The History of the Runestaff

Last updated

The History of the Runestaff
History of the runestaff.jpg
Dust-jacket from the first edition
Author Michael Moorcock
Cover artistBob Haberfield
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Genre Fantasy novel
Publisher Granada
Publication date
1979
Media typePrint (hardback)
Pages573 pp
ISBN 0-246-11128-3
OCLC 59182461

The History of the Runestaff is an omnibus collection of four fantasy novels by Michael Moorcock, consisting of The Jewel in the Skull , The Mad God's Amulet , The Sword of the Dawn , and The Runestaff . Charting the adventures of Dorian Hawkmoon, a version of the Eternal Champion, it takes place in a far-future version of Europe in which the insane rulers of the Dark Empire of Granbretan (the name given to what was once Great Britain) are engaged in conquering the continent. Written between 1967 and 1969, it is considered a classic of the genre, and has proven highly influential in shaping subsequent authors' works.

Contents

A subsequent trilogy, The Chronicles of Castle Brass – consisting of Count Brass, The Champion of Garathorm and The Quest for Tanelorn – expand on the original saga, both deepening its characters (which in the original stories were a bit two-dimensional) and further linking them to the Moorcockian Multiverse.

Dorian, in the final pages of the third book, happens to confront (along with other champions like Erekose) the malignant entity which used to reside in Elric's Stormbringer and which broke free at the tragic end of the albino prince's saga.

The omnibus has also been published under the title Hawkmoon.

Gollancz released all Hawkmoon stories in both print omnibus and individual ebook form, starting in 2013. The ebooks are available via Gollancz's SF Gateway site. [1]

Granbretan

Granbretan is a far-future version of Great Britain, ruled by the immortal King-Emperor Huon, who dwells in a fluid-filled sphere in Londra, its capital. The inhabitants of Granbretan are renowned for their cruelty, and for their practice of wearing masks at all times. The Granbretanian aristocracy, and the soldiers they lead, belong to the equivalent of chivalric orders, characterised by a totemic animal. The orders have their own secret languages and their animal-masks make their members resemble bipedal beasts. The post-apocalyptic world depicted, the apocalypse being referred to as the 'Tragic Millennium', has coexisting elements of both 'Medieval' (spears, swords, horse-based transport) and more advanced technology ('flame lances' (laser weapons) and ornithopters (flying machines powered by flapping wings)).

The geopolitical situation depicted is in fact a curious reversal of that in the Second World War. The future Britain is a brutal empire, bent on the total conquest of Europe, its armies (pouring across a huge bridge spanning the Channel) overwhelming country after country and committing terrible atrocities wherever they come. Conversely, the protagonist Dorian Hawkmoon is a German (though having an English name), originally from Köln, who is exiled by Granbretan's brutal conquest of his homeland but who fights on and rallies the Europeans' resistance to the conquerors.

Gods of Granbretan

The "terrifying ancient gods of Granbretan who were said to have ruled the land before the Tragic Millennium" are based on The Beatles: Jhone, Jhorg, Phowl and Rhunga.

Yet other gods from the "tragic millennium" are based on 20th Century British Prime Ministers (Chirshil, the Howling God (Winston Churchill) and Aral Vilsn, the Roaring God (Harold Wilson), Supreme God) or writers: Bjrin Adass, the Singing God (Brian Aldiss); Jeajee Blad, the Groaning God (J. G. Ballard); Jh'Im Slas, the Weeping God (James Sallis).

"Aral Vilsn, the Roaring God" is the "father of Skvese ("credit squeeze") and Blansacredid ("balance of credit") the gods of Doom and Chaos", named after economic terms and political figures of the period when the books were written. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corum Jhaelen Irsei</span> Fictional character

Corum Jhaelen Irsei is a fictional fantasy hero in a series of novels written by Michael Moorcock. The character was introduced in the novel The Knight of Swords, published in 1971. This was followed by two other books published during the same year, The Queen of Swords and The King of Swords. The three novels are collectively known as the "Corum Chronicles trilogy" or "the Chronicles of Corum". Both The Knight of the Swords and The King of the Swords won the August Derleth Award in 1972 and 1973 respectively. The character then starred in three books making up the "Silver Hand trilogy", and has appeared in other stories taking place in Moorcock's multiverse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Moorcock</span> English writer, editor, critic (born 1939)

Michael John Moorcock is an English–American writer, particularly of science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has worked as an editor and is also a successful musician. He is best known for his novels about the character Elric of Melniboné, which were a seminal influence on the field of fantasy in the 1960s and 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elric of Melniboné</span> Fictional character

Elric of Melniboné is a fictional character created by English writer Michael Moorcock and the protagonist of a series of sword and sorcery stories taking place on an alternative Earth. The proper name and title of the character is Elric VIII, 428th Emperor of Melniboné. Later stories by Moorcock marked Elric as a facet of the Eternal Champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stormbringer</span> Fictional sword from Michael Moorcock stories

Stormbringer is a magic sword featured in a number of fantasy stories by the author Michael Moorcock. It is described as a huge, black sword covered with strange runes, created by the forces of Chaos. The sword has a will of its own and it is hinted that the sword may be controlled by an inhabiting entity. It is wielded by the doomed albino emperor Elric of Melniboné. Stormbringer makes its first appearance in the 1961 novella The Dreaming City. In the four novellas collected in the 1965 book Stormbringer, the sword's true nature is revealed.

