The King of Swords

After turning back the invasion of Lywm-an-Esh with the help of Vadhagh from another plane, Corum and Rhalina returned to Castle Erorn.  His family castle was rebuilt and the pair lived contentedly for a time.  Then, the madness came.  Everyone in the castle began to have short tempers which soon turned violent and then murderous.  This madness had infected the whole plane.  When a delegation of Vadhagh arrived at Erorn, it turned into a fight to the death.

Taking one of the flying ships of the Vadhagh, Corum, Rhalina, and Jhary-a-Conel set out for Lywm-an-Esh to consult with Lord Arkyn.  Finding no solutions there, they were instead pursued by the man who took Corum's hand and eye.  The only hope of escape was to leap to another plane, but the pursuit followed them!  When at last they lost the soldiers of chaos, their craft shattered and they were stranded on some plane beyond the 15 planes.  Only by finding Tanelorn, the eternal city, could they return to their home and hope to counter the madness.  During his plane-hopping adventure, Corum meets his alternate selves: Elric of Melnibone and Lord Erekose.  It will take all three to defeat the creature of the Black Tower and find their way to Tanelorn.

The story hops from setting to setting, using the near omniscient and immortal Jhary to explain the oddities of the current plane.  As with previous books in the series, there is a deus ex machina feel to the story.  That the Lost Gods, whose hand and eye had been grafted to Corum in the first book, appear as saviors in this book shows that it was all foreordained.  Corum and his friends are mere pawns with no ability to determine their fate.

Compared to Elric, Corum is a bland hero.  Of course, he is from a sedate race of people who gladly spend decades composing a melody.  Just okay.  This series is only for the diehard Moorcock fan.

The Queen of Swords

Corum and Rhalina are enjoying their lives together in the wake of his victory over Arioch, the Knight of Swords.  Lord Arkyn, a god of law, now holds sway though his power remains weak.  The arrival of Jhary-a-Conel reveals the precarious situation despite Arioch's defeat.  Though their god is banished, the forces of chaos still dominate the plane.  They have called upon the Queen of Swords, Xiombarg, to provide support for eradicating the only nation allied with the forces of law.  Corum, Jhary, Rhalina and her retinue sail to Lywm-an-Esh, an idyllic kingdom, that must hold against the forces of chaos.  Sadly, they are not prepared, having lived in peace for too long.  Lord Arkyn suggests that Corum and company travel to the planes ruled by Xiombarg and recruit aid from the City in the Pyramid.  Of course, if Xiombarg discovered that the being who banished her brother was traipsing through her realm, she would surely kill him.  But the risk must be taken or chaos would destroy Lywm-an-Esh.

Jhary-a-Conel introduces himself as the Companion of Champions.  He is entirely self-aware of his various existences in which he finds himself a sidekick to the likes of Corum, Elric, and others.  This doesn't sit well.  It gives a sense of inevitability to the story.  I've done this many, many times and I'm still in the game, always siding with the hero.  This story is just one big deus ex machina, foretold by the mysterious forces of balance.

Corum makes more extensive use of the Hand of Kwll and the Eye of Rhynn, but somehow fails to use them enough.  Whatever the currently summoned allies kill are doomed to be his next batch of undead allies.  If he just spent his time summoning more undead allies as his current ones killed his enemies, he should be able to overcome almost any odds.  One supposes that his reticence to even use these powers explains why he does adopt such a strategy.

The City in the Pyramid proves to be a Vadhagh enclave that had traveled the planes long ago and got stranded in a plane now ruled by Xiombarg.  Corum is understandably ecstatic to find he is not the last Vadhagh after all.  The city is a technical/magical marvel.  It has force fields and flying ships.  If only they had some specific materials, they would be able to bring the City in the Pyramid back to their home plane and aid the folk of Lywm-an-Esh.

Entertaining.

