‘The Warhound and the World’s Pain’ – Michael Moorcock (New English Library)

I knew I’d have a little time to myself, yesterday, so my reading plan was to really get stuck into ‘The Revenge of the Rose’; I’m further along with that book than I’ve ever got so really wanted to keep the momentum going. It’s me though so I got halfway down the street and checked my bag, only to find that ‘Revenge of the Rose’ had been left at home and I’d come out with a copy of ‘The Warhound and the World’s Pain’ instead. It was a little bit annoying but not the worst thing in the world; ‘The Warhound and the World’s Pain’ is one of those Moorcock books that I keep meaning to read, but somehow never do, so I figured this was the best time to do something about that. Even though I’d forgotten to bring my reading glasses as well…

The Forest flourished, a lush and spreading refuge from the Wars, cooly green and welcoming.

Beyond its borders the land burned flame red, blood red, ghastly black. Men and women, hacked to death, choked the paths and streams as the Armies of Religion clashed and slaughtered. Carrion-hung gibbets loomed starkly through the smoke and all the land was desolate.

The forest was a refuge. Yet silent, utterly silent and without life, as through it wearily rode the War Hound, Graf Ulrich von Bek. To come suddenly upon a castle. Many-Turreted and far, it rose up, honey-gold in the sunlight. Yet silent and still as the forest.

And in the castle he found the favour of the chatelaine, the Lady Sabrina, whose Master was Lucifer, Prince of Darkness. And was challenged to set out upon a quest that only the Damned could undertake.

‘The Warhound and the World’s Pain’ is a little bit of an oddity, in the ‘Eternal Champion’ series (and I’m assuming that it’s an ‘Eternal Champion’ book so please tell me if I’m wrong) in that Von Bek’s story concludes in one (very slim) book… No trilogy here and not only that, Von Bek gets to see out his days and die on a peaceful deathbed. Not the ending that most of Moorcock’s heroes can expect to enjoy; it seems that learning your lesson early on can pay dividends in the long run. Corum and Elric, take note… This is uncertainty around Von Bek’s end and that’s fine, given what we have already seen him go through, ponder and so on. It is nice though, to see a ‘Moorcock Hero’ say, ‘nope, I’m done’ and leave humanity to stand or fall on its own merits, the way it should be.

Moving onto the plot now and it’s very much what you’d expect from an ‘Eternal Champion’ story; there’s a quest which is there to ultimately promote the aims of the Balance and not let things fall too far in one way or the other. A couple of things that are interesting here… Moorcock uses religion as a tool of both Law and Chaos and it’s Lucifer himself who is pushing for a solution, albeit for selfish ends but even so… This not only gives the quest trope fresh impetus but also gives us a lot to think about as Von Bek goes about his mission. This isn’t necessarily a good thing, in terms of the plot, as Von Bek’s inner narrative does have a bit of a habit of holding up the rest of the book. And maybe that’s the point, there is clearly a lot for Moorcock to work out on the page. I was in the mood for something with a little more action though and while that’s not the book’s fault at all, it’s worth bearing in mind that this is a more thoughtful entry in the series. Once I got my head round that though, it’s always interesting to let Moorcock have his head and see where he ends up, there’s a lot to chew on here. When things do kick off though. Moorcock is more than able to give us a rousing burst of ‘Sword and Sorcery’ action that ticks all the boxes. Not only that, the world of Mittelmarch is  really intriguing with it’s mix of ‘how things could have been if…’ along with demons in bottles, mechanical steeds and the one and only Philander Groot, I love him 😊

I’m really glad that I finally cracked open ‘The Warhound and the World’s Pain’ and got it read. It’s Moorcock being a lot more thoughtful, in fantasy, than normal and once you get used to that. ‘The Warhound’ is a very rewarding read.