Status
Available
Call number
Series
Genres
Collection
Publication
White Wolf Publishing (1995), Edition: First Edition, 502 pages
Description
In Michael Moorcock's vast and imaginative multiverse, Law and Chaos wage war in a never-ending struggle over the fundamental rules of existence. Here, in this universe, Dorian Hawkmoon traverses a world of antique cities, scientific sorcery, and crystalline machines as he pulled unwillingly into a war that pits him against the ruthless and dominating armies of Granbretan.
User reviews
LibraryThing member ksmyth
Hawkmoon is the simplest of Moorcock's eternal champions. He is less burdened by ambiguity than the others. I love the journey, the villains, and the penultimate battle.
LibraryThing member LastCall
Great classic sword & scorery action from the master.
LibraryThing member aethercowboy
Moorcock once believed that if a story couldn't be finished in 24 hours, it wasn't worth writing. There are some of his complete novels that were written in this way, and some of them he wrote without looking back.
Hawkmoon is an omnibus released by White Wolf, featuring the four novels pertaining
Moorcock wrote each of these four novels in a very short time (I believe it was without even sleeping), and then spent the rest of the week asleep. And, wow, if I were to have done that, my end result would be nothing near the skill and mastery that Moorcock has given his work.
If you know nothing about Moorcock, then know this now: Each of his worlds is connected on some level through something he's called "the Multiverse," which is, effectively, the next abstraction above the universe. You will see characters that are familiar, and characters you know, and characters that seem like you've seen them before. This is how the multiverse works.
But not every story by Moorcock has to be a lesson in quantum mechanics. Sometimes, the story is just a story, and the characters are just these characters, and if they seem familiar, it's not necessary, in order to enjoy the story, to believe that they are a new incarnation of someone you've already met in one of his other books. Hawkmoon is one of those such books.
If you're familiar with Moorcock, but not with Dorian Hawkmoon, you may enjoy this Sword and Sorcery tale, complete with mighty artifacts, and a cursed black jewel, which may or may not be related to a certain black runesword.
Hawkmoon is an omnibus released by White Wolf, featuring the four novels pertaining
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to Dorian Hawkmoon, a German Eternal Champion who must rise over the evil British empire.Moorcock wrote each of these four novels in a very short time (I believe it was without even sleeping), and then spent the rest of the week asleep. And, wow, if I were to have done that, my end result would be nothing near the skill and mastery that Moorcock has given his work.
If you know nothing about Moorcock, then know this now: Each of his worlds is connected on some level through something he's called "the Multiverse," which is, effectively, the next abstraction above the universe. You will see characters that are familiar, and characters you know, and characters that seem like you've seen them before. This is how the multiverse works.
But not every story by Moorcock has to be a lesson in quantum mechanics. Sometimes, the story is just a story, and the characters are just these characters, and if they seem familiar, it's not necessary, in order to enjoy the story, to believe that they are a new incarnation of someone you've already met in one of his other books. Hawkmoon is one of those such books.
If you're familiar with Moorcock, but not with Dorian Hawkmoon, you may enjoy this Sword and Sorcery tale, complete with mighty artifacts, and a cursed black jewel, which may or may not be related to a certain black runesword.
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LibraryThing member WilliamPascoe
Great stuff. Moorcock's amazing imagination at its best. All of the High History of the Runestaff in one volume. In my opinion this is a tour de force in fantasy wrting. Back in a time when fantasy was a very niche genre, Moorcock produced these sweeping vistas of incredible, gothic settings and
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immensely exotic characters. Strange, brooding heroes, deliciously evil villains and, running through it all, the enigmatic Runestaff. I loved it when I first read it (too many decades ago) and I still do. What more can I say? Show Less
LibraryThing member JeremyPreacher
Hawkmoon was much more straightforward, and thus somewhat less interesting but also less annoying, than Von Bek or The Eternal Champion. It's a four-part novel, and very much a straight lone-hero-against-evil-empire adventure. One of the problems I have with Moorcock in general (at least in this
That's not to say I totally dislike it - it's still a fast-moving adventure and it held my interest to the end - but it's pretty badly flawed as anything other that straight-up pulp fantasy.
(I'm plowing through the American collections very, very slowly, because Moorcock is not quite to my taste but he's interesting and also tremendously influential in the genre.)
