THE WHITE WOLF (The Elric Saga Vol 3) - Michael Moorcock

 This third volume in the Elric of Melniboné saga takes on a very different tenor than the previous seven books (compiled as collections, Elric of Melniboné: The Saga Vol 1 and Stormbringer: The Saga Vol 2). At the end of the previous collection Elric has died, so how do his adventures continue?  This is high fantasy, so that's an easy obstacle to overcome.  Elric is currently tied to a mast of a ship but is 'essence' or 'soul' or whatever you want to call his incorporeal self is able to travel through the Multiverse (different realities or planes of existence) and then even inhabit another body.

I found this to be a very uneven collection, containing one of the best Elric books and one of the worst. (Reviews below.)

The collection opens with an introduction (an essay) from Alan Moore. It's a combination of history/biography of Moorcock and his work and a bit of expression on how he (Moore) discovered Elric.  

The end of the book contains some helpful references ... helpful to the Elric devotee.  First is "The Elric Saga: A Reader's Guide" by John Davey which, as Davey notes "attempts to provide a title-by-title breakdown of the novels together with omnibuses in which each appeared, all in a chronological format, listing omnibuses as individual titles rather than including them within the main books’ descriptions."  This is no small feat.

Then there is the "First Editions and First Appearances" and finally "Minutiae" which, as the title suggests, pulls together some small items of interest to the Elric/Moorcock fan, including a bit of information about Moorcock's work as a musician and songwriter (I had no idea Moorcock wrote an Elric-related song for Blue Öyster Cult).

Reviews for the three Elric books in this collection below.

Looking for a good book? The White Wolf by Michael Moorcock is the third volume in the Elric saga and includes some of the more unusual tales of Elric - Elric facing off against WWII Nazis and Elric in America, Elric with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow as another multiverse traveler. The books are a mixed bag but Elric fans will certainly want to read this volume.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through both Edelweiss and Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

3-1/2 stars

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The White Wolf 

author: Michael Moorcock

series: The Elric Saga #3

publisher: Gallery / Saga Press

ISBN: 9781534445741

hardcover, 944 pages

THE DREAMTHIEF'S DAUGHTER

There's no doubt in my mind that I never read this Elric novel prior to this.  I definitely would have remembered Elric and dragons and magic fighting World War II Germans!

Given that Elric and all he held dear - his city and its people - were destroyed at the end of his last series of books, it was hard to imagine how we would get new stories.  Prequels? Stories to squeeze in between some of the others?  Oh, no ... Moorcock is too creative for this.  Instead, we get an Elric existing in a 1000 year 'dream state' or 'astral state' (think Doctor Strange from the Marvel Cinematic Universe) where each months-long (maybe years-long?) adventure takes barely a moment in his reality.  This provides a nearly limitless number of opportunities for adventures.  And what adventures!

This story begins with Count Ulric von Bek, of Nazi Germany.  Ulric sees the rising threat of Hitler's Germany and does not want to be a part of it. Ulric's cousin, Gaynor, on the other hand has ambitions of climbing up the Nazi ranks and believes that he can do it with the help of a family heirloom ... a sword known as 'Ravenbrand.'  

Enter Elric ... literally. Elric's astral self, or his soul, enters Ulric and the two share one body. For awhile at least. And this sharing gives Ulric access to Elric's knowledge, which Ulric finds more than a bit stunning.

Keeping the runesword, Ravenbrand, out of the Nazi hands is more than just preventing an easier rise to power for the Nazis, but it is part of the battle between Chaos and Law, which is what brings Elric, as the Eternal Champion (that's some complicated history there), into the story.

In fact, this is nearly two very separate stories.  We get more than a fair amount of Count von Bek before we ever see Elric.  In fact, at one point I stopped and did some Googling to see if this was really an Elric story as I had thought, or if I had remembered it incorrectly.  But once Elric arrives, we get that sweeping fantasy that we expect, with a little less brooding and in a situation that it sometimes easier for us to imagine.

And that title ...?  Oh yeah, there's a woman here, Oona, the dreamthief's daughter. She doesn't play nearly as large a role as you might imagine, given her titular place.  She helps Elric/Ulric with some plotting and guides him to a few things. A bit disappointing, this.

Given Elric's ability to call upon the gods for help is sometimes a deus ex machina means of getting out of trouble, but it's never a sweeping plague or easy solution. In this case, Elric gets some help from dragons.  Yes, dragons.  And it's a lot of fun having the Third Reich face off against the fire-breathing lizards!

I really liked this book. Bringing Elric into this time period was quite clever and I wonder what the other books are going to be like.

Looking for a good book? The Dreamthief's Daughter by Michael Moorcock is an Elric story, combining the high fantasy of Elric with the historic setting of Nazi Germany. It's intense energy - a great read.

Rating: 4-1/2

THE SKRAYLING TREE

Elric in America?  Heck yeah!  This should be good!

We learned in the previous book in this trilogy (The Dreamquest Trilogy) that Elric has become a non-corporeal being and can inhabit other planes of the Multiverse (if this sentence is already too strange for you, then this book is definitely not for you).  Let's see if I can possibly sum this up.

The book starts with the narrative from Oona's point of view. Oona (Elric's daughter) and her husband Ulric von Bek are vacationing in Canada after saving the world(s) from the Nazis and World War II when Ulric is kidnapped. His captors are First Nation warriors from a different plane in the multiverse.

