#the runestaff series

[retroillustrates]

The Eternal Championesses

I've made half of a FB group mad with this art. It's so funny.

[sbriercollision]

Very relevant for my story as well, since I have Jeffrey Ashraf Singh, a Pakistani-American of mixed heritage (not yet sure what his mother is/was) and someone who, in one of their origin universes is African-American/Northern Irish (which is why they attended Hogwarts) and while this version isn't a major character, that other version matters to someone who is and has to interact with the one who is a mix of two otherworldly heritages with the same physiological result (who attends an Imperial Magic school in his universe), both versions of which are trans-wizard vampires which confuses the fuck out of their common were-phoenix friend who is also different-but-the-same in each universe. I think Sharan was some kind of mix, but I can't remember what (though, I think it might have included Polynesian, maybe Maori?), before she sacrificed herself and had her dragon husband place her soul into a runestaff.

And I'm doing both human & non-human mixes (I have way too many main characters, but I'm not cutting back). I have a hybrid species character raised at different times in their two species cultures and had to find their own place between them. Then, I don't know how to classify Jenny Doctor, since her fucked up regeneration can cause her to be literally two different races at once while the 'old self' dies and is replaced by the 'new self' and she's going to die a couple times. In her case, for a significant part of the story she'll look like she has vitiligo or some kind of human-chimerism. She's technically a Galifrayan/human hybrid due to the QuickClone process, but... other than an extra heart and some extra temporal senses, being able to live for a lot longer, and regenerating a few times, they aren't much different from human anyway. And there's Dabby, who's a lot of things, but started as a mix of feline alien, canine alien, and giant four armed brute alien (Densadron) before incorporating mutagenic insectile hivemind physiology (Zerg) as well.

I've also got characters 'adopted' into other cultures. A dragon adopted by an Ojibwe tribe before Canada was colonized (he still tends to shapeshift into the form of his old Chief who he viewed as his father), and a four-legged feline person adopted by a wealthy human who kept hir from getting to learn much about hir own people, stunting hir growth for many years and forcing hir to go through quite a culture shock when shi finally went to hir people's 'designated home world'. Hmm, and a nanite swarm who chooses to look like his adoptive father's son (as algorithmically derived).

Then there's the characters who I don't know their actual heritage, only some of the characteristics. The Black Flag has 'copper skin' and 'unruly black hair', and given that she's in a 'wild-west' type setting, I assume she'd be played by someone of a 'plains Indian' heritage if her story were a movie/series. I know RetroSpecter is black, but that's about it for her so far. Since Thorn & Dick are very much me at different points in my life, they'd be some kind of English/Dutch/French/Scottish meld. And all I know about Michael's human form is that he's something white that isn't Irish (so he could be a friendly foil for Caleb talking about the Troubles) and he's spent many years in the USA before going to Hogwarts.

I don't think I ever decided on what Clair looked like before she became a brain in a jar, and thus, what she projects with her holograms/virtual reality avatar.

And I don't think earth heritages are still much a concept after thousands of years of the Orokin Empire for my Tenno character Reyvan.

Yeah, I think that's all my human presenting characters, and a few non-human presenting. For any of the others, these considerations just don't make sense to apply at all.

Hi there this is a psa by your local mixed kid

Mixed rep in the media as a whole is kinda a fucking disaster so I'm definitely encouraging people to write more diverse mixed race characters!!! That being said give this handy dandy little guide a read to make sure you have a basic idea of what you're doing. And also. Y'know. Maybe dont make your mixed characters nonhuman. Just a thought

[whattoreadnext]

MOORCOCK, Michael

British novelist (born 1939)

In the 1960s Moorcock edited the science fiction magazine New Worlds, pioneering and encouraging New Wave writing, which attempted to give science fiction a new social and political relevance to the time. Moorcock’s own New Wave work is at its peak in his Jerry Cornelius books (including The English Assassin and The Final Programme), which are less straightforward novels than firework displays of ideas,magical mystery tours round one man’s overheated brain. In later books Moorcock returned to a more sober style, still crammed with ideas but much easier to read. Many of his novels offer alternative versions of the present (Warlord of the Air, for example, imagines a twentieth century where the First World War never happened and the old nineteenth-century empires, British, Austrian, Russian and German, are still jockeying for power). Others (Gloriana, The Jewel in the Skull) are satires about societies which are dark and decadent perversions of our own. All of Moorcock’s work, however, is interlinked at some level, a reflection of ‘the multiverse’ he has imagined, the interconnected, parallel universes through which his characters travel. Jerry Cornelius, Elric of Melnibone (doomed albino prince of a dying race in some of Moorcock’s best sword-and-sorcery titles), Corum, Hawkmoon, Von Bek and others are all avatars of the Eternal Champion, Moorcock’s Hero With a Thousand Faces.