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multiverse) is that because the villain is always Chaos, it has zero subtlety - the villains rape and torture and perform hideous experiments because they're the villains, not out of any sort of serious characterization. That's less of a problem when the story is as twisty and multilayered as the Von Bek stories (although it's still a problem) but Hawkmoon has none of that and it just grew tedious.That's not to say I totally dislike it - it's still a fast-moving adventure and it held my interest to the end - but it's pretty badly flawed as anything other that straight-up pulp fantasy.
(I'm plowing through the American collections very, very slowly, because Moorcock is not quite to my taste but he's interesting and also tremendously influential in the genre.)
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LibraryThing member RandyStafford
My reactions to reading this omnibus in 1999. Spoilers follow.
“Introduction” -- Short introduction where Moorcock says this series of four novels was written as popular entertainment with no profundity despite some allusions to “The Beatles or well-known politicians”.
The Jewel in the Skull
The Mad Gods’ Amulet -- Hawkmoon’s fight against the Dark Empire continues with a classic fantasy ploy – the diversion to quest after a magical item necessary for the main fight/quest. (Though here, Hawkmoon is unaware, for a long time, that the Runestaff has manipulated him into seeking the Mad God’s Amulet. He thinks he’s pursuing his betrothed Yisselda.) I liked the Mad God and his minions (particularly the army of naked woman). I also liked the ambitious villain D’Averc with his affected illness. Hawkmoon warily accepts him as an ally. I also liked the ethereal city of Soryandum. I also liked the far future setting of this series with is antique cites and forgotten cities.
The Sword of the Dawn -- I liked this novel too with treacherous, dishonored playwright Elvereza Tazer who constantly alludes to his own work (which includes a play on “Chirshil and Adulf” – Churchill and Adolf. I liked the weird Flana who has a mind only for love – however, she can’t remain in love with the proudly mad, insane men of Granbretan and abandons (and sometimes kills) her lovers. I liked Meliadus growing dissatisfaction with the Emperor. I liked the trip to Wales (“Yel” here) and, particularly, the voyage to legendary America (Amerkh). My favorite bit was the Legion of the Dawn who seem to be supernatural Amerindian warriors called by the supernatural Sword of the Dawn.
The Runestaff -- The Hawkmoon saga closes with a finish much more upbeat than I expect from a manifestation of The Eternal Champion. (Not every incarnation comes to a bad end evidently, but I expect them to since I read the Elric books first.) Yes, Count Brass, Olabahn, and Flana’s love, D’Averc all die, but Hawkmoon lives as does his wife Yisselda. Flana, a woman whose ethereal love usually comes to a bad end for her lovers, seems rehabilitated by D’Averc’s love since he is not an insane decadent of the Granbretan variety, and seems about to reform the Granbretan empire to make it more humane. The style of this novel was different, in its short chapters, than the others in the series. I liked the ethereal inhabitants of Dnark (New York) One Jehamia Cohnahlias is the embodiment of the Runestaff. Since I haven’t read any of the Moorcock tales with Jerry Cornelius, I don’t know what to make of this. The Runestaff, in the reformed Granbretan Empire, seems to have struck a balance between Chaos and Law. (This is never mentioned as a goal, but is a theme of the Eternal Champion cycle.) I liked the fleet of Granbretan ships named after its Gods. I caught the names of the Beatles and many authors (most sf): Churchill, Brian Aldiss, and J. G. Ballard. The other names, if allusions to real people, I didn’t understand.
“Introduction” -- Short introduction where Moorcock says this series of four novels was written as popular entertainment with no profundity despite some allusions to “The Beatles or well-known politicians”.
The Jewel in the Skull
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-- I liked the character of Hawkmoon with his emotional detachment, near catatonia, awakening to become an enemy of Granbretan. I liked the Black Jewel threatening to eat his mind. I liked the villains Granbretan (Great Britain of a far future Europe), the emotional reserve and fascination for eccentric behavior, animals, and heraldry of the British is here satirized by the Orders who constantly go about in animal masks. I liked the knight in Jet and Gold. The Mad Gods’ Amulet -- Hawkmoon’s fight against the Dark Empire continues with a classic fantasy ploy – the diversion to quest after a magical item necessary for the main fight/quest. (Though here, Hawkmoon is unaware, for a long time, that the Runestaff has manipulated him into seeking the Mad God’s Amulet. He thinks he’s pursuing his betrothed Yisselda.) I liked the Mad God and his minions (particularly the army of naked woman). I also liked the ambitious villain D’Averc with his affected illness. Hawkmoon warily accepts him as an ally. I also liked the ethereal city of Soryandum. I also liked the far future setting of this series with is antique cites and forgotten cities.
