The War Hound and the World's Pain
core novel 1981 The Eternal Champion
Record
| First published | 1981 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 3.96 (1,850 ratings, collected 2026-09-28) |
| Page count | 239 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780671437084 |
| Internal chronology | 1 |
Synopsis
Ulrich von Bek is a cynical German mercenary captain in the Thirty Years' War who has sold his sword to whoever would pay across a Europe consumed by religious slaughter. After taking part in the sack of Magdeburg he deserts his company and rides alone into a strange, silent forest, where he finds a castle and its keeper, the beautiful Sabrina, with whom he falls in love. There he also meets the castle's master: Lucifer himself, who tells von Bek that his soul is already forfeit to Hell. Lucifer, weary of his exile, offers a bargain: if von Bek will find the Cure for the World's Pain, the Holy Grail, he may win back his soul, and Lucifer his own reconciliation with Heaven. Von Bek sets out across the warring continent with a loyal companion, pursued by the powers of Hell who would rather the quest failed.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Eternal Champion
- Series: Von Bek core; position 1 of 2 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Michael Moorcock
Awards (verified)
- World Fantasy Award (Best Novel), 1982: nominated
Notes
- From the series record (Von Bek): The Von Bek family's bargains with Lucifer and their search for the Grail, the Cure for the World's Pain: Ulrich in the Thirty Years' War, his descendant Manfred after the French Revolution. Both are incarnations of the Eternal Champion.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings and are never conflated: a book's place in one says nothing about its place in the other.
- Publication order, within the series Von Bek: position 1 of 2: next The City in the Autumn Stars (1986)
- Internal chronology, within The Eternal Champion: position 5 of 30: previous The Eternal Champion (1970) · next The Citadel of Forgotten Myths (2022)
Sources
← The Eternal Champion dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.