Fantasy legend Michael Moorcock won hundreds of thousands of readers with his vast and imaginative multiverse, in which Law and Chaos wage war ... read full description
reviews
Mar 16, 2009
Paul
rated it: 
First of a series, this fantasy story is about Count Brass, a man who runs the small kingdom of Kamarg, in what we know as southern France. He wants to spend his remaining years in peace and serenity, so he has no interest in allying with anyone, against anyone. Kamarg is also the last holdout against the forces of Granbretan, the Dark Empire, who have been uniting the many warring factions in Europe.
Baron Meliadus, the right-hand man to the Granbretan king, pays a visit to talk alli More...
Baron Meliadus, the right-hand man to the Granbretan king, pays a visit to talk alli More...
Jan 31, 2012
Thanos
rated it: 
Michael Moorcock is a writer whose influence in the fantasy genre can be compared even to that of Tolkien and no one can deny that.
Still, I am greatly disappointed by “The jewel in the Skull” for many reasons.
Firsts of all there is the same problem with this book that exists in all the Eternal Champion novels. Moorcock has a fondness for iconic heroes. You know who I mean; Elric the albino prince, the one-eyed and one-handed Corum and in this case Hawkmoon the German duke with the More...
Still, I am greatly disappointed by “The jewel in the Skull” for many reasons.
Firsts of all there is the same problem with this book that exists in all the Eternal Champion novels. Moorcock has a fondness for iconic heroes. You know who I mean; Elric the albino prince, the one-eyed and one-handed Corum and in this case Hawkmoon the German duke with the More...
Nov 18, 2011
Shannon
rated it:
It's a 3 1/2 story but I gave it 4 stars as I felt some of the reviewers were too harsh.
OVERALL FEELING: Evil Empire trying to take over an alternative European world; standard pulp swords and sorcery; easy read; somewhat good; few interesting points; some interesting characters; some are caricatures; flows well.
MARKETING APPEAL: This story came about in the 60s, I believe, when pulp sci fi magazines were a big thing; I doubt it made a lot of money at first but the Eternal Champio More...
OVERALL FEELING: Evil Empire trying to take over an alternative European world; standard pulp swords and sorcery; easy read; somewhat good; few interesting points; some interesting characters; some are caricatures; flows well.
MARKETING APPEAL: This story came about in the 60s, I believe, when pulp sci fi magazines were a big thing; I doubt it made a lot of money at first but the Eternal Champio More...
Jul 25, 2011
Johnny
rated it: 
Moorcock only wrote one "Eternal Champion" book. He just gave it multiple titles and filled in the rest like an anti-hero "Mad Libs". Fortunately for me, I liked the book and can see it all as just variations of some desert I really enjoy.
Here is an overview of "The Book". Feel free to use it for Corum, Erekose, Elric or what-have-you.
A juvenile, self absorbed, doomed, ant-hero archetype sets out to destroy the the "Freaked Out Evil Brit More...
Here is an overview of "The Book". Feel free to use it for Corum, Erekose, Elric or what-have-you.
A juvenile, self absorbed, doomed, ant-hero archetype sets out to destroy the the "Freaked Out Evil Brit More...
Sep 16, 2009
Jorge
rated it:
Una historia de fantasía entretenida, de fácil lectura, pero con personajes demasiado planos y mal manejo del suspenso. En lugar de dosificar elementos y centrarse en los principales, Moorcock utiliza centenares de páginas en describir elementos, personajes y situaciones irrelevantes para la historia principal.
Lo divertido de la historia es que más parece el relato de las aventuras de un PJ de un juego de rol, ya que el protagonista desconoce la sutileza: entre penetrar subrepticiame More...
Lo divertido de la historia es que más parece el relato de las aventuras de un PJ de un juego de rol, ya que el protagonista desconoce la sutileza: entre penetrar subrepticiame More...
Sep 03, 2010
Steven
rated it:
This is an old school Euro style capital K-Knight in shiny shiny armor, battling the bad and nasty monsters and evil foreign evil empire. Written at a more simple time (hahaha more like simple mind) it is a tale of good vs bad, corrupt vs just. it takes place in a post apocalyptic collapse of world civilization where magic Reigns supreme.
The story contains fantastical beast, mechanical and humanoid creations both living and dead and cities and castles that never could have existed. I wish More...
The story contains fantastical beast, mechanical and humanoid creations both living and dead and cities and castles that never could have existed. I wish More...
Nov 21, 2010
Mike (the Paladin)
rated it: 
Maybe not quite as good as Elric, form a "coldly logical" point of view, but I have a real soft spot for the Hawkmoon novels. This is close to the edition I read first (same cover but I read it in '74). These novels (2 Hawkmoon series) could be called the culmination of the Eternal Champion Cycle.
I stumbled on this book when I had very limited access to books. Someone else had "donated it to the cause" (I was in a situation where we all shared any book that came t More...
I stumbled on this book when I had very limited access to books. Someone else had "donated it to the cause" (I was in a situation where we all shared any book that came t More...
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Jan 23, 2008
Robert
rated it:
Michael Moorcock, The Jewel in the Skull (DAW, 1967)
Dorian Hawkmoon, the last Duke of Koln, is another of Moorcock's instances of the Eternal Champion. Hawkmoon's tales are especially amusing, as the world on which Hawkmoon adventures is the nearest allegory to the world we know in Moorcock's sword-and-sorcery writing.
Count Brass, protector of the south-Provence country of Kamarg, is content to be left in peace in his castle as the Dark Empire sweeps down over Europe from the More...
Dorian Hawkmoon, the last Duke of Koln, is another of Moorcock's instances of the Eternal Champion. Hawkmoon's tales are especially amusing, as the world on which Hawkmoon adventures is the nearest allegory to the world we know in Moorcock's sword-and-sorcery writing.