The Sword of the Dawn -- I liked this novel too with treacherous, dishonored playwright Elvereza Tazer who constantly alludes to his own work (which includes a play on “Chirshil and Adulf” – Churchill and Adolf. I liked the weird Flana who has a mind only for love – however, she can’t remain in love with the proudly mad, insane men of Granbretan and abandons (and sometimes kills) her lovers. I liked Meliadus growing dissatisfaction with the Emperor. I liked the trip to Wales (“Yel” here) and, particularly, the voyage to legendary America (Amerkh). My favorite bit was the Legion of the Dawn who seem to be supernatural Amerindian warriors called by the supernatural Sword of the Dawn.
The Runestaff -- The Hawkmoon saga closes with a finish much more upbeat than I expect from a manifestation of The Eternal Champion. (Not every incarnation comes to a bad end evidently, but I expect them to since I read the Elric books first.) Yes, Count Brass, Olabahn, and Flana’s love, D’Averc all die, but Hawkmoon lives as does his wife Yisselda. Flana, a woman whose ethereal love usually comes to a bad end for her lovers, seems rehabilitated by D’Averc’s love since he is not an insane decadent of the Granbretan variety, and seems about to reform the Granbretan empire to make it more humane. The style of this novel was different, in its short chapters, than the others in the series. I liked the ethereal inhabitants of Dnark (New York) One Jehamia Cohnahlias is the embodiment of the Runestaff. Since I haven’t read any of the Moorcock tales with Jerry Cornelius, I don’t know what to make of this. The Runestaff, in the reformed Granbretan Empire, seems to have struck a balance between Chaos and Law. (This is never mentioned as a goal, but is a theme of the Eternal Champion cycle.) I liked the fleet of Granbretan ships named after its Gods. I caught the names of the Beatles and many authors (most sf): Churchill, Brian Aldiss, and J. G. Ballard. The other names, if allusions to real people, I didn’t understand.
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LibraryThing member Count_Zero
Very well done post-apocalyptic Fantasy novel. Hawkmoon is a much better, and much more likable protagonist then Elric of Melnibone is.
LibraryThing member BrainFireBob
Collected in one of the magnificent White Wolf editions, here is the omnibus edition of Hawkmoon's original adventures.
Not quite a comic book, but not truly novels, in this period of his career Moorcock's work reads almost like later-day serials in the best tradition of Doc Savage- quick action
Notable in this incarnation of the Eternal Champion are- in addition to the Easter eggs of the history of Granbretan- the introduction of the quasi-character of the Empire of Granbretan, with its ornithopters, animal masks, military orders, immortal Emperor with a stolen voice- weirdly insane in a way that could only be envisaged in Mod London.
Hawkmoon himself, though one of the prominent incarnations in the canon, is a fairly straightforward character. The strength of this series surrounds Hawkmoon- D'Averc, the nihilistic romantic optimist, the larger-than-life Count Brass, the Warrior in Jet and Gold, and above all the Runestaff.
This series is a delight for the genre fan, but not for something with pretensions towards great literature nor looking to find fault with straightforward good and evil stories.
Not quite a comic book, but not truly novels, in this period of his career Moorcock's work reads almost like later-day serials in the best tradition of Doc Savage- quick action
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scenes, dramatic action, short interstitials between action- in short, action, action, action.Notable in this incarnation of the Eternal Champion are- in addition to the Easter eggs of the history of Granbretan- the introduction of the quasi-character of the Empire of Granbretan, with its ornithopters, animal masks, military orders, immortal Emperor with a stolen voice- weirdly insane in a way that could only be envisaged in Mod London.
Hawkmoon himself, though one of the prominent incarnations in the canon, is a fairly straightforward character. The strength of this series surrounds Hawkmoon- D'Averc, the nihilistic romantic optimist, the larger-than-life Count Brass, the Warrior in Jet and Gold, and above all the Runestaff.
This series is a delight for the genre fan, but not for something with pretensions towards great literature nor looking to find fault with straightforward good and evil stories.
Show Less
Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1974 (omnibus)
1969 (The Jewel in the Skull)
1969 (The Mad God's Amulet)
1969 (The Sword of the Dawn)
1969 (The Runestaff)
Physical description
502 p.; 9.5 inches
ISBN
156504178X / 9781565041783