Because Oona has the power to walk on the moonbeam roads between universes, she goes in search of er husband and encounters Ayanawatta - a First Nations women who claims to have been the model/inspiration for Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 'Hiawatha.' Ayanawatta and Longfellow (who is also a moonbeam traveler) will help Oona search for Ulric.

Elric ... how do I say this ... Elric's body is tied to a mast of a sailing vessel while his non-physical body is searching for his sword Stormbringer.  He's currently wielding Stormbringer's twin, Ravenbrand, which, while powerful, doesn't provide what Elric needs.  His search brings him to a crew of Viking reavers (berserkers?), their leader the new incarnation of an old foe and Elric knows he's up to no good and must be defeated.

Ulric, it turns out, was taken away by an old friend of Elric's and told about an up-coming battle to end all battles.  A Ragnarok of Melnibonean proportions. If Ulric wants to save his dear Oona, he needs to arrive at the Skrayling Tree, where the battle will take place, ahead of Oona and Elric in order to fulfil his role in this pre-destined (?) battle, and so Ulric heads out with a faithful friend at his side.

And there is a farting mastodon.

Ooof.  This was tough.

I like Elric and the Elric books.  I really do.  I like his brooding and over-thinking things.  I like the strange physics of his worlds. But this was one of the most rambling, strange, and disjointed on all the Elric books I've read. And that's saying something.

It was odd not to see Elric make an appearance until so late in this book, and odder, perhaps to have the first section of the book told from Oona's point of view.  Has there ever been a woman's POV in the Elric stories before this?  I don't think so.

The combination of Longfellow, the Vikings, and an old, faithful, farting mastodon was just extraordinarily odd, with separating our three main characters so that they could each have their own adventure which would bring them together again.

I really struggled with this book, and if it didn't feature Elric and wasn't part of a series I was trying to go through, I suspect I would have DNF'd this

I don't recommend this unless you are truly a massive Elric or Moorcock fan.  Read the reviews, read a summary, but jump ahead to the next book. Please.

Looking for a good book? The Skrayling Tree by Michael Moorcock doesn't fit with the style and substance of the other 10 (?) Elric books. Read it if you feel you have to read the complete series, but you'll save yourself a headache if you just jump to the next book.

Rating: 2.0

THE WHITE WOLF'S SON

It's another era - closer now to our own time - and we're introduced to Oonagh, the grand-daughter of Oona and Ulric. She's enjoying her holiday in her grandparents' home when she's visited by a number of strangers. First it's Klosterheim and Gaynor von Minct - a pair likely up to no good. Then it's the mysterious Monsieur Zodiac with associates Oswald Bastable, the Chevalier St. Odhran, Lt. Fromental and Prince Lobkowitz who are looking to stop Klosterheim and von Minct.

After an unnatural earthquake, Oonagh finds herself using the Multiverse to try to hide from Klosterheim and von Minct, hiding from Zodiac and his associates who are looking to help her.  She is not alone, however - she's aided by a talking fox (Lord Reynard, of course).

 

One one plane of existence, Oonagh meets a blind, albino boy  by the name of Onric (who turns out to be the son of Elric and the Dreamthief Oone.

 

All parties ultimately converge on one plane - where Hawkmoon struggles against the Dark Empire. Chaos appears to be winning the battle, but Zodiac will use the distraction of the chaos to face off against Klostersheim and the Dark Empire.

 

Despite the chaotic summing of the story, I actually enjoyed this book.  It was certainly much more direct in the narrative (despite my attempt to explain it). And this was narrower in point of view as well, which made it easier to follow.

 

You may have noticed that there's little mention of Elric - he's here, but in disguise. Why?  Yeah ... that's a good question. I did wonder if the introduction of Oonagh was intended as a way to keep the Elric stories going but with a new main character, a descendent of the albino prince. In this sense, it worked for me, and I would read more books staring this granddaughter.

 

I had a small problem while reading regarding the character of Oswald Bastable. I've greatly enjoyed the classic children's books by Edith Nesbit, including The Treasure Seekers, which features the Bastable Children - one of them being Oswald Bastable. Every time he appears in this book I wonder if it's supposed to be the same person now grown.  Certainly Moorcock is familiar with this classic British series as well.

 

This is easily better than the previous book (that shouldn't be difficult) but it's not nearly as good as the first book in this Dreamquest trilogy.

 

Something I've only touched on through the now ten-plus books reviewed in the Elric saga, is the concept of the Eternal Champion.  In a nutshell, Moorcock has created a number of other heroes and his conceit is that they are all, at their core, the same person on different planes or realities.  There was an instance, many books ago, when Elric gathered with a number of different heroes (at least one who had met Elric already but in Elric's future) - these heroes were alternate versions of himself - each an Eternal Champion.

 

We get that again here with Hawkmoon ... Dorian Hawkmoon is another of Moorcock's heroes whom I read back in the 70's (and I seriously hope that this publisher will continue to reprint Moorcock's books and look to some of the other Eternal Champions.

 

If you've been on the Elric journey this far, of course you should read this book as well. I wouldn't recommend starting here (at the end) and if Moorcock's metaphysical shenanigans don't sit well with you, then perhaps you'd be better off without this volume.

 

Looking for a good book? The White Wolf's Son by Michael Moorcock finishes the The Dreamquest Trilogy, which has been a coda on the end of the Elric series. The introduction of his granddaughter, Oonagh is somewhat promising, for those of us who hope there will continue to be adventures in the Moorcock multiverse.

Rated: 3 1/2