The Eternal Champion

Erekosë #1

by Michael Moorcock

John Daker dreams of other worlds, and a name: Erekosë. He finds the strength to answer the call, travelling to a strange land ruled by the aging King Rigenos of Necranal. Humanity is united in a desperate fight against the inhuman Eldren, and he must fight with them. But the actions of his brethren turns his loyalties, and as Erekosë he will take a terrible revenge.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Sword and Sorcery, Science Fiction, Epic Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, Speculative Fiction

188 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 1970

About the author

Michael John Moorcock is an English writer primarily of science fiction and fantasy who has also published a number of literary novels.

Moorcock has mentioned The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Apple Cart by George Bernard Shaw and The Constable of St. Nicholas by Edward Lester Arnold as the first three books which captured his imagination. He became editor of Tarzan Adventures in 1956, at the age of sixteen, and later moved on to edit Sexton Blake Library. As editor of the controversial British science fiction magazine New Worlds, from May 1964 until March 1971 and then again from 1976 to 1996, Moorcock fostered the development of the science fiction "New Wave" in the UK and indirectly in the United States. His serialization of Norman Spinrad's Bug Jack Barron was notorious for causing British MPs to condemn in Parliament the Arts Council's funding of the magazine.

During this time, he occasionally wrote under the pseudonym of "James Colvin," a "house pseudonym" used by other critics on New Worlds. A spoof obituary of Colvin appeared in New Worlds #197 (January 1970), written by "William Barclay" (another Moorcock pseudonym). Moorcock, indeed, makes much use of the initials "JC", and not entirely coincidentally these are also the initials of Jesus Christ, the subject of his 1967 Nebula award-winning novella Behold the Man, which tells the story of Karl Glogauer, a time-traveller who takes on the role of Christ. They are also the initials of various "Eternal Champion" Moorcock characters such as Jerry Cornelius, Jerry Cornell and Jherek Carnelian. In more recent years, Moorcock has taken to using "Warwick Colvin, Jr." as yet another pseudonym, particularly in his Second Ether fiction.

Reviews

[mark monday · Rating 2 out of 5]

You are John Daker. You are a resident of 20th century Earth. You are a sophisticated, intelligent fellow - urbane, socially conscious, left-leaning. You do not believe in binary thinking; you do not believe in Good vs. Evil. You do not support war; you don't even know how to use a weapon.

You are Erekosë. You have lived before, a hero amongst men, a great warrior and a fair one as well - there is a code of honor named after you. You have been reborn again, to do battle against humanity's mortal enemies. You were once John Daker; you were once many different people, many different heroes. You are the Eternal Champion.

You are the Eldren. You mean humans no harm. You are elegant, wise, lovers of nature and poetry and finely crafted things. You are melancholy and magical. You are elf templates.

You are Humanity. You are a petty, unreasonable, unfair, dictatorial, territorial, bloodthirsty, savage collection of liars and brutes. You thoroughly disgust me. Well, you should. You are the villains of this tale.

You are Michael Moorcock. You are apparently one of the earliest popular writers to describe alternate dimensions, parallel realities, a multi-verse. In a phrase: you are a creative genius. Your stories and your series vary in style and motivation and attitude, depending on the tale being told. You have a regularly appearing theme, one that is sometimes subtle, other times overt: mankind will always be fucked, because mankind will always fuck itself. This is a nihilistic theme, true, but the breadth of your abilities and the elegance of your art does much to belie the darkness of that theme. Your creative seed is strong and motile, and you have planted it everywhere. So many writers owe you and so many writers fail to acknowledge that debt. You are one of my favorite authors and I have been enchanted by your genius since an early age.

You are the novel The Eternal Champion. You left me cold. And annoyed. I appreciate your centrality to Moorcock's universe: you are a necessary book, one where Moorcock lays out his thesis in the most straightforward of terms. Everything is explained in prose that - for this outing at least - is relatively unadorned, straightforward, lucid to a fault. To a fault. There is something didactic about you. You lack mystery or nuance or vivacity. Your narrative is a kind of morality play. What comes around, goes around. What is a villain and what is a hero; are the heroes the villains? Mankind will always fuck itself, in the end. Humanity is its own most terrible antagonist. Yes, yes... I know.

You are mark monday. You are revisiting your favorite authors of boyhood. This was the wrong Moorcock to start out with as it was a distinctly uninspiring experience. You found the tale to be both frustrating and curiously lifeless. You agreed with its central thesis (HUMANS OFF EARTH NOW)... but the dogmatic way in which that thesis was explored was simply too deterministic and too fatalistic for you to enjoy. Perhaps you are simply a weak-minded secret humanist (scratch a cynic, right?), one who does not appreciate tales in which all of humanity is unworthy of redemption.

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this many years ago (in the 1970s). When I discovered Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion "Cycle" I set out to find them all. While there are a few of the stand alone books (and one series) that are loosely tied to the series the "core books" are some of my all time favorites.

Here is the book in which we are introduced to The Eternal Champion, John or Johnathan Daker who is apparently a man of our world and possibly the single incarnation who remembers all the others as dreams...is he Moorcock??? That's up to the reader.

Jonathan becomes Erekosë. As is fairly common in the "lives" of the Eternal Champion the tale of Erekosë is a poignant one fraught with pain (both emotional and physical) where he's forced to make almost impossible choices and suffer betrayal and horrible loss. He must choose what actions to take and then live with those choices.

The book is short (especially by today's standards). I place it on my epic fantasy shelf as it's part of a large sprawling story that spans time and space. It can also be called high fantasy as these stories take place amidst the trappings of very magical worlds and lands.