DANCERS AT THE END OF TIME  (1981) A good starting-point to Moorcock’s multifarious, dazzling work is the series Dancers at the End of Time (An Alien Heat, The Hollow Lands, The End of All Songs and a cluster of less closely related novels). The time is the very last days of the universe. The few hundred surviving members of the human race control vast energies: anything desired can be obtained by twisting a 'power ring'. Jerek Cornelian (the last human being ever to be born, an avatar of Jerry Cornelius from the earlier novels) falls in love with a strait-laced Victorian time-traveller, Mrs Amelia Underwood. He follows her back in time, and is promptly stranded in the slums of Victorian London: a typical Moorcock idea, allowing him to collapse history, fantasy, social commitment and literary parody - Cornelian gives D H.G. Wells the idea for The Time Machine unpredictable experience.

Many of Moorcock’s novels are grouped in series: The Chronicles of the Black Sword, The High History of the Runestaff, The Chronicles of Castle Brass, The Books of Corum, The History of the Eternal Champion. Byzantium Endures, The Laughter of Carthage and Jerusalem Commands are three epic novels which follow the scheming Colonel Pyat through the story, real and imagined, of the twentieth century. Mother London and King of the City are non-science fiction novels, dazzling recreations of London lives past and present.

READ ON

Behold the Man (time traveller arrives in Judaea at the time of Christ)

The Jewel in the Skull

The Dancers at the End of Time

To Mother London : Iain Snclair, Downriver Maureen Duffy, Capital

to other New Wave SF writers : Brian Aldiss , Galaxies Like Grains of Sand J.G. Ballard, The Terminal Beach

J.G. Ballard, The Day of Creation Robert Heinlein, The Number of the Beast Robert Silverberg, Tom O'Bedlam Robert E. Vardeman Victor Milan, The War of Powers

 more :Tags  Pathways  Themes & Places

[librarycomic]

During the pandemic I've been reading books that have been sitting on my shelves for years, as well as buying old science fiction and fantasy paperbacks with ridiculous covers. Most are unreadable. These were fun.

The Mad God's Amulet: The Second Volume In The History Of The Runestaff by Michael Moorcock. DAW, 1977. 0886772168. 223pp.

This is my favorite volume in the Runestaff series because of that amazing cover. Look at that cat! I know that look -- that's what my cat Soup looks like right before he pounces. (Unfortunately Soup does not have spines or a spear-tipped tail.)

In this book Dorian Hawkmoon and his hairy friend Oladahn fight the forces of the Dark Empire of Granbretan as Hawkmoon tries to return to Castle Brass and Hawkmoon's fiancee, Yisselda, from far in the east. It's insane in a fun way and reminds me of Conan stories and episodes of Thundarr the Barbarian. Contains ornithopters, mad pirates, bad guys in bestial armor, and just enough violence.

Exiles of Colsec by Douglas Hill. Bantam Starfire, 1988. 0553272330. 164pp.

Teens sent to prison find out they've been sent to secure and start to colonize an alien planet for a corporation. After a horrific crash landing, they face hostile alien worm-things (see the cover) as well as aliens riled up by an insanely violent dude who was on their ship. Our hero is Scottish. This early YA novel is almost as much fun as Hill's The Last Legionary series, and it has several sequels.

Circus of the Scars: The True Inside Odyssey of a Modern Circus Sideshow by Jan. T. Gregor with Tim "Zamora the Torture King" Cridland. Illustrated by Ashleigh Talbot. Brennan Dalsgard Publishers, 1998. 0966347900. 383pp.  http://www.madametalbot.com/pix/oddments/oddment139.htm

In the early 1990s, in Seattle, I saw the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow twice. The second time I took my grandmother. I'm not sure what grossed her out more: seeing Mr. Lifto suspend concrete blocks from his pierced nipples (and then his penis), watching Matt the Tube draw the beer and everything else he'd imbibed from his stomach (and then drink it with several audience members), or witnessing Jim Rose hammer a large nail into his face (and then pull it back out). This is the inside story of all the fun and behind-the-scenes assholery. (Gregor did so many things for the troupe I'm not sure what to call him.) The level of detail is both kinda fun and exhausting, and brings all of the personalities involved to life. Rose himself does not come off well. (If you want his side of all of this, read his book Freak Like Me.) Talbot's amazing illustrations and caricatures really tie everything together.

