The third and final adventure of Michael Moorcock's dimension hopping hero, Oswald Bastable, is a disjointed narrative in two parts. The opening sequence, featuring a group of disheartened and frightened men awaiting their fates on an island that has been forgotten in the world-wide conflict that is raging, is pretty suspenseful. The second part, featuring the villain of the title, is frequently entertaining as well. One scene, which features a battle between dirigibles and men on horseback, rises to the level of high adventure. Unfortunately, the character of Una Persson, another interdimensional traveler who makes brief appearances in all of the Bastable books and is well-developed in none of them, figures prominently in the climax. There is also some sketchy mumbo-jumbo about a council of people who have the power to travel between dimensions. Could have been better.