Some put them on their Sword and Sorcery shelves or lists. I don't as that brings to mind the tales of Conan or Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. These tales tend to (on the whole) have a bit more depth when taken as a single story. Of course many will disagree and that's fine.

I can recommend this book and "most" (though not all) of the Eternal Champion novels.

By the way, I couldn't find a picture of the edition I read with the great Frank Frazetta cover.

Enjoy.

[Lyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Michael Moorcock developed his ideas for the Eternal Champion in the early 60s and this multiverse world building has been providing quality fantasy writing ever since.

Basically, the Eternal Champion is an agent of Balance, standing between Chaos and Law in every age, from the Big Bang to the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, told with Moorcock’s distinctive, neo-Lovecraftian style of writing. Fans will know about his ideas about law and chaos and Dungeons & Dragons fans will appreciate how his writings influenced that game and the entire genre.

This incarnation of the Eternal Champion is Erekose and we follow him on an adventure to save the world from the Eldren, kind of an Elf race. But our hero finds fault with his human allies and we have some complications that Moorcock expands into a thought provoking fantasy.

Good but I did not like it as much as his Elric or Corum stories.

[Michael Sorbello · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Daker dreams of other worlds, and a name: Erekosë. He finds the strength to answer the call, traveling to a strange land ruled by the aging King Rigenos of Necranal. Humanity is united in a desperate fight against the inhuman Eldren, and he must fight with them. But the actions of his brethren turns his loyalties, and as Erekosë he will be forced to make a terrible decision that could end in the deaths of millions of innocents regardless of his choice.

A reverse war revenge story where the protagonist joins the ranks of the (evil fantasy race) and turns against the people he was initially supposed to be fighting for. The intro is rough and choppy, Erekosë conveniently overcomes the loss of his previous identity with no challenge or remorse for his past life. The characters are a bit shallow and Erekosë himself makes decisions with the mental and emotional maturity of a newborn baby, (he technically is a newborn baby in a matter of speaking, so I guess I can let it slide.)

Despite some pacing issues and lack of proper character development, I think the reversal of the revenge trope was well done and the ending was quite melancholy. Although Erekosë wasn't nearly as interesting or morbid as Elric of Melnibone, reading this book helped me get a much better grasp on how the multiverse and the Eternal Champion works in context of the shared universe. Even though I didn't enjoy this nearly as much as Elric, I wish I had read this one first to save myself a lot of confusion during my reading of Elric (especially during Sailor on the Seas of Fate.)

The first third of the book was a bit rough, but the rest was smooth, action-packed and had a pinch of nihilistic philosophy thrown in for good measure. The segments I actually enjoyed the most are the parts where it was just the main character dreaming of his alternate personas in parallel universes and contemplating his role in the grand scheme of the universe. I loved the gloomy and surrealistic tone overall.

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 5 out of 5]

***I accidentally reviewed this book twice as I read it many years ago. This is the edition I actually owned and read. If you look you'll find a separate review on a different edition...

Oh well, getting old I guess. I read these almost 50 years ago.


The Eternal Champion Saga continues, or possibly I should say, begins????
This is the first in what is (possibly, we'd have to ask Mr. Moorcock) the proto Eternal Champion saga (trilogy, series, oh whatever!) the next 2 are "Phoenix in Obsidian" also published as The Silver Warriors and The Dragon in the Sword.

We first meet Erekose as or in the incarnation of/as John Daker who is having dreams, strang dreams where someone keeps calling "Erekose". He finally realizes (or admits to himself) that he is Erekose and answers. He is then drawn into a strangely different and new yet familiar world.

This book give us a look at many aspects of the Eternal Champion and his (largely)doomed existence that will mesh well in the understanding of anyone who follows the series (or actually I prefer "cycle" as there are several series of books). Erekose is one of the saddest of the incarnations not only because of his continual doom (he's doomed in many ways not the least what he "always" must do) but Erekose is apparently the only incarnation of the Eternal Champion who remembers All the other incarnations...







******************* Slight Spoiler below line **********************





It might be of interest that in Erekose everything seems to be "The Eternal Champion" whereas with Elric, Hawkmoon and others there is "an aspect of the Eternal Champion". For example Erekose's sword Kanajana is apparently "the whole sword" where Storm Bringer and Mournblade are both aspects of it and possibly "halved" in power also... Just a side note. There are other things as in some aspects the Champion serves law and in others chaos but in some he realizes that in actuality he always serves "balance". Erekose seems to have no idea (here) what forces or drives his destiny.

[Juho Pohjalainen · Rating 5 out of 5]

We've had a lot of stories, lately, about humans (young schoolboys usually) being transported into a fantasy world and charged with saving it. Given how bleak our own world is looking right now, it's perfectly understandable that we should wish ourselves to be whisked away into a better place, or at least a place whose problems we're actually capable of solving. We all want to be able to actually work something good, I think.

So picture yourself in a world where humanity is at war with a terrible enemy, an unstoppable tide of orcs or something, and where you - yes, you - are an eternal champion restored to life, knowledge of warfare and swordsmanship all set inside your skull, everybody cheering you on and telling you what a great person you are and following your every command, their princess practically throwing herself into your arms... I think you'd be likely to let it all get to you, to let your chest burst with pride, and to go along with the whole thing.

But if you were to keep your head clear and listen a bit closer, you might spot some red flags. The humans seem a little too eager to go to this war. Their justifications sound unconvincing to you, spoken like religious fanatics with little actual sense or reason to it. Fear and superstition run rampant. You don't even know what your enemy looks like, but they want to kill every single one. It nags at your insides in ways you'd not like.

