The Chronicles of Corum

Corum #4-6

by Michael Moorcock

Corum of the Silver Hand had slain the gods that Man might rule, and he had earned his rest. However, now the task falls upon him to defeat the mighty Fhoi Myore, the gods who yearn for death but can not be slain.

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

382 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

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

[Michael Sorbello · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Bull and the Spear - 4.5/5

Corum is now worshipped as a legendary hero after his successful battle against the sword rulers, the gods of law and the gods of chaos. The influence of crooked higher beings has been completely severed from his realm and everyone in his small kingdom lives in relative peace. Corum being the immortal he is, however, outlives many of his friends and loved ones and comes to find crippling sorrow and restlessness after many decades of watching the world gradually fall apart around him. Consumed by loneliness, a lack of purpose and a grieving heart, he finds himself longing to be summoned into another great battle, just for the chance of feeling alive again. With the aid of his old friend Jhary, Corum is summoned into a new age of twisted gods, bloodthirsty fiends and the return of ancient foes. Searching for purpose in his gloomy life, Corum goes on a journey to claim the aid of the legendary spear Brionac and the spirit of a bull to assist him in his war against a new age of evil and chaos.

I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this one. I thought the first two books in the Corum series were good and the final book in the original trilogy wrapped things up nicely. I didn't really see how the story could continue from where things left off, but surprisingly I actually enjoyed this one more then the entire original trilogy.

The tone feels much more bleak and melancholy. Many series have immortal characters, but not many series out there explore what happens after these characters outlive everything they've ever loved and fought for. While it starts off very depressing and grim, it eventually turns into a redemption tale of finding a sense of purpose after losing all meaning in one's life.

The writing in general is also just more mature all around. I felt more emotionally invested in the characters and found the conflict much more dazzling and immersive. It also breaks out of the shell of being a typical revenge story and one of searching for meaning after all vengeance has already been wrought.

***

The Oak and the Ram - 3/5

The seasons have changed from spring to summer and the encroaching threat of the Fhoi Myore is threatening to unleash a storm of icy death upon the last remaining inhabitants in a dying world. With the assistance of his friends and lover in the new realm he now calls his home, Corum sets out on a journey to seek the aid of the High King of the Mabden, Amergin. The king is trapped in a spell of dark magic cast by the Gods of Limbo. It falls to Corum of the Silver Hand to restore the rightful power of the High King with the miraculous forces of two legendary talismans: the Golden Oak and the Silver Ram.

If book 4 in this series was the strongest, this one is the weakest in comparison. It's not bad at all, but it feels like it retreads ground a little too much and doesn't really bring anything new to the story. It feels a little too similar to things that have already happened earlier in the series. Usually a ridiculous amount of things happen in each of these books, but this one kinda felt like it kept going in circles, repeating plot points and not all that much happened. It also wasn't nearly as dark, emotional and climactic as the previous book.

I've heard a lot of people say this entry was rushed and the next one is much more satisfying so I'll be looking forward to finally finishing up the tales of Corum.

***

The Sword and the Stallion - 4/5

Corum's final stand against the wrathful Cold Gods known as the Fhoi Myore reaches its bitter conclusion. Friends become enemies and enemies become friends in the final battle to decide which races will rule and which races will perish. Wielding the accursed magic sword Traitor and riding upon the ancient stallion that guides his blade of truth, Corum will fulfill a dark prophecy that could sever the world from chaos and mad gods or erase all life from the world once and for all.

A very tragic ending to Corum's second trilogy. The original trilogy ended on a surprisingly happy and wholesome note, but the ending of the second trilogy is full of despair, cruel irony and themes of Greek Tragedy. Many friends die. Lovers separate and turn against each other, sometimes to no fault of their own. Prophecies are fulfilled, rarely to anyone's benefit. While the ending is sad and even a bit frustrating in some ways, it feels very poetic and in tune with how things were being set up for such a bittersweet finale where death, betrayal and sacrifice was the only way to achieve ultimate peace and freedom for the few survivors of the world.

I enjoyed the first trilogy a bit more overall, but I think the first book in the second trilogy and the end of the 6th and final book were wonderfully dark and well-crafted.

