Jayaprakash Satyamurthy
Knivesout no more
The Eternal Champion: Michael Moorcock (first published in 1970)
Nearly everything that Michael Moorcock has written is about the Eternal Champion, an endlessly re-incarnated warrior who strives to assert a balance between forces of Chaos and Law.
This particular novel deals with Erekose, a manifestation of the Eternal Champion who is aware of his other identities, something that causes him great confusion and distress.
We first meet Erekose in the form of John Daker, a scholarly 20th century man. He hears voices calling someone called Erekose in his dreams, and is compelled to manifest in a place that turns out to be the tomb of Erekose, a fabled warrior and Champion of Humanity. He is further told that he is, in some way, Erekose, called forth to defend Humanity against its arch-foe, the Eldren race, characterised as seductive, sly tricksters and utterly evil.
The set-up, so far, is much like the second Corum trilogy, but the story progresses on its own course from here on in.
Erekose falls in love with Iolinda, the daughter of King Rigenos, who has summoned him forth, and takes his place as war-leader against the Eldren. He soon leads the armies of humanity into a succesful sea-battle against the Eldren forces, where he is shocked by his allies' treacherous dealings with the Eldren. His discomfort is increased when the forces reach the Eldren city of Paphanaal, now populated entirely by women and children - all the men were slaughtered at sea. His allies embark on a spree of plunder and rapine that disgusts him with its barbarity. At this point, Ermizhad, an Eldren princess is captured and entrusted to Erekose as a vital bargaining-chip in the struggle with the Eldren.
The armies return to Rigenos' capital, Mernadin, when they hear news of an Eldren army advancing towards them, lead by Prince Arjavh , Ermizhad's brother. Erekose leads an army against them, loses the battle,and is taken prisoner by Arjveh. He finds the Eldren prince to be civilized and honourable - not at all what he imagined. He agrees to release Ermizhad in return for his own freedom, and is released by the Eldren, who trust him to keep his end of the bargain.
Back in Mernadin, Erekose finds that he has fallen out of favour. The King accuses him of not being commited to Humanity's just war and Iolinda names him a traitor and accuses him of harbouring a secret passion for the Eldren princess (who escapes through arcane means). Erekose is increasibgly disillusioned by his human allies, but feels that this has to be wrong of him - is he not humanity's War Leader and Champion? Even though he is no longer in love with Iolinda, he swears that he will exterminate the entire Eldren race to prove his regard for her, in an attempt to overcome his doubts and play out what he thinks is his chosen role.
What follows is a bloody, genocidal campaign against the Eldren, taking no prsioners and giving no quarter. Finally, only one Eldren stronghold remains. Erekose enters it under a flag of truce to parlay with the Eldren leaders, Arjveh and Ermizhad. The time he spends with them leads to a new and unexpected resolve.
I'll avoid giving away the ending now, but in many ways it is the strongest thing about this book. Moorcock is known for his conflicted, ambiguous protagonists, and they don't get more conflicted and ambiguous than this. Erekose's final actions in this book seem to buy this world - his future or his distant past? - a measure of peace, albeit at a terrible cost. In the end, he is not certain if he has doen the right thing, and if it even makes a difference in the larger scheme of things.
The novel is, all in all, fairly typical of Moorcock's earlier sword-and-sorcery fantasy, but the quality of writing is better than in some other cases, combining glimpses of th elarger Multiversal context, seen through Erekose's dreams, with the main storyline and following Erekose's actions and thoughts in a most effective manner. The first-person narrative imparts a sense of engagement that offsets and also complements the underlying melancholy that pervades much of Moorcock's earlier work. I'm not certain how well the characters will strike readers of modern fantasy - they are, for the most part, archetypes, but well depicted archetypes. There are many different levels of conflict in this book, bryond the martial confict that dominates it, and the interactions between Erekose and other characters brings these elements to into play.
It's a slim, enjoyable yarn about love, hate, war, duty, honour and treachery.
What does it all mean? I think the point of the book is to suggest that 'it' may not have anything as simple as a single true meaning. In the dedication of the book (to M John Harisson), Moorcock characterises the book as 'an entertainment' which is a fair description.
It's a decent entry-point for someone new to Moorcock's work, and one that a seasoned voyager of the Multiverse should enjoy too. It's not an absolute classic, but I'd safely give it three and a half points out of five, if I were using a rating system.