Then you finally do see the enemy, the battle is joined, you watch how your comrades do battle, and it all hits you, like a truck. This is not a war between men and orcs at all: it's a war between orcs and elves - and you've sided with the orcs.

You are an orc.

Even in real world, we humans are capable of terrible things. We've committed unspeakable horrors to our fellow man. The spark of it lies within each of our hearts - put into the right situation, with a measure of justification and peer pressure, any one of us could end up falling into the darkness. And here these negative qualities are amplified enormously, while the positive ones are all but snuffed out: the whole race is consumed with hatred, rage, and xenophobia, the willingness to even die to kill off something that doesn't quite look like them, no matter how friendly that something is. When everyone around you not only thinks this way, but also expects you to lead them on this insane crusade, would you have the courage to go against the grain? Could you ever put an end to it? How far would you be willing to go, to end a cycle that's been going on for millennia?

It's like theatre - an epic of an opera with loud bombastic music. Rational thought is suspended (though poor John Daker does try at the beginning), grey moralities and nuance thrown out the window, and raw emotion takes over; melodrama up to eleven, instant love and heartbreak, terrible oaths and mistakes and tragedy, manly posturing and bravado, and slaughter. It's insane. And, if you can just set yourself to its wavelength, immensely entertaining.

Of course it means that the characters aren't particularly multidimensional - they each have a trait or two to go by and not much beyond that - but you shouldn't expect much from this kind of a story. The setting, likewise, is about as deep and well-structured as toilet paper, but it at least endures for as long as it needs to without breaking down. I also appreciated the science-fantasy angle, as well as the light but meaningful references to the greater cosmology and mythos.

I for one enjoyed this one immensely. Definitely one of Moorcock's best. If you're looking for a deeper and more rational experience, then this might not be your jam - but then again, you might be surprised. With how short it is, how easy and quick to read, I'd recommend just about any fan of fantasy to give it a try.

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very short novel that is itself an expansion of an earlier novella. John Daker, a salaryman from our world, is called by the collective will of Humanity to a distant ... past? future? other? to take up his role as Erekosë, the Eternal Champion, to take up his sword Kanajana, and to aid Humanity in their fight against the alien and treacherous Eldren.

Unlike many of Moorcock's novels, this is written in first person; and unlike many of his other appearances, this incarnation of the Eternal Champion has an inkling of who he is, and what role he is doomed to play, over and over again, and to a degree he even remembers his previous incarnations.

(And I suspect that was one of the main things that was changed when the original novella was expanded to its present form -- Erekosë's dreams were edited to more clearly reference Moorcock's other works; I caught references, of course, to Elric and Corum and Hawkmoon, but also to Jerry Cornelius and The Black Corridor and The Ice Schooner, and I'm sure there were others I missed.)

This is vintage Moorcock fantasy, but it's much more pensive, or in a minor key -- none of the wild wizardries or gigantic scale of, say, the Elric or Corum books. Not to say that nothing happens -- he crams in events that these days would probably be the underpinnings of a multivolume epic, including at least one globe-spanning, genocidal war that's disposed of in the space of a short chapter. And Erekosë himself is a bit of a mope (not without his reasons!). But in some ways, it's all the more effective for that.

[George K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Τρίτη επαφή με το μεγάλο έργο του Μάικλ Μούρκοκ μετά το Behold The Man και το Έλρικ του Μελνιμπονέ και γι'ακόμη μια φορά έμεινα ευχαριστημένος από τον συγγραφέα. Βέβαια, σε σύγκριση με τον Έλρικ, ο Αιώνιος Πρόμαχος μου φάνηκε ελάχιστα κατώτερος, αλλά όσο να'ναι το πρώτο βιβλίο με ήρωα τον Έλρικ είναι το πιο πολυδιαβασμένο και η σειρά με τον συγκεκριμένο ήρωα ίσως η καλύτερη του Μούρκοκ, οπότε δύσκολα θα έφτανε το ίδιο επίπεδο.

Όσον αφορά την ιστορία: Ο Τζον Ντέικερ είναι ένας απλός καθημερινός τύπος που ζει κάπου στον εικοστό αιώνα, στην δική μας Γη. Ξαφνικά, από κάπου αλλού, γίνεται μια επίκληση στο όνομα Ερεκόζι και ο Τζον Ντέικερ μεταφέρεται σ'αυτό το αλλού, σ'ένα ίσως παράλληλο σύμπαν, όπου είναι γνωστός ως Ερεκόζι. Η επίκληση έγινε από τον βασιλιά της Ανθρωπότητας Ριγκένος, με σκοπό ο Ερεκόζι να ηγηθεί του στρατού των Ανθρώπων στον πόλεμο ενάντια στους Έλντρεν, τους αιώνιους εχθρούς της Ανθρωπότητας. Ο Ντέικερ, πλέον Ερεκόζι, θυμήθηκε την τέχνη του πολέμου και με όπλο του ένα σπαθί που μόνο αυτός μπορεί ν'αγγίξει χωρίς να πεθάνει, είναι ικανός να πολεμήσει τον οποιοδήποτε. Σύμφωνα με τους Ανθρώπους, οι Έλντρεν είναι ένας λαός σατανικός που αξίζει να εξολοθρευτεί για να μπορέσει να υπάρξει ειρήνη στην Γη. Είναι όντως έτσι τα πράγματα; Είναι αλήθεια τόσο κακοί που πρέπει να εξαφανιστούν για πάντα από την Γη; Ο Ερεκόζι καλείται να αποφασίσει...

Πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα ιστορία, με μπόλικες μάχες, δυνατές σκηνές και κάποιους προβληματισμούς για την φύση των ανθρώπων και του πολέμου. Η γραφή πολύ καλή, ευκολοδιάβαστη, οι χαρακτήρες δίχως πολύ βάθος αλλά ενδιαφέροντες και η ατμόσφαιρα εξαιρετική. Η ιστορία θα μπορούσε άνετα να έχει το διπλάσιο ή και τριπλάσιο μέγεθος για μεγαλύτερο βάθος στην πλοκή και τους χαρακτήρες, αλλά και έτσι όπως ήταν σίγουρα θ'αφήσει ικανοποιημένους τους φαν της sword and sorcery φαντασίας.

[S.E. Lindberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Michael Moorcock has been dishing out pulpy fantasy since the 1960's. Perhaps his most famous brand is his skein of adventures from "The" Eternal Champion--which actually refers to many heroes (Elric, Corum, Hawkmoon, Erekose, etc.) not just this book; the anti-Conan hero called Elric is arguably the most recognizable. The champion mashup is huge, although many are short stories or collections of them, the bibliography has >100 entries. Despite the huge popularity of these, there is a dearth of film/movie adaptions (however the BBC is taking on a TV version of the Runestaff/Hawkmoon stories this yr (2019).

Moorcock's books read at the same blistering pace he writes. He blends metaphysical ideas (time travel, coexisting multiverses...) with epic adventure. In just ~180pages, you'll be whisked across continents and decades of history. This can be fun, but there always seems to be a loss of realized potential and strings of inconsistency.

Cover: My paperback of The Eternal Champion from 1970 has a splendid Frank Frazetta depiction of a heavily armored knight on horse wielding an ax...under the title "Eternal Champion." The art is awesome, but Erekose has a sword (and occasionally a lance).



Sword Kanajana: Speaking of that sword, it is magical and can only be wielded by Erekose; however, it doesn't play a huge role in the book beyond that; and, late in the book when awesome weaponry of ancient days are needed, this sword is not used.... but an unnecessary/genre bending sci-fi element is introduced from out of nowhere. The climax of the book would have been awesome if Moorcock stuck to his sword (rather than his figurative "guns).

Multiverse weirdness: This serves as John Daker's initial awakening as "the Eternal Champion." Our protagonist doesn't seem to care that he is/was married. His mental struggles to come to terms with his predicament do not resonate since we get near zero information of his real life.

Love?: Several romantic relations are introduced, but are seeping with shallow masculine perspectives. I was reminded of Moorcock's stunningly misogynistic entry into the Ghor, Kin Slayer: The Saga Of Genseric's Fifth Born Son (which soured the whole collection for me).

Pacing and consistency: The first 60 out of 180 pages are a drag; for a warrior called from another world to do battle, there is surprisingly no action for the initial third. This is a strange setup for an ambitious take on war... and that theme I found enjoyable to explore (depressing to read).

Supposedly, the Humans are threatened so much that their king calls upon Erekose via sorcery to help them against the evil (sorcerer) Eldren. However, we are not shown any instance of threat or attack. This approach reinforces the idea that the threatened Humans may actually be the aggressors in the war; that's okay, but we are not shown any indication that the Eldren are even in contact with the Humans. Why would the king stoop so low to use sorcery (which he loathed)?

In short, the first third of the book really needed to show some Eldren vs Human conflict, even it was to be misinterpreted by readers, the Humans, and Erekose.

Not Cliche: Despite the execution, I do admire the idea of an Eternal Champion and the approach to blurring the lines of good-vs-evil, especially in war. Trope fantasy usually has evil wraiths/orcs vs. good human knights. I suppose the current Grimdark genre would like this tone.

In summary, fans of the Eternal Champion will think this is ok. New to the Eternal Champion? I would not start here. Starting with Corum, Elric, or Hawkmoon may be better.

[Fantasy boy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Eternal Champion is one of Moorcock's landmark books in fantasy genre, it introduce readers the concept of multiverse and the incarnation hero, Jone Daker who play a role in defending humanity in TEC, willing to fight for the righteous of his believe, save people from the devastating wars; or at least, this is what he thought it would be. Like many Moorcock's fictions, this is a melancholy melodrama to read as companying with dismay ending.

This book was a pioneer in S&S fantasies, not always justice is on the right side for demanding the righteous of wars; parley could have done after eliminating enemies. The eternal champion, Erekosë, is always struggling between his responsibilities and love, fall in love with two woman and, save mankind from the war that was against Eldren. Erekosë had been inquiring the necessity of annihilating Eldren entirely from earth, hence I wasn't surprise that he eliminated his own race, humankind after he saw there was no possibilities that mankind would have a peaceful life on earth except it disappear from earth. Like Elric of Melniboné, he was a kinslayer and is considered as a anti- hero who killed his people.I can see some similarities beween this two characters from their motivations and deeds. Sometimes, deeds would have dominated motivations in Moorcock's characters. I scarcely see hero protagonists kill his people in fantasy genre, even when those heroes know that they have abhorrent and repulsive motivations and declamations. this is a unique and done well example.

In summary, it is a heroic fantasy with a bitter taste of the ending, also some contemplative concepts and philosophy to ruminate about.

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent tale told well! The internal battles of the champion are so engrossing and provide such depth!

