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williemeikle 's review for:
The Warhound and the World's Pain
by Michael Moorcock
THE WARHOUND AND THE WORLD'S PAIN wasn't part of the Eternal Champion cycle when I first read them back in the '70s, not coming along until 1981, but Von Bek is most definitely a manifestion in the same ranks as Erekose,Elric, Corum and Hawkmoon despite being rooted in a historical rather than fantasy context, at least to begin with.
Von Bek is a typical tortured Moorcock hero, but less tortured than some, a battle hardened veteran, having come to terms with his base nature. After being shown the Hell that awaits his soul, he makes a deal with Lucifer to take on a quest, not in search of enlightenment, but to heal the pain of the World
Ostensibly this is the story of a grail quest, but it's classic Moorcock, so things are never simple. All of his trademark flourishes are in evidence here, with wild rides through shifting reality, musings on the nature of humanity and its place in the many facetted universe, and simpler matters, like the nature of comradeship, and the power of a man to make his own reality through force of will.
Reading this I was transported again to my first Moorcock readings in the very early '70s, and felt the same sense of awe and wonder at the force of his vision that I did back then.
This is sword and sorcery at its finest, and, by Arioch, I love it.
Von Bek is a typical tortured Moorcock hero, but less tortured than some, a battle hardened veteran, having come to terms with his base nature. After being shown the Hell that awaits his soul, he makes a deal with Lucifer to take on a quest, not in search of enlightenment, but to heal the pain of the World
Ostensibly this is the story of a grail quest, but it's classic Moorcock, so things are never simple. All of his trademark flourishes are in evidence here, with wild rides through shifting reality, musings on the nature of humanity and its place in the many facetted universe, and simpler matters, like the nature of comradeship, and the power of a man to make his own reality through force of will.
Reading this I was transported again to my first Moorcock readings in the very early '70s, and felt the same sense of awe and wonder at the force of his vision that I did back then.
This is sword and sorcery at its finest, and, by Arioch, I love it.