And now we're down to the wire! I finished both
Full Dark, No Stars and
Legends from the End of Time on December 28, and began with the final book of 2015, the book which would carry me beyond 15000 pages:
Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion 14: Earl Aubec and other Stories. This fat (600 pages) short story collection draws from multiple sources, among them two earlier short story collections which I also own as single volumes: The Singing Citadel and The Time Dweller. Furthermore, it contains a complete novel, which I also own as a single volume - see below. It's another special book for me, since it was the only hardcover volume I bought way back in 2003, for just €5 - I later found it on Amazon for 100$...
![Straight face :|](./images/smilies/22.gif)
I'm not going to mention all stories because frankly, I don't remember them all in detail...
Earl Aubec aka The Dream of Earl Aubec aka Master of Chaos: The title story can also be found in an earlier Elric book, though it does not feature Elric. It is, though, a kind of prequel. On the southern continent in Elric's world, a new kingdom, a kingdom ruled by humans, has arisen. The queen sends her lover and champion, Aubec, south to destroy the evil castle of Kaneloon (remember that?), which sits at the literal edge of the world - beyond it is only roiling, unformed chaos. Aubec masters the illusionary and labyrinthine castle, and finally comes upon the guardian: Myshella, the Dark Lady, Empress of the Dawn. But she is not an agent of vile chaos, but an instrument of law. And now that Aubec has "Achievement Unlocked: Kaneloon", she uses her power to form vast tracts of fresh land out of Chaos. Fertile, unpopulated land. And then teleports Kaneloon to the edge of Chaos again, as always. This expansion also allows the kingdom of men to expand and proliferate - the seed of the Young Kingdoms which Elric will later travel through.
Jesting with Chaos aka The Last Enchantment: This was also published in the Elric at the End of Time collection under the latter title. Elric, traveling from A to B as is his wont, comes upon a hounded man, and declines to aid him. So the man curses Elric and sends him into some alternate realm where the Lords of Chaos have a board meeting.
![Tongue :P](./images/smilies/10.gif)
They challenge him to invent something new for them. After long pondering, Elric creates a replica of himself, and within the mind of it is the variety of Chaos but also the striving for the order of Law. Satisfied, the albino is let go by the Lords, to continue on his journey.
The Greater Conqueror: This was the first real highlight of the book!
![Happy :)](./images/smilies/1.gif)
Simon of Byzantium is a mercenary at the time of Alexander the Great. He has come to Babylon to enlist in the Great Conqueror's army. He actually manages a personal audience, and first meets a weakened, but sharp-minded and kind man. But when an aide comes in mentioning protests because some army unit raped and pillaged, Alexander is overcome by a demonic force and screams that all the protesters should be slaughtered!! Simon, shocked, actually attacks this Alexander-Demon, who defends himself easily, delivering the uber awesome line: "For you, I shall
invent a death!!"
![Devil :ymdevil:](./images/smilies/19.gif)
Simon manages to escape but is a marked man. In the further tale, he manages to save a young woman (who, of course, becomes his sweetheart), who is the daughter of a politician who soon becomes a target of Alexander's wrath as well. Flight, regrouping, counterstrike, in the end Simon manages to defeat the demonic entity that turned Alexander into a tyrant, bent on wiping out the entire Western civilization - a Lord of Chaos! Alexander is but a husk without the demonic lifeforce, and dies, redeemed. "We shall say he died of a fever."
![Big Grin :D](./images/smilies/4.gif)
What I really liked about this story was the protagonist, who is actually the next best thing to an atheist in the ancient world. He does not pray to gods or believe in the existence of the supernatural at all. But of course, he needs to come to terms with the actual existence of higher things, and only when he does does he become another incarnation of the Eternal Champion.
Going Home: A cool SF story. Several centuries earlier, mankind colonized a habitable world some dozen light years from Earth. But they destroyed all records of why they came here. Now this young civilization has expanded enough to build powerful star ships of their own, and they send a fleet to Earth to find the answer. They are going home! But what they find is very disturbing. No, no global apocalypse. Mankind continues, but it is... weird... They are greeted in a reasonably friendly manner but without fanfare. The city they are taken to is geometrically regular and without any charm. Everything looks the same. There is no music, no art of any kind. Everything is efficient and joyless. Only after multiple inquiries is the order which sent their ancestors to the stars unsealed - and immediately, they are told to leave the planet. Turns out several centuries before, the dull part of mankind decided to eject all "madmen" - these being the creatives, the daring, the forward thinkers. So all the pioneers went to the stars to propagate REAL mankind, while the drones remained on an Earth which is slowly dying since all progress has halted. In the end, aiming towards the stars, the captain tells his crew: Let's go home.
Consuming Passion: What happens when a pyromaniac actually becomes a pyromancer?? EVERYTHING BURNS!!
![Devil :ymdevil:](./images/smilies/19.gif)
Pretty cool, since it is told from the pyro's perspective.
Wolf: A very disturbed man comes into a village, is taken in by a caring woman, becomes a werewolf and kills her. Hm. Not good.
The Opium General: A young woman is the girlfriend of a former rock star become heroin addict who is in a death spiral. Very realistic and disturbing.
A Dead Singer: This was a weird but fun story. A legendary roadie, a man
who actually existed, drives through England in his battered camper. At his side: A recently resurrected Jimi Hendrix. And they are looking for their next fix.
The Lovebeast: For millennia, the Lovebeast has hovered in space above Earth, a spiritual entity that wants to give nothing but love. Now mankind is dying out, but by chance, they establish a connection with the Lovebeast. But will pandimensional love save them? Pretty trippy.