The Knight of Swords

Prince Corum of the Scarlet Robe lived in an isolated castle with his parents, siblings, and a handful of servants.  He was a Vadhagh, a race of people who predated the coming of man, here called Mabden.  The Vadhagh, who had lifespans of a thousand years, rarely ventured from their remote castles.  The doings of the barbarous Mabden were of little interest to them.  However, Corum's father was curious about his brother and asked that Corum visit him and get news.  What Corum discovered was ruins and corpses.  The Mabden had been slaughtering the Vadhagh, one remote castle at a time.  Racing back to his home, Corum arrived to find his family slaughtered and the castle in flames.  In a mad rage that he had never even conceived possible in his hundreds of years, he dared to attack the Mabden.  Though he killed many, they captured him and promised a long torturous death as he was the very last of his kind.

He was rescued by a mysterious being during a lull in his torture and taken to a castle of Mabden!  These Mabden proved to be civilized, having adopted much of Vadhagh culture.  Here, he was able to recover from his ordeal, but he was forever maimed.  He had lost an eye and a hand.  He had hardly recovered when the same barbarous Mabden arrived at this castle.  Though the castle held out against this first attack, they would return with greater numbers next year.  Something must be done!

So it was that Prince Corum sought a wizard on the Isle of the Gorged God.  The wizard, Shool, 'gifted' Corum with a six-fingered hand and a faceted gem-like eye that granted him powers.  So armed, he could face the Sword Rulers, the gods of chaos who brought the Mabden into this world and sought to purges the races that had been left by the gods of law, notably the Vadhagh.  Alone, Corum set out on his quest to somehow acquire the heart of Arioch - the Knight of Swords - and deliver it to Shool.

This is very different from Elric, the most famous of Moorcock's Eternal Champions.  Where Elric's folk were a cruel people with powers far beyond the regular folk that they terrorized and oppressed, Corum is a member of a vastly superior culture that has atrophied beyond violence and thus suffered when it arrived in the form of barbarian raiders.  The attack on the Vadhagh castles is similar to the Vikings sacking Christian churches along the English coast.

The story has some aspects that don't work well.  The Mabden ride chariots to battle, despite the existence of stirrups.  That is unusual.  The land is described as vast forests, which are not friendly to chariots.  The castle of the civilized Mabden, as described, should have easily resisted the assault, but instead was nearly overwhelmed.  There is much talk of the five planes and how the older races could shift among them, thus becoming effectively invisible.  Cool.  Beyond that, the other planes are a mystery.  Could some of his people long ago have migrated to one of these other planes and lived in peace?  Considering how often the five planes are mentioned - or the 15 planes, of which the 5 are Arioch's domain - there is precious little explanation of these alternate planes.  Maybe The Queen of Swords will explain.

Corum is not an engaging character.  He reminds me of Frodo.  He doesn't want to go on an adventure but duty calls.  His success comes often by dumb luck rather than his skill and ingenuity.  Often, his six-fingered hand makes decisions that he would not, but the hand is always right.  Yeah, he is too frequently the victim of fate, a pawn in a game he doesn't realize he is playing.  Is he a hero or just a random gear in the machinery?

Just okay.  Perhaps the rest of the trilogy will build on this foundation.

Tehanu

When last we saw Tenar, she had been spirited away from the Tombs of Atuan (1970) by Ged.  When Ged returned in The Furthest Shore (1972), Tenar did not.  It turns out that Tenar had gone to Ged's home island of Gont and lived with Ged's old mentor, Ogion.  However, the path of magic was not for her.  She married a farmer and raised two children.  She is a widow who lives alone on her farm, her children having grown up and moved away.  Into her life enters a girl, Therru, who has been horribly burned by vagrants.  She adopts the girl as her own and takes her along when she visits the ailing Ogion.  While at Ogion's house, Ged arrives.  He is no longer a wizard, his magic lost during The Furthest Shore.  Now just a man, he kindles feelings for Tenar, feelings which she long held toward him.

