.
For nearly all of the first half of the book there are only hints of a fantastical element (shades of The Brothel in Rosenstrasse, a - the Doctor Who fan in me rushes to the surface - 'pure historical' von Bek novel, apparently not a part of the Champion sequence and so not collected here) - but then the main characters travel by balloon into another world, where they discover the fantastical counterpart to the 'real' Mirenberg. It seems that a rare metaphysical convergence is at hand, which will set the course of the world for many years to come. Everyone has their own idea as to how this should be exploited (except von Bek himself, who is letting himself be led around by his male member for a lot of the book), but doing so will require possession of the Holy Grail - so it's fortunate that the von Beks have a genetic affinity for the thing...
On one level this reads like a freewheeling historical pastiche, with very atypical fantasy elements - the fantasy is actually really subdued and quite dark, now I consider it. However, there's clearly more than this going on, but attempting to make sense of it is challenging. Much of the plot revolves around alchemical terms and concepts, and it seemed to me that in some ways this is intended to be read allegorically. Moorcock wears his erudition, both historical and esoteric, very lightly, but this is a hard book to categorise even by his standards.
Nevertheless, it is in many ways quintessential Moorcock, not least in the way it connects with the rest of his work on many levels. Mirenberg, a city existing simultaneously in many worlds, is also known as Amalorm - the obvious implication is that Mirenberg and Tanelorn , both idealised multidimensional cities (the latter from the Elric stories, amongst others), are actually one and the same. The climax revolves around an attempt to alchemically create a perfect, hermaphroditic being - in short, pretty much what actually happens in the climax of The Final Programme, the first Jerry Cornelius novel. Do all these concepts and themes add up to anything more than a collection of Easter Eggs for constant readers of the bearded titan? It would take a braver man than me to give a definite no.
The collection is rounded off with The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius, a piece of avant-garde hipster weirdness from the Sixties, retro-written to tie into the other stories (in the loosest possible sense - the main character is another von Bek and the Grail is mentioned). Set in a devastated Berlin where Einstein, Weill, and Hitler drink in the same bar, one detects the injudicious use of shock, but it's short enough not to be wearisome. by the same coin, it's not enough of a reason to buy this edition even if you like Sixties hipster weirdness: it's the strange historical pastiche of City in the Autumn Stars that's central to this collection. As a whole, not my favourite selection of Michael Moorcock, but very representative of his extraordinary range.
November 21, 2021
The War Hound and the World's Pain 4 out of 5 stars
I've only read the Von Bek books a couple of times in the past, and I have to admit previous readings never really did anything for me. However, this time round, something about the narrative of The War Hound and the World's Pain just seemed to hit the right chords.
It's essentially a variation on the Grail Quest, and like all good Grail Quest stories, it spends a lot of time examining the established ideals of right and wrong, good and evil, and the eternal conflict between the Devil and God. However, whereas most Grail Quests follow a pious knight as he challenges his own doubts and overcomes his own feelings of inadequacy, in this book we're told right from the beginning that Ulrich von Bek is most definitely damned, and what's more he gladly embraces his damnation.
There are a lot of parallels in this book with other older works by Moorcock. Von Bek is very much the epitome of the Champion Eternal, and a few familiar names and archetypes crop up throughout the narrative. The Grail itself, when it finally makes an appearance in the last couple of chapters, is presented almost as a talisman of the Cosmic Balance, capable of bringing Harmony to the world, resulting in a more optimistic dénouement than is generally expected from one of Moorcock's books.
As a part of the broader Eternal Champion mythos, I'd class this one as maybe less important than say the Elric, Corum, or Hawkmoon sagas, but still something of an essential read if you want to get a fuller understanding of the Multiverse and how it all fits together.
The City in the Autumn Stars 4 out of 5 stars
As with the previous entry in the Von Bek saga, I found this second tale more fulfilling on a reread than I did with my original read through a few years ago.
Whereas Warhound presents itself as a take on the traditional Grail Quest, this entry in the series comes across as something altogether more obtuse. The narrative is entirely told from the point of view of Manfred von Bek, the seventeenth century descendant of the antagonist of the previous novel, and follows his adventures and misadventures as he flees the Terror of France and becomes embroiled in an occult quest to change the course of human development.
There are many of the usual Moorcockian elements in here, including an ambiguously magical sword, the ongoing conflict between the forces of Law and Chaos (even though they are barely referred to in such terms), and the oft-used joining of the million worlds of multiverse in a climax that echoes several of the authors other finales. And just as Manfred is this novel's aspect of the Eternal Champion, we also get the Eternal Companion in the form of the dashing balloonist and swindler St Odhram.
Style wise, this is a very different book to Moorcock's earlier works. The writing beautifully emulates the style of late seventeenth century romances, and carries enough historical detail to make it feel sufficiently like a genuine found manuscript. Indeed, one of the early conceits of the novel is the suggestion that Moorcock is merely the translator of a genuine document taken from the von Bek archives.
All in all, rereading this volume as part of my exploration of Moorcock's works has definitely given me a deeper understanding and greater appreciation of the two novels it comprises. I'd certainly have no problem suggesting this book to fantasy fans looking for something a little different with which to broaden their reading horizons.
I've only read the Von Bek books a couple of times in the past, and I have to admit previous readings never really did anything for me. However, this time round, something about the narrative of The War Hound and the World's Pain just seemed to hit the right chords.
It's essentially a variation on the Grail Quest, and like all good Grail Quest stories, it spends a lot of time examining the established ideals of right and wrong, good and evil, and the eternal conflict between the Devil and God. However, whereas most Grail Quests follow a pious knight as he challenges his own doubts and overcomes his own feelings of inadequacy, in this book we're told right from the beginning that Ulrich von Bek is most definitely damned, and what's more he gladly embraces his damnation.
There are a lot of parallels in this book with other older works by Moorcock. Von Bek is very much the epitome of the Champion Eternal, and a few familiar names and archetypes crop up throughout the narrative. The Grail itself, when it finally makes an appearance in the last couple of chapters, is presented almost as a talisman of the Cosmic Balance, capable of bringing Harmony to the world, resulting in a more optimistic dénouement than is generally expected from one of Moorcock's books.
As a part of the broader Eternal Champion mythos, I'd class this one as maybe less important than say the Elric, Corum, or Hawkmoon sagas, but still something of an essential read if you want to get a fuller understanding of the Multiverse and how it all fits together.
The City in the Autumn Stars 4 out of 5 stars
As with the previous entry in the Von Bek saga, I found this second tale more fulfilling on a reread than I did with my original read through a few years ago.
Whereas Warhound presents itself as a take on the traditional Grail Quest, this entry in the series comes across as something altogether more obtuse. The narrative is entirely told from the point of view of Manfred von Bek, the seventeenth century descendant of the antagonist of the previous novel, and follows his adventures and misadventures as he flees the Terror of France and becomes embroiled in an occult quest to change the course of human development.
There are many of the usual Moorcockian elements in here, including an ambiguously magical sword, the ongoing conflict between the forces of Law and Chaos (even though they are barely referred to in such terms), and the oft-used joining of the million worlds of multiverse in a climax that echoes several of the authors other finales. And just as Manfred is this novel's aspect of the Eternal Champion, we also get the Eternal Companion in the form of the dashing balloonist and swindler St Odhram.
Style wise, this is a very different book to Moorcock's earlier works. The writing beautifully emulates the style of late seventeenth century romances, and carries enough historical detail to make it feel sufficiently like a genuine found manuscript. Indeed, one of the early conceits of the novel is the suggestion that Moorcock is merely the translator of a genuine document taken from the von Bek archives.
