Starts Strong, But
3 étoiles
Content warning Discussion about book 3 and ending of book 4
This was a nice gift as a classic collection of four books in a 70s box set, which made for nice pacing. Mayflower edition.
Book 1 starts off strong. Granbreataen (The British) are traditional empire building, perverse, warmongering folk, run by a emperor monarch that has ruled for 2000 years. We're living in a post-apocolypic future where technology has reverted back to quasi-mediaeval. Swords, sorcery, armour, monsters, slashing. Lone anti-hero is sent to infiltrate heroic forces and things don't go to plan.
Like a Netflix series, book 1 sets up book 2-4 for an epic quest. Also like a Netflix series, it probably should have been cancelled after book 2.
Book 2 is pretty strong in direction - need to go and get a McGuffin, we get an extended cast, and the pace doesn't let up while our hero removes lots of heads. We finish book 2 with our mini-quest McGuffin, a lot of corpses, and a set up for book 3.
Book 3 is where we start to have moments of "what now?" We have yet more killing, and we're off to find another McGuffin, but conveniently leave the first McGuffin that would solve alot of the problems in Book 2. The end of book 3 also involves a large pile of corpses, the worst case of "bored, introduced a thing to finish the book" I've seen for a while and the cast get on a boat ready to defy their destiny and calling for book 4.
Book 4 comes and we very quickly go "nah, sod that idea, get back to the main plot", turn the boat around and plonk them right back where they need to be. We very quickly pick up the Book 4 McGuffin completing the set and turning all the McGuffins in to a Mighty Morphin Power McGuffin (it doesn't, but this would be an improvement). The Stick of Destiny, that's been driving the narrative for four books and dictating what our heroes do, quick becomes the Stick of Absolute Nothing and does sweet FA for the remainder of the book.
Everyone promptly dies, except the protagonist and his now wife, in horrific ways. His companion of three books gets a two line write-out that basically says "he dies off page, lol".
Moorcock is so done with this.
Almost everyone is very happy with the situation. The hero forgets all his friends are dead. His wife forgets her father is dead. The queen remembers her lover is dead (the chapter is titled the sad queen) and decides to dismantle a world sized empire out of grief, with what would be a very shaky claim to the throne. The serpent of the Staff of Nothing takes the hero's toys away, because no longer needs them and he's happy, despite the soul of his son being trapped in the McStick (I think) and his brother in arms also being recently slain.
Everyone is very happy and the story ends. Moorcock is very happy the book is over.