The Sword and the Stallion (Eternal Champion: Corum #6) 3.5Stars

 

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Title: The Sword and the Stallion
Series: Eternal Champion: Corum #6
Author: Michael Moorcock
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 122
Words: 43K

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Depressing as all get out. Corum almost dooms humanity and wastes months of time and then the love of his new life, Queen Medbh, is the instrument of his death. He has a nice shiny white sword named Traitor, that while not exactly the same of Elric’s Stormbringer, has many of the same properties, including lending strength to the user while it kills. And of course it lives up to it’s name, just like Stormbringer did for Elric.

 
Overall, this felt like Moorcock let things run out with a whimper. The Corum in this story does not feel like the Corum from the previous books. Corum from the Coming of Chaos trilogy was one consistent character. In this Prince of the Silver Hand trilogy it felt like the adventure determined what the character, who just happened to be named Corum, would be like. Really could have replaced Corum with any random Adventurer and it would have probably felt better. I can’t pin down exactly what made things feel this way, but it just hit me enough in all 3 books that I needed to mention it.

I mentioned in The Oak and the Ram that I thought this would be the last time I ever read the Eternal Champion stories. This book made that a surety and it convinced me not to try the Hawkmoon books either, not the original Hawkmoon series nor the sequel Castle Brass trilogy. So thanks for all the good memories, author, but I’ve outgrown you. Don’t feel bad because you’re not a Dickens or an Austen or even a Rex Stout, not many authors are after all.

★★★✬☆

On a side note, in one of my previous reviews, someone showcased a very psychedelic cover for the book. I tracked down all three of them and wanted to include them in this review. They are far out man, and you’ll be well served to remember that we used to have covers like this on a regular basis. I leave it up to you to decide if the passing of such things is good or bad.

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From Bookstooge.blog

Corum, with his human allies and the two remaining Siddhi allies, are on the eve of attacking the remaining Frost gods and to save the world for humanity. Corum hears about some allies on a magical island and along with one of the siddhi, goes there to attempt an alliance. Unfortunately, they are not very good allies and thus Corum and the siddhi miss the battle. The wizard Calatin creates a double of Corum and allies it with the frost gods, making Corum’s friends think he has turned traitor. Corum kills Calatin and does make an alliance with the Island Inhabitants. Unfortunately, humanity is on the verge of being wiped out and Corum is met with distrust upon his return. Thankfully, he persuades humanity to accept him and his new allies and the frost gods are either killed or returned to Limbo. The magician of the humans takes a magic artifact and helps the Island Inhabitants to return to their original plane of existence. Corum is offered a chance to end the cycle of death and rebirth as the Eternal Champion and live in a land of peace and happiness forever. He turns it down because he wants to be with Medbh, the queen of the humans. She attempts to kill him with a slingstone made from the brains of the evil duplicate and Corum’s new sword (a white counterpoint to Elric’s, appropriately named Traitor) and his silver hand deliver the coupe de grace. Corum dies and the cycle continues. The End.

• Corum: The Prince with the Silver Hand trilogy (2000 “Review”)

• All of My “Corum” Reviews