Nearly everything that Michael Moorcock has written is about the Eternal Champion, an endlessly re-incarnated warrior who strives to assert a balance between forces of Chaos and Law.
This particular novel deals with Erekose, a manifestation of the Eternal Champion who is aware of his other identities, something that causes him great confusion and distress.
We first meet Erekose in the form of John Daker, a scholarly 20th century man. He hears voices calling someone called Erekose in his dreams, and is compelled to manifest in a place that turns out to be the tomb of Erekose, a fabled warrior and Champion of Humanity. He is further told that he is, in some way, Erekose, called forth to defend Humanity against its arch-foe, the Eldren race, characterised as seductive, sly tricksters and utterly evil.
The set-up, so far, is much like the second Corum trilogy, but the story progresses on its own course from here on in.
Erekose falls in love with Iolinda, the daughter of King Rigenos, who has summoned him forth, and takes his place as war-leader against the Eldren. He soon leads the armies of humanity into a succesful sea-battle against the Eldren forces, where he is shocked by his allies' treacherous dealings with the Eldren. His discomfort is increased when the forces reach the Eldren city of Paphanaal, now populated entirely by women and children - all the men were slaughtered at sea. His allies embark on a spree of plunder and rapine that disgusts him with its barbarity. At this point, Ermizhad, an Eldren princess is captured and entrusted to Erekose as a vital bargaining-chip in the struggle with the Eldren.
The armies return to Rigenos' capital, Mernadin, when they hear news of an Eldren army advancing towards them, lead by Prince Arjavh , Ermizhad's brother. Erekose leads an army against them, loses the battle,and is taken prisoner by Arjveh. He finds the Eldren prince to be civilized and honourable - not at all what he imagined. He agrees to release Ermizhad in return for his own freedom, and is released by the Eldren, who trust him to keep his end of the bargain.
Back in Mernadin, Erekose finds that he has fallen out of favour. The King accuses him of not being commited to Humanity's just war and Iolinda names him a traitor and accuses him of harbouring a secret passion for the Eldren princess (who escapes through arcane means). Erekose is increasibgly disillusioned by his human allies, but feels that this has to be wrong of him - is he not humanity's War Leader and Champion? Even though he is no longer in love with Iolinda, he swears that he will exterminate the entire Eldren race to prove his regard for her, in an attempt to overcome his doubts and play out what he thinks is his chosen role.
What follows is a bloody, genocidal campaign against the Eldren, taking no prsioners and giving no quarter. Finally, only one Eldren stronghold remains. Erekose enters it under a flag of truce to parlay with the Eldren leaders, Arjveh and Ermizhad. The time he spends with them leads to a new and unexpected resolve.
I'll avoid giving away the ending now, but in many ways it is the strongest thing about this book. Moorcock is known for his conflicted, ambiguous protagonists, and they don't get more conflicted and ambiguous than this. Erekose's final actions in this book seem to buy this world - his future or his distant past? - a measure of peace, albeit at a terrible cost. In the end, he is not certain if he has doen the right thing, and if it even makes a difference in the larger scheme of things.
The novel is, all in all, fairly typical of Moorcock's earlier sword-and-sorcery fantasy, but the quality of writing is better than in some other cases, combining glimpses of th elarger Multiversal context, seen through Erekose's dreams, with the main storyline and following Erekose's actions and thoughts in a most effective manner. The first-person narrative imparts a sense of engagement that offsets and also complements the underlying melancholy that pervades much of Moorcock's earlier work. I'm not certain how well the characters will strike readers of modern fantasy - they are, for the most part, archetypes, but well depicted archetypes. There are many different levels of conflict in this book, bryond the martial confict that dominates it, and the interactions between Erekose and other characters brings these elements to into play.
It's a slim, enjoyable yarn about love, hate, war, duty, honour and treachery.
What does it all mean? I think the point of the book is to suggest that 'it' may not have anything as simple as a single true meaning. In the dedication of the book (to M John Harisson), Moorcock characterises the book as 'an entertainment' which is a fair description.
It's a decent entry-point for someone new to Moorcock's work, and one that a seasoned voyager of the Multiverse should enjoy too. It's not an absolute classic, but I'd safely give it three and a half points out of five, if I were using a rating system.
