[Bargain] A short tale of Morlock Ambrosius

[Periklis, Fafhrd (Emeritus)]

"The story you are about to read features James Enge’s wondrous character, Morlock Ambrosius. Morlock is a swordsman, an exile, a hunchback, a drunk, and a wizard, though he himself would use the term “Maker” and say he is a master of the two arts, Seeing and Making. He is a modern descendant of the sword and sorcery adventurer that was birthed in the pages of Weird Tales magazine, and Enge himself has been favorably compared to Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, David Eddings, Steven Brust, and, interestingly, Raymond Chandler."

Read Traveller's Rest for free on Amazon Kindle and epub.

[Robin]

This is the only Morlock Ambrosius story I've read to date, but I enjoyed it a great deal. It reads a little like a spaghetti western mixed with Elric.

[Periklis, Fafhrd (Emeritus)]

Phil wrote: "This is the only Morlock Ambrosius story I've read to date, but I enjoyed it a great deal. It reads a little like a spaghetti western mixed with Elric."

I have yet to read this myself, but from the first two Morlock books I've read, the shorter stories work far better than the longer ones. And "spaghetti western mixed with Elric" is a great Phil. I'd read more fiction in that definition.

[Paul]

I thought this was one of the better Morlock short stories. I really enjoyed it.

What is it you didn't like about the longer ones, Periklis? I was thinking about checking them out next.

[[deleted user]]

I think Enge gets better with each novel -- if I were basing my opinion solely on the first two books (which are his first novel and a 'fixup' of Morlock shorts that mostly originally appeared in Black Gate) I would also come to the same conclusion as Periklis.

Partially that's because the Morlock shorts are just so damn good, that it would take a really terrific novel to compete. In The Wolf Age and the latest novel, A Guile of Dragons (which kicks of a 'prequel' trilogy for a younger Morlock) Enge has produced novels that compare favorably with his brilliant shorts.

Any of those books could be read in any order, though the new trilogy looks to be linear.

[Periklis, Fafhrd (Emeritus)]

Paul wrote: "I thought this was one of the better Morlock short stories. I really enjoyed it.

What is it you didn't like about the longer ones, Periklis? I was thinking about checking them out next."

It's not what I didn't like about the novels, but what I liked best about the shorter Morlock tales. Blood of Ambrose felt more like reading three separate novelettes than a novel and This Crooked Way felt like a collection with short linking chapters that felt a little redundant.
Phil's "spaghetti western" comparison is spot-on, describing almost any Morlock short story. The gun/sword-slinger enters a "situation" which resonates with his past, confronts the antagonist who is (often) morally ambiguous and exits with (most of the times) visible scars.
I would recommend each and every Morlock book, I just enjoy this short format best.

[Paul]

Periklis wrote: "I would recommend each and every Morlock book, I just enjoy this short format best"

Makes sense to me. Thanks. I'll go ahead and try these out then. The "spaghetti western" feel is a big part of why I've enjoyed the short stories so much.

[Paul]

After reading Blood of Ambrose, I have to agree that the short stories work much better than the novels.

[Periklis, Fafhrd (Emeritus)]

Paul wrote: "After reading Blood of Ambrose, I have to agree that the short stories work much better than the novels."

I'm sure you'll enjoy This Crooked Way much more. I'm planning on reading The Wolf Age sometime soon. The mixture of werewolves and politics is really enticing.