[Robert Beveridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael Moorcock, The Chronicles of Corum (Berkley, 1973)

Moorcock returns to the world of the Eternal Champion, in the guise of Corum, then rips him out of it. Over a thousand years after the events of the last novels, Corum has become worshipped as a demigod. His followers summon him into their time to do battle with extraplanar beings of (at most) animal intelligence known as the Cold Gods. The Cold Gods are dying, slowly, but they have every intention of taking all of humanity with them.

Together with the last of the Sidhi, a race of magic-using nonhumans roughly akin to elves in most fantasy worlds, Corum and those who worship him go to do battle with another force bent on destroying the planet.

The plot may get old, especially when so many fantasy novels by so many authors revolve around it. But it's still fun to read and easy to deal with. As with the first part of Corum's epic (The Swords Trilogy), Moorcock doesn't take as many chances with fantasy conventions as he does in the Elric novels, and so these are slightly less challenging to the reader's conceptions of what's "supposed" to happen in fantasy novels. Still, they're quite a bit of fun, for all they they're predictable. *** ½

[Johnny · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Chronicles of Corum combines the novels from the second trilogy about the “Eternal Warrior” known as Corum. The one common factor that seems present in the variety of characters presented as eternal warriors by Michael Moorcock seems to be a reluctance, a sense that they are being drawn into cosmic struggles against their wills. Corum has always seemed to me rather phlegmatic in nature—content in indolent leisure, but potent in skill (whether leadership, inspiration, or fighting) when dragged into the fray.

Each of these novels is built on the discovery and collection of two artifacts, usually paired. In all of the trilogy, Corum is trying to stave off the end of the Mabden (ordinary humans), the race of his deceased beloved, against the demonic Fhoi Myore, beings of chaos who have brought darkness, cold, and death. In The Bull and the Spear, Corum is told that the only possible way to defeat the Fhoi Myore before they conquer the last Mabden fortress in the region is to find a cosmic bull, and the only way to tame said bull is with a special spear. In The Oak and the Ram, the pair of artifacts can only be recovered through a method and in a venue that is rather frightening to Corum. Obviously, since the story moves to The Sword and the Stallion, Corum overcomes his reservations and brings about an amazing climax.

The Sword and the Stallion features two fantasy tropes that always resonate with me. The first trope is that of a sword with a name that lives up to its billing. Corum’s new sword isn’t quite as fascinating as “Stormbringer” of Elric fame, but it has an interesting twist that really made the whole trilogy work for me. The second is the class trope where the protagonist doesn’t recognize the importance of the artifact until it is revealed at the critical time.

This trilogy doesn’t contain the finest prose I’ve been privileged to read, but it is some of the type of fun that had me reading fantasy in the first place.

[Ahmed Al-Mahdi · Rating 5 out of 5]

في الثلاثية الثانية لكورم ذي اليد الفضية، لاحظت بعض التشابه في عناصر الرواية مع عناصر الميثيلوجيا الآيرلندية، وهذا معتاد في عوالم موركوك، ففي أحد روايات إيرلك كان هناك إشارة لبوق رولاند، وأيضًا مناداة كورم في الثلاثية الأولى باسم الإيلف إشارة إلى نظرة البشر لكل ما هو سحري، وتكرار هذا الأمر في الثلاثية الثانية، ولكن هذه المرة كان هناك أسماء كثيرة مألوفة مثل كلمة "شي" التي تشير إلى الآلهة الأيرلندية، واسم مانانان وهو إله البحر، والإشارة لكورم بكلمة إله ما أسفل التل وهو لقب آلهة أيرلندا، وبعد قراة الثلاثية أعدت البحث في الأساطير الأيرلندية فلاحظت أن التشابه لا ينتهي عند الأسماء فقط، فالثلاثية كلها متقمصة روح الأساطير الأيرلندية، بل قد تعد إعادة رواية لها من منظور المالتيفيرس الخاص بموركوك، وهو ما زاد من اعجابي بها، فالأساطير الآيرلندية مهملة إلى حد كبير في الفانتازيا، ولا أذكر مثال آخر لكاتب استخدمها غير موركوك سوى باول أندرسون في رواية السيف المكسور.

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 3 out of 5]

In my openion weakest of a good series. I got hooked on the Eternal Champion books at a time and in a place where books (especially science fiction/fantasy books) were hard to come by. So when I got "back" I snatched up every one of Moorcock's Eternal Champion books I could get. While these aren't bad they aren't (in my openion) as good as most of the cycle. They are darker and much more fatalistic. They are in many ways a retelling of the Irish legend of the Silver Hand.

