Customer Reviews

The White Wolf's Son: The Albino Underground

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The last two Elric novels were pretty "deep and heavy" with the style and thoughts of Count Von Bek. A lot of pondering and musing and such. I was quite surprised to see this one was written from the perspective of a bright 12 year old. It made the book easy to read through. The events that take place are confusing, interesting, shocking as always.
The story explains a lot about Elric and his 1000 year dream. That is, if you are familiar with other work of Moorcock such as the Multiverse graphic novel. Turns out he has been in "our realm" for nearly thousand years, trying to get to his blade and partake in the world's history. Yes, Elric (our Monsieur Zodiac) isn't on every page, but it is obvious that Elric is the main character. He is the one. No other champion has his burden and his power.
Many familiar characters show up, Bastable, Hawkmoon, Erekose, Gaynor and Klosterheim are to name a few. And Oona ofcourse.
Though the white wolf's son (Onric) plays a relative small part it all makes sense in the end. Until now Onric never played a part in the stories, yet he is the key to the whole cycle it seems.
Heralded as the 'end of the saga' it leaves me as always with both answers and questions. Elric restores the balance in this book and apparently thus saving the multiverse from destruction. So now he can go back to his own world and destroy then remake his and other worlds. While doing this he finally rids the multiverse of Gaynor..for now..I get that. Good. Great closure.
Now the questions (and they are of the type that make me jump up and down and want to read more stories!)
DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS (in that case go buy the book and read for your self!)
Onric, Elric's son, lives on in "our realm" as John Daker..The character that is said to know (or maybe even be the cause) for the curse of the Eternal Champion. OooOOOooOO..what did he do? what is the secret? That one is still not completely answered as far as I know!

In short: Great book, surprising twists. Mr. Moorcock does it again. Kudos.

The final book of the newest Elric trilogy, The White Wolf's Son, simultaneously shows Moorcock's increasing complexity of his vision and waning interest in his signature character. While the other characters of the novel are drawn vividly and distinctively, Elric himself seems consigned to have become a caricature rather than an icon. Fortunately, Moorcock easily overcomes the threadbare nature of his favorite subject, keeping the book a satisfying read throughout.

Heavy references to other books and characters in the long-running Eternal Champion series makes this book both fun for long-time readers and inscrutable to those new to Moorcock's body of work.

This book is a kind of a third ending of the Champion saga (the first two ones were The Quest for Tanelorn and Dragon in the Sword), with Erekose appearing again (although playing a very small part in the story, but without it, the novel wouldn't correspond to the whole Saga). Also this book lets us know something about the pre-history of John Daker, and the pre-history of his wife. I think it may be recommended to the readers who don't like the 3rd John Daker novel (i.e., Dragon in the Sword), because it differs from that one very much, portraying quite another Mr. Daker to us.
The book is written not in the usual Moorcock manner, it has a much simpler language, so if you have been sometimes embarrassed by Moorcock's style (those long words of Latin origin which are not easy to understand), this book may seem easier to read for you. As for me, I'm longing for the good old manner in which the classical Elric stories have been written.

Maturity is often a good thing. Certainly, Michael Moorcock's The White Wolf's Son is a more mature form of writing than his early Elric books, but I am not positive that this makes it a better book. In fact, the generally more sophisticated writing may actually hurt The White Wolf's Son as much as it helps it.

The novel is actually the concluding book in a trilogy of books about Ulric von Bek and his family. More than that, however it is a culmination of Moorcock's many Eternal Champion books, and plenty of other Champion incarnations either appear (including Hawkmoon, Erekose and Oswald Bastable) or are at least mentioned (Corum). Much of this book is narrated by von Bek's twelve year old granddaughter Oonagh who is the apparent target of some truly nasty forces led by Gaynor the Damned and Klosterheim. Why they want her is initially unclear, but they mean her no good.

An earthquake sends Oonagh into another world, with both allies and enemies pursuing her. Of her allies, the most notable are the thief-fox Renyard and Oonagh's grandmother, Oona. There is also Oona's father, Monsieur Zodiac, also known as Elric.

As Moorcock fans are aware, the story of Elric came to an absolute end in the novel Stormbringer, yet Moorcock is able to keep bringing his most famous hero back by adjusting the continuity of earlier books. Elric either goes on little side trips, or, as in this case, he is off on a dream quest, able to live a physical life outside of his real body.

