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addisonleigh's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
wildbillbourbon's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent fantasy novel and the beginning of Michael's Eternal champion multiverse. Overall I found the book compelling and thoroughly entertaining. Some moments felt a little forced and unearned but otherwise a great read. I am looking forward to more books in this expanded universe.
darylnash's review against another edition
3.0
The eponymous book. 3 stars. Pretty decent for an early work, although I guessed the plot twist about three chapters in.
The Sundered Worlds. 1 star. I kind of hated that. There were some great ideas, including the first popular use of the term Multiverse, but there's also a lot of unnecessary running around interspersed with vague descriptions of the characters getting their minds bent. It has not aged well.
Phoenix in Obsidian. 4 stars. Now there’s the weird, poetic, brooding fantasy I remember from Elric that I read so long ago.
To Rescue Tanelorn. 3. Short story. Good for what it was, but either I missed something or it was missing something.
The Sundered Worlds. 1 star. I kind of hated that. There were some great ideas, including the first popular use of the term Multiverse, but there's also a lot of unnecessary running around interspersed with vague descriptions of the characters getting their minds bent. It has not aged well.
Phoenix in Obsidian. 4 stars. Now there’s the weird, poetic, brooding fantasy I remember from Elric that I read so long ago.
To Rescue Tanelorn. 3. Short story. Good for what it was, but either I missed something or it was missing something.
sephranix's review against another edition
I'm done with this book/series. Something about it just doesn't work for me, and one of my resolutions for this year is to DNF more books that I'm not enjoying. So. Into the donate pile it goes.
aandnota's review against another edition
4.0
Pretty good, if a bit boring. It’s a morality tale and not his best in my opinion. It felt like a semi-fleshed out idea and I couldn’t really get into it.
arthurbdd's review against another edition
4.0
The best of the John Daker stories; heavily influenced by Poul Anderson's Three Hearts & Three Lions, the novel is an interesting meditation on the demands we make of our heroes, and what happens when heroic archetypes are bent towards wicked causes. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/behold-the-eternal-man/
williemeikle's review against another edition
4.0
It's getting on for 50 years now since my first read of THE ETERNAL CHAMPION, but I enjoyed it as much this time through as I did back then.
It's the pulpiest of Moorcock's Eternal Champion cycle, and the story that really kicks the whole thing off, with John Daker called from a life on Earth to be Erekose, champion of humanity, once and future hero, and wielder of a bloody huge sword of power.
It's all a bit Arthurian, with similar motifs of betrayal and doom, but Moorcock's energy carries the whole thing along at a rollicking speed. There's a wonderful set piece sea battle, we get glimpses of te Eternal Champion's inner conflict that will drive the whole series, and there are battles and mass slaughter aplenty.
Moorcock's sense of a striking visual is much in evidence, even in the somewhat pulpy prose on show here, but it's a great starter for the epic adventures in the multiverse to come, and I'm looking forward to the rest of it with the same passion I used to have while waiting impatiently for him to write the next installment way back in the day.
At least all I have to do now is walk to the bookcase to take the next book down.
It's the pulpiest of Moorcock's Eternal Champion cycle, and the story that really kicks the whole thing off, with John Daker called from a life on Earth to be Erekose, champion of humanity, once and future hero, and wielder of a bloody huge sword of power.
It's all a bit Arthurian, with similar motifs of betrayal and doom, but Moorcock's energy carries the whole thing along at a rollicking speed. There's a wonderful set piece sea battle, we get glimpses of te Eternal Champion's inner conflict that will drive the whole series, and there are battles and mass slaughter aplenty.
Moorcock's sense of a striking visual is much in evidence, even in the somewhat pulpy prose on show here, but it's a great starter for the epic adventures in the multiverse to come, and I'm looking forward to the rest of it with the same passion I used to have while waiting impatiently for him to write the next installment way back in the day.
At least all I have to do now is walk to the bookcase to take the next book down.
enantiodromos's review against another edition
5.0
This story stands out from the fantasy of Moorcock (of whom I'm fond generally) because it is a potent and memorable example of ultimate character development: the story of a true shift of loyalty and a rediscovery of one's own fundamental values. If all mythology and modern fantasy has, in some sense, the goal of showing the ideal of personal transformation, I can think of very few books besides another favorite (Hesse's Magister Ludi/The Glass Bead Game) that do it as well.
Which is not to say it's an uplifting book, as it's clearly a bitter (not to say unsympathetic or singleminded) look at race relations, nationalism, and nuclear armageddon.