[Alexis · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Corum series is overall inferior to Elric, and his 2nd trilogy is inferior to the 1st. In fact, this second part is more or less a typical heroic fantasy series of adventures, but fortunately Moorcock still has a few good ideas to throw in, most noteably an almost shocking and, to me anyway, unexpected ending, which kind of saves the day.

[Carys · Rating 5 out of 5]

Would recommend this to anybody who enjoys sci-fi or fastasy. A book that brings together 5 short stories about an eternal hero, in many different guises. Enjoyable short stories with good humour and a very vivid world.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the concluding trio of books to the Corum series. Honestly, I preferred the first three books. However, it was an entertaining read in Moorcock's unique style of fantasy.

[Surly Gliffs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gary lent me this one, my first time reading Moorcock. Not a problem starting halfway through the series, the antecedent action really doesn't matter that much.

While Moorcock apparently detested Tolkien, these Chronicles fall firmly into High Fantasy. There's an argument to be made that Moorcock is more faithful to forms and plotting of epic English verse than Tolkein: the assonance and alliteration are more authentically Olde mode, and there's no elfses or hobbitses mucking about, just Heroes fighting Monsters in classic sub-boss/boss order. Moorcock also draws from druidical lore and Carl Jung's archetypal myth. Corum is not just a hero, he is The Champion Eternal.

As pedantic as that sounds, the Chronicles are crisply written. The plotting is predictable but propulsive. Except for the more ritualistic chapters; while it may be emblematic of an English saga to spend an entire canto blessing a sword (or performing whatever other ritual you may have in mind), modern readers may find that tiresome.

Don't even bother looking for any meaningful women in this story. While it may have been forward-looking in the early seventies to say "and lo, there were also brave shieldmaidens among them," it feels cheap now. To the extent women are involved, they're housekeepers or remote love interests. The sole female villain, never onscreen, is feared for "consuming the manhood" of the heroes she defeats. Make of that what you will.

Altogether the Chronicles of Corum are a respectable specimen of 70s High Fantasy but far from mandatory reading; recommended chiefly for fans and students of the same. If you've gotten this far into the review, congratulations, you've been Elric-rolled.

[Stuart Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

The continued story of Corum of the Silver Hand. Corum is summoned to a future world where his services are needed. The last remaining humans are once again faced with ultimate destruction from godlike creatures who would turn the world into a frozen wasteland. He goes on a series of quests to procure certain mystical items to defeat the enemy. He meets with new allies and finds a new love. As ever he is the doomed warrior that cannot know peace even in victory.

Excellent storytelling and world building. Corum becomes more like Elric as he is constantly reminded of his fate as the Champion Eternal. The gods of Law and Chaos are gone to be replaced by the residents of Limbo. Corum fights many battles and has to discover the secret to vanquishing his enemy despite their apparent invulnerability. Naturally every victory brings him closer to his own doom. One thing is made abundantly clear, and that is that Michael Moorcock really hates the cold.

[hawkeye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moorcock has some poweful and intersting ideas flowing through this book, and I can see how it made Orion Book's Fantasy Masterworks list. But, I was let down by this read. The plot is often stilted; this comes through in awkard prose and character dialog. Put simply, I regularly felt like the writing just wasn't that good. Compare this with a similar sort of classic fantasy, Leiber's Lankhmar. Even though Leiber's work still has the flavor of an older read, with plots/characters sometimes seeming simple or immature, the overall quality of the writing carried me right through this, and I wholeheartedly enjoyed Lankhmar. Not so with Corum....

[Scott Goldie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot of Moorcock's fantasy I find lacking a little depth at times. Some tend to have battle scenes that last too long or have character's that are rather two-dimensional. That said, the worlds that he creates are fantastic - though I do not like reading about those that are too dominated by 'chaos'. However, the second chronicles of Corum have such a sense of authenticity about them: they are epic in a true sense, with a real magic to them. The Fhoi Myore make wonderful adversaries, though it is the wizard Calatin who is the true villain. I have read these several times and still love them. And what an ending!

