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Product Description
Product Description
The first three novels,The Warhound and the World's Pain, The City in the Autumn Stars and The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius, of Michael Moorcock's classic fantasy sequence.
About the Author
Born in London in 1939, Michael Moorcock now lives in Texas. A prolific and award-winning writer with more than eighty works of fiction and non-fiction to his name, he is the creator of Elric, Jerry Cornelius and Colonel Pyat, amongst many other memorable characters.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The first novel in this omnibus was published over twenty years ago but it is still a brilliant idea -- Lucifer yearning to be reconciled with God commissions the human von Bek to search for the Holy Grail. Von Bek isn't exactly Galahad, but the Holy Grail isn't exactly what he was expecting, either. Lucifer is about as charming as he can get and this book oddly prefigures Moorcock's more ambitious, but more challenging, The War Amongst the Angels, which mirrors the Hundred Years War described here -- i.e. people have long since lost sight of their original principles and loyalties and the angels, fighting for Law or Chaos, have equally lost touch with the ideals which first inspired them to fight. Like Philip Pullman, clearly Moorcock's admirer, we are dealing not with a model of a perfect Edwardian world as imagined by an Oxford don, but a model of our actual world, with all its complications, confusions and injustices. Later Lucifer's own ambitions and needs begin to change, but he still seeks reconciliation with God. The alchemical stuff in Autumn Stars is very neatly worked in! And The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius was probably the first story ever to use the idea of modern historical figures having very different roles in a parallel world. This idea was picked up again in Warlord of the Air.
Lovely stuff. Nothing to touch it.
Lovely stuff. Nothing to touch it.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Moorcock has originated so many of the themes, images, characters and plots in fantasy fiction that if you come to him AFTER you've read one of his many imitators, you might not realise just what an original he is. Yet the difference between Moorcock and HIS imitators is the same as the difference between Tolkien ane HIS imitators. It's the difference between the original and a degenerated photo-copy. This is the key volume to understanding his conceptions, which are far more complex and sophisticated than people who have copied him and it's much better written than the other 'key': that is The Eternal Champion, which Moorcock wrote at the very beginning of his career and which shows him still feeling his way. The two novels in the Von Bek volume were written in what many regard as the beginning of his most ambitious period as a writer of fantasy, the late 70s and early 80s. You might want to start with one of the more fast and furious series, like Elric, Hawkmoon or Corum, but I personally recommend Von Bek.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Von Bek (Tale of the Eternal Champion, No 2) is a reunion of 3 books by Michael Moorcock: "The War Hound and the World's Pain", "City in the Autumn Stars", and "The Dragon in the Sword". It has also bonus short story, "The Pleasure Garden of Filipe Saggitarius". All these stories are related by the Von Bek family, that is entrusted with the task of protecting the Holy Grail.
The hero of each of the (somewhat) related books is someone belonging to the Von Bek family, and the stories talk about the eternal struggle between the forces of Chaos and Order. Not all is what it seems, and not always the greatest evil comes from the usual suspects (Lucifer, the fallen angel plays an important, if suprising, part on this saga).
The first book, "The War Hound and the World's Pain", is perhaps the one i enjoyed best, in part because it is more intimate. The lead character's pessimistic view of the world sounds very real and makes him the perfect romantic hero. Even so, the book has adventure of great scale, be it fighting armies, scary creatures or magic dimensions.
The two other books are also quite good, but something is lost when the extravagant settings and characters take greater part of the story. The short story, on the other hand, seemed useless, and was quickly forgotten...
This Hardcover edition is a beauty and has a beautiful presentation. Careful lettering and a few pictures help create your own mental vision of the magical tales presented by this master of the fantasy/sci-fi literature.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Not his best
I generally love Moorcock's work and the Eternal Champion sequence has been among his best. I hadn't heard of Von Beck until I bought the White Wolf and realized I needed to read... Read more
Published 19 months ago by john_l_uk
Astounding novel and a great place to start for Moorcock newbies like...
Review of the first novel of this compilation 'The Warhound and the World's Pain':
This is the first Von Bek book, and forms part of (in fact ultimately quite an... Read more
This is the first Von Bek book, and forms part of (in fact ultimately quite an... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Mark Poles
A mixed bag
Having recently undertaken the task of working my way though MMs work I approached this novel with no preconceptions. Read more
Published on 29 Jun 2008 by HJC
Eternal Classic
Warhound and the World's pain is the best of the three in terms of entertainment value and is an excellent read even though a lot of the ideas are well used and being shorter than... Read more
Published on 24 Aug 2007 by jamo
Get stuck in!
This is where the series starts. It's Moorcock's attempt to give some sort of linearity to the Eternal Champion series, so you might as well start with this. Read more
Published on 11 May 2002
Von Bek is the Champion's best incarnation
There's a more literary tone to Moorcock's von Bek stories than you find in the earlier Hawkmoon books, but the same old gusto is there for sheer, engaging story-telling. Read more
Published on 9 Jan 2002
If theres a Holy Grail, this book is one of its shadows
This was the first part I read of The Eternal Champion, and it was also the first Moorcock I read. And I must say I'm very impressed with both. Read more
Published on 24 July 2001 by D. De Gruijter
Stunning
This was my introduction to the Eternal Champion series and I love it simply because it did introduce me to that wonderful saga. Read more
Published on 9 May 2001
Heavy going, but a worthy read
This is a difficult book to review, I really enjoyed The Warhound and the Worlds Pain (the first story) a fascinating idea brilliantly done, but I found The City In The Autumn... Read more
Published on 3 May 2001 by C. W. Bell
Fine, intelligent fantasy
Moorcock's love for The Pilgrim's Progress is well-known and he mentions the book often. In a sense Warhound is his Pilgrim's Progress. Read more
Published on 27 Mar 2001
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