Von Bek

by Michael Moorcock

Book Overview

Introduces Captain Graf Ulrich von Bek, his relatives, and his family's quest: the protection of the Holy Grail. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1565041925
• ISBN13: 9781565041929
• Release Date: March 1996
• Publisher: White Wolf Games Studio
• Length: 705 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A good place to start reading Moorcock

Though this is the second volume of the series, the stories are probably stronger, so if you haven't read Moorcock it is a good place to start. For some mysterious reason (see his multiverse.org website) Mr Moorcock has seen fit to withdraw all his fantasy novels but the new Elric stories from circulation and these are no longer published, so I'd advise you to pick up copies while you can. Hinted is the chance of them becoming available again as single volumes sometime in the future. Meanwhile there is the Elric movie to look forward to (see universal website). The War Hound and the World's Pain is the first Von Bek story in the book and describes a war-weary veteran of the Hundred Years War who loses his soul to the devil and is offered it back if he can help reconcile Satan and God. This has become a fairly common theme in modern fantasy, but was startling and new when it first appeared and still retains its freshness.The City in the Autumn Stars is about another member of the Von Bek family, this time a cynic, rogue and soldier of fortune, who escapes the horrors of the French Revolution and comes to the city of Mirenburg where he falls in with another rogue, the charming balloonist St Odhran. Together they concoct a scam, which goes wrong when their balloon actually takes them to another Mirenburg, the City in the Autumn Stars, where a variety of mystical and alchemical action takes place. The ending's a little weak (apparently Moorcock reduced this book from a much longer original narrative) but the atmosphere of the city and the strangeness of the characters dominates. A very fine tale.The Dragon in the Sword is more like a conventional fantasy adventure in which Moorcock's eternal champion is thrown into a world of warring factions and intelligent bears. Anyone who finds these books a little like Philip Pullman would be right. They were written years before Pullman but most of the ideas in His Dark Materials can be found here, including, of course, characters who travel between different planes of existence.The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius is a great short story which exemplifies another strand of Moorcock's extraordinary multiverse and ties in with his 'metatemporal detective' stories such as the one recently published in McSweeney's (The Case of the Nazi Canary). In this a Von Bek who is a detective investigates the murder of Bismarck and is helped by police chief, one Adolf Hitler. Some of Moorcock's most fun stories are in this kind of setting, including his Nomad of the Time Streams stories, which are a later volume in this same series.All in all tremendous value for money and highly recommended.

Mirenburg is forever!

To get the most out of this book, you should read it (especially the section _City in the Autumn Stars_) in conjunction with _The Brothel in Rosenstrasse_. _City_ and _Brothel_ run parallel to each other in certain ways. I didn't really appreciate _City_ until I reread it after reading _Brothel_. _Brothel_ is one of Moorcok's very best, I think.Incidentally, there are also a number of purely coincidental parallels between _City in the Autumn Stars_ and David Lodge's book _Small World_.

The saga continues . . .

Easily the largest of the volumes in the series thus far, Von Bek can scare off readers when compared to the much slimmer Eternal Champion that preceded it. But this hefty volume is a must for Moorcock fans or even fantasy fans in general, for it embellishes the themes and ideas that Moorcock made famous in the first book. Here are my thoughts story by story: The War Hound and the World's Pain: Like the title. This is the story that all the other Von Bek books refer back to, so it's a welcome addition. Moorcock provides a lot of twists in this one, beginning with Lucifer wanting the Holy Grail to save the world. Hopefully most people are open minded enough to see past this potentially offensive premise and read the exhilerating tale contained within. The City in the Autumn Stars: More philosophy than the first one and another appearance by the Prince of Darkness. This is easily the longest story in the volume and every word counts. Granted though, it does get weird in the end. The Dragon in the Sword: I found this one interesting, only because I had assumed that the Von Beks were just further incarnations of the Eternal Champion. Apparently they aren't, as John Daker appears again to complain and eventually take charge. This one is set during World War Two, but because of the fantastic settings, you'd never realize that. Still, it's a good one and a major turning point in the life of John Daker. The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius: Another good title, long for a short story though. This was a nice, if very odd, way to close out the volume. Hitler makes another appearance (I don't know how), and Moorcock packs a lot of strange stuff into the thirteen or so pages of the story. It is a great way to end, though, as we say goodbye to the Von Bek family, for now at least

My summary of this book.

This is one of the best books Moorcock wrote. I like Von Beck's stories because they're always very interesting and with a lot of suspense

Excellent representation of the Eternal Champion

Each incarnation of the Eternal Champion has an affinity for a certain object of power. The Von Beks' are mystically linked to the Holy Grail. A source of hope, and inspiration to all in a myriad world, where the Von Beks must keep it safe from the likes of Adolf Hitler, and the devil. At times, the Von Beks will not know which side is which, giving such a provocative analysis of life in an old age question.