[Oh Captain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moorcock isn't reinventing his own (eight spoked) wheel here; there is a tortured hero, treacherous enemies and many quests for talismans and supernatural knick-knacks, but what he does, he does very well. And by the time the third book comes around the stakes are so high, allies much loved and Corum has long contemplated the tragic fates of heroes - that I imagine you will race to the end, as did I. It doesn't match Hawkmoon or Elric's sagas, but is still a worthy addition to the Champion Eternal cycle. I fear the day when I have no more Moorcock left to read.

[J.J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collected trilogy is one of my absolute favorite books. Though it's a sequel to the Swords Trilogy, it's a distinct departure from that story's epic universe-hopping. This was a rare book so fascinating that I was tempted to reread it immediately after finishing it. I missed the characters too much.

[Crystaline · Rating 5 out of 5]

A series of short stories involving a man who is trying to save the world from chaos.
Violent and fast paced. Moorcock is a great story teller who creates deep plots and vivid worlds.
This book ties into the Elric series and the Count Brass stories as well.

[Matt Turnbull · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe it's due to the Celtic influence, but I preferred Corum series to the Elric and other Eternal Champions. I read all the Corum when I was younger - would be great to find these again, and re-read particularly with the other Eternal Champions books.

[John Devlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun Sword and sorcery with a Celtic twist.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mandala of Jungian images set in a universe parallel to that of the Elric saga. Not Moorcock's best work, but different and interesting enough to merit reading.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent heroic fantasy. I like the character quite a bit although he is similar in many ways to Elric. Natural since it's part of Moorcock's multiverse hero concept.

[Jamie Moir · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was a good enough follow up to the Swords Trilogy, but the ending sucked. It was rather abrupt and altogether pointless.

[James]

I purchased this a week after the Bull and The Spear and read it reallllllllly fast. Awesome. Also, this collection contains the aforesaid Bull and The Spear.

[Serge Pierro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fans of Moorcock's Elric series will certainly enjoy this one.

[David H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Retroactive Review (21 Jan 2021): Please see my review of the series here under the first volume.

[Britain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. Does not quite match up with the original trilogy; however, the ending was expected given the author. Thus, a neat ending.

[FranklinTV · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read a long while ago. But as it managed to escape the great fantasy book cull, it obviously was an enjoyable read!

[Elar · Rating 4 out of 5]

This trilogy is more like a Elric story, so reading it was very satisfying.

[Frank Montellano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just re-read this again for the first time in many years. I did not remember the ending, nor the strongly druid influence. I like the Swords trilogy better, but this was right up my fantasy alley.

[John Corey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like this is the best written series in the Eternal champion. Certainly better than stormbringer but Corum a bit of a dud when compared to Elric or Hawkmoon.

[Skallagrimsen]

The first Corum trilogy piles image upon astonishing image, gorgeous or grotesque in turn. The action is non-stop, with our ethereal protagonist, Corum Jhaelen Irsei, whisking from world to world like so many stops on a subway, battling monsters, gods, and an a repugnant upstart species called "Man" along the way. It's full of tragedy, sex, violence, vengeance and irony. I posit that by the time Michael Moorcock wrote Corum, he's had honed his style and skill to the point where he could improvise a fantasy trilogy like a jazz virtuoso improvising melodies.

This sequel trilogy moves from a realm of pure imagination towards one transparently inspired by Celtic mythology. In theory, I like the idea. In practice, I preferred the original. By the time he wrote the sequel, I gather Moorcock was less passionate about such fare. His ambitions had moved to more serious literature. I believe he regarded Corum as among the least significant of his works. But they were my introduction to his magical imagination. They remain a nostalgic favorite. The second trilogy was slower, darker, somewhat more grounded. I loved it too, just not as much. I only read it two or three times. But I lost track of the number of times I went through the original three.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This summer I decided to read all the Corum stories at once and started this following The Swords Trilogy, which featured the first three. In hindsight, I wished I spaced them out as I found myself really struggling towards the end and focusing more on finishing this book than enjoying it. That said, even when I'm not that into him, Moorcock is in a league all his own when it comes to Fantasy. Each book was pretty grim with truly not a ton going on. But Moorcock's descriptive abilities and richly drawnn characters kept me interested. Highly recommend if you're a fan of the Fantasy genre and want to see another approach or if you want to sample the breadth of Moorcock's daunting catalogue.