How does he do it ?
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ANOTHER brilliant story from Mr M. How does he continue to keep coming up with them ? This one has Elric, Gunnar the Doomed (Gaynor), Ulric von Bek, Oona the Dreamthief's Daughter and Hiawatha (from Longfellow). All together in America.
On top of that there's a lot of good poetry, some of it from
Longfellow and some of it pastiches from Mr M. Literary fantasy for grown-ups. His early Elric stories, in the Elric
Fantasy Masterwork series, show all the energy of youthful genius. This is genuis in maturity. On top of that he writes
ace 'straight' novels like Mother London and Brothel in Rosenstrasse, too. He obviously didn't do a deal with the devil. Maybe it's a deal with his angel!
Great stuff. You won't regret getting this one.
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Gorgeous and full of ideas
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This could be Michael Moorcock's best fantasy novel for some years. As with The Dreamthief's Daughter, the previous book in the series, it is crammed with ideas. The ideas in this book are about Time, Space, Identity and Chaos Theory! They are also about America. Moorcock projects his characters into a world where Longfellow's Hiawatha is seeking to fulfill his 'dream quest', weaving a strand of his own story into the
tapestry of the multiverse. Characters are bound to follow thier dreams as exactly as possible, to relive their own stories as Glogauer relives his in Behold the Man. We are taken on an epic journey across the raw, pre-Colombian American landscape in the company of two Indian warrior philosophers, riding on the back of a giant black woolly mammoth, encountering various people along the way, including a gang of ferocious Vikings, led by Gunnar the Doomed, until we eventually come to the City of Gold, the home of the mysterious Kakatanawa whose job it is to preserve the Tree of Life which is not only a tree, it is essentially the entire multiverse. A battle is already being forced for its control but Elric, Ulric von Bek, Captain Klosterheim, Oona the Dreamthief's DAughter, Hiawatha, Prince Lobkowitz and others must join that battle
and ensure that the story of the multiverse continues. The specrtacular ending is one of Mr Moorcock's finest and is truly
epic! This is great value for money. Better than half a dozen fat fantasy books. A true work of intellectual science fantasy and a boisterous, galloping read.
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Better than previous best!
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Somehow Michael Moorcock continues to top his personal best with every new fantasy novel he writes! This story weaves three stories - one from modern times, one from 10th century Europe and one from 10th century America and the legendary Hiawatha who has gone forward into his own future met Longfellow and is now obliged to live out his own myth. This notion of characters being bound to live their myths began with Moorcock's Behold the Man novel but, like so much of Moorcock's new work, develops the idea into a wholly new dimension. The philosophical and scientific ideas inherent in his multiverse, a term he invented to describe a rather more exact concept than it is in other hands, is also developed to an awesome scale.
This is about the only sword and sorcery I know of which appeals as much to the mind as it does to the emotions.
And make no mistake - it appeals to the emotions. It is a fine, exciting adventure story, mostly set in pre-Colombian America, in which there are plenty of battles, monsters and weird landscapes.
But it is the finale which is breathtaking. Even more breathtaking than any other Moorcock finale to date (and his fans will know just how breathtaking those can be!). The
nature of the Skrayling Tree (a manifestation of the multiverse itself) is revealed, linking it both to Northern European mythology and Native American mythology, and Our Heroes (and Heroines) do their stuff to spectacular effect. Plenty of
swords are swung, epic battles fought and mysterious places
visited - and all packed into a volume shorter than one single Jordan book, yet containing more substance than any endless fantasy series you have ever read. Not only great, colourful, stimulating fantasy, but great value, too! Now all I can do
is re-read this and The Dreamthief's Daughter and await the final volume. Solid value from one of fantasy's real geniuses.
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