“Count Brass” by Michael Moorcock

 

 

339 pages, White Wolf Publishing, ISBN-13: 978-1565049871

 

Over the course of the mid-to-late 90s, White Wolf Publishing produced this massive omnibus collection of Michael Moorcock’s “Eternal Champion” stories, a recurrent aspect in many of his tales. Count Brass was the fifteenth (and last) in this series and the second volume featuring the character Dorian Hawkmoon, Duke of Köln, and includes the tales Count Brass, The Champion of Garathorm and The Quest for Tanelorn. Count Brass is the protector of Kamarg and the ruler of Castle Brass and, as such, is an ally of Dorian Hawkmoon and an enemy to the Dark Empire of Granbretan. According to Moorcock, “I must admit that Hawkmoon was never my favorite character but there are still a lot of people who like him best. I thought Count Brass was one of my weakest books, for instance, and yet it picked up rave reviews.” Just goes to show that the public likes what it likes, so just give ‘em what they want.

 

Count Brass picks up where the original Hawkmoon trilogy left off. It has been five years since the Battle of Londra where Dorian Hawkmoon and his allies defeated the evil Dark Empire of Granbretan and bought peace to a Europe far in the future. All that remains for Dorian now is to hold court in Kamarg and watch his children grow up as he grows older…or is it? Old friends long dead are beginning to reappear, and their intentions towards Hawkmoon are not friendly at all, while old enemies are steering Hawkmoon towards a confrontation where he must make an impossible choice. And there are consequences to these outcomes that even Dorian Hawkmoon cannot envisage. What happens next, essentially, is that Hawkmoon spends the book either explaining his theory or having his theory clarified and explained back to him, which got ridiculous after a while. The purpose of the first book of a trilogy is to set the scenes for all subsequent books, but Count Brass takes this approach a little too far and doesn’t leave much room for a story, not good for a tale of less than 200 pages. It has its moments with courageous heroes full of derring-do and evil villains with plans for world domination at any cost; all the makings of a great pulp tale, but only when it was allowed to have its head and run, which is rare.

 

Next is The Champion of Garathorm, which also serves as a sequel to the Erekosë novel Phoenix in Obsidian; perhaps because of this, the book is divided into two halves. The first finds Dorian Hawkmoon in a deep depression due to the shift of time and space he experienced in Count Brass that resulted in his wife, Yisselda, dying in the battle of Londra before they were married and, so, the children they had together no longer exist. The second involves his journey across Europe on a quest to alter the past not only to ensure Yisselda’s survival but also the defeat of the Dark Empire; this second half is more action-packed and involves that curious mix of medieval and futuristic weaponry that typifies any story involving Hawkmoon. Whereas Count Brass was a thin piece of work that was useful more as a set-up for these subsequent works, The Champion of Garathorm is a more full-bodied story that has a purpose and a more satisfying story arc, what with the many plot threads and characters from other books tying into this one, while it’s enjoyable to see threads from earlier books picked up and threads thrown out for works to follow (if you’re a fan of these books, you should be able to see what I mean). Overall a most satisfying second entry into this trilogy, an atypical thing to say.

 

Lastly, we come to The Quest for Tanelorn, in which Dorian Hawkmoon was successful in his quest, but his two children still remain to be found. If Hawkmoon is to finally reunite his family he must first find the mythical City of Tanelorn, the main McGuffin of this tale. But many perilous perils lie between Hawkmoon and his destination, the most dangerous of which will be reached by a ghost ship carrying more than one incarnation of the Eternal Champion and promising an apocalyptic fight at the voyage’s end. But this will prove to be the least of Hawkmoon’s worries when he finally reaches Tanelorn and finds the true identity of the shadowy figure that has dogged his every move. The Quest for Tanelorn attempts to do an awful lot in a few pages, this time wrapping up a trilogy AND tying up elements of his whole Eternal Champion series – which he actually manages to pull off. Mostly. If you haven’t read any of the other stories relating to the Eternal Champion then some of this may be foreign to you, but for me and other geeks, too, it was satisfying to see not only the conclusion of the Hawkmoon Saga but of other tales in the Moorcock Mythos, as well. How he managed to keep all of the facts straight I don’t know, although I suspect a good editor or two or twenty helped.

 

And with that…we come to the end of the Moorcock Cycle of Really Big Books and Thoughts. Altogether I thought it was rollicking good fun and I am delighted that I managed to get each of these books – all used, all hardcover and all in great condition – and enjoy a truly independent author and thinker and the many unique characters and worlds he crafted. Bravo, Mr. Moorcock, and thank you.