Count Brass, protector of the south-Provence country of Kamarg, is content to be left in peace in his castle as the Dark Empire sweeps down over Europe from the More...
Oct 28, 2010
Karen
rated it:
I think this was the first Moorcock I ever read. As a teenager it really sparked my imagination, but rereading it now it just seems a bit blah.
The sexism is even worse than the last Moorcock I read, as there is only one female character in the whole book, and all she gets to do is look decorative and be an object to be stolen or loved. She barely exists outside of her value to other characters. I can only hope that she gets more agency in later volumes, but I don't hold out much hop
The sexism is even worse than the last Moorcock I read, as there is only one female character in the whole book, and all she gets to do is look decorative and be an object to be stolen or loved. She barely exists outside of her value to other characters. I can only hope that she gets more agency in later volumes, but I don't hold out much hop
Jun 26, 2008
Sarah
rated it: 
By all accounts I should have loved The Jewel in the Skull by Michael Moorcock. I normally enjoy his twisted take on things. This one has plot elements I normally enjoy; it's a post apocalyptic fantasy with a mixture of science and magic but the book just left me cold. I put it down after the first sixty pages.
This first volume in the four volume History of the Runestaff series is deceptively short (160 pages or so) but dense. At the same time it's incredibly stupid. It's somewhere b More...
This first volume in the four volume History of the Runestaff series is deceptively short (160 pages or so) but dense. At the same time it's incredibly stupid. It's somewhere b More...
Mar 21, 2011
Joe
rated it:
This is a great fantasy novel that is not quite as wacky as some of MM's others. It's a long time since I've read it, but it's only just left my collection along with many other of my MM books (lucky for customers at Barnardo's in Lincoln!), but as soon as I read the back cover it brought it back.
Feb 20, 2011
Mike
rated it:
Gold ornithopters, red riding flamingos, blue horses, black jewel, green clovers and purple horseshoes.
Sword play and questing, with uninteresting characters, but I enjoyed the odd creature or two.
Not my type of story, I could barely muster interest.
It was, however, mercifully short.
Sword play and questing, with uninteresting characters, but I enjoyed the odd creature or two.
Not my type of story, I could barely muster interest.
It was, however, mercifully short.
Feb 01, 2012
Sebina (Classicmaiden)
rated it:
I'm so glad I finally read my first Michael Moorcock. Will definitely read the rest of this 4 book series and later, hopefully, I will read the subsequent trilogy... We'll see... I also want to get to his Elric books. I've heard for a long time about the so-called Moorcockian Multiverse, and I want to read more and get into that!
Seriously, I LOVED this book! It was... amazing; great prose writing, a wonderfully easy-to-read and fast-paced book, brilliant world-building within a 224 pag More...
Seriously, I LOVED this book! It was... amazing; great prose writing, a wonderfully easy-to-read and fast-paced book, brilliant world-building within a 224 pag More...
Apr 10, 2009
Al
rated it:
My edition seems to be from a different editor, Mayflower, but it's not listed, and these seems the closer one, in cover and age.
Mi edicion parece ser de otro editor, Mayflower, pero no aparece listada, y esta parece la mas sililar, en portada y epoca.
Mi edicion parece ser de otro editor, Mayflower, pero no aparece listada, y esta parece la mas sililar, en portada y epoca.
Feb 21, 2011
pulp pure pulp, and great for it, this is moorcock before he became the great modern bastion of the fantastic in literature and it is this book and other early works that provide the reason why he has become that.
Aug 29, 2010
Pepper
rated it:
This book is perfectly balanced. Just enough action to keep it light and fast paced, just enough character to make you care. If I had a scale of 1-10 instead of just five, this book would get a full ten.
Aug 03, 2010
Chris
rated it:
This book seemed to have a decent plot, but I found that the exposition was really poor. It felt more like I was reading through a long summary of the story rather than the story itself; each element was introduced and then resolved without much emotion in the writing at all. Characters' moods and opinions changed however the story needed them to with little realism or explanation. Problems tended to be resolved very simply and quickly, but rather than seeming to have "Mary Sue" cha
More...
Dec 06, 2010
Grim
rated it:
Very, very average book, but I guess that's what you get when you read groundbreaking dark fantasy 43 years late.
meh
meh
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Jun 27, 2011
Cody
rated it:
Read on my nook. It was interesting enough but hasn't aged all that well. I'll probably read the next book in the series, but I'm not super excited about it.
Sep 18, 2011
Douglas
rated it:
Good artwork and smooth prose, but the characters just didn't captivate me enough.
Apr 16, 2011
(I have been told to make sure that I take antidepressants before reading this.)
Jan 26, 2009
Jimbo
rated it:
a pretty good story about a hero that has a device implanted into his skull that lets the bad guys watch him and gives them leverage to controls his actions. easy to read, typical moorcock style. fantasy with a bit of sci-fi mixed within. strange creatures, medievil warfare.
Jan 17, 2012
Natalien
rated it:
Too predictable, the story not engaging enough, the language simple. War, so much war, but without profanity, sex, drunkards - it's not very convincing. There is blood at least. Played a black humour with the names of the Kingdoms. My first novel by Michael Moorcock.
Sep 30, 2010
Steven
rated it:
See The book review for "the mad god's amulet" written by the same author, same series
Jan 05, 2008
Mark
rated it:
In a decaying society, a hero's fate is bound to a mysterious magical artifact which encompasses his success and his doom. In other words, exactly like every other Michael Moorcock book. I did like that the Dark Empire is Granbreton (= a future Great Britain).
Oct 06, 2011
Keith
rated it:
A kind of dark, definitely offbeat, fantasy quest series set in an alternate Europe ruled by an empire of animal-mask wearing British. Part of the Eternal Champion cycle.
