Pavlo Tverdokhlib's Reviews > Von Bek

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.