[multiverseforger]

Selene is the oldest known human mutant. Functionally immortal, her millennia-long life is attributed to her ability to drain the life essence from other beings to extend her own existence indefinitely. Her name derives from the ancient lunar deity Selene, daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia. Claiming to have already been old when modern mankind was just emerging, Selene was born over 17,000 years ago somewhere in what is now Central Europe, "after the Oceans swallowed Atlantis and before the rise of the Aryas". Her tribe's elders recognized her for what she was and commanded the entire tribe, including her own mother, to sacrifice their lives to feed her.[3]

Hyborian AgeEdit

Selene was revealed to have been an old enemy of the sorcerer Kulan Gath.[4] Kulan Gath was active during the Hyborian Age (before any recorded civilizations) and is known to have faced both Conan the Barbarian and Red Sonja. In fact, Sonja reportedly managed to kill him and his spirit would not manifest again until the modern era.[5] Thus, Selene was active at least as early as the Hyborian age.

Rome and EliphasEdit

Selene came to reside in Rome during the height of its empire. She approached Eliphas, a well-respected senator whose wife had left him for a general named Mascius. Selene offered him immortality in exchange for helping her kill and absorb every soul in Rome. Eliphas went about drawing pentagrams and performing rituals at several locations in the city, but warned a small girl to get her family out. The girl's father alerted the authorities and Eliphas and Selene were captured before the spell could be carried out. Just before they were burned at the stake Selene killed the guards. She then cursed Eliphas for his perceived betrayal with an eternal life of torture, transforming him into a vampire-like creature. Eliphas was buried alive for 700 years until a farmer discovered him in his field.[6]

Nova RomaEdit

In relatively recent times, Selene was trapped for centuries in the Amazon in the Romanesque town of Nova Roma. She was worshipped as a goddess and worked to maintain the isolation of the town so she could maintain control. Eliphas, having at some point in time changed his name to "Eli Bard," finally locates Selene in Nova Roma. Still in love with her despite her curse, Bard realizes that he must make an offering to her before he approaches her. She also was able to marry several times and have descendants, including Amara Aquilla. Her most recent known husband was Marcus Domitius Gallio, a senator of Nova Roma.

In Nova Roma, Selene attempted to kill Amara Aquilla. She knocked Amara into a lava pool, thereby releasing her latent mutant powers, as Magma. Selene fought and defeated Magma, and plotted to turn Danielle Moonstar into a psychic vampire like herself and conquer the world. Selene fought the New Mutants, and was cast into lava and buried alive.[7]

Becoming the Black QueenEdit

Selene directed her worshippers to undertake tasks that eventually allowed her to leave Nova Roma. She made her way to New York City, where she encountered Juggernaut at a bar. Selene planned to seduce and murder him, but was prevented when Wolverine manipulated a bar-room brawl between Juggernaut and Colossus. She then discovered the existence of��Rachel Summers, whom she sought to turn into a slave only to be defeated by the X-Men. Prior to the X-Men saving her, Selene had tracked Rachel down to the home of a young man named Nicholas Damiano who had let the homeless Rachel spend the night at his place. Selene savagely murdered the young man, resulting in Rachel swearing revenge against Selene.[8]

With help from one of her worshippers, Friedrich Von Roehm, Selene made contact with the Hellfire Club and forced the group to take her on as the new Black Queen. She became critical in the X-Men's attempt to stop Kulan Gath, after he conquered New York City with a reality-altering spell though she ultimately attempted to doublecross the X-Men in order to steal Gath's talisman of power.[9]

Selene's time with the Hellfire Club was a turbulent time, due to her contempt for Sebastian Shaw and quite open desire to rule the Hellfire Club as its sole leader. This led Shaw and Emma Frost to conspire to kill Selene by manipulating and training the young mutant Firestar to assassinate her. This failed when Firestar realized what their plan.[10]

Selene and the Hellfire Club's relationship with the X-Men came to a head with Rachel Summers making an unauthorized assassination attempt on Selene. Wolverine felt honor-bound to prevent Rachel from becoming a murderer, and so, saved Selene's life by severely injuring Summers. Selene herself was enraged, and used the incident to force the Lords Cardinal to agree to hunt and kill Rachel. A battle over this issue immediately commenced between the X-Men and Lords Cardinal, but it was unexpectedly halted when it drew the attention of Nimrod, the super-sentinel who had murdered Selene's assistant Rhoem,[11] and was as bent on killing the X-Men and the Lords Cardinal. The Lords Cardinal and the X-Men hastily agreed to a truce, fighting well-enough to cause Nimrod to flee.

