THE WHITE WOLF'S SON - Michael Moorcock

 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.

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

3-1/2 stars

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The White Wolf's Son

author: Michael Moorcock

series: The Dreamquest Trilogy #3, The Elric Saga #12

publisher: Grand Central Publishing

ISBN: 9780446617451

paperback, 432 pages