Just Finished Reading: The Dreamthief’s Daughter by Michael Moorcock

In early 1930’s Germany Count Ulric Von Bek is approached by agents of the Nazi party eager to examine and confiscate objects that have been in his family for generations. One is reputed to be the Holy Grail itself, the other is an ancient black sword reputed to have enormous magical power. When Ulric refuses to part with them he is arrested and thrown in a concentration camp where he is beaten and tortured. As he becomes convinced that he cannot survive much longer he is rescued by a British secret agent and a mysterious white haired woman. So begins Ulric’s adventures as he plays his part in an increasingly fantastical battle between Law and Chaos throughout the Multiverse.

Back in my youth I used to be a huge Moorcock fan and have read many of his books. I was particularly fond of his Elric stories and for a time there dreamed of having a flowing cascade of pure white hair. Unfortunately this book failed to live up to my memory of his earlier works. It certainly started well enough but as soon as the action moved away from the ‘real’ world into a fantasy one I found it increasingly difficult to maintain much of an interest in the story or the characters. What irked me most about the writing was that it was just so lazy both in style and execution. Far too many rabbits were being pulled out of far too many hats in order to save the heroes from increasingly impossible positions. Sure it was a fantasy novel – but there has to be some rules to maintain a credible storyline. Moorcock provided few (if any) in this book. Needless to say the other two books in the trilogy are no longer on my Amazon Wish List. Very disappointing.