[Shauny Free Palestine · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Daker has an identity crisis. He’s a middle-aged Englishman, whose spirit is suddenly thrust into another body. He is resurrected as Erokose, an immortal warrior, and is asked by a human group, lead by King Regenos, to defend a nation against the evil Eldrens. The hero isn’t sure if he is in the past, future or a different dimension. Time will tell.

The book was originally a novella, published in a magazine in 1962, but later expanded into a novel and released in 1970. It is here that Moorcock’s multiverse is introduced. The book is the first of a trilogy, but there are many other series of books that are interconnected and lead by heroes that are different forms of the same spirit. I think. I’m still getting my head around it as I’ve only began this epic literary journey.

The beginning of the story is fairly lacklustre, but it gets progressively interesting and ends on a high note. There are some great moments in the book, particularly when Moorcock focuses on the moral ambiguity of nations and armies, especially when it comes to the supposed good guys. As usual with the author, he combines fantasy with Science Fiction, and also sprinkles in a little Nietzsche too.

The Eternal Champion is essential for those that want to delve into the author's multiverse, and I’ve read some reviews recommending it as a place to start, but personally I think it’s better to start with an Elric novel, as that is where you’ll see the writer at his best.

Even if it's not his greatest novel, I enjoyed The Eternal Champion and can’t wait to read the next one as each sequel is considered better than the last.

Read:

· The Jewel in the Skull (Hawkmoon 1)
· Warriors of Mars (Michael Kane 1)
· The Ice Schooner (Sailing to Utopia 1)
· The Black Corridor (Sailing to Utopia 2)
· Elric of Melniboné (The Elric Saga 1)
· Rituals of Infinity (Roads between the Worlds)
· The Eternal Champion (Erekose 1)

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very meta-fantasy. There was a standard Fantasy story where the man was dragged from the 20th century to fight for humanity in a holy war against the evil "other". Except in this case that's really not what was going on, and the action was really everything that was happening inside the main characters mind. I like how his ideas dissolved and it was no longer "race" that made someone good or bad, when the "humans" committed terrible acts he realised he could no longer follow them, and wasn't their champion at all. This was standard fantasy with much more going on. I'm looking forward to reading more.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this is very much a heroic fantasy story it also has certain science fictional elements to it. The plot is rather predictable apart, perhaps, from its denouement. A twentieth-century urban man is apparently summoned either from another dimension, or from another time, to act as Erekosë, the Champion of Humanity, and to lead human armies against a mysterious humanoid race called the Eldren. While the world he finds himself in is at first alien to him it becomes increasingly familiar as he recalls past memories from different lives or personas, including an earlier incarnation as Erekosë when he led humans to victory in the past. But Erekosë finds himself as much disgusted by the actions of the humans against the Eldren as the humans are disgusted by their enemy and he becomes increasingly troubled by his role. It is this dilemma which makes the story interesting but the love interest between him and a human princess, on the one hand, and an Eldren one on the other, seems a bit far-fetched as it develops too quickly and too easily in both cases. However, at just 159 pages, it would have been difficult, I think, to have devoted enough time in this book to a more sophisticated exploration of Erekosë’s relationships with these women as well as his professional relationship with some of the political and military men in the story to do it any justice.

With an emphasis on action, The Eternal Champion is a quick and easy read and, while it forms the first book in the Erekosë series (and is associated with a number of Moorcock’s other series, notably Hawkmoon), it can be read as a stand-alone novel.

[Gallant Duke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Αγαπημένος Μούρκοκ


Και πλέον αγαπημένος Ερεκόζι!

Απλός λόγος… και ο θάνατος βρίσκεται παντού!

Μια ανάλογη ιστορία ένας Μάρτιν θα την είχε κάνει από 230 σελίδες χιλιάδες

Ιδιαίτερο ενδιαφέρον το concept με τη μετενσάρκωση του Αιώνιου Προμάχου!

Πολύ όμορφες ιδέες, πολλά ηθικά διλήμματα και πολλά
Φιλοσοφικά θέματα μέσα από λιτή γραφή

Βουρ για το 2ο!

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cracks quickly appear in this glorious high fantasy: the resurrected hero Erekosë starts wondering at humanity's obsessive war against the Eldren menace, even as he leads vicious battles against them. Poignant scenes of Eldren treachery and evil confirming the humans' one-sided statements, such as would litter a conventional high fantasy, are notably absent. Moorcock works reversals, first by tearing down what was built, ripping up the majesty and honor of the humans and showing them as savage in battle and sickening in victory. Then, each relationship that Erekosë has formed is sundered. Finally, the entire nature of the universe shifts as the Eldren go into their basement and pull out supertechnology.

This is not a subtle book, especially when it rises to its froth of desperate energy.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good starting point for Moorcock's multiverse; it's a fast-paced heroic fantasy with an interesting plot and good development, but it also introduces the idea that there are alternates and variants and this may be something that plays out over and over again. Is John Daker also Erokose? Who else might he be? Moorcock had written quite a lot prior to this one, but it may be the one where he began to envision fitting it altogether, both for himself and for his readers.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's getting on for 50 years now since my first read of THE ETERNAL CHAMPION, but I enjoyed it as much this time through as I did back then.

It's the pulpiest of Moorcock's Eternal Champion cycle, and the story that really kicks the whole thing off, with John Daker called from a life on Earth to be Erekose, champion of humanity, once and future hero, and wielder of a bloody huge sword of power.

It's all a bit Arthurian, with similar motifs of betrayal and doom, but Moorcock's energy carries the whole thing along at a rollicking speed. There's a wonderful set piece sea battle, we get glimpses of te Eternal Champion's inner conflict that will drive the whole series, and there are battles and mass slaughter aplenty.