The plot of The White Wolf's Son is complicated and a bit muddled. Moorcock's Eternal Champion saga is very complex (and not always entirely consistent), which makes it very difficult to truly be contained in a single novel. Furthermore, there is not a lot of action, especially compared to Moorcock's earlier work. The result is a book that is interesting but sometimes a bit of a chore (it lacks the fast-paced fun of the early works). Also, as with many writers, Moorcock has trouble writing child characters realistically; they come off as just little adults.

While I have read most of Moorcock's books (especially his Eternal Champion books), there have been many I haven't read for a couple decades. Perhaps a reader who has the other stories fresher in his or her mind may appreciate this novel more. As it is, I can only mildly recommend this book, and even then, only for Moorcock fans; if you have not read Moorcock, this is not the one to start with.

I've been reading Moorcock for over 20 years and he just keeps getting better. If you are looking for traditional sword-and-sorcery fantasy like the original series, you will be disappointed. Moorcock has moved past that, so enjoy it for what it is. This is still fantasy, but it's expanded so that it's new and fresh (unlike most fantasy being published). He also takes time to criticize religious fanatics, and the current administration of George Bush. A brilliant author who deserves a wider audience.

If you are a fan of Moorcock's eternal champion series and have been a little confused about what has been going on in the last couple books, then this is the book you have been waiting for. This stories ties all of the loose ends of Elric's 1000 year dream and leaves the path wide open for the next book to be full of asction and philosophical content. It was also a great read and not as convoluted as some of the more recent Elric books.

Oonagh von Bek is staying at the family home in Ingleton, West Yorkshire in England where she meets two men she instinctually distrusts. Friends of her grandmother Oona Von Bek also arrive in the village to guard her from her enemies. As she explores the nearby caves, a quake opens the multiverse sending Oonagh into another realm where she meets an educated fox who walks upright and wears clothes. He becomes her protector when the two men follow her into the underground city of Mirenburg, a mirror image of the city above ground.

It is there that she is reunited with her grandmother, the near immortal beautiful Oona who has, with the champions who tried to protect her in Ingleton, come to bring her home if they can find the right road in the multiverse. Elric the Eternal champion is diverted from his one thousand year quest to find his sword Stormbringer to search for his great-granddaughter and foments a rebellion against the twisted science and sorcery using empire of Granbretan in order to try to find her more easily. Oonagh and her friends travel into the heart of the rebellion where she is kidnapped by her enemies who want to remake the multiverse in their own image.

Different Avatars of the Eternal Champion make appearances in this classic Good vs. Evil fantasy. Elric's role as the Eternal champion is to make sure that Oonagh isn't used to bring about the apocalypse her enemies desire. He is a heroic and tragic figure, controlled by forces that nobody can defeat because they bring balance to the universe. Michael Moorcock, the grandmaster of sword and sorcery fantasy, provides one of the best books he has ever written.

Harriet Klausner

Michael Moorecock continues the saga of the Albino Prince and the multiverse. An excellent read!!

For readers familiar author Moorecock's writings this novel will be greatly appreciated as a continuation of a story cycle that has been expanding for almost half a century. For readers new to Moorcock it could be a very confusing book since the author introduces characters and themes from many of his other "Eternal Champion" story cycles.

I have 26 titles by this author on my shelves but it has been many years since I have read one of his books. The White Wolf's Son clearly assured this reader that Mr. Moorcock is still in top form and a pleasure to read.

This story concerns a precocious young lady, Oonagh von Bek, who unwillingly finds herself to be the focus of a nefarious plot to upset the Cosmic Balance. It seems she is related to the Dreamthieft and villains von Minct and his evil sidekick Kolsterheim believe that her virgin blood in conjunction with other mystical icons are the key to achieving their goal.

As Onnagh is perused across the "Multiverse" on the moonbeam roads she is befriended by an extraordinary Moorcock character, Lord Renyard, a dandified wolf wearing a monocle, caring a cane with a fondness for books.

Aside from the attention grabbing plot the author's unique ability to describe "other worldliness", innocent female charm, and vile scoundrels made this book a page-turner for this reader. I also relished the "steam-punk" technology descriptions - what a hoot!

Naturally we have references and guest appearances from many characters from previous books in the Moorcock "Eternal Champion" cycle. After many years it was a pleasure to be reacquainted.

I liken this much more to the "chronicles of narnia" style and not at all what I expected of mm. I really enjoy most of his eternal hero books and in particular his Elric ones that have a dark, almost anti-hero aspect to them. This is not that, it has things like talking houses and talking foxes in it. This does not make it bad, just not what you would expect from Moorcock