Which is not to say it's an uplifting book, as it's clearly a bitter (not to say unsympathetic or singleminded) look at race relations, nationalism, and nuclear armageddon.
zoey222's review against another edition
1.0
I read this book because it is mentioned as a direct inspiration for Attack on Titan. As such, I was expecting a grim story concerned with a besieged and desperate human race. While this book eventually got around to being somewhat grim, it lacks any resemblance to AoT. The creator for AoT seems to have been inspired by the vague concept of this story, and little more.
Funny enough, The Stormlight Archives uses the entirety of this story as its premise. As such, this book is essentially a Stormlight Spoiler. Sanderson did a direct rip of the world building, I kid you not. I wont go into detail about that here, because Moorcock did it first and I am not critiquing Sanderson here. It is the plot that makes this novel bad.
Massive plot holes are the ultimate undoing to this tale. The core motivations of the characters do not match the realities portrayed by the author. Major characters with literally a million years of history make decisions that go against that established set of values. For example, the human race is apparently desperate to defeat the demons. They are so desperate that they call upon the myth of a champion. And yet, throughout the entire story, humans do nothing but win, and the eternal champion has no direct influence on these "decisive" battles. If you were to remove the eternal champion from the story, humanity would have brutally stomped the Eldren, no question. The champion is along for the ride and kills basically no one for the first three battles. Thus, the stakes do not exist. Why do we care whether the humans win or not if they are steamrolling on easy mode?
It gets stupider. The Eldren are a pacifist race who possess nuclear sci-fi weapons that would destroy humanity in an instant. They owned these for a million years, and chose not to use them, even during this book when 90% of their race is decimated. Then, at the end, the eternal champion switches sides to the Eldren, and THE ELDREN JUST GIVE THIS RANDOM WHITE DUDE WHO IS THE FIGURE HEAD OF THEIR ENTIRE RACE'S DECIMATION CONTROL OF THE NUCLEAR WEAPONRY. AND HE MURDERS THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE. AND THE ELDREN DONT FEEL REMORSE OR ANGER ABOUT IT. THEY WANT THE RANDOM WHITE DUDE TO BANG THEIR QUEEN AFTERWARDS.
It just makes no sense. This story is supported by complete logical falsity. What a waste of time.
Along the way the author makes the tired sexist remarks that are common in pre 2000's media, and he has no understanding of love. He interprets infatuation and lust as love, and the main character falls in love with literally every cute girl he sees. I am not kidding. Any girl the main character interacts with, he explicitly states that he both loves her as a daughter and as a lover. Its just the cherry on top of this stupid sundae.
Funny enough, The Stormlight Archives uses the entirety of this story as its premise. As such, this book is essentially a Stormlight Spoiler. Sanderson did a direct rip of the world building, I kid you not. I wont go into detail about that here, because Moorcock did it first and I am not critiquing Sanderson here. It is the plot that makes this novel bad.
Massive plot holes are the ultimate undoing to this tale. The core motivations of the characters do not match the realities portrayed by the author. Major characters with literally a million years of history make decisions that go against that established set of values. For example, the human race is apparently desperate to defeat the demons. They are so desperate that they call upon the myth of a champion. And yet, throughout the entire story, humans do nothing but win, and the eternal champion has no direct influence on these "decisive" battles. If you were to remove the eternal champion from the story, humanity would have brutally stomped the Eldren, no question. The champion is along for the ride and kills basically no one for the first three battles. Thus, the stakes do not exist. Why do we care whether the humans win or not if they are steamrolling on easy mode?
It gets stupider. The Eldren are a pacifist race who possess nuclear sci-fi weapons that would destroy humanity in an instant. They owned these for a million years, and chose not to use them, even during this book when 90% of their race is decimated. Then, at the end, the eternal champion switches sides to the Eldren, and THE ELDREN JUST GIVE THIS RANDOM WHITE DUDE WHO IS THE FIGURE HEAD OF THEIR ENTIRE RACE'S DECIMATION CONTROL OF THE NUCLEAR WEAPONRY. AND HE MURDERS THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE. AND THE ELDREN DONT FEEL REMORSE OR ANGER ABOUT IT. THEY WANT THE RANDOM WHITE DUDE TO BANG THEIR QUEEN AFTERWARDS.
It just makes no sense. This story is supported by complete logical falsity. What a waste of time.
Along the way the author makes the tired sexist remarks that are common in pre 2000's media, and he has no understanding of love. He interprets infatuation and lust as love, and the main character falls in love with literally every cute girl he sees. I am not kidding. Any girl the main character interacts with, he explicitly states that he both loves her as a daughter and as a lover. Its just the cherry on top of this stupid sundae.