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outcolder's review against another edition
3.0
Maybe Moorchock was in more of a hurry to finish this series than I was... I felt like there was the more than usual last minute supernatural saviors... I mean, the whole series has been plagued by this "Warrior in Jet and Gold" who always shows up and saves the day just when Hawkmoon is about to bite it... but this title is ridiculous. And it's not like the page count would have skyrocketed if Moorcock had offered a bit more of an explanation for it all. The bad guys have some superweapons, too, and without even a nod towards whatever magic or pseudoscience that makes them work, it starts to feel like, jeez, anything can happen.
What holds it together, really, is the insanity of the Dark Empire, the far-future Great Britain that strangely honors James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, PC, FRS, FSS with a high speed battleship called the Aral Vilson... When Moorcock wrote this thing, nobody'd heard of Wiccans, Hammer horror films were in their heyday... and, yeah, lots of colonies were winning their Independence while lots of former colonies were finally getting around to majority (i.e. Black) rule... so I think it's eerily prescient given the wackos in charge now... people who probably painted sigils on animal sacrifices in their secret Oxbridge clubs... people who want the so-called "Commonwealth" to be a thing again. Let's not forget the Dark Empire's masks. In the real world, while he's writing this, you have the Black Panther newspaper in the US filled with pictures of pigs labeled politicians, avaricious businessmen, and of course police... Moorcock has all of Great Britain proudly wearing masks of dogs, flies, rats... hilarious.
The best character in here is Flana, a woman who is heir to the Dark Empire's throne and just doesn't care... there is a page somewhere in this book where she has a possible revelation about herself, and it's so good, I wish we could have had a lot more of her. Actually, the whole "History of the Runestaff" would have been better if there was more point of view of Baron Meliadus. Much of the last two books are, but, I mean, this last book is only 140 pages, at least in this edition. I think it would have been cool to really explore the idea that Hawkmoon is the bad guy... some privileged blond boy from Köln, thinks he's the good guy, never questioned his hereditary right to rule, people hand him magic amulets and swords and whatnot and he's like, yeah, I totally deserve this... at least the Dark Empire is honest. Hawkmoon's trip is keeping the peasants safe so they can keep the castle fed while he lies around with the boring Yisselda... I guess the whole thing is for kids and I am asking for too much.
There's also Moorcock's multiverse schtick which I am not so clued in about... The spirit of the Runestaff is some boy named Cohnalias? I know there's a running character in the more grown up stuff, a Cornelius or something. Maybe this is all a lot cooler the more of it you read. Like how people get into some comic book superhero universe because the stories are just so damn big.
What holds it together, really, is the insanity of the Dark Empire, the far-future Great Britain that strangely honors James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, PC, FRS, FSS with a high speed battleship called the Aral Vilson... When Moorcock wrote this thing, nobody'd heard of Wiccans, Hammer horror films were in their heyday... and, yeah, lots of colonies were winning their Independence while lots of former colonies were finally getting around to majority (i.e. Black) rule... so I think it's eerily prescient given the wackos in charge now... people who probably painted sigils on animal sacrifices in their secret Oxbridge clubs... people who want the so-called "Commonwealth" to be a thing again. Let's not forget the Dark Empire's masks. In the real world, while he's writing this, you have the Black Panther newspaper in the US filled with pictures of pigs labeled politicians, avaricious businessmen, and of course police... Moorcock has all of Great Britain proudly wearing masks of dogs, flies, rats... hilarious.
The best character in here is Flana, a woman who is heir to the Dark Empire's throne and just doesn't care... there is a page somewhere in this book where she has a possible revelation about herself, and it's so good, I wish we could have had a lot more of her. Actually, the whole "History of the Runestaff" would have been better if there was more point of view of Baron Meliadus. Much of the last two books are, but, I mean, this last book is only 140 pages, at least in this edition. I think it would have been cool to really explore the idea that Hawkmoon is the bad guy... some privileged blond boy from Köln, thinks he's the good guy, never questioned his hereditary right to rule, people hand him magic amulets and swords and whatnot and he's like, yeah, I totally deserve this... at least the Dark Empire is honest. Hawkmoon's trip is keeping the peasants safe so they can keep the castle fed while he lies around with the boring Yisselda... I guess the whole thing is for kids and I am asking for too much.
There's also Moorcock's multiverse schtick which I am not so clued in about... The spirit of the Runestaff is some boy named Cohnalias? I know there's a running character in the more grown up stuff, a Cornelius or something. Maybe this is all a lot cooler the more of it you read. Like how people get into some comic book superhero universe because the stories are just so damn big.
will_cherico's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is the best entry in the Runestaff series by far. It's incredibly emotional and it's so lean - the plot stays super interesting and never lets up. All the major characters, good and evil, get time to shine in a super fun way. There are what I understand to be references to other works in Moorcock's multiverse that made me really interested to read his other stuff. I really like Moorcock's depiction of "balance" not as perfect order, because I agree with him - that's a bit of a fascist idea. The Runestaff as an instrument of balance between that order and "chaos," which doesn't necessarily need to be a bad thing. It's a beautiful story that doesn't shy away from the death and destruction that comes with imperialism, and it's a series like nothing I've read before.
cookiedoof's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
weng's review against another edition
5.0
The end comes quickly. Something about the structure of this book made me think of some ancient song or epic poem.
smiorganbaldhead's review against another edition
4.0
3.5/5. A fun adventure as always for Moorcock's Eternal Champion stories, and a mostly satisfying conclusion to Hawkmoon's first quartet. Some parts felt a bit rushed, and as in the previous book, I felt Oladahn was underused. Still, I've greatly enjoyed reading the Eternal Champion, and feel like the connections and mysteries that only unfold across multiple incarnations' stories make for a reading experience greater than the sum of its parts. After reading Hawkmoon, Elric, Corum, and Erekosë, I'm really looking forward reading the culmination in the Castle Brass trilogy.
arthurbdd's review against another edition
2.0
Underwhelming conclusion to a mediocre series. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/2011/09/07/the-runestaff-and-the-empires-end/
angrywombat's review against another edition
4.0
A pretty darned satisfying conclusion to the runestaff series, with Dorian Hawkmoon trying to battle against his fate and return home to castle Brass and his wife, but ending up taking down the Dark Empire.
I love that these 4 short novels tell a more epic tale than many modern doorstop series. Hawkmoon is a true hero who constantly rises to the occasion and overcomes terrible foes at the risk of terrible personal losses.
I'm still a bit miffed that we never know exactly what the runestaff is/does, and there are a lot of 'things behind the curtain' helping out Hawkmoon for reasons that are never quite clear - but it does add a nice sense of mystery.
I'm certainly going to consider more books by moorcock in the future.
I love that these 4 short novels tell a more epic tale than many modern doorstop series. Hawkmoon is a true hero who constantly rises to the occasion and overcomes terrible foes at the risk of terrible personal losses.
I'm still a bit miffed that we never know exactly what the runestaff is/does, and there are a lot of 'things behind the curtain' helping out Hawkmoon for reasons that are never quite clear - but it does add a nice sense of mystery.
I'm certainly going to consider more books by moorcock in the future.
ianbanks's review against another edition
3.0
I would have given this concluding volume four stars except for the gaping plot hole of Elvereza Tozer giving D'Averc and Hawkmoon both of his magic rings in the third book and then managing to steal them back while they were several dimensions away... Great conclusion otherwise and a kickarse speech from Yisselda about why women should fight if they want to.