After this battle, in the pages of New Mutants, much was made about Selene having secret plans involving Nova Roma and Magma. Due to her love for Empath, Magma left the New Mutants to join the Hellions, only to be called home by her father to enter into an arranged marriage with a resident there. Magma's escort back home to Nova Roma turned out to be Empath, who ultimately decided to stay in the city with her. The two became lovers and Magma was freed from her arranged marriage plans so that she could be with him.[volume & issue needed]

Writer changes and the book's transition into X-Force caused the storyline to be aborted.[citation needed] Furthermore, it was revealed in New Warriors #31, via Empath, that Nova Roma was nothing more than an elaborate lie, concocted by Selene several decades prior. In a desperate bid to relive happier days in which she lived in ancient Rome, Selene arranged for hundreds of people to be kidnapped and taken to the jungles of the Amazon, to a city constructed per her designs. There she was somehow able to utterly brainwash her prisoners to believe themselves descendants of ancient Romans living in the Amazon. Magma was one of these kidnapped and brainwashed souls, according to Empath. The city was disbanded and the residents returned to their regular lives across the globe.

Years later, due to Chris Claremont wishing to undo writer Fabian Nieciza's dismantling of the concept of Nova Roma,[citation needed] Claremont ignored said story and wrote Magma as she had been originally. He later had Magma make cryptic references to having been manipulated into believing Nova Roma was a lie by parties unknown that sought to hurt Magma. Furthermore, the five-issue mini-series "New Mutants Forever" revealed that Claremont originally planned on revealing Magma to be Selene's granddaughter. This family connection would be stated as well (with no build-up) in New Mutants V3 #6-8, which had Selene resurrect Magma's teammate Cypher to try to kill Magma. Furthermore, it was strongly implied during "Necrosha" that Sebastian Shaw and Emma Frost manipualted the Empath/Magma relationship in order to get Empath inside Nova Roma.[volume & issue needed] In the event that Selene struck first and eliminated both, Empath would then use his powers to dismantle the city via convincing the residents that their lives were lies concocted by Selene.

Selene ultimately was the deciding vote to vote Sebastian Shaw out of the Hellfire Club, when tension between Shaw and the newly recruited White King Magneto came to blows.[12] Unknown to Magneto or Emma Frost, however, Selene had decided that she no longer had any need for the Club and began plotting its destruction by gathering an army of young mutants, with help from the mutant omnipath known as the Gamesmaster, calling them the Upstarts. Under her authority, the Upstarts engaged in a killing spree that led to many presumed deaths (Magneto, Sebastian Shaw, Donald Pierce, and the Reavers), mortal injuries (Emma Frost), and outright deaths (the Hellions). Selene manipulated her young followers with the promise of a game, where each murder committed would land them points that would ultimately lead to them being granted a prize, described as "being the next best thing to immortality" by the Gamemaster. However, with another writer change, Selene's involvement with the Upstarts was cut short as she herself was betrayed by Trevor Fitzroy. Selene was kept in a torture device that repeatedly ripped her flesh from her body (to attract the attention of the Gamesmaster, who took advantage of the situation to proclaim himself the new leader of the Upstarts). She would be freed by Amanda Sefton, though the torture left her weak and scarred.[volume & issue needed]

Needing to replenish her power, Selene first attacked and killed the other surviving Externals. Though she was opposed by X-Force, she managed to complete the slaughter and knock out the mutants, until Cable arrived. Selene's attempt to absorb Cable's life backfired when she touched his techno-organic arm and she was forced to flee to maintain her power. Shortly afterwards, she tried to access the power of a mystical convergence using a Runestaff made from the roots of Yggdrasil, the Norse World Tree. She came to the Exploding Colossal Man festival in New Mexico, but was again opposed by X-Force, who managed to wrest the Runestaff away from her and destroy the Colossal Man mannequin it activated. Selene missed her opportunity for ultimate power and vowed vengeance on X-Force.[volume & issue needed]