All in all, rereading this volume as part of my exploration of Moorcock's works has definitely given me a deeper understanding and greater appreciation of the two novels it comprises. I'd certainly have no problem suggesting this book to fantasy fans looking for something a little different with which to broaden their reading horizons.
June 17, 2007
The von Beks are my favorite of Moorcock’s Eternal Champions. Highly recommended! However, I also recommend reading the first Erekosë story collected in The Eternal Champion before reading The Dragon in the Sword as it’s mainly an Erekosë story.
August 18, 2024
Von Bek có xuất phát điểm là một tay lính đánh thuê tay nhúng chàm trước những tội ác với nhân loại, tuy nhiên trong hành trình đi tìm Chén Thánh đã thay đổi cả nhân vật chính lẫn dự đoán của mình về cốt truyện. Nó chuyển biến dần về những tư tưởng triết lý hơn như tôn giáo, lòng tin, sự cứu rỗi,...và điều đó làm truyện hấp dẫn hơn nhiều nếu so với đoạn đầu
October 27, 2012
Dumas meets metaphysics as one reviewer puts it.
Although the second book City in the Autumn stars can lag in places, it still contains more ideas, more ambition than anything Tolkien or other lauded authors can come up with.
My main concern is the first book in this series - The warlord and the world's pain. Set during the 30 years war, Von Bek is roped into finding the Holy Grail for none other than Lucifer himself.
Lucifer has grown weary of his existence, and wants nothing more than a return to heaven. Intially, the reader believes that this story is about the ultimate act of forgiveness, a quest to reclaim the soul of a fallen angel. I disagree - the book becomes a quest for Von Bek's soul, saving him from damnation, and challenging the orthodoxy of Christian thinking.
Despite the ambition of the book, it is an easy read - a rip roaring sword and sandals style adventure. One of my favourites and a great start to the eternal champion series.
Although the second book City in the Autumn stars can lag in places, it still contains more ideas, more ambition than anything Tolkien or other lauded authors can come up with.
My main concern is the first book in this series - The warlord and the world's pain. Set during the 30 years war, Von Bek is roped into finding the Holy Grail for none other than Lucifer himself.
Lucifer has grown weary of his existence, and wants nothing more than a return to heaven. Intially, the reader believes that this story is about the ultimate act of forgiveness, a quest to reclaim the soul of a fallen angel. I disagree - the book becomes a quest for Von Bek's soul, saving him from damnation, and challenging the orthodoxy of Christian thinking.
Despite the ambition of the book, it is an easy read - a rip roaring sword and sandals style adventure. One of my favourites and a great start to the eternal champion series.
July 29, 2011
Moorcock n' est jamais facile à lire, mais toujours agréable. Ces deux récits relatent l' histoire de deux membres de la famille von Bek appelés à jouer un rôle majeur dans l' Histoire du monde. Le premier est recruté par Lucifer pour retrouver le Graal et ainsi racheter une place au paradis pour le diable (rien que l' idée vaut le déplacement), le second part en quête de la pierre philosophale, enjeu d' une lutte entre les puissances de l' ordre et du chaos.
Des thèmes récurrents de l' oeuvre de Moorcock sont donc présents : multivers, lutte entre l' ordre et le chaos, héros albinos qui apparaissent comme les reflets d' Elric, autre héros emblématique de Moorcock.
Des thèmes récurrents de l' oeuvre de Moorcock sont donc présents : multivers, lutte entre l' ordre et le chaos, héros albinos qui apparaissent comme les reflets d' Elric, autre héros emblématique de Moorcock.
May 5, 2019
Two pretty great novels focused on the Von Beks, followed up by one barely-above-mediocre final Erekose novel, made for a rough second book in this Eternal Champion series. I think I need a break, and when I return, I'm going to read one of the more well-known Champions instead. More thoughts on each piece:
The Warhound and the World’s Pain. 5 stars. I wish I’d found this 25 years ago. It does suffer from some fantasy and Moorcock cliches, but the rest more than makes up for it.
The City in the Autumn Stars. 3.5 stars. Very good, but a bit too many occult details for my taste, along with quite a lot of wandering, and an archaic style that was mostly charming and amusing but occasionally annoying.
The Dragon in the Sword. 3 stars. I almost gave up on this one. It has quite a few good moments, but a lot of stuff that felt more like padding or aimless coupon-collection than well-developed plot. But the Hitler scene and the wrap-up of the Erekose Champion made me bump it up from 2 to 3 stars. Still, I'm glad to have that one behind me, and it's put me off trying to read more Eternal Champion books for a while... I need a break.
The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius. 3 stars. An interesting alternate history short story, but beyond the curiosity of it, I possibly missed the underlying metaphor.
The Warhound and the World’s Pain. 5 stars. I wish I’d found this 25 years ago. It does suffer from some fantasy and Moorcock cliches, but the rest more than makes up for it.
The City in the Autumn Stars. 3.5 stars. Very good, but a bit too many occult details for my taste, along with quite a lot of wandering, and an archaic style that was mostly charming and amusing but occasionally annoying.
The Dragon in the Sword. 3 stars. I almost gave up on this one. It has quite a few good moments, but a lot of stuff that felt more like padding or aimless coupon-collection than well-developed plot. But the Hitler scene and the wrap-up of the Erekose Champion made me bump it up from 2 to 3 stars. Still, I'm glad to have that one behind me, and it's put me off trying to read more Eternal Champion books for a while... I need a break.
The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius. 3 stars. An interesting alternate history short story, but beyond the curiosity of it, I possibly missed the underlying metaphor.
June 10, 2018
I got into Michael Moorcock because of Hawkwind and was pleasantly surprised. Can't say that the writing is amazing or that the language is super refined. But the story of Von Bek and all of his other versions of the Eternal Champion really got me. It was especially interesting seing the similarities between the lyrics he wrote for Hawkwind and the books.
March 23, 2025
The War Hound and The World's Pain would get a full 5 stars, but the collection as a whole didn't keep me engaged the same way.
October 13, 2014
So, moving on. "Warhound and the World's Pain". I've read this one before. I read the beginning of it one time when i was able to find an older edition in my local library many years ago. I didn't finish it then. I've also read it more recently in translation, and I wasn't sure how much of it I really understood and how much was lost in translation. The story is a simple one: the titular character, German count Von Bek, tired of the Thirty-Year War, seeks escape. He finds himself meeting Lucifer, and he gets commissioned on a quest to redeem himself, a woman he has recently fallen in love with, and the world, by finding the Holy Grail, which is the Cure to the World's Pain, and would be a chance for Lucifer to redeem the lost Grace of God.
The story is incredibly formulaic to anyone who's read Campbell's excellent "The hero with a thousand faces"--it is a very straight up hero's journey, with colourful allies, a single villain, and some wild adventures through strange lands. The book is short-about 200 pages--and it is less than stellar adventure writing, as at one point, when he needs his band of heroes to get to their next significant destination, Moorcock has Von Bek (the story is told entirely in first person) rattle off a list of lands and places his journey took him to, including what happened in each, in about a total of 2 paragraphs. This may not work for a modern reader.
The true value of the work, which serves as a prologue of sorts, is its introduction of a few of the undelying mechanics of the multiverse. The action takes place on Earth, in Hell, in a parallel dimension known as Mittelmarch ("middle world" which lies between the Earth, Hell and Heaven, and in places mirrors, and in places, overlays, other realms), and you get a (very brief) glimpse of Heaven. Although Moorcock avoids creating technical constraints for the metaphysics of the Universe, the important part--the existence of many worlds--is established.