Moorcock's sense of a striking visual is much in evidence, even in the somewhat pulpy prose on show here, but it's a great starter for the epic adventures in the multiverse to come, and I'm looking forward to the rest of it with the same passion I used to have while waiting impatiently for him to write the next installment way back in the day.

At least all I have to do now is walk to the bookcase to take the next book down.

[Traummachine · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I said in my review of The War Hound and The World's Pain, many of Moorcock's books are in the Eternal Champion cycle, but Erekosë is the only incarnation of the Eternal Champion that remembers his former lives. He doesn't get the luxury of pretending this weirdness isn't happening to him -- he knows he's a pawn of fate, that he's screwed, and that it might never end...then again, maybe he's just insane.

Despite the fact that this was written very early in Moorcock's career, it really sucked me in. Lots of the moral dilemmas that he seems to love, plus a good-paced adventure story. I think I'll alternate between this series and the Von Bek books. After all, the stories are otherwise intertwined. :)

[Ketutar Jensen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Moorcock and his eternal champion... it is funny... I think of all those people who believe in reincarnation and that they were some princess or priestess or another important grand person in their previous lives. I'm sure there are dozens of Cleopatras incarnated today :-D
So Moorcock did basically the same thing. His Eternal Champion is Roland, Ulysses, even Doctor Who :-D
Now, his Eternal Champion, his garystu, is an a-hole. He is supposed to be a socialist and humanitaria, who appreciates peace and beauty and all that, but... I just finished Keith Richards' Life and when Keith Richards is more noble than your garystu who is supposed the be a champion of nobleness and manliness, there's something seriously wrong with your garystu.

SPOILERS

Moorcock's garystu is prejudiced, pompous, stupid and fickle. After 1/3 of the book he had given his word, he had sworn, he had made an oath, to protect and defend the mankind, to the king who summoned him, to the king's daughter he said he loved, purely and true, to the king's general who suspected him being fake, and then he turns around and slaughters the whole humankind because he fell in love with another woman. Who was prettier than the first one. *sigh*

"The back of the horse jogged beneath me."
What?

And the "best" part:

'But, lolinda, I love you. You alone.'

'I do not believe you, Erekosë.'

What is it in me that I became what I became then. It was the moment that I gave an oath that was to affect all our destinies. Why, as my love for her began to fade and I saw her as a selfish, grasping fool, did I protest a greater love for her?

I do not know. I only know that that is what I did.

'I love you more than life, lolinda!' I said. 'I would do anything for you!'

'I do not believe you!'

'I do. I will prove it!' I cried in agony.

She turned. There was pain and reproach in her eyes. There was a bitterness that went so deep it had no bottom. There was anger and there was revenge.

'How will you prove it, Erekosë?' she said softly.

'I swear I shall kill all the Eldren.'

'All?'

'Every single Eldren life. You will spare none?'

'None! None! I want it to be over. And the only way I can finish it is to kill them all. Then it will be over-only then!'

'Including Prince Arjavh and his sister?'

'Including them!'

'You swear this? You swear it?'

'I swear it. And when the last Eldren dies. When the whole world is ours, then I will bring it to you and we shall be married.'

She nodded. 'Very well, Erekosë. I will see you later.' She glided swiftly from the room.

This is supposed to be this honorable, noble, manly man, eternal champion.
So, he's an oath breaker because he throws his oaths right and left. *sigh*

I really dislike Erekosë, and considering that Michael Moorcock said that "when a writer writes a lot he realizes that all his heroes are the same person"... so all his heroes are this overemotional, whiny, childish, stupid, pretentious little shit.
This reading challenge just got a lot more challenging :-D (The only reason I read this book is because part of Anorak's Almanac reading challenge is to read five books by Michael Moorcock. Ve, o ve! Woe be me. :-D)

[Jim · Rating 1 out of 5]

So I end my Eternal Champion tales with Erekosë, who often gets the worst ratings from reviewers. I know pretty much nothing about this book, or the two that follow, so I am interested to find out what the stories are and how they tie in to the larger Multiverse.
If I had started with this as my introduction to the Multiverse and the Eternal Champion concept, I would never have read any further, or at least not for a long time. We learn next to nothing about John Daker before he assumes the mantle of Erekosë, Eternal Champion, which serves the plot poorly. The first person telling is not something I am a fan of, and here it fails miserably. Reminding myself when it was written, but the oh-so-obvious Us vs. Them (pick your Us, pick your them, it hardly matters…) conflict is slathered on like chili-cheese on fries. Hmm, maybe not the best comparison, I LIKE chili-cheese fries, and I didn’t like this “conflict” at all. Anyway. Daker is a cardboard cut-out of a person, which makes him hard to form opinions of since when he moves, he nearly disappears, substantively. At the very least he is selfish, sexist, savage, and simple-minded. Hero? Um, no. Slave to dreams he does not even understand. Puppet of something.
And his, only his!, blade, Kanajana. Weakest, dullest aspect of the Black Sword, yet quite deadly even with the slightest of cuts.
Moorcock is known for his symbolism and sideways addressing of real-world issues, but I don’t read fiction for that, usually. So if there is anything of value in deconstructing this book, you won’t find it in this review. Shallow, superficial storytelling, mostly. Love, war, loyalty? They are all meaningless here. Even his (man/mis)handling of the Eternal Champion-Multiverse aspects are dismal and shabbily rendered.
Unsurprisingly, females get overlooked, unless you count misogynistic ogling and the like. Daker’s wife (name??), Iolinda, Ermizhad… All treated like objects, things to manipulate, dominate.
Erekosë is the first, and worst, of the Eternal Champion iterations for me. This offering differs not a jot from much of what was being written at the time in fantasy or science fiction arenas, and is arguably quite awful when you think about what else was out there to read, or even if you just look at his own Elric and Corum books, which are exceedingly better. Probably going to wade through Book#2 and Book#3 in the trilogy, I am a completist, if anything.

