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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
If theres a Holy Grail, this book is one of its shadows, 24 Jul 2001
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. It makes me feel like stuffing an old smelly sock into the mouths of Proust fans that are so amazed with the size of his oeuvre. They haven't seen The Eternal Champion collected on one shelf yet! "The War Hound and the World's Pain" is quite an enjoyable action-packed adventure not without its stimulating food for thought. Von Bek is quite the enigmatic hero, and the idea that Lucifer and God are haggling (as far as we know) on coming back to terms with each other with the possible troubles that move will bring for mankind has been quite influential, I think, on the "Preacher" comics. But it's also a sort of lengthy prologue on the next tale in line, "The City in the Autumn Stars". And this is where the real fun begins. One could regard that specific tale as a pre-write of the Elric story "The Fortress of the Pearl", yet much more involving and mature, though also a lot more slow. Indeed, Moorcock has claimed more than once that his writing is pure for the entertainment, but "Autumn Stars" well exceeds the pleasure of that! I was very taken with the alchemical and occult lore that merges seamlessly with the adventure, and I am pleased to see how Moorcock handles this often vague and confusing matter in a clear and sophisticated way. After all, hermetic and occult philosophy has a bit of a repressed niche in western philosophy today, and wholly undeserved. Moorcock has an excellent grasp of bringing about the era's he's writing about in these two tales. Less, however, in the last tale, "The Pleasure Garden of Felippe Sagittarius". It's shorter and less involving than the first two tales, and also lacks the original kick of "Autumn Stars". Yet it is an older story, preceding "Warhound" and "Autumn Stars" and it tells. But more than once I have been impressed with Moorcock's ability to link tales that sometimes have 15 years between them into a coherent whole. It's a bit of an oddball, but pleasurable nonetheless. Elric of Melniboné, Hawkmoon, and Corum may be Moorcock's best known heroes, Von Bek, not a consistent champion, rather a hero in generations, is one of his most human and sophisticated heroes. A gentleman's hero, one could say, to sit with by the fireside, a glass of exquisite wine in one hand, and an ancient alchemical print on the wall, and good and fair speech of mysterious realms and beings.
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by Michael Moorcock
by Michael Moorcock
by Michael Moorcock
by Michael Moorcock