The second big issue is the beginning of establishing (in very crude forms) the hierarchy and themes of the multiverse. One of the major players in future installments is name-dropped, and the underlying global conflict is briefly sketched out. This is further built up on in the sequel.
I like this book. I like it because the earlier, more detailed parts, paint a vivid picture of 17th century Europe, which reads like a historic adventure fiction. Then, when the fantastical elements set in, and the text gets dryer and more down to business, I don't enjoy it as much. The plodding, coupled with small doses of philosophical rambling, combined with what may for some be an anticlimactic ending means I can't rate this book more than a 3/5. But I absolutely understand why it's written like this,and why it's seen as a good launching point for those who want to understand how it all may fit together.
The sequel-of-sorts, "The City in the Autumn Stars", follows a similar mould, as it revisits Mittelmarch, and the same "celestial" conflict mentioned in the first novel is revisited, along with some recurring characters. The PoV character this time is a descendant of the Original Von Bek, and this time he starts off deserting the cause of the French Revolution, as the Terror begins and the revolutionary idealism is perverted by reality. Von Bek flees Paris, meets an enchanting woman, and, being fully besotted he pursues her around Europe, to the city of Mirenburg.
This book flows a lot better, imho, because a lot more time is spent developing the historical adventure elements,and less time is given to the fantastical. Fantastical is interwoven into the historical fiction narrative, obscured by heavy symbolism with lots and lots of foreshadowing. When the story does return to Mittelmarch, and the pace begins to accelerate and the fantastical steps in and makes crazy, breakneck action happen, it feels far more significant, and greater attachment has developed to the characters. The resolution is spectacular but may (once again) be found anticlimactic by some. The story often refers back to ancient alchemical works, and at times I was quite lost as to what is real, and what the author is making up, but most of it sounds plausible enough for me not to question stuff too much.
"The City in the Autumn Stars" is a much better book. At points is reminds me of the crazy adventures of Jack Shaftoe of Neal Stephenson's "Baroque Cycle". It does the genre-blending a lot better than "Warhound and the World's Pain" and it is better paced as well. The second Von Bek story gets a firm 4/5
Summing up the omnibus, I can say I'd recommend as a standalone it if you like historical fiction. There isn't a whole lot of sff covering these time periods. I have my biases, as I value setting and worldbuilding more than characterisation and pacing much more than good prose. In terms of how well it meshes with the rest of the cycle I cannot say, as I'ts been a long time since I've read most of them, and the purpose of this read through is to look at the cycle as a whole with fresh eyes.
The story is incredibly formulaic to anyone who's read Campbell's excellent "The hero with a thousand faces"--it is a very straight up hero's journey, with colourful allies, a single villain, and some wild adventures through strange lands. The book is short-about 200 pages--and it is less than stellar adventure writing, as at one point, when he needs his band of heroes to get to their next significant destination, Moorcock has Von Bek (the story is told entirely in first person) rattle off a list of lands and places his journey took him to, including what happened in each, in about a total of 2 paragraphs. This may not work for a modern reader.
The true value of the work, which serves as a prologue of sorts, is its introduction of a few of the undelying mechanics of the multiverse. The action takes place on Earth, in Hell, in a parallel dimension known as Mittelmarch ("middle world" which lies between the Earth, Hell and Heaven, and in places mirrors, and in places, overlays, other realms), and you get a (very brief) glimpse of Heaven. Although Moorcock avoids creating technical constraints for the metaphysics of the Universe, the important part--the existence of many worlds--is established.
The second big issue is the beginning of establishing (in very crude forms) the hierarchy and themes of the multiverse. One of the major players in future installments is name-dropped, and the underlying global conflict is briefly sketched out. This is further built up on in the sequel.
I like this book. I like it because the earlier, more detailed parts, paint a vivid picture of 17th century Europe, which reads like a historic adventure fiction. Then, when the fantastical elements set in, and the text gets dryer and more down to business, I don't enjoy it as much. The plodding, coupled with small doses of philosophical rambling, combined with what may for some be an anticlimactic ending means I can't rate this book more than a 3/5. But I absolutely understand why it's written like this,and why it's seen as a good launching point for those who want to understand how it all may fit together.
The sequel-of-sorts, "The City in the Autumn Stars", follows a similar mould, as it revisits Mittelmarch, and the same "celestial" conflict mentioned in the first novel is revisited, along with some recurring characters. The PoV character this time is a descendant of the Original Von Bek, and this time he starts off deserting the cause of the French Revolution, as the Terror begins and the revolutionary idealism is perverted by reality. Von Bek flees Paris, meets an enchanting woman, and, being fully besotted he pursues her around Europe, to the city of Mirenburg.
This book flows a lot better, imho, because a lot more time is spent developing the historical adventure elements,and less time is given to the fantastical. Fantastical is interwoven into the historical fiction narrative, obscured by heavy symbolism with lots and lots of foreshadowing. When the story does return to Mittelmarch, and the pace begins to accelerate and the fantastical steps in and makes crazy, breakneck action happen, it feels far more significant, and greater attachment has developed to the characters. The resolution is spectacular but may (once again) be found anticlimactic by some. The story often refers back to ancient alchemical works, and at times I was quite lost as to what is real, and what the author is making up, but most of it sounds plausible enough for me not to question stuff too much.
"The City in the Autumn Stars" is a much better book. At points is reminds me of the crazy adventures of Jack Shaftoe of Neal Stephenson's "Baroque Cycle". It does the genre-blending a lot better than "Warhound and the World's Pain" and it is better paced as well. The second Von Bek story gets a firm 4/5
Summing up the omnibus, I can say I'd recommend as a standalone it if you like historical fiction. There isn't a whole lot of sff covering these time periods. I have my biases, as I value setting and worldbuilding more than characterisation and pacing much more than good prose. In terms of how well it meshes with the rest of the cycle I cannot say, as I'ts been a long time since I've read most of them, and the purpose of this read through is to look at the cycle as a whole with fresh eyes.
January 3, 2025
Overall: 5/10 because 16/30 = 0.53%
Book 1: The War Hound and the World's Pain (8/10)
Start Date: July 31st, 2024
End Date: August 4th, 2024
- I wrote a raving review about this book, but I can't find it. I know I used the key word "metaphysical" multiple times but no matter what I search I cannot any file, message, or YouTube comment (under the library ladder YouTube channel) regarding Book 1 of the Eternal Champion: Von Bek.
- Nonetheless, from memory I enjoyed the arguments between Von Bek and Sabrina when she stated she was working for Lucifer. The metaphysical arguments and conversations Von Bek had with himself and others (Sabrina and Lucifer) added a level of depth I was not expecting in an Eternal Champions book. The sex between Von Bek and Sabrina also played a roll in describing how Von Bek felt about the situation which is nice when sex is usually just used to fill a fantasy in books. There were some great existential conversations between sir Wildgrave (a wild hunt type white walker) about life and existence. There were also some beautiful quotes that I highlighted while reading and I'll list them out:
-- Chapter 9: 'And, remember, to lie is to steal another soul’s freedom of action, or some fragment of it. Here a liar and a thief are the same thing.”'
-- “Now you are a true Knight of Chivalry, Captain von Bek,” he said. “You have slain a dragon in pursuit of the Holy Grail!”
--- If you think about it, Von Beck has displayed all the virtues and accomplishments of a Chivalrous knight even though he isn't a chivalrous knight. He saved a girl but allowed a crime against her. He kills a dragon but a good one. He tells no lies when necessary, and saves lives by return what's not his but without punishing evil.
-- Despair leads to many forms of thought,” said the magus. “and many kinds of action. Despair drives some to greater sanity, towards an analysis of the world as it is and what it might be. Others it drives to deep and dangerous insanity, towards an imposition of their own desires upon reality.
