The War Amongst the Angels [Paperback]

Michael Moorcock (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1998

The lyrical genius of Michael Moorcock defies categorization; his creations soar to grand and golden places hitherto unimagined and unimaginable. In this, his most heartfelt and astonishing work to date, he carries the reader across mystical thresholds viewed from afar in the brilliant Blood and Fabulous Harbors, and reveals the mighty destinies, exemplary loves, and the true and secret histories of his most beloved and intriguing characters. It is a tale of the incomparable Rose von Bek, who discovers the myriad possibilities that life has to offer in the special, infinitely wondrous places known as the Second Ether--where time has no bounds and existence is a river of endless reinvention. Here, also, is the love of her life--the volatile and enigmatic Sam Oakenburst--and the story of the ill-fated passion of the exotic Colinda Dovero and the swashbuckling gambler Jack Karaquazian. These four together--along with their exceptional companions, including Rose's mad uncle, Michael, late of Texas--will become allies in what some call the great War in Heaven, fighting shoulder-to-shoulder against the agents of evil and stagnation, in a battle whose outcome will determine the very nature of reality itself.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The universe is Michael Moorcock's playground in this picaresque "autobiography" of his putative relation Rose von Bek. Rose, born in London in the mid-20th century to Sir Arthur and Lady Eleanor Moorcock, learns her love of wandering from the gypsies who gather near her father's estate. At 7 she decides on a career as a highwayman, at 17 she marries the not-entirely-respectable Count von Bek, and soon thereafter she meets her lover and companion-in-arms Sam Oakenhurst. Rose quickly discovers that she can enter the Second Ether and travel at will between the conventional world and a rollicking, quasi-infinite multiverse where the Chaos Engineers hold sway. At the same time, Sam's friend Jack Karaquazian and the beautiful Colinda Dovero conduct a romantic tragedy on a cosmic scale. It's Scaramouche meets Douglas Adams as Rose and her friends fight the War in Heaven against the Dark Angel Lucifer. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

This is the final volume of Moorcock's trilogy (Blood, Morrow, 1995; Fabulous Harbors, LJ 2/15/97) about Rose von Bek and her friends Col. Samuel Oakenhurst, Colinda Dovero, and Jack Karaquazian, who can all transport themselves from our mundane reality into the Second Ether. Rose recounts her life and loves including her involvement in the War in Heaven. Moorcock blends reality and fantasy with myriad references to the real and imagined. Recommended for collections owning the other titles.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 298 pages
• Publisher: Avon Books (P) (December 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380780798
• ISBN-13: 978-0380780792
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,317,535 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born in London in 1939, Michael Moorcock now lives in Texas. A prolific and award-winning writer with more than eighty works of fiction and non-fiction to his name, he is the creator of Elric, Jerry Cornelius and Colonel Pyat, amongst many other memorable characters.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and breathtaking!, November 27, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The War Amongst the Angels (Paperback)

This is one of the richest of Moorcock's novels, full of different themes and relationships, in which he makes increasingly explicit his vision of the multiverse. It is the culmination of the first two books in the series, Blood and Fabulous Harbors. It raises all kinds of philosophical questions about the nature of identity and our ideas about time. It has a love story and several autobiographical elements and, unlike a previous reviewer, I found this one of the best and most original books Mr Moorcock has yet written. The ending certainly makes reference to Milton, but it seems to be an argument with Milton, rather as Gloriana was an argument with Spencer. Moorcock's great talent, since he began with Elric and The Sundered Worlds, is to inhabit the genre itself and bust it open from the inside out. He doesn't borrow from Milton -- he sets up a dialogue with him! Everything he does, including the Bastable and Pyat novels, is an intervention in an existing genre, stereotype or cultural assumption. War Amongst The Angels is one of the richest and most visually mind-blowing books Moorcock, who has already established his own bench-marks, has ever given us. It is nothing less than a masterpiece.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars M.M. takes SF to a whole new dimension, December 31, 2003

By 

S.J. Snyder (Macarthur, WV United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The War Amongst the Angels (Paperback)

This is Moorcock at his best. "The War Amongst the Angels"
has all the complexity and playfulness that we've come to expect from one of SF's proven masters.Long live the multiverse!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All here, January 12, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The War Amongst the Angels (Paperback)

Moorcock is so rich it's possible to compare one of his books to
six books by equally good writers! Like the best work, this rewards a lot of rereadings and above all it's FUN. A fine writer at play.