[Little Timmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another of the eternal champion incarnations. Good story and you get some more insight to the black sword mystery. Very recommended

[Mark Redman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael Moorcock’s "The Eternal Champion" throws you into a world where destiny, heroism, and the cosmic battle between Law and Chaos intertwine. The story follows John Daker, an ordinary man who is ripped from his peaceful life and thrust into a past or future identity as Erekosë. Summoned to a war-torn world, he embraces his role as the champion of humanity, leading them against their monstrous enemies, the Eldren. Daker's struggle with his newfound identity and the moral complexities of his mission form the crux of the narrative.

Moorcock’s writing is both accessible and visceral, imbuing the novel with a sense of grandeur and urgency. The story is very linear making it feel fast-paced as there are no side quests, so to speak. His world-building is intricate and immersive. The philosophical underpinnings of the story, particularly the exploration of free will versus predestination, add depth to the high-stakes action and epic battles.

Having previously read Moorcock’s Elric, one of the most compelling aspects of "The Eternal Champion" is once again its protagonist. Daker/Erekosë is a deeply flawed and human character, grappling with internal doubts and ethical dilemmas that make his journey relatable and thought-provoking but also practical Man. His internal conflict and the external pressures he faces create a dynamic tension that propels the narrative forward making him react to his situation very realised. For a character Daker/Erekosë feels way ahead of his time.

Some aspects were challenging, in particular, the dense multiverse mythology. The intertwining of different identities and timelines requires you to pay careful attention, but this complexity is also what makes the story so rich and rewarding. The Eternal Champion is a thought-provoking and exhilarating adventure and one that I enjoyed more than I thought I would. Moorcock is fast becoming a favourite author.

[Doc_Celofunk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael Moorcock tiene 84 años de edad y sigue escribiendo a día de hoy publicando un libro al año más o menos. No será un gran conocido de la literatura fantástica o de ciencia ficción pero este señor es oro. Creedme. Puede que ante toda su extensa bibliografia (la mayoría no publicada en nuestra lengua) no todo sean joyas. Pero es mi autor favorito con creces. Sus libros te sorprenden, te hacen pensar y reflexionar. Están llenos de paisajes imposibles, únicos. Sus personajes, siempre en duelo con su realidad, son tan profundos como trágicos a veces. Qué puedo escribir de este libro que me he leído ya tres veces.

"Vi el mundo que daba vueltas, y observé a sus habitantes corriendo por su superficie como hormigas en un otero... Les vi luchar y destruirse, hacer las paces y edificar nuevamente, sólo para arrasar lo construido otra vez, en otra guerra inevitable. Y me pareció como si aquellas criaturas sólo hubiesen podido alcanzar aquel grado de evolución y, por una triste broma del destino, estuviesen condenadas a repetir una y otra vez, los mismos errores. Y comprendí que no había esperanzas para ellas, para aquellas criaturas imperfectas que estaban entre los animales y los dioses. Que si destino, como el mío, era luchar eternamente sin lograr alcanzar jamás la paz"

Este libro da comienzo a la saga del Campeón Eterno y concretamente el ciclo de Erekosë. Una de las facetas del campeón más interesantes. Por el camino por el Multiverso (concepto del que es padre el autor) encontraremos de todo. Desde lo inesperado, aventura, épica, filosofía, ciencia, romance.

Para mí, sigue teniendo la magia y el impacto de cuando me lo leí a los 14 años. Magnífico. Gracias, señor Moorcock.

[Jiří Pavlovský · Rating 3 out of 5]

Další invaze z minulosti. Moorcock byl takovou odpovědí na Howarda. Místo věčně nadržených bijců přicházel se souchatinářskými albíny, prokletými válečníky, kteří kudy chodí, tudy trpí. Dá se říct, že Moorcock vynalezl emo styl, možná i proto se dnes jeho obliba tak vrací. Člověk chápe, že to byla reakce na dobu, války a jiné radosti... a i to, že je to literárně na výši, ale nedá se nic dělat, ten Conan je mi tak nějak bližší. (Možná právě proto, že v reálu jsem spíš podobný těm depresivním Moorcockovým hrdinům.)
Věčný válečník je klasická tragická Moorcockova postava, vláčený osudem, vybaveným proklatým mečem, masakrující všechny a trpící sny a pochybnostmi. Ovšem zase se musí nechat, že svůj úděl bere důkladně. Je přivolaný lidským králem, aby vyhladil veškeré "elfy", tak to tedy dělá. Než mu to začne lézt na nervy a nazačne vyhlazovat lidi. Což jsem shrnul vlastně děj celé knihy, která je poměrně jednoduchá, bez větších efektů a akce. Na druhou stranu, tahle ultimativnost hlavního hrdiny, který vyvraždí miliony bytostí proto, že to slíbil holce, je docela impozantní.
A podobně jako ten Howard... nebo třeba Lovecraft, i u toho Moorcocka je něco, proč tyhle knihy prostě nehodlají odejít do výslužby. Jsou v nich emoce, atmosféra a občas i dobré dialogy. A upřímně, skepse k lidskému druhu asi nikdy nevyjde z módy.