She next appeared back in Brazil, where she had tracked Sunspot, along with Deviants posing as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. She lured Sunspot to her defense, and offered him a position of power in the Hellfire Club, which he refused, regardless of the illusions with which she tempted him. However, Sunspot went along with Selene to stop the Deviants in the Damocles Foundation from activating a Celestial Gatherer. Selene herself was attacked by the Sword strike team, but she managed to cast a spell that devolved them back to lizards. Along with the rest of X-Force, Selene was able to usurp control of the machinery that activated the Gatherer, but Moonstar and Arcadia destroyed the Celestial artifact before Selene could access its power.[volume & issue needed]

Selene then returned to her post as the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club, after striking a deal with the demon Blackheart and seemingly throwing out the rest of the Inner Circle. She offered Sunspot the position of Black Rook, which he initially refused but then accepted when Selene and Blackheart revealed that his doing so would allow them to resurrect the spirit of Juliana Sandoval, the girl who died saving Sunspot's life when he first joined the New Mutants. Sunspot had no choice to accept and become Selene's protégé.[volume & issue needed]

However, with Sebastian Shaw's return to the Hellfire Club, Selene was somehow trapped inside the catacombs under the Club. However, she gained limited mobility from an alliance with Donald Pierce. When the X-Men, including Rachel Summers arrived, during a membership change in the Hellfire Club, Selene plotted to use Rachel to completely free herself. She followed Rachel to Hong Kong via a transport portal and saved her from being corrupted by a telepathic agent of Courtney Ross, who was trying to become the next White Queen. This move was only a prelude to Selene taking over Rachel's mind, but Marvel Girl was too strong for Selene and expelled her, keeping Selene trapped for a time beneath the Hellfire Club headquarters.[volume & issue needed]

After M-DayEdit

Selene was one of the few mutants to retain her powers after the events of M-Day.[13]

Selene, disguised as an old woman, befriends Wither and they live together in Mutant Town.[14] She encourages him to use his powers and not be afraid of his natural gifts. She then asks him if he would use his powers to save his or her life. She had been killing a large number of people by draining their life-forces, and during her last feeding her disguise was spotted by a witness. She reveals to Wither that Laurie has died, while he was away. Later she is attacked by the police and managed to kill two of them before being shot multiple times. Wither arrives and kills the other two officers, only for Selene to drop her disguise, telling him she is immortal and that they are two of a kind and should be together. She tells Wither that she will be his queen if he agrees, then kisses him, and he consents.[15]

Eli Bard's offeringEdit

Selene's relationship with Eli Bard is explained by Warpath to the other members of X-Force. It is revealed he had originally planned to sacrifice the Purifiers to Selene but changed his plans upon seeing Bastion reprogram an offspring of Magus. Using the Technarch transmode virus he reanimated the corpses in the burial grounds of the Apache tribe that he had decimated decades earlier along with Caliban. He presented them to Selene for the purpose of finding other dead mutants and resurrecting them by the same means, so that Bard can sacrifice them and their powers to her.[16]

NecroshaEdit

Main article: Necrosha

One week before the event of Necrosha, Selene has the recently resurrected Destiny brought before her where she asks what her future holds.[17]

Selene returns to the place of her birth in central Europe, accompanied by new Inner Circle, consisting of Blink, Senyaka, Mortis, Wither, and Eli Bard. She sets her plan into motion of becoming a goddess with her Inner Circle; they go to the New York branch of the Hellfire Club, where they slaughter everyone present. Selene then targets others who she feels have obstructed, or otherwise failed, her in her quest for divinity, namely Sebastian Shaw, Donald Pierce, Emma Frost (against whom she especially holds a grudge because of Frost's use of the "Black Queen" codename when working for the Dark X-Men), the X-Men, and Magma. Caliban and Thunderbird then lead her to the ruins of Genosha. Selene dubs the ruins Necrosha and swears that her journey will end here.[18] While most of the resurrected mutants attack the X-Men and Utopia, Selene is seen with Eli Bard resurrecting the massacred residents of Genosha, with Cerebro detecting the rise of mutant numbers in millions (the first life-signs detected by Bastion's computers include Spoor, Katu, Unus, REM-RAM, Static, and Barnacle).[19] There is a major problem though: a lot of the deceased have been depowered, despite having been killed BEFORE M-day. Wither and Mortis explain what happened and the Coven begins to set up base at Necrosha. It turns out that Selene can't do the ritual yet, because Eli Bard lost the knife that was required to do it. She then dispatches her crew and they end up taking the knife back, capturing Warpath in the process. Once Bard gives Selene the knife and proclaims his eternal love for her, Selene stabs Eli, killing him (much to Wither's delight). Warpath is eventually rescued by the Vanisher but Selene absorbs the many souls around her, turning light blue and growing in size. She finally becomes the goddess she had sought to be for so long. Turning to her followers, she commands them to get her more souls.[20] Warpath was able to destroy Selene by plunging his dagger into her chest, after teaching X-Force the Ghost Dance, a ritual meant to kill evil spirits such as Selene. Shocked that her moment of godhood was taken away so quickly, Selene explodes into rays of light.[20]

