Book Review: 'The War Hound and the World's Pain' by Michael Moorcock
'The War Hound and the World's Pain' first was published in 1981 in the U.S. as a Timescape book (239 pp.) from Pocket Books, with cover art by Rowena Morrill.
In August, 1983, the New English Library published a larger-size paperback version (198 pp.) for the U.K. market, with cover art by Chris Achilleos.
'War Hound' is the first volume in the so-called von Bek series, which concludes with 'The City in the Autumn Stars' (1986).
'War Hound' is set in Europe in the year 1631, in the midst of the Thirty Year's War. The protagonist, Captain Ulrich von Bek, is a soldier of fortune, serving various polities and religions depending who offers the most reliable pay. von Bek has no illusions about the sanctity of these religious wars, preferring to observe the mayhem with an attitude of calculated indifference.
After participating in the notorious siege of the German city Magdeburg, von Bek finds his studied callousness disturbed by the atrocities visited upon the city's hapless people. He decides to remove himself from the sphere of the War, and wanders into the deeper forests of Germany. There he comes across an unusually tranquil setting, a setting dominated by a resplendent castle.......with no living beings inside it.
In due course an alluring woman named Sabrina arrives, attended by undead servants, and it becomes clear to von Bek that the castle and its environs are steeped in the supernatural. von Bek learns from Sabrina that the lord of the castle is none other than Lucifer himself. And Lucifer has a task for him..........a task that von Bek cannot refuse, on pain on being condemned forever to Hell.
Hoping to save his soul from Hell, and win the lady Sabrina, von Bek sets off across the known worlds and the world between the worlds. His journey will take him to the haunts of the Wild Hunt, encounters with a fanatical persecutor of heretics, and confrontations with demons and devils. For even though von Bek serves the aims of Lucifer, some of the creatures of Hell have their own reasons for wanting to see his quest fail...........
I found 'War Hound' to be a disappointment.
Much of narrative (indeed, the first 50+ pages) is devoted to lengthy passages of dialogue in which the characters engage in philosophical discussions. The action sequences that are commonplace in Moorcock's older fantasy novels are effective, but reduced in number, in the pages of 'War Hound'. The only character with any sort of personality is one Philander Groot, who is an incarnation of Jerry Cornelius.
It's not disclosing spoilers to say that Moorcock's aim with 'War Hound' is to compose a fantasy novel with a Message, the Message being that humanism is the only viable alternative to the dashed hopes that are integral to any religious belief. But the novel's approach to imparting this stance is overly labored, and, in the closing chapters, not very convincing.
Each reader will of course have to draw his or her own conclusions as to whether they agree with Moorcock, but for me, the justification for replacing religion with humanism, as expounded in 'The War Hound and the World's Pain', seemed glib and facile. I finished the book content with providing a two-star Rating, and with no overwhelming desire to pursue the sequel.
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