-- By telling a single lie to oneself or to another, by denying a single fact of the world as it has been created, one adds to the World’s Pain. And pain, lady, creates pain. And one must not seek to become saint or sinner, God or Devil. One must seek to become human and to love the fact of one’s humanity.
- Finally chapter 18: Every line uttered by Lucifer is amazing.
Book 2: The City in the Autumn Stars (4/10)
Start Date: August 5th, 2024
End Date: Sept 3rd, 2024
-This book sucks. The first 12 chapters are horrible, boring, and forgettable. Chapter 13 is the first good chapter where the current gen von bek encounters lucifer and everything falls into place. It explains the origin of the sword (kinda) and possibly how the world became what it is in the rest of the eternal champions. Possibly due to the hermaphrodite that von bek and his witch gf were trying to create. In my head cannon his denial last minute led to the outcome of the current eternal champion universes.
- The paracelsian blade plus the eagle is probably foreshadowing to book 3 of john daker's eternal champion which is why i believe von bek's denial led to what we got.
Short Story 3: The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius (4/10)
Started Reading: September 3, 2024
Finished Reading - September 5, 2024
I like how in this future has paper lungs which are a disposable lungs that can be used to avoid the side effects of smoking or other causes of lung diseases, but are required to be changed regularly. Something only a rich person can do. Paper lungs were superseded by longer lasting polythene lungs. I like that there seems to be some sort of primal aphrodisiac scent being released by the garden and that's why he has a fuck bed in the garden. The concept is aesthetic and I can imagine a overly bushy good smelling garden on the 74th floor of a skyscraper on an overly large balcony that nobody else in my building has covered in colourful greenery and flowers. In the center there's a gondola like room with a big bed covered in red silk sheets. Super aesthetic. Aside from that though the story sucks
Book 1: The War Hound and the World's Pain (8/10)
Start Date: July 31st, 2024
End Date: August 4th, 2024
- I wrote a raving review about this book, but I can't find it. I know I used the key word "metaphysical" multiple times but no matter what I search I cannot any file, message, or YouTube comment (under the library ladder YouTube channel) regarding Book 1 of the Eternal Champion: Von Bek.
- Nonetheless, from memory I enjoyed the arguments between Von Bek and Sabrina when she stated she was working for Lucifer. The metaphysical arguments and conversations Von Bek had with himself and others (Sabrina and Lucifer) added a level of depth I was not expecting in an Eternal Champions book. The sex between Von Bek and Sabrina also played a roll in describing how Von Bek felt about the situation which is nice when sex is usually just used to fill a fantasy in books. There were some great existential conversations between sir Wildgrave (a wild hunt type white walker) about life and existence. There were also some beautiful quotes that I highlighted while reading and I'll list them out:
-- Chapter 9: 'And, remember, to lie is to steal another soul’s freedom of action, or some fragment of it. Here a liar and a thief are the same thing.”'
-- “Now you are a true Knight of Chivalry, Captain von Bek,” he said. “You have slain a dragon in pursuit of the Holy Grail!”
--- If you think about it, Von Beck has displayed all the virtues and accomplishments of a Chivalrous knight even though he isn't a chivalrous knight. He saved a girl but allowed a crime against her. He kills a dragon but a good one. He tells no lies when necessary, and saves lives by return what's not his but without punishing evil.
-- Despair leads to many forms of thought,” said the magus. “and many kinds of action. Despair drives some to greater sanity, towards an analysis of the world as it is and what it might be. Others it drives to deep and dangerous insanity, towards an imposition of their own desires upon reality.
-- By telling a single lie to oneself or to another, by denying a single fact of the world as it has been created, one adds to the World’s Pain. And pain, lady, creates pain. And one must not seek to become saint or sinner, God or Devil. One must seek to become human and to love the fact of one’s humanity.
- Finally chapter 18: Every line uttered by Lucifer is amazing.
Book 2: The City in the Autumn Stars (4/10)
Start Date: August 5th, 2024
End Date: Sept 3rd, 2024
-This book sucks. The first 12 chapters are horrible, boring, and forgettable. Chapter 13 is the first good chapter where the current gen von bek encounters lucifer and everything falls into place. It explains the origin of the sword (kinda) and possibly how the world became what it is in the rest of the eternal champions. Possibly due to the hermaphrodite that von bek and his witch gf were trying to create. In my head cannon his denial last minute led to the outcome of the current eternal champion universes.
- The paracelsian blade plus the eagle is probably foreshadowing to book 3 of john daker's eternal champion which is why i believe von bek's denial led to what we got.
Short Story 3: The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius (4/10)
Started Reading: September 3, 2024
Finished Reading - September 5, 2024
I like how in this future has paper lungs which are a disposable lungs that can be used to avoid the side effects of smoking or other causes of lung diseases, but are required to be changed regularly. Something only a rich person can do. Paper lungs were superseded by longer lasting polythene lungs. I like that there seems to be some sort of primal aphrodisiac scent being released by the garden and that's why he has a fuck bed in the garden. The concept is aesthetic and I can imagine a overly bushy good smelling garden on the 74th floor of a skyscraper on an overly large balcony that nobody else in my building has covered in colourful greenery and flowers. In the center there's a gondola like room with a big bed covered in red silk sheets. Super aesthetic. Aside from that though the story sucks
December 10, 2023
Michael Moorcock kan nog - tyvärr - kallas för lite av en bortglömd doldis numera. New Wave var länge sedan och likt Cyberpunk har den, för att parafrasera Asimov, smält samman med fantastiken i stort; om den syns idag misstänker jag att det liksom för sistnämnda är ett medvetet homage.
Den del av hans författarskap (men jag misstänker att hans störta gärning är som redaktör) som är mest känd är onekligen hans svit om The Eternal Champion och då framförallt böckerna om Elric. Von Bek samlar The Warhound & the World's Pain & The City in the Autumn Stars, även dem en del av samma svit. Det är aldrig så bra som när Elric var som bäst t.ex. i Stormbringer! men säga vad man vill om Moorcock, fantasi har han som är få förunnade. Att i The Warhound & the World's Pain låta en tysk legoknekt under trettioåriga kriget göra en deal med satan om att hitta den heliga graalen och sedan låta honom resa genom flertalet olika alternativa världar för det är onekligen en bra premiss. Men tyvärr så faller det på att karaktärerna är ganska tunna - lite undantaget Von Bek själv och hans attityd till hans egna våldsamma förflutna - och speciellt då kärlekshistorien. Karaktär A möter karaktär B och genast är det himlastormande romans. Uttjatat och träigt. Kosacken Sedenko är även han mest irriterande. Det skall erkännas att det är mycket för att Moorock inte försöker skönmåla perioden och de attityder som fanns då och ofta gör fortfarande. Författaren försöker nyansera det hela men inte tillräckligt mycket.
The City in the Autumn Stars tar sin början i Skräckväldet och en ättling till den första Von Bek finner sig själv på listan av de dödsdömda, efter att ha kommit som revolutionär till Paris. Där den första boken höll hyfsat högt tempo så släpar bok två med fötterna. Det dröjer många, långa kapitel innan det börjar hända intressanta saker. Vilket är irriterande då Moorcock i förbifarten nämner att huvudkaraktären haft många äventyr innan som verkar långt mycket intressantare, b.la. som spion i Ryssland och tjänstgöring under Washington i Amerikanska frihetskriget.
När det väl börjar hända saker går det däremot fort men vid det laget var jag redan för trött. Det hela exploderar i en psykedelisk orgie av hermafroditism och alkemisk symbolik som man nog måste vara insatt i för att förstå fullt ut.