Sometime after Selene's death, Blink attempted to resurrect the Black Queen. Blink was eventually stopped by Emma Frost and a small team of X-Men (consisting of Blindfold, Pixie, Husk, Warpath) along with former Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Strange who managed successfully to purge Blink of Selene's corrupted influence.[21]

ReturnEdit

It was later revealed that Selene's body and soul had been preserved as airborne particles and somehow stored in stasis in a vault located somewhere in New York City. Lady Deathstrike and the Enchantress gained access to the vault and through the newly enhanced magic granted to her by the sentient virus, Arkea, she was able to fully restore Selene to physical life for the purpose of adding her to the newly formed Sisterhood of Mutants.[22]

Power EliteEdit

In the aftermath of the "Secret Empire," Selene has publicly become head of the White House's "Task Force of Faith-Based Initiatives", and joined the "Power Elite", an alliance of powerful people including Thunderbolt Ross, Baron von Strucker, and Alexa Lukin.[23] She also assisted in the resurrection of Alexa's husband Aleksander Lukin who also joined the Power Elite. Though the side-effect also revived a remnant of the Red Skull's mind that was in Aleksander.[24]

Dawn of XEdit

Selene was eventually welcomed to the new mutant island of Krakoa, created by Xavier, Magneto and Moira. She entered through the teleportation gateway alongside other villainous and fractious mutants, who had been invited to join the nation in order to heal mutantdom and start over as a whole species together.[25]

Selene alongside Emplate, had been tasked by Xavier with measuring the amount of psychic energy that Krakoa would take from its inhabitants. A similar protocol was put in place for them both as they also need to nourish on mutants for survival.[

[vintagerpg]

There is a phenomenon with Michael Moorcock’s fiction that breaks his readers into teams. There’s the Moorcock series you first read, which entrances you (in my case, Elric) and then there are the rest, which seem like diluted parodies. That is how I feel about the Runestaff and Count Brass stories, both of which form up the setting of Chaosium’s Hawkmoon RPG (1986).

Hawkmoon is a bit of a whatisit. The box copy hails it as a standalone game, one of a (never materialized) series of Eternal Champion games. The system is a modified version of Basic Roleplaying, but it feels like a Stormbringer RPG supplement. It is an obvious labor of love for its author, Kerie Campbell-Robson, though it feels like it didn’t get the same level of editorial love as other products at the time (there is a bit of recycled art, including a map of Stormbringer’s Young Kingdoms for some reason).

The world of Hawkmoon is ours, but in the Tragic Millennium, a time far in the future, after nuclear war and plagues forced the world back to a pseudo-medieval period. Mutants abound and the line between science and magic is blurred. Despite not being into the source material, I dig the world building here. Jim Crabtree’s art does a lot to sell me (there are giant mutant flamingos that you can ride!) and the whole box has that 80s Chaosium design vibe I find super appealing.

Chaosium only put out one other Hawkmoon supplement (which I’ll cover another time), which is a bummer, because with time and support I think this could have evolved into something special. In fact, I know so, because the game caught on in a big way in France, where it has developed on its own into something wild and unique across three editions. If you’re familiar with the French Hawkmoon, drop me a line, I’d love to learn about it!

Join us on Patreon!

[fantasyinvader]

Hawkmoon: History of the Runestaff

Okay, so here’s my take on the first four books of Hawkmoon. Together, they tell a self-contained story of a German Duke freeing a magical, post-apocalyptic Europe from the ever growing grip of the tyrannical Granbretan and reading it I was reminded of why Elric was created. Moorcock was asked to write something like Conan the Barbarian, so he did the exact opposite.