The Eternal Champion is a fictional character created by British author Michael Moorcock and is a recurrent feature in many of his speculative fiction works.

Mary Rosalyn Gentle is a British science fiction and fantasy author.

<i>The Warlord of the Air</i> 1971 novel by Michael Moorcock

The Warlord of the Air is a 1971 British alternate history novel written by Michael Moorcock. It concerns the adventures of Oswald Bastable, an Edwardian era soldier stationed in India, and his adventures in an alternate universe, in his own future, wherein the First World War never happened. It is the first part of Moorcock's A Nomad of the Time Streams trilogy and, in its use of speculative technology juxtaposed against an Edwardian setting, it is widely considered to be one of the first steampunk novels. The novel was first published by Ace Books as part of their Ace Science Fiction Specials series.

<i>The Eternal Champion</i> (novel) 1970 fantasy novel by Michael Moorcock

The Eternal Champion is a fantasy novel by Michael Moorcock that introduces the hero known as both John Daker and Erekosë. Originally written in the late 1950s, it constitutes the first novel of Moorcock's sprawling Eternal Champion series. The tale was first published in 1962 as a magazine novella Moorcock expanded the novella to novel length for publication in 1970. He revised the text for its 1978 publication. Along with expanding the original story, the novel makes some minor changes to narration and scenes, and also includes references to other short stories by Moorcock. The Eternal Champion is the first in a trilogy of novels known as the Erekosë series. The sequel novels are Phoenix in Obsidian, and The Dragon in the Sword (1987).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C. J. Cherryh bibliography</span>

American writer C. J. Cherryh's career began with publication of her first books in 1976, Gate of Ivrel and Brothers of Earth. She has been a prolific science fiction and fantasy author since then, publishing over 80 novels, short-story compilations, with continuing production as her blog attests. Cherryh has received the Hugo and Locus Awards for some of her novels.

<i>Phoenix in Obsidian</i>

Phoenix in Obsidian is a science fantasy novel by Michael Moorcock. First published in 1970, it is the second book in a series that follows the adventures of the Eternal Champion as he is flung from one existence to another. The first book in the series, The Eternal Champion, told the story of John Daker, an average 20th-century man who suddenly found himself incarnated as Erekosë, a legendary hero of Earth in the distant past. He had been called to lead humanity against its Eldren foes, but ended up taking the Eldren's side. Phoenix in Obsidian continues the story, which is concluded in The Dragon in the Sword. The trilogy is part of a larger cycle about the Eternal Champion as defender of the Multiverse.

<i>The Jewel in the Skull</i> 1967 fantasy novel by Michael Moorcock

The Jewel in the Skull is a fantasy novel by English writer Michael Moorcock, first published in 1967. The novel is the first in the four volume The History of the Runestaff.

<i>The Mad Gods Amulet</i> 1968 novel by Michael Moorcock

The Mad God's Amulet is a fantasy novel by English writer Michael Moorcock, first published in 1968 as Sorcerer's Amulet. The novel is the second in the four-volume The History of the Runestaff.

<i>The Sword of the Dawn</i>

The Sword of the Dawn is a fantasy novel by British author Michael Moorcock, first published in 1968.

<i>The Runestaff</i> 1969 fantasy novel by Michael Moorcock

The Runestaff is a novel by British author Michael Moorcock, first published in 1969 under the title The Secret of the Runestaff.

<i>The Broken Sword</i> 1954 fantasy novel Poul Anderson

The Broken Sword is a fantasy novel by American writer Poul Anderson, originally published on 5 November 1954. It was issued in a revised edition by Ballantine Books as the twenty-fourth volume of their Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in January 1971. The original text was returned to print by Gollancz in 2002. The novel is set during the Viking Age and the story contains many references to the Norse mythology.

"Kings in Darkness" is a sword and sorcery short story by English writer Michael Moorcock. It was first published in Science Fantasy No. 54 in 1962. It has been reprinted as part of the Elric sagas and also reprinted in the anthology The Spell of Seven, edited by L. Sprague de Camp.

<i>The Cornelius Quartet</i>

The Cornelius Quartet is the collective name for the Jerry Cornelius novels by Michael Moorcock, although the first one-volume edition was entitled The Cornelius Chronicles. It is composed of The Final Programme, A Cure for Cancer, The English Assassin and The Condition of Muzak. The collection has remained continuously in print for 30 years.

This is a bibliography of the works of Michael Moorcock.

References