The Golden Barge: A Fable: So, here's the book. It's the first Moorcock novel to survive, from when he was just 17 (one earlier book was allegedly "eaten by rats"), predating even Sojan. I kept this one for last, not knowing what to expect. It was described as an existentialist novel, and not rated highly. Turns out I liked it! One morning, at the docks of an unknown country in a semi-realistic fantasy land whose historical period seems to vary between medieval and early industrial depending where you are, and which is characterized by an endless river (known only as the River) which flows through it. Jephraim Tallow, a simple fisherman, looks up into the morning mist and sees the Golden Barge. A ship bedecked in splendor, seemingly without crew, which drifts down the river, soon to disappear from view. Then and there, he decides following - and finally boarding - the Golden Barge is his life's quest. He leaves his decrepit mother, is incarcerated in the next town over, finds a very dedicated lover, aids and betrays a prophet, takes part in a revolution which he then also betrays, backstabs everyone who somehow tries to help him, all in his quest for the Golden Barge. Despite being just four feet tall and lacking a navel (something weird that happened after he saw the Golden Barge for the first time, it's never mentioned later anymore...), he is charismatic, but also psychotic - a total anti-hero. He isn't badass, he is just bad. And because of this complete lack of qualities, I actually found myself enjoying the book a lot.
![Big Grin :D](./images/smilies/4.gif)
It's about 120 pages (in the large hardcover format), and I finished in in the late afternoon on the 31st, as the last story within Earl Aubec - fulfilling my New Year's resolution!
The Deep Fix: A cool SF story. Scientist have perfected the control of minds via auditory impulses. Too bad this also turned most of mankind into mindless zombies. A scientist in his beleaguered laboratory uses the scant time between attacks to go under in a dream world of his own devision in which he partakes in a bunch of weird adventures. Rather long and with a twist ending.
The Real Life Mr Newman (Adventures of the Dead Astronaut): A quite weird but good tale about an astronaut who somehow transitions into a parallel dream world. Together with a woman, he travels across Europe to different capital cities (Paris, Berlin) who are all kind of... metaphors of the cliche attributes of their real-world inhabitants.
Goodbye, Miranda: Boy and girl love each other. Boy learns levitation. Girl hates boy. Boy haunts girl. Girl kills own father. Boy kills girl. Boy flies away.
![Straight face :|](./images/smilies/22.gif)
Wut?
Islands: Each man is an island, they say. What if this were more true than we think, and each human actually dwells in a private universe in which they would be all-powerful, if they were not dragged down by the conformity of human society?
Some Reminiscences of the Third World War: Casablanca; Going to Canada; Leaving Pasadena; Crossing into Cambodia: Four interconnected stories told from the perspective of a Russian secret agent who is involved in the upcoming third world war (the last story takes place during the war). Quite James Bond-ish, actually, and really good!!
Mars: Weird story of a bunch of aliens landing on Mars and a guy who tries to communicate with them.
The Frozen Cardinal: Hands down THE most awesome story in the book, and, next to An Alien Heat, the best thing I've ever read by Moorcock. PERFECT SF! An exploratory team of scientists have landed on an alien planet and are ascending the giant ice shelf of an Antarctica-lookalike. In a deep glacial crevasse, they find the story's title: a frozen cardinal. Not the bird, but a Roman cardinal. Complete in finery and regalia, one hand held up in benediction. Frozen, yet seemingly alive. A total mystery - this team is the first to have ever landed on this planet. After some debate, they decide to dig him out and let him thaw. And then weird shit begins happening... This story was totally creepy and strongly reminded me of the atmosphere of The Thing.
The Mountain: Mankind has been essentially wiped out - a virus, I think? Two scientists have managed to survive in a hut somewhere in the Scandinavian wilderness. Now they are out, going somewhere, and they spot another human being in the distance - a woman! Mission: Repopulate the Earth commences.
The Time Dweller and
Escape from Evening: Two interconnected stories taking place on a far-distant future Earth which is reminiscent of the world or Urlik Skarsol (Phoenix in Obsidian from the very first omnibus). Everything is cold, the seas are sluggish and extremely salty. In the first story, a man becomes the first Time Dweller, able to walk in all four dimensions with ease. In the second story, another man is outcast by the rigid society of Moon and comes down to Earth.
Waiting for the End of Time...: Everything is being sucked up by The Mass. On the final planet of the Universe, the last members of a super-advanced mankind make their last stand against universal extinction.
The Stone Thing: A Tale of Strange Parts: Sometimes a stone cock is just a stone cock.
The Last Call: They are calling! Calling for you, Champion! Calling... for the last round before curfew.
My Life: A VERY fictional description of the authors "first time", apparently from a story collection full of such stories. Actually manages to be quite erotic while also being totally ridiculous.
Sir Milk-and-Blood: This story finalizes the volume. Two IRA terrorists, who, along with a third, had the job of blowing up a streetcar, at night, while it was in its storage shed, have messed up. Their bombs went off early (killing their third compatriot and a bunch of women of children). Now they are on the run, not being of any use to the movement considering the bad publicity. Most of the story deals with the two drinking in their hideout, talking about what has happened, life, the universe, and... you know. Waiting for their "release". But when it comes, it is very different than what they expected.
All in all, the collection was not that good. Some excellent tales and a good book, but a lot of mediocre to bad stuff (there's quite a few stories I have not mentioned at all, I'm pretty sure I don't remember them because they weren't good).