Customer Reviews

The Eternal Champion

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Eternal Champion is the first in the series of re-issues of Moorcock's short stories with new forewards, and introductions. This book contains four stories, all centered around The Eternal Champion. The first story The Eternal Champion is a brilliant tale. In it the man John Daker is drawn into another world, slowly. Attracted by the word Erekose, he is brought to another dimension where he is the reincarnation of the great warrior Erekose. Erekose is enlisted by humanity to defeat the so-called demonic Eldren. Erekose defeats the Eldren, but eventually realizes that humanity is the blight on this planet, not the Eldren. He turns traitor and helps the Eldren against the savage humans. This is one of the most intriguing stories I have ever read. From the humanity as ignorant savage theme, to the horrific ending relating to the abuse of superior weaponry, this story has rarely been equaled. Erekose is then drawn out of a happy existence to another world in The Sundered Worlds, where humanity must travel the multiverse to rescue itself and prove to those running the universe they are ready to evolve and take the next step in the big picture. Phoenix in Obsidian is the third story in which, similarly to The Etenal Champion, Urlik Skarsol, must fight those he originally sees as his friends. This takes place on a world of ice, similar to the setting of The Ice Schooner in Vol. 8 Sailing to Utopia. Seemingly tacked on to the end is ...to Rescue Tanelorn a short story about the quest of one man to find help for the fabled city of Tanelorn before it is overrun by the forces of Chaos. Worth the price for the first story alone

The most important thing about this book is the first story out of the four in this book. Originally published in the 1950's, it was a very different type of fantasy writing than the L.O.T.R. and Conan the Barbarian style that was and remains insanely popular. The Eternal Champion features a hero who is at times scared, unwilling, and most importantly, evil. The protagonist does not fully agree with his own actions and this presents a hero who is *gasp* human.

This seriously rocked the boat when held up against the other fantasy and sci-fi of the day. Has the anti-hero concept been more skilfully rendered since? Of course, several have done it better, and Moorcock himself has improved upon his early writing greatly, which is to be expected since he was 17 when he wrote The Eternal Champion.

The stories in the book are interesting enough, but the real value of this volume is the way it changed the rules for a genre of fiction and the fairly complete introduction to a decent series of books it provides. The series is well worth the read if you have a couple of months or years to get through it all and you want to see fantasy done with more of a human realist perspective.

I always wanted to read the Eternal Champion series by Michael Moorcock, but it included so many series and so many different books that were either hard to find or out of print that I figured the task was too hard. Fortunately, the author has help set up this new series for lazy fans like me. And it's very, very welcome.

There are four novels in this volumn, so I'll take them separately:
The Eternal Champion: One of his first and his simpliest, but the themes protrayed in it would have a lasting effect on the rest of the series. Some of the best scenes are those where Erekose is dreaming and the names of the other champions are being shouted. Classic.

The Sundered Worlds: Little departure, but its sets up the rest of the multiverse, although it can be hard to follow all the ideas at times. But, hey, there's a Von Bek in it, can it be all that bad?

Phoenix in Obsidian: I just like the title to be honest. A nice continuation of the story of Erekose/John Daker/whoever, furthering the themes presented in the first story. I think it's even simpler than The Eternal Champion, but still fun to read.

To Rescue Tanelorn: A short story about the peaceful city that was only included because of said city. A good fantasy tale with hints of what will later happen in the series. And hey, it mentions Elric! It can't be all that bad.

So, while these stories are simple, one has to start somewhere, and with Michael Moorcock, the beginning is always the best place

This book is the first in a new and ongoing omnibus publication of Michael Moorcook's fantasy fiction, centering around his seminal presentation of the "Eternal Champion" and the alternating realities of the "Multiverse." These concepts have continued to influence fantasy writers to the present, including, most recently, Robert Jordan's adoption of a comparitive framework for his "Wheel of Time" series. A major figure in the 60's and 70's, especially in the UK, Moorcook is noted for his innovative exploration and incorporation of metaphysics as well as ideas more commonly associated with science fiction than fantasy.

The stories contained herein were all originally published between 1962 and 1970, and while some have since undergone revision, the quality of writing typifies much of the work produced during that period, both in fantasy and in science fiction. Conceptually pregnant, the narrative devotes much of its energy to the expression and exploration of ideas, or the description of imaginary landscapes and populations that could be accused as flights of fancy for invention's sake. The work is weak when in comes to characterization, sense of place, or providing background for the development of the narrative. The style of writing seems almost undeveloped and dated when compared to the narrative and descriptive powers present in some of the better contemporary work available. Or perhaps it is simply that Moorcock is more interested in the expression of the abstract than in the grounding of his notions in good storytelling.

I am somewhat unclear as to the inclusion of "The Sundered Worlds" in this volume. Not only is it the weakest story by far of the four, with a plot that is disjointed and moves from one event to the next with little supporting logic, but it is clearly a tale of science fiction set in the future amid more traditional tales of sword and sworcery, and only tenously linked to the latter by reference to the multiverse. Further, it indulges in some of the worst excesses of science fiction fancy, replete with creatures that could inhabit the worst of Harryhausen's B-movie efforts. By itself this confused adrift in space rates only a single star.