Aside from flipping good British and evil Germans, I felt there was something greater at play. Some bigger literary target Moorcock had in mind for a story that, aside from the aforementioned flip, plays out like a typical fantasy adventure. Hawkmoon goes on adventures, obtains powerful artifacts, meets trusted allies, and ends up liberating Europe. Seems pretty cliche, and Dorian Hawkmoon is a very cool name. At first glance, it felt like Moorcock had simply just written the typical story and it wasn’t in the same vein as Elric’s subversive nature.

But the thing I found as time went on was that deus ex machina was extremely prevalent. Things going wrong in ways that led to the standard fantasy adventure scenarios, but always seemed to play out in Hawkmoon’s favor in the long run. The flamingo he’s riding is shot down? Meets a valuable ally who saves his bacon a couple of times. At times, it felt very convenient and that the universe was on Hawkmoon’s side. After all, he is the hero so things should work out for him.

But at the center of the story is the Runestaff, a powerful magical item that, after it is invoked in the opening section of the first book, weaves history. It is the deus in deus ex machina, having planned out everything in great detail. All of it is leading up to the final moments of the book, where good wins and evil is defeated, like a Dungeon Master who excessively railroads. At one point, for instance, Hawkmoon tries to abandon his quest for the Runestaff only for strange monsters to turn his ship back in the right direction and crash him on an island. Every event then feels manufactured, and whose consequences echo throughout the narrative. Every item Hawkmoon gets carries him through the final battle.

In essence, this means that Hawkmoon doesn’t direct the plot. The plot directs Hawkmoon.

My biggest take away is that this was Moorcock writing a typical fantasy out of some sense of spite. Like, it goes over the typical scenarios and is put together in a way that feels like a well-plotted serial. But I can’t help but feel this was a response to criticisms of his own work or something. That it didn’t follow LotR, that it wasn’t traditional fantasy, so he wrote a traditional fantasy story with the usual beats. But in doing so, he pointed to the absurdity of such stories, how contrived the scenarios or coincidences are, and how the characters are just dancing to the whims of their author. They live and die based on some higher power’s will, luck and chance only being fabrications.

Least, that’s what I feel the book is about. Not to say everything ends on a perfectly happy, golden ending. Europe is still heavily trashed by Granbretan, millions dead and among them most of Hawkmoon’s allies are dead (at least until the sequel, which isn’t self contained and features other Moorcock characters. Lucky bastard). His wife survives, and actually proves herself to be a bit of a badass in the final battle (unlike the love interests of Elric and Corum) and she did so pregnant.

Honestly though, weaker than Elric but still better than Corum and still looking forward to the BBC series. It shouldn’t be hard to mess up, plus the setting is really cool. If you every want to check out Michael Moorcock’s work and don’t know where to start with Elric, Hawkmoon is a good place to start (again, I started with Corum) since it will ease you into his style and ideas. It feels both like an epic and a pulpy sword and sorcery adventure series.

And of course, D’Averc and Count Brass are fucking awesome. I would love to read an entire series on the latter.

[mercy-misrule]

i decided the first book i would read this year would be michael moorcock's 'the history of the runestaff', which is the title of the omnibus of the quartet of Hawkmoon books

this was the very first moorcock i ever read. i read books 2 and 3 over and over, they were the only ones i had.

it's been years since i read any of the series, and i know book 1 and 4 much less well

but i opened it up and one line mentioned the description of a character i had completely forgotten about

and i jumped up on my bed and was like 'the warrior in jet and gold! of course how could i forget!!!'

lmao i fuckin love fantasy. i love that 'the warrior in jet and gold' is a name of a character.

man, the first hawkmoon book was published in 1967.

i don't know if i will get to it all, but i will attempt to read a lot of my various moorcock collection this year for the goodread challenge

i will also attempt something new at some point.

man. i love hawkmoon. hes a great character. i love me a traumatised duke with an evil gem implanted into his skull and a best friend who is a furry.

[catgirlelric]

also sorry I forgot to mention you can read most of Moorcock's stuff in any order, even in series following the same character, since a lot of it was published as standalone short stories first. Elric stuff is the best bet to start with because it rules, and you can also find his Hawkmoon/Runestaff stuff around pretty easily. The first Elric story published was the novella "The Dreaming City", but the first full novel, which details his backstory and how he got Stormbringer is "Elric of Melniboné", and is probably where I'd start. The first Runestaff book, following Dorian Hawkmoon as the Eternal Champion, is "The Jewel in the Skull".