Karaktärerna är lite bättra än i första. T.om. en karaktär som återvänder från Warhound lyckas vara lite intressant, innan den kollapsar i platt våldsmani; detta leder i och för sig till frasen "Sirs, I´ve been buggered!" och en bajonett där man generellt inte vill ha den, vilket fick mig att fnittra. Liksom sin föregångare så kan den inte stiga över intressant men i slutändan bara budgetfantasy. Moorcock kan bättre. Är man nyfiken kan jag säga att det kan vara värt det med Warhound, men uppföljaren är allt för långsam trots vissa intressanta bitar. Annars är det fortsatt Elric jag håller som bäst, om man pratar om hans fantasy, och även SF-klassikern Behold the Man är läsvärd. Hade jag kunnat skulle Von Bek får två och en halv, men det är ändå närmare tre än två.
Moorcock har sagt att han hellre är en dålig författare med stora idéer än tvärtom, och han är förvisso ingen briljant ordsmed men inte heller är han usel. Än så länge har han för min del aldrig varit mindre än intressant trots de brister han ibland uppvisar. Mannens författargärning och arbete som redaktör för New Worlds är tyvärr lite bortglömd idag, verkar det som.
March 26, 2025
The first volume in Moorcock’s loosely linked “Tale of the Eternal Champion” (which encompasses such characters as Elric, Hawkmoon and Jerry Cornelius amongst others) bundles in one volume two novels about the Von Beks and a short story.
The novels are wonderfully written historical fantasies, bound up with the Von Bek family’s quest for the Holy Grail as part of a compact with Lucifer himself. The first book, The Warhound and The World’s Pain set in the 1600s, tells of Graf Ulrich von Bek, a career soldier who has fought all over Europe but is weary of killing. Wandering away from the killing fields Von Bek finds himself coming upon a huge castle in the woods, silent woods with no sound or creature. He has wandered into the Mittlemarch and soon finds himself in the presence of Lucifer.
So begins the quest, as he is tasked with finding the Grail to cure the world’s pain, so Lucifer may be reconciled with a God who appears to have abandoned the earth. In return he will be reunited with the woman he has fallen in love with, who lives in the castle. But Von Bek is not the only one on the hunt for the grail and he soon finds himself in a race with a man called Klosterheim, who serves the Dukes of Hell.
The action moves finally to the Forest at The Edge of Heaven where some things are resolved while others are left ambiguous. The book gradually builds to this fantastical climax, something Moorcock is very good at. It’s a great opener to the concept of Moorcock’s Multiverse but it is surpassed by the second novel in the sequence.
The City in The Autumn Stars, set during the time of Revolutionary France, features Ulrich’s descendant Manfred Von Bek. Disillusioned by France’s descent into bloodletting and unreason, Von Bek heads for the city of Mirenburg, but finds himself pursued by revolutionary guards under the command of Montsorbier. At an inn he his helped to escape by a woman called Libussa, the Duchess of Crete, and despite only a fleeting acquaintance he finds himself obssessed by her and sets off in pursuit. But she is always one step ahead.
High in the mountain passes he comes across a balloonist, a Scottish adventurer and conman called The Chevalier St Odhran and they become fast friends. Using St Odhrans’s ballon they arrive in Mirenburg and set about a money making scheme to build an even bigger balloon.
But the mystery of the Grail quest, which Manfred believes to be a baseless legend, rears its head again and once more a von Bek finds himself in the presence of Lucifer and sailing by air into the Mittlemarch and the city of Mirenburg’s counterpart - the City in the Autumn Stars. Here once again Moorcock ramps up the fantastical elements, with an immortal Klosterheim reappearing, Montsorbier revealed as an Alchemist along with Libussa, all in pursuit of the Grail as a planetary Concordance approaches. Libussa wants an actual Chemical Wedding with Von Bek to engender a new age of Reason and Freedom, but can it ever happen while Lucifer is in the picture?
The final section, set deep with the city’s depths, is surreal and metaphysical, dealing with deep alchemical themes and philosophy. It is a brilliantly written fantasy and this omnibus is a perfect entryway into the Multiverse.
The final short story is a bit of an oddity. Set in some kind of alternate world Berlin where this Von Bek is a temporal agent it features Bismark, Hitler, Kurt Weill and another version of Klosterheim. It’s short, strange and probably inessential.
So, one volume down, thirteen to go!
The novels are wonderfully written historical fantasies, bound up with the Von Bek family’s quest for the Holy Grail as part of a compact with Lucifer himself. The first book, The Warhound and The World’s Pain set in the 1600s, tells of Graf Ulrich von Bek, a career soldier who has fought all over Europe but is weary of killing. Wandering away from the killing fields Von Bek finds himself coming upon a huge castle in the woods, silent woods with no sound or creature. He has wandered into the Mittlemarch and soon finds himself in the presence of Lucifer.
So begins the quest, as he is tasked with finding the Grail to cure the world’s pain, so Lucifer may be reconciled with a God who appears to have abandoned the earth. In return he will be reunited with the woman he has fallen in love with, who lives in the castle. But Von Bek is not the only one on the hunt for the grail and he soon finds himself in a race with a man called Klosterheim, who serves the Dukes of Hell.
The action moves finally to the Forest at The Edge of Heaven where some things are resolved while others are left ambiguous. The book gradually builds to this fantastical climax, something Moorcock is very good at. It’s a great opener to the concept of Moorcock’s Multiverse but it is surpassed by the second novel in the sequence.
The City in The Autumn Stars, set during the time of Revolutionary France, features Ulrich’s descendant Manfred Von Bek. Disillusioned by France’s descent into bloodletting and unreason, Von Bek heads for the city of Mirenburg, but finds himself pursued by revolutionary guards under the command of Montsorbier. At an inn he his helped to escape by a woman called Libussa, the Duchess of Crete, and despite only a fleeting acquaintance he finds himself obssessed by her and sets off in pursuit. But she is always one step ahead.
High in the mountain passes he comes across a balloonist, a Scottish adventurer and conman called The Chevalier St Odhran and they become fast friends. Using St Odhrans’s ballon they arrive in Mirenburg and set about a money making scheme to build an even bigger balloon.
But the mystery of the Grail quest, which Manfred believes to be a baseless legend, rears its head again and once more a von Bek finds himself in the presence of Lucifer and sailing by air into the Mittlemarch and the city of Mirenburg’s counterpart - the City in the Autumn Stars. Here once again Moorcock ramps up the fantastical elements, with an immortal Klosterheim reappearing, Montsorbier revealed as an Alchemist along with Libussa, all in pursuit of the Grail as a planetary Concordance approaches. Libussa wants an actual Chemical Wedding with Von Bek to engender a new age of Reason and Freedom, but can it ever happen while Lucifer is in the picture?
The final section, set deep with the city’s depths, is surreal and metaphysical, dealing with deep alchemical themes and philosophy. It is a brilliantly written fantasy and this omnibus is a perfect entryway into the Multiverse.
The final short story is a bit of an oddity. Set in some kind of alternate world Berlin where this Von Bek is a temporal agent it features Bismark, Hitler, Kurt Weill and another version of Klosterheim. It’s short, strange and probably inessential.
So, one volume down, thirteen to go!