The three other tales - "The Eternal Champion," "Phoenix in Obsidian," and "To Rescue Tanelorn" - are all traditional sword and sorcery fare notable for their exploration of the notions of an often reluctant hero doomed to repeat his life forever in various incarnations within the alternate realities of Moorcock's multiverse. And though he wears the mantle of a champion, the causes he fights for are not always of his choosing. All three tales - the last a short story - in varying degrees exhibit the lack of strong narrative skills noted above, but remain, nonetheless, intriguing in their conceptual content. The strength of these ideas ameliorates somewhat the lack of prose skills in their rendering.

I would have to say, as far as this book, that for historical interest it is worth a look. However, in terms of narrative power the stories are never fully realised and remain, unfortunately for all the promise of their ideas, largely stillborn.

At first I found "Eternal Champion" very hard to get into, because the writing style is often heavy-handed; Moorcock first wrote it when he was 17, and it shows. Once the story got going, however, I found it easy to lose track of sentence structures that would have had me banging my head against a wall earlier. Though Moorcock's prose style has its problems, his stories are captivating and greatly entertaining. I accidentally read the entire first section one night when I really should have been writing a paper -- much more enjoyable :) . As a kind of litmus test for books, I often ask myself whether I'd purchase the sequel; the answer, for this book, is a resounding 'yes.'

This review is for only the story "The Eternal Champion"

Moorcock wrote this story in less than a week when he was seventeen and it is the only one by him written in first person (at least that I know of). The story is simple: A man called to champion the human race in a war against ?the evil Eldrin? finds that the Eldrin are not evil at all; that the evil is all a projection of humanity?s own shortcomings. The hero then betrays humankind and champions the Eldrin. In the Eldrin he finds kindness, dignity, restraint, spirituality, and beauty (all the things seventeen year old men want, but lack in adolescence). In the end the very qualities of humanity he detests (anger, revenge, myopia, self interest) overtake him and he launches a genocide against mankind.

The story is told in broad strokes, and the writing is inconsistent; weak at times, strong at others. But the magic of this story is seeing how Moorcock?s young mind is trying to come to grips with really powerful ideas. Most of the struggles in our life are actually quite simple: who am I; what do I believe; to whom am I loyal and why; how do I reconcile what I want be with who I actually am; what does my choice of enemies say about me; how well do I really understand my enemies; etc... In the end the hero is not Eldrin (whom he admires), he is human (what he detests),and so he ends up all alone in the middle (again an adolescent fantasy: I refuse to be like the world, but I fail to be what I want, and therefore I am nowhere and all alone...).

This may all sound simple, but compared to much of the sci-fi/fantasy claptrap out there this is Dostoyevsky by comparison. And Moorcock is brilliant at filling in a fantasy world, and keeping the narration at high speed. This is a sparse tale; not a lot of wasted words here. What is left unsaid is equally important as what is said. This book is not a complex masterpiece. It is a simple, yet competent work by a young brilliant author just realizing his skill in story telling and thought. In the end the simplicity is betrayed by an honest existential sadness.

I first read this book in sixth grade twenty years ago and have read it several times since. Each time I like this tale more. Great short read. Enjoy.

I have the Millenium edition of this book, which contains the three novels, The Eternal Champion, Phoenix in Obsidian and the Dragon in the Sword. It is a good intro to the Eternal Champion series because it is the simplest. John Daker, moaning that he has many lives, many forms, introduces the true nature of the champion. Yet for me, the Eternal Champion is one of the best switching-sides story. The hero is told by humans that they're the good guys and the Eldren are the bad guys, and so he fights for them. Then he realizes that the truth is the other way around, so he switches to the Eldren and beats the crap out of humans. It makes me wonder, is what we've been taught as right since childhood really right, or are we being deceived? There's some implied philosophy for you. The next two parts are about the other guises of the Eternal Champion. After this, Moorcock has placed the Eternal Champion in every possible speculative fiction setting: post-apocalyptic earth, steampunk, time travel, sword and sorcery, etc. It's a series any questioning hero would love.

"Not as well known as Moorcock's other books - e.g., the Elric and Corum series, but this is just as good."
-- Glenn G. Thater, Author of 'Harbinger of Doom'

These stories aren't my favorites by Moorcock, and "The Sundered Worlds" and "To Rescue Tanelorn" are pretty mediocre. "The Eternal Champion" is okay if you give it a chance, and "Phoenix In Obsidian" is a good continuation of that story, my favorite in this volume.

I know that "The Sundered Worlds" is a key work to understanding Moorcock's multiverse, but it reeks of 1950's Asimov(zzzzzzz). It was put between "Champion" and "Obsidian" in this volume for some reason, but I only saw it as an annoying distraction. The whole thing is worth reading if you're a big Moorcock fan, but it's not something I could ever re-read.

This is the first book I've read by Moorcock, so I don't know much about him, but as a fantasy author he ranks up with some of my favorites. I'll continue into the series if only to delve deeper into his imagination; Moorcock's character development is seriously lacking, IMO, and at times it moves far too quickly for my taste. I never really felt any of the characters fleshed out, even the main character. Moorcock weaves a lot of philosophies and opinions into his books (this one, and I've heard others), and new ideas that I find thought-provoking, but that is probably my main reason for reading. The book itself doesn't draw me in as other fantasy authors have managed to do.