As a Brandy Sandy stan I am intrigued by your mention of a Cooler, Chaddier fantasy multiverse author. Who is this punk and what should I read first and why? (only if you have the time & energy to explain ofc. otherwise have a nice day!!)

Michael Moorcock is one of the most prolific and influential writers of the New Wave of Science Fiction in the 1960s and 70s, a movement which distanced the genre from the concept of hard science fiction and encouraged a more literary and philosophically complex approach, and which included authors like Le Guin, Ellison, Ballard, and more. Most of his works are short stories or novellas involving an incarnation of his "Eternal Champion", a figure who fights for the Cosmic Balance in the eternal multiversal game for control between the forces of Order and Chaos. Elric, one of the Eternal Champions, is probably his best known character. The Elric stories have actually obviously had a measurable impact on Sanderson, as Nightblood is very obviously influenced by Elric's Stormbringer, a sentient demonic sword capable of killing gods and absorbing magic. Moorcock is better than Sanderson because where Sanderson is your standard white guy monarchy enthusiast fantasy author, Moorcock's work frequently include overt anti-imperialist (specifically anti-British) and anarchist (which tracks with his self-described anarchist politics) themes. Also Moorcock's work is much more complex and just plain weird, which I personally prefer over Sanderson's relatively straightforward "there are some planets with some gods on them". Moorcock has also notably worked with popular heavy metal bands Hawkwind and Blue Öyster Cult in the past to write songs based on his work (again, specifically Elric). Disclaimer though, even though I'm hyping him up a lot he's not a perfect person and it needs to be kept in mind a lot of his work was written in the 60s and 70s, so there are definitely some shortcomings. That said, I personally really enjoy his work and am of the opinion that he made better use of a lot of the concepts Brandon Sanderson's work is based on.

[vintagegeekculture]

Michael Moorcock’s Hawkmoon series. It is exactly as cool as it looks. 

I always heard that Moorcock wrote commercial fantasy-adventure aimed at angsty teenage boys in black as just a temporary way to make money for his literary projects that he believes will actually stand the test of time, kind of like how Shakespeare only wrote plays to support his poetry. But nobody I know has ever read his literary stuff like Mother London and Behold the Man (which are good, but it’s really funny to watch him steer all his interviews away from Elric stuff), and nearly all fantasy fans know about Elric and the Runestaff and the Eternal Champion. 

The thing you will be remembered for is the thing people read and love. 

[sfcrowsnest]

Michael Moorcock’s Runestaff novels to become BBC TV series.

Michael Moorcock’s Runestaff novels to become BBC TV series.

BBC Studios will be making a TV series out of the Runestaff fantasy novels by fantasy legend Michael Moorcock. The Runestaff saga consists of four books: The Jewel in the Skull, The Mad God’s Amulet, Sword of the Dawn and The Runestaff.

Michael Moorcock’s tale of a resistance force trying to bring down tyrannical rule was an influence on many of today’s best-known genre writers, including such…

[retroillustrates]

Eternal Champions rendered

Update: Corum got an upgrade. I admittedly used too much of Mignola's take and decided to fix that.

[joelpuga]

BBC Studios adapting Michael Moorcock’s Runestaff fantasy novels for TV

[irishbooks]

The Nomad Of Time – Michael Moorcock

The Nomad Of Time – Michael Moorcock. Triptych historical fiction, great YA adventure story. Read More Book Reviews at It's Good To Read - Link: http://ebookwormssite.wordpress.com #amreading #ThrowbackTuesday #michaelmoorcock

Michael Moorcock was one of my favourite Sci-Fi authors growing up. Not only the Nomad in Time triptych (reviewed below, and written from 1971 to 1981 – and read by myself MUCH later than that!), but the Eternal Champion series generally. Another major favourite, for example, was the History of the Runestaff, in particular the Jewel in the Skull, and its Eternal Champion Dorian Hawkmoon.

I also…

[fantasy-world-project]

The History of the Runestaff 

by Michael Moorcock

The Jewel in the Skull

The Mad God's Amulet

The Sword of the Dawn

The Runestaff

Hawkmoon

[retroillustrates]

Bullying the greenhorn on the seas of fate

Corum is wearing a kilt cuz why not. Still drawing Dorian as a short king ;)