July 25, 2021
This book is a actually a collection of two books. The first is The War Hound and The World's Pain starring Count Ulrich Von Bek. Second book is The City in the Autumn Stars starring Count Ulrichs descendant Manfred Von Bek. The first book with Ulrich establishes a few things about him. He is a gallant, brave, daring and courageous man who left his German home in Bek to fight as a mercenary across Europe. For nearly any righteous cause that would need a man willing to fight with sword, musket and strength of will he would pledge himself to defend the righteous causes of humanity. This is all fine until you learn one key thing about Count Ulrichs character. Ulrich is also a giant dick. As you start the book he seems like a lost soldier looking for his next war to fight. When he does find a cause at the behest of Lucifer that's where his true colors start to reveal themselves. It's not just the murders, sedition, or rape that he perpetrates in the book that makes him a dick. It's that he inspires others to do the same. And when they pay the price for their crimes his reaction can be summed up in a simple phrase, 'Oh, Well!' His reasoning being, he's doing this for love so it's alright.
Manfred starts off in the same vein as Ulrich. A brave soldier of fortune whose fought with the Americans in their rebellion against the British. Only to now have run away from the French Revolution because of his objections to the methods of Robespierre. When we find him he views his predecessors work in the name of Lucifer as only a folktale. Only to be bewitched by a beautiful, mysterious, sensual, all knowing Duchess. In simpler terms he's pussy whipped. Manfred is impressionable to a fault. Give him some food, wine, a sword, musket and a fight he's all good. Have a pretty woman with a sweet pair of tits wink at him, he's a love sick puppy ready to pledge his life and soul to the life and soul devouring maw if she tells him to do so. That last part is only 95% true but it's a big part of this story.
The Von Beks have admirable qualities but those all just go away when Lucifer and the promise of a beautiful woman are involved. Both involve the search for The Grail but this is far from a Arthurian tale. They involve characters willing to sell their souls to authority and for authority. The Von Beks both stand as spectators to the folly of those characters. The madness that claims those characters is what stays with the Von Beks. They themselves only view their involvement in the events as coincidental. To the reader you'll see that they are far from innocent in what takes place.
The writing in the first book is fine. If you've read the Elric books this is standard fair. The writing in the second book borders on being a Monty Python skit set in 1770s era England. There's a lot of, 'good day, sir','ah, yes good morning sir', 'oh dash it all man send for my carriage'. It's something that either keeps you in the story or takes you out of the story. Reading about a love struck German in a zeppelin with a Scottish dandy as a pilot is enough. Now throw in all the high brow Englishmen speak and you've got to plow through certain paragraphs where your not sure what just happened. Overall I liked it but it's not for everyone. Maybe watch Monty Python and The Holy Grail before reading the second book. It might better prepare your mind for the second part of this book.
Manfred starts off in the same vein as Ulrich. A brave soldier of fortune whose fought with the Americans in their rebellion against the British. Only to now have run away from the French Revolution because of his objections to the methods of Robespierre. When we find him he views his predecessors work in the name of Lucifer as only a folktale. Only to be bewitched by a beautiful, mysterious, sensual, all knowing Duchess. In simpler terms he's pussy whipped. Manfred is impressionable to a fault. Give him some food, wine, a sword, musket and a fight he's all good. Have a pretty woman with a sweet pair of tits wink at him, he's a love sick puppy ready to pledge his life and soul to the life and soul devouring maw if she tells him to do so. That last part is only 95% true but it's a big part of this story.
The Von Beks have admirable qualities but those all just go away when Lucifer and the promise of a beautiful woman are involved. Both involve the search for The Grail but this is far from a Arthurian tale. They involve characters willing to sell their souls to authority and for authority. The Von Beks both stand as spectators to the folly of those characters. The madness that claims those characters is what stays with the Von Beks. They themselves only view their involvement in the events as coincidental. To the reader you'll see that they are far from innocent in what takes place.
The writing in the first book is fine. If you've read the Elric books this is standard fair. The writing in the second book borders on being a Monty Python skit set in 1770s era England. There's a lot of, 'good day, sir','ah, yes good morning sir', 'oh dash it all man send for my carriage'. It's something that either keeps you in the story or takes you out of the story. Reading about a love struck German in a zeppelin with a Scottish dandy as a pilot is enough. Now throw in all the high brow Englishmen speak and you've got to plow through certain paragraphs where your not sure what just happened. Overall I liked it but it's not for everyone. Maybe watch Monty Python and The Holy Grail before reading the second book. It might better prepare your mind for the second part of this book.
May 25, 2016
1. The Warhound and the World's Pain:
Every man's a rapist--but it's okay! We have more important things to talk about!
I honestly don't know what to make of this. The rape of women and the stereotypes of men fit into the time period (1600s), but it's making my brain hurt.
For example:
"That night, while I tried to sleep, Sedenko took his pleasure with the girl. She became noisy at one point, but then grew quiet. In the morning she was gone.
'I think she will try to get to Ammendorf,' he said.
I was not in a talkative mood."
Our narrator, von Bek, is not upset about the rape. He's pissed off at the hermit the girl was taking care of, for disregarding his own life, health and hygiene in trying to be holy. Who fucking cares if you take the virginity of an unwilling and frightened fifteen year old, just keep it down! I'm trying to sleep!
Sedenko, the aforementioned loyal but pretty dumb companion, hates Jews, rapes women, loves to raid, is a petty thief in the name of honour--and yet he is the touchstone in the book to represent innocence (innocence!) and remind von Bek all that is good. Perhaps that's the joke--that what the main character believes to be good enough is actually pretty shit when you look at it objectively.
It's a poor joke, because it's not clear whether this is the case, or whether Moorcock literally just doesn't give a shit. I'm inclined to believe it's the latter, because such attitudes bear out in the way the novel is shaped. It's such a man's world book. Women exist as motivation for men, prey, plot devices, and nothings. Men are the actors, the thinkers, the antagonists, the evil and the faint hope of good.
The men come off as pretty bad stereotypes in the bulk of the novel too, but at least they have the chance to express themselves. Women are both badly stereotyped and have no control over anything.
There are classic ways to tell a quest story, but there are also times when you should retire a classic, and even in 1981 this should have been becoming obvious. But Moorcock doesn't give a shit.
He doesn't give a shit in other ways, too. The narrative is often curiously emotionless--even when von Bek is saying he feels great emotion. Time skips in weird ways. The characters are thin in some places, thick in others.
Where Moorcock does give a shit is the fascinating historical and geographic grounding, the perceptive discussion of religion, the weird mystical aspects and the twisting of theology. And the ending, oh god, the ending. You can tell he was enjoying himself there. It was an epic tale, indeed. But one with many flaws.
On to book 2...
Every man's a rapist--but it's okay! We have more important things to talk about!
I honestly don't know what to make of this. The rape of women and the stereotypes of men fit into the time period (1600s), but it's making my brain hurt.
For example:
"That night, while I tried to sleep, Sedenko took his pleasure with the girl. She became noisy at one point, but then grew quiet. In the morning she was gone.
'I think she will try to get to Ammendorf,' he said.
I was not in a talkative mood."
Our narrator, von Bek, is not upset about the rape. He's pissed off at the hermit the girl was taking care of, for disregarding his own life, health and hygiene in trying to be holy. Who fucking cares if you take the virginity of an unwilling and frightened fifteen year old, just keep it down! I'm trying to sleep!
Sedenko, the aforementioned loyal but pretty dumb companion, hates Jews, rapes women, loves to raid, is a petty thief in the name of honour--and yet he is the touchstone in the book to represent innocence (innocence!) and remind von Bek all that is good. Perhaps that's the joke--that what the main character believes to be good enough is actually pretty shit when you look at it objectively.
It's a poor joke, because it's not clear whether this is the case, or whether Moorcock literally just doesn't give a shit. I'm inclined to believe it's the latter, because such attitudes bear out in the way the novel is shaped. It's such a man's world book. Women exist as motivation for men, prey, plot devices, and nothings. Men are the actors, the thinkers, the antagonists, the evil and the faint hope of good.
