Customer Reviews

The Dragon in the Sword

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Continues the story of the story of the aspect of the Eternal Champion known as John Daker/Erekose that started in the books The Eternal Champion and Phoenix in Obsidian. His only desire is to be reunited with his lost love, Ermizhad, but instead he is pulled into the dimension of the Six Realms, where he meets Ulrich Von Bek who has escaped from the Nazis on Earth into this realm. The Six Realms are an area where six different worlds inhabited by very different cultures and races come together through a number of interdimensional gates. Daker soon learns of a plot by the forces of Chaos to conquer all the realms and knows that it is his mission as the Eternal Champion to stop that from happening.

This is one of the better examples of Moorcock's fantasy adventure style. The different realms have creative, if fairly limited, cultures, and the depiction of Hell is interesting. It is nothing groundbreaking, but is a solid conclusion to the Erekose sequence.

My all time favorite book by Michael Moorcock, this installment of the Eternal Champion series features John Daker/Erekose and begins with him being drawn out of his previous existence into another plane where the polar ice caps have melted and the planet is flooded (as in the movie waterworld, but very dark because the sun is also close to it's death). John Daker is thrust into this world with no sword or sheild, but still well aware of the misdeeds he committed in previous existances. The story has a decidedly dark and confused tone as our hero struggles to figure out who summoned him into this existance,and why. As with all Moorcock, the writing is intriguing and only in the final chapter will you tie all of the storie's threads together. If you are a fan of the John Daker saga this book is a must have (it's listed as Being the "Third and Final Story in the History of John Daker, the Eternal Champion"). If when you read this review this book is still unavailable, I urge you to find a used book store.

John Daker is Erekose is The Eternal Champion, again. After all the heroics and adventuring through countless lifetimes and incarnations he is weary, and just wants to get back to his Eldren princess Ermizhad and lead the quiet life.

Something nags at him, in his mind, a name, another Eternal Champion, but he doesn't know that name. A mystery that will not let him rest and retire fromt he cycle of the Eternal Champion.

Read this book after you've read "Eternal Champion" and "the Silver Warriors." Together, they tell the "whole" story of the common mortal, John Daker, who just happens to be the Eternal Champion.

The only other Moorcock books I've read so far are the Elric books, and I found these three books much better than any of those. If all you have ever read of Moorcock is Elric, I highly recommend these books. And if you love fantasy, but find much of what is written about elves and dwarves, etc., a bit childish, here is fantasy an adult can sink her/his teeth into.

In this book, John Daker, in the guise of Prince Flamadin, must save not just one world, but six entire worlds from destruction by Chaos. There's a great tie-in to the von Bek books, with Ulrich von Bek becoming Prince Flamadin's companion through most of the novel. The plot is satisfyingly complex, and the creatures Flamadin and his companions meet along the way are fascinating.

This book does some nice fleshing out of the concepts of the multiverse and the beings who can travel freely between universes, as well as the best explanation I've read yet of the true nature of the Eternal Champion. There is even somewhat of a "resolution" to the fate of the Eternal Champion.

But all is not philosophy and exposition. This book also has lots of great battles, swordplay, strange modes of travel through wormhole-like pathways, and lots of bad guys to be vanquished, including an appearance by Hitler.

The book actually does a good job of tying up many loose ends and gave me the satisfying feeling of completion that makes the best trilogies work. The tale has been told, you are sad to see your favorite characters go off into the sunset, yet you feel somehow that all is now right with the world and it couldn't have ended any other way.

Although, with Moorcock, there are, of course, other endings to this saga . . .

If you are looking for a great fantasy story with an abundance of action, The Dragon in the Sword surely will not disappoint you. If you like stories of soldiers desperately searching for their lost loves, this book is for you also. If you are a Michael Moorcock fan and enjoy his Elric saga, then this book is sure to deliver.
After being introduced to the very first in the series of these Elric books, I instantly became a fan not only of the epic Elric saga, but also of the author himself. His style of writing includes sentences that are thoroughly descriptive so no detail is left out. I have enjoyed Mr. Moorcock's books ever since that first one and this book is no exception.
The story is loaded with action from the very beginning as The Eternal Champions, as he is now called, recalls his past adventures with splendid detail. He recalls all of his past forms, their relationships, and their adventures. He is still Elric, but at the same time he isn't. He keeps reincarnating and taking on different identities. Some of the names he has been called along with Elric are Erekose, Urlik, and his present name, John Daker. He wishes to be Erekose again because that is who he was when he found his true love, Ermizhad, but lost her and searches for her endlessly while he also fights against chaos.
The action continues as John Daker tells of his travels on a dark ship whose captain is blind. This ship doesn't sail as normal ships sail, rather it sails between realms of the universe. While on this ship, Daker's dreams of women who chant pleas to release a dragon begin. He also dreams of a soldier in black and yellow who tells him what lies ahead, but speaks in mysteries and riddles that the Eternal Champion must figure out. He doesn't realize that his next incarnation will lead him to these very same women who plead with him in his dreams.
These women are of the Eldren race and are known as the "ghost women" because of their white armor. John comes to meet these women at what is called "The Massing" when all of the different races from a certain realm of the universe come together. They are said to be cannibalistic women who buy their partners to reproduce and then eat them. He first meets them at a marketplace where they are buying one of these "mates."
Before the massing though, Daker finds out his new identity, although he does not know what he is to be called. He winds up on a beach and finds Count Ulrich von Bek. Von Bek was in a concentration camp for speaking out against the Nazis and escaped with help from some friends. He then planned to kill Hitler but failed and escaped to this new realm called the Maaschanheem.
The action again picks up as these two run into some trouble on there way to civilization. Some bounty hunters attack the men but are defeated. Then the Baron Captain of this city picks up the two men and offers them a place to stay. The two stay with the Baron Captain until the massing, when everyone finds out the Eternal Champion's new identity. He is Prince Flamadin, who is said to have tried to kill his twin sister, Princess Sharadim. The Baron Captain now hates and tries to kill Flamadin. This is when the ghost women rescue him and tell him the truth.
The ghost women are at a marketplace buying men. But these men are not for food; rather they are banished noblemen from Princess Sharadim's land. They are telling the women the truth about the whole thing. Sharadim wanted to kill Flamadin for not wanting to share power.
The book goes on to show how the Eternal Champion battles against Sharadim and her evil army and to free the dragon from the evil sword. What is best about this book is that it almost gives a sense of completeness to the saga. I would greatly recommend this book to anybody who likes fantasy, especially fans of Michael Moorcock and the Elric saga.