The story is slow-paced and often little more than Tenar's thoughts and doubts, fears and hopes.  The story is told almost entirely from her viewpoint.  There are frequent hints that Therru is more than she seems.  Ordinary folk fear her, Ogion insists that Tenar teach her everything, and witches are wary of her power.  What is the deal with this girl?

Considering that it took nearly 20 years for this follow up book, it is exceedingly boring.  I am baffled that it won awards.  There is Eastern philosophy in action, but mostly the characters are just a bunch of victims who survive their trials.  When there is action, it is mostly glossed over in an instant.

I enjoyed the original trilogy, but this was more like a Hallmark Special set in Earthsea.  Will Tenar find love as a widow?  Will Ged find meaning in his life without magic?  Can Therru find a place in society despite her horrible burns?

Disappointing.

LARPers at a Crime Scene

This has to be one of the best LARP routines ever.  Classic!

Love the use of glitter!

The Swords of Lankhmar

Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are aboard a grain ship bound for the port city of Kleg Nar. Currently, the Mingols have besieged the eight cities of the north who need support from Lankhmar lest the Mingols turn their attention there. A previous grain shipment vanished and, as such, the Overlord of Lankhmar employed the daring pair to make sure this shipment arrived. Soon, the pair discovered that rats had destroyed the last shipment and were set to pluck off each of the grain ships in this convoy but for the intervention of a strange German zoologist from a future earth who rode a two-headed rat-eating sea serpent. How predictable. While Fafhrd opted to remain in Kleg Nar, Mouser returned with the convoy to Lankhmar where he expected accolades. Instead, he found the primary plotters of rat attack had spun the story in their favor and now worked against Mouser. The grain convoy had been but a small part of a larger plan to usurp the Overlord and take control of Lankhmar!

Sadly, the Overlord is a dullard, a cowardly twit who is easily manipulated. After such brilliant and cunning villains seen in The Lord of Quarmall, this oafish buffoon is a real disappointment. Mouser’s infatuation with a girl who clearly has no interest in him and repeatedly plots his death is also silly. Fafhrd is sidelined for most of the novel, having to travel through a warzone on his way back to Lankhmar and only arriving at the climax of the plot. On the way, he fights a band of Mingols, falls for a woman who is invisible except for her bones, battles Ilthmart land pirates, consults with Ningauble the Wizard, rides through the sinking land, and catches a ride on Sheelba’s walking hut in the Great Salt Marsh to the gates of Lankhmar. It is all very exciting but has little to nothing to do with the main plot.

Whereas all previous adventures have been short stories, this is a novel with some well-developed support characters, a deep dive into the setting, and more detail of some of the beliefs of Nehwon. Most entertaining. Recommended.

One Hit Die - The Devouring Dungeon

Our heroes are once again questing, this time into the Devouring Dungeon in search of the Fountain of Experience.  Yes, when they find it, they will level up.  Typical player motivation.  One-eyed Cassandra (Mikaela Cochrane) the Paladin has brought a bard along to raise morale.  Torvold (Andrew David Long) finds this mostly distracting, especially since he is trying to disable a trap.  Sasha (Julie Orton) finds Cassandra to be exasperating.  Azurus (Phil Burke) needs to pee.  To make matters worse, rooms shift at regular intervals, thus changing the dungeon layout.

Though the party has been in a dungeon in a previous adventure, this one constitutes the whole of the adventure.  Each room has some sort of trap, puzzle, or monster to overcome.  Oddly, one room only has a mirror.  Odder still, their reflections are not reversed.  With a shrug, the party moves on to the next room.  Then their reflected selves emerge from the mirror!  A mirror of opposition!  Very cool and well done.  As is inevitable when there are dopplegangers of everyone, the party must split up and then reconnect with the wrong people.  Good fun.  Once again, Azurus finds himself in an animation storyline, thanks to eating mushrooms while drunk.

Sadly, it would appear that this concludes the adventures of the party.  It has been 6 years since this final adventure.  Fun while it lasted.  The whole series is recommended.