The men come off as pretty bad stereotypes in the bulk of the novel too, but at least they have the chance to express themselves. Women are both badly stereotyped and have no control over anything.
There are classic ways to tell a quest story, but there are also times when you should retire a classic, and even in 1981 this should have been becoming obvious. But Moorcock doesn't give a shit.
He doesn't give a shit in other ways, too. The narrative is often curiously emotionless--even when von Bek is saying he feels great emotion. Time skips in weird ways. The characters are thin in some places, thick in others.
Where Moorcock does give a shit is the fascinating historical and geographic grounding, the perceptive discussion of religion, the weird mystical aspects and the twisting of theology. And the ending, oh god, the ending. You can tell he was enjoying himself there. It was an epic tale, indeed. But one with many flaws.
On to book 2...
June 29, 2016
The three full-length novels contained within this volume are each so different, one from the other, that the reader cannot help but be amazed that the same author wrote all three!
In "The Warhound and the World's Pain," Moorcock's usual themes of "chaos" vs. "law" are put in more the familiar terms (at least for us earthlings) of the Devil vs. God. Like his more popular Elric character, Moorcock has his "hero" Ulrich von Bek allied with chaos--the devil. The reader is treated to watching a master of fantasy play with common themes (the hero descends into Hell, and comes out with a quest that he must fulfill in order to save all humanity) that he rearranges in order to ask some penetrating questions about the nature of God, the Devil, faith, and religion in our lives.
The second novel, "The City in the Autumn Stars," is written in a completely different style from the first. Set in Germany (mostly) in the late 1700's, the book makes many references to actual historical happenings, in particular the French and American revolutions and the Industrial Revolution. The motivating factors behind these and other events are examined in extensive dialogs between characters as well as through internal monologues of the protagonist, Manfred von Bek. Someone better versed in English literature than I am could place the exact style Moorcock takes up with this novel, but it reminds me of Jules Verne. The chapter headings are long ("Chapter Sixteen: In which house rules are broken. An infestation and a visitation. Vermin destroyed. The Red O'Dowd's fish. Some useful attributes of a magic sword.") And the author manages quite capably to maintain this tone throughout the entire novel. Until the end, that is, when the multiverses start to conjoin, devil worshippers take center stage, and the feeling that one is reading a conventional historical novel rapidly disappears. The ending was not quite satisfactory, but nevertheless a tour de force by Moorcock.
The third novel, "The Dragon in the Sword," is one of my favorites, and I have reviewed it separately on the Amazon site.
The volume is capped off with a very short story, "The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Saggitarius." Although the main character is nominally a von Bek, and Hitler and the Holy Grail, and some other toss-away references to familiar Moorcock characters are mentioned, there is no clear reason why this story was ever written, or indeed, why it was included in this volume.
In "The Warhound and the World's Pain," Moorcock's usual themes of "chaos" vs. "law" are put in more the familiar terms (at least for us earthlings) of the Devil vs. God. Like his more popular Elric character, Moorcock has his "hero" Ulrich von Bek allied with chaos--the devil. The reader is treated to watching a master of fantasy play with common themes (the hero descends into Hell, and comes out with a quest that he must fulfill in order to save all humanity) that he rearranges in order to ask some penetrating questions about the nature of God, the Devil, faith, and religion in our lives.
The second novel, "The City in the Autumn Stars," is written in a completely different style from the first. Set in Germany (mostly) in the late 1700's, the book makes many references to actual historical happenings, in particular the French and American revolutions and the Industrial Revolution. The motivating factors behind these and other events are examined in extensive dialogs between characters as well as through internal monologues of the protagonist, Manfred von Bek. Someone better versed in English literature than I am could place the exact style Moorcock takes up with this novel, but it reminds me of Jules Verne. The chapter headings are long ("Chapter Sixteen: In which house rules are broken. An infestation and a visitation. Vermin destroyed. The Red O'Dowd's fish. Some useful attributes of a magic sword.") And the author manages quite capably to maintain this tone throughout the entire novel. Until the end, that is, when the multiverses start to conjoin, devil worshippers take center stage, and the feeling that one is reading a conventional historical novel rapidly disappears. The ending was not quite satisfactory, but nevertheless a tour de force by Moorcock.
The third novel, "The Dragon in the Sword," is one of my favorites, and I have reviewed it separately on the Amazon site.
The volume is capped off with a very short story, "The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Saggitarius." Although the main character is nominally a von Bek, and Hitler and the Holy Grail, and some other toss-away references to familiar Moorcock characters are mentioned, there is no clear reason why this story was ever written, or indeed, why it was included in this volume.
March 23, 2010
3 Novels (and a short story) spread over 300 years of Earth's history covers the travels of the Von Bek family and their link to the Holy Grail.
The first novel (The Warhound and the World's Pain) was a nicely paced story that sets up the family connection with Satan, the Middle Marches (aka nearby realms of the multiverse) and the Grail. This story is set in 1631, during the Hundred Years War, and is an interesting read next to Eric Flint's "Ring of Fire" series. I could just see the 1630 role-playing game with the Middle Marches as a fantasy addition.
The second novel (The City in the Autumn Stars) is too long. It is set in 1793 during the height of the Terror that followed the French revolution. The city itself is quite a character but Moorcock spends too much time getting there. I had to really push to get through it. This novel also has a couple of the most gruesome scenes I've found (so far) in Moorcock's writing. I would have rated the whole book higher but this story really brought it down.
The third novel (The Dragon in the Sword) is really an Eternal Champion story. This Von Bek is not the protagonist; he's the companion of John Dakar / Erekose / Urlik Skarsol. This story is ostensibly set in 1939 when this Von Bek attempted (and failed) to kill Adolph Hitler. Fleeing the Gestapo, he ends up in the Middle Marches and meets up with the Eternal Champion. It turns out both he and the Grail are needed for the champion to complete is current quest. This story is my favorite of the 3 for a couple of reasons. First, it has direct confrontations with the agents of Chaos that show up in many of the stories I like. Second, it has a great ending with cryptic comments about the founding of Melnibone, and the reforging of the broken black sword into a pair of swords.
The first novel (The Warhound and the World's Pain) was a nicely paced story that sets up the family connection with Satan, the Middle Marches (aka nearby realms of the multiverse) and the Grail. This story is set in 1631, during the Hundred Years War, and is an interesting read next to Eric Flint's "Ring of Fire" series. I could just see the 1630 role-playing game with the Middle Marches as a fantasy addition.
The second novel (The City in the Autumn Stars) is too long. It is set in 1793 during the height of the Terror that followed the French revolution. The city itself is quite a character but Moorcock spends too much time getting there. I had to really push to get through it. This novel also has a couple of the most gruesome scenes I've found (so far) in Moorcock's writing. I would have rated the whole book higher but this story really brought it down.
The third novel (The Dragon in the Sword) is really an Eternal Champion story. This Von Bek is not the protagonist; he's the companion of John Dakar / Erekose / Urlik Skarsol. This story is ostensibly set in 1939 when this Von Bek attempted (and failed) to kill Adolph Hitler. Fleeing the Gestapo, he ends up in the Middle Marches and meets up with the Eternal Champion. It turns out both he and the Grail are needed for the champion to complete is current quest. This story is my favorite of the 3 for a couple of reasons. First, it has direct confrontations with the agents of Chaos that show up in many of the stories I like. Second, it has a great ending with cryptic comments about the founding of Melnibone, and the reforging of the broken black sword into a pair of swords.
January 27, 2014
This book consists of two novels and one short story. The first book, The War Hound and the World's Pain, is a good read, interesting, atmospheric and moves at a good clip. I quite enjoyed it.