[Simon Mcleish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally published on my blog here in August 2002.

Begun in the fifties, published in the sixties as a novelette before finally being expanded to a full novel in 1970, The Eternal Champion contains the earliest version of the idea that is central to most of Moorcock's fantasy, together with the fruits of over a decade's development of the theme. The idea is basically that there is one person, immortal or reincarnated, whose aspects are the heroes of fantasy. It is perhaps influenced by the Hindu concept of the avatar, where important figures in legend are incarnations of the gods, particularly of Vishnu; it is also an ironic comment on the unimaginative sameness of much of the fantasy genre.

The story in The Eternal Champion is of Londoner John Daker, who responds to a summons he seems to hear in his dreams, from a barbarian king and his beautiful daughter. They are performing rituals in the tomb of long dead warrior Erekos&eumlaut;, seeking to bring the return of the hero that has long been prophesied. When Daker responds, he becomes Erekosë, champion of the human race in their desperate war against the alien Eldren. Like the other aspects of the Champion, Daker is tormented by dreams of his other selves, but in this case he is unhappy because, though the humans describe the Eldren as treacherous and wicked, this seems to better match their own actions.

It was a commonplace of science fiction (particularly American science fiction, the major part of the genre's output) in the first decades of the Cold War to mimic that conflict; the best known example is Star Trek, where the Federation represents the West, the Klingons and Romulans the Soviet Union and China. It is rarer to do this in fantasy, which (post-Tolkien) usually uses plots about an individual quest to overthrow tyrrany which makes it not such a good genre to explore political ideas. The Eternal Champion is the only example which comes to my mind. Generally, the rather simplistic and racist assumption is made that the forces of humanity represent the West, and the aliens the Communist Bloc. I don't think that there was generally a conscious desire to write propaganda, more that in the American magazines that defined the genre, writers tended to accept the view that they were the good guys. Young though he was when he wrote this story, Moorcock tries to do something more subtle. The humans keep on spouting rhetoric taken from extreme anti-Communists of the time, justifying treacherous acts on the grounds that that is the only way they can beat the innately treacherous Eldren. What they achieve is to completely discredit their side, showing themselves to be worse even than their portrayal of their enemies, let alone than the Eldren actually are. Even Jolinda, the woman with whom Daker falls in love, eventually reveals herself to be just vain and shallow, and as much prey to xenophobia as anyone else.

The background to the novel is lacking an element which later became an important part of Moorcock's concept of the Eternal Champion: the balance between Law and Chaos. It is a theme that would have probably got in the way of this particular story, which has a different point to make; it is about hypocrisy and hysteria rather than the nature of evil and morality.

The aim of the novel, to make readers think again about the orthodox (Western) view of the Cold War, is unusual in fantasy (though common enough in the more literary spy thrillers like The Spy Who Came In from the Cold). The background is rather dated now, as much of the fiction it is counterbalancing has vanished without trace. Even so, The Eternal Champion has something to say about mob hysteria, which continues to be relevant as the American leadership seeks to renew the war against Iraq.

[BJ Horne · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the first book I have read that I truly disliked the main character. He is a man called into a world he use to live ages ago, from our world today. He was married but immediately fell in love with the princess. This man questioned everything on the surface but didn't stop to question the more important matters in the plot. He was a man full of contradiction.
**** (small spoiler alert!!!)****
Erekose loved his wife in our world, but loved the princess. Went to war to destroy the Eldren race, who are similar to elves, all to prove his love to the princess. However he falls in love with the Eldren princess and ultimately becomes a traitor.
Erekose is portrayed as a man with high morals and standards, a man of integrity, but he is consistently doing things out of character. I truly disliked Erekose so much that at certain times in the story I was hoping for him to be defeated.
I gave this book 2 stars because I can't get over how inconsistent the main character was. He truly frustrated me.

Out of 5:
-Character development: 2
-Plot: 3
-World building: 3
-Magic system: 2
-Writing style: 2

[Tony Calder · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Eternal Champion is one of the core themes that runs through a large amount of Michael Moorcock's books, although whether he envisaged it from the start is hard to say. This book provides a good starting point to anyone wishing to explore that theme, even though it was written after many of the books in the Elric, Hawkmoon & Corum series, which are probably his better known characters. The Eternal Champion is referred to in those series, but in this book it is one of the central themes, and one that the central character - Erekosë - has to learn to deal with. It provides Moorcock with plenty of opportunity for philosophising on topics such as mankind's need for warfare. I wouldn't say that Moorcock offers any particularly deep insights as a result of his philosophy, but it does add a level not found in many of the contemporaneous fantasy adventure writers of the 60s and 70s.

I used to devour Moorcock's books as a kid - at around 160 pages, none of them took more than a couple of afternoons after school - and they are still a very enjoyable read some 40+ years later.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes I feel like I should dedicate a year to reading Moorcock's eternal champion subseries to see if the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Be that as it may, out of what I have read so far the Erekose series is my favorite. It is the only one so far wherein it seems believable that the "eternal champion" character is capable of making his own choices to avoid his destiny, albeit at great personal cost. That is most clearly demonstrated in this first book of the cycle.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great story by a true master, Michael Moorcock - a staple of Gygax's "Appendix N" . . . a brilliant tale of the Eternal Champion, a man out of time, summoned to fight a war . . . but on which side should he fight? The Eternal Champion faces a great and terrible choice to either fight for the human race which he calls his own (so corrupt that he can scarcely stand Humanity) or betray his people for the Eldren, an ancient race of near-immortals with whom he has greater sympathies . . .