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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Keep it coming!, August 22, 1997
This is the third volume of Moorcock's Eternal Champion series and they just keep getting better and better. Hawkmoon is one of the key characters in the series, and it's great to finally have all the hard to find novels in one large book, especially since reading them all together gives you the impression of one long sustained work. Here are some quick comments on the individual novels:
The Jewel in the Skull: Almost thought it was a Count Brass novel, since Hawkmoon doesn't really do much in this one. It sets up the characters and their motivations and is a nice, quick read.
The Mad God's Amulet: The Warrior in Jet and Gold shows up more (he's also the Knight in Black and Yellow from the other books), and Hawkmoon continues his quest.
The Sword of the Dawn: It's a good thing Moorcock explains that the Runestaff makes complex patterns to draw people in, because it's seems that the plot twists come out of left field, especially here, where the pirates just happen to have the right sword. Still, it's always fun to see Hawkmoon take on massive hordes of people and win.
The Runestaff: The final novel is also the final battle for a lot of people. This is probably the most costly war I've ever seen in literature, with people dying left and right. Moorcock tells it all with a dispassionate tone similar to Mailer's Naked and the Dead. The truimph is definately earned here, closing the Hawkmoon saga for now.
This is a great continuation of the series, with little mention of the Eternal Champion, which seems to be Hawkmoon. Though, I do miss the ironic commentary of John Daker from the earlier series. Hopefully, he'll return soon. Perhaps the next book . .
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating world for the Eternal Champion., February 9, 2001
Hawkmoon's quest for peace in his world is typical Moorcock fantasy, with bold heroes, evil opponents, hideous fates, weird monsters, and most of all, lots of action. In his preface, Moorcock warns us not to look to deeply for meaning in Hawkmoon, but that's like saying "Don't think of an elephant." There are certainly some themes here that Moorcock returns to in later books, but they are treated perhaps a tad more superficially here than in later years (not really a fault or anything, I just thought I'd mention it). As in Elric and Corum (my personal favorite), the author uses a fable-like semi-mythological style that makes the story move and focuses attention where it needs to be focused. For example, when Hawkmoon travels hundreds of miles to a city in the Middle East, the author devotes about four pages to the journey. Some writers (think Robert Jordan) would make the journey half a book long. This simplicity of style is one of my favorite things about Michael Moorcock. The only real weakness to this novel, as has been mentioned by other reviewers, is Hawkmoon himself. He's not really much of a character. Mostly he is either fighting or saying how he wishes he could return to his wife. He also seems kinda dim-witted at times. Usually one of the other characters is the one who comes up with a solution to a problem, or notices that the bad guys are coming or that Hawkmoon's pants are on fire. Not a big weakness, but in comparison to more interesting characters like Corum or Elric, a noticeable weakness. Still, if you like Elric or Corum, or just sword and sorcery stuff in general, this is highly recommended.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of my favorites in the eternal champion, December 27, 2000
When I was in 10th grade, my friend Joe introduced me to the evil and depressing fantasy Elric. By the second book Corum, Erekose and Hawkmoon showed up to do something of great importance which didn't seem all that important except to forshadow Elric's first inadvertant Black Sword victim in the next book. But from that series I was hooked.This trilogy didn't impress me when I read the first book, but many years later I picked up the entire series and as with many fantasy serieses I needed to read the entire trilogy. Hawkmoon develops from a pawn to a hero and the people around him change in accidental moods. D'Avarec and Count Brass are two of the most intriguing characters in fantasy. The villains make up a fully realized society of animal masks and freaky customs, while the question of how do you deal with anarchy is up for grabs. While you can see that the heroes will fight against the evil empier of Granbretan, the question as to whether an evil government like Granbretan is preferable to chaos is not one that is often asked in fantasies where the evil empires are only in need of defeat. Overall, this is an underrated and often overlooked Moorcock masterpiece that reads fast, has some very enjoyable moments and gives you something to chew on for years afterwards. In other words, it's everything fantasy should be.
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by Michael Moorcock
by Michael Moorcock