The second novel, The City in the Autumn Star is terrible. It's long and meandering, filled with boring description and dialogue. The protagonist is uninteresting, and nothing much happens for big chunks of the story but Moorcock seems committed to dragging out each piece of nothingness for all that it's worth. The book actually got worse as it went along, until the final climatic scene which was in no way satisfying. I wanted to quit reading this book halfway through but I was committed to it for various reasons and couldn't. I definitely recommend skipping this novel.
The short story at the end, "The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius," was a little piece of piffle of no consequence. I was a big fan of Moorcock when I was younger ; now I don't know if this was just a bad story, or if I've outgrown him. I was planning on reading the whole Eternal Champion series, now I have to rethink that.
The second novel, The City in the Autumn Star is terrible. It's long and meandering, filled with boring description and dialogue. The protagonist is uninteresting, and nothing much happens for big chunks of the story but Moorcock seems committed to dragging out each piece of nothingness for all that it's worth. The book actually got worse as it went along, until the final climatic scene which was in no way satisfying. I wanted to quit reading this book halfway through but I was committed to it for various reasons and couldn't. I definitely recommend skipping this novel.
The short story at the end, "The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius," was a little piece of piffle of no consequence. I was a big fan of Moorcock when I was younger ; now I don't know if this was just a bad story, or if I've outgrown him. I was planning on reading the whole Eternal Champion series, now I have to rethink that.
February 8, 2019
I've strugled through this book for more than a year, not only because it was lend to me in paper, and these days I mostly read in my ereader, but also because I couldn't care less about the second story in the book. I'm giving it two stars because the first story, The war hound and the world's pain, was OK, a three star reading because it wasn't something I would read again, but I liked it enough, but the second story, The city of the autumn stars, I should have abandoned the book... I couldn't feel any simpathy for this Von Bek, I felt like reading again Wuthering Heights, where I could only think about how much I would like to slap the main character in the story, he was an interesting character until he interacts with his lover, then he loses any kind of critical thinking, and agrees to anything contrary to his way of thinking just to be with her. I can understand love at first sight, I can understand compromising for your love, but that kind of spinless sentiment just deserves to be trampled.
March 2, 2019
I have the newer omnibus edition with the short story added on at the end, and that gives the whole volume a nice twist and a bowtie to lock it all up. With Felipe at the end, I'd call this book one really slow burn. The first novel is traditional Moorcock; shallow characters, plodding plotline and somewhat dubious conclusion. The second reads like someone not named Michael Moorcock wrote it, but there are notes here and there, touches that reassure you that he did. Ultimately it resolves into a goes nowhere does nothing denouement that I found highly unsatisfactory, but then Felipe Sagittarius hits the stage and ends the book with a thump and a boom that leaves you blinking and a bit stunned, wishing that he chose that story to be the long one, not the teaser.
Always leave them wanting more, I suppose. If you're just a casual drop in drop out fan of Elric and the like, I would not recommend this book to you, but if you're a diehard loyalist completionist, by all means get thee to a bookstore!
Always leave them wanting more, I suppose. If you're just a casual drop in drop out fan of Elric and the like, I would not recommend this book to you, but if you're a diehard loyalist completionist, by all means get thee to a bookstore!
January 20, 2016
The writing of this book seems to have been fueled by a partial belief in something akin to Theosophy and/or Satanism, a study of the nastiest bits of the last 400 years of European history, and quite possibly a lot of hallucinogenic drugs. This is especially true of the first two novels (there are 3 novels and a short story in the book) which feature a world dominated by a seemingly unknowable, petty, arbitrary God and a repentant Satan who is mostly a pretty good guy just trying to bring enlightenment and an end to the world's pain. Aside from a few overly-trippy/esoteric parts the quest-style adventuring was somewhat entertaining, but the overall philosophical points of the book (which were often presented in a very preachy manner) were a huge turn-off for me.
May 16, 2017
von bek and especial the first story (the warhound and the world's pain) is my favorite of M Moorcock.
its an unconventional tale of the holy grail and Lucifer taking place in the thirty years war (which proceeded the wars of fire and sword and deluge i was reading before).
The setting is Europe but with the twist that there is magic and supernatural (as it should be in epic fantasy) and the narration and description drags me in a wonderfully sinister place and era
the second tale is a dark romance with alchemy and apocryphal seeking a great tale which touches Vern's tales of exploration and scientific achievements with a mischievous twist and supernatural flavor.
The third story is of no importance...
its an unconventional tale of the holy grail and Lucifer taking place in the thirty years war (which proceeded the wars of fire and sword and deluge i was reading before).
The setting is Europe but with the twist that there is magic and supernatural (as it should be in epic fantasy) and the narration and description drags me in a wonderfully sinister place and era
the second tale is a dark romance with alchemy and apocryphal seeking a great tale which touches Vern's tales of exploration and scientific achievements with a mischievous twist and supernatural flavor.
The third story is of no importance...
March 3, 2010
• Overall, I think this was a very entertaining collection of stories. I do think that the first story in this collection was the best, but the rest weren’t necessarily bad. At some points, in the last story, it seemed that Moorcock tried to force a friendship between von Bek and the Champion. It was interesting to read some of Moorcock’s insights into Nazi Germany, and to read his thoughts on how tyrants are created and how they are let into the positions they attain. I also wonder if this was meant to be a last book, or if it was ended the way it was in case it bombed and he stopped writing books in this series. We’ll see…
May 12, 2020
Moorcock has written dozens of books about various incarnations of the Eternal Champion, a timeless hero forever fighting the forces of evil. This book is part of a new collection designed to put together all of his novels and novellas of the Eternal Champion, and he has chosen to put Von Bek first.
Big mistake, I believe. This book contains three novellas, of lengths short, medium and long. Except for one ("The Warhound and the World's Pain"), which is o.k. (3 stars), the rest are so boring I skipped ahead at the end. I do have another book in this series (about Corum), but only because I'd read that one in the past and had some fond memories.
Thumbs down!
Big mistake, I believe. This book contains three novellas, of lengths short, medium and long. Except for one ("The Warhound and the World's Pain"), which is o.k. (3 stars), the rest are so boring I skipped ahead at the end. I do have another book in this series (about Corum), but only because I'd read that one in the past and had some fond memories.
Thumbs down!
November 22, 2016
Four stars for the first story, possibly the most linear of all the 'Eternal Champion' stories I have read so far, with a main character who is world-weary, but interesting and a colourful supporting cast. The second is weaker (2 stars), with lots of symbolism that seemed quite jumbled and vague, though still a fun read for the first half. The third story is quite different, a crime short filled with WW2-era multiverse versions of historical German figures that is intriguing, but too short to really get a chance to go into depth. I'd quite happily read more Von Bek tales, if they existed.
October 8, 2023
Of the seventy or so Michael Moorcock books I have read these two ( The Warhound and the World's Pain and The City in the Autumn Stars) are probably my favorites. They have all the adventure and dark fantasy of some of the more famous yet less polished works, but are full of thought provoking speculation and dialogue. If you are thinking of dipping your toe in the Multiverse and don't know where in the sixty-plus years worth of work to begin, this is a great place to start.
September 11, 2009
This collects the Von Bek stories, featuring members of a family that seem to have a habit of getting involved with Lucifer and having to go on quests and seek out the Holy Grail. Couple of the Von Bek's later show up as supporting characters in other of Moorcock's stories.
Fun fantasy stories mixed with a bit of history. Nothing earthshaking, but decent reads.
Fun fantasy stories mixed with a bit of history. Nothing earthshaking, but decent reads.
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