| Re: The Von Bek Family
Moorcock wasn't quite satisfied with City in the Autumn Stars himself, so he did a revision on that one, I understand, when it came to doing the set of the Champion books. I found it tough going the first time around, but quite liked it the second.
As for The Blood Red Game... it was also retroactively made a von Bek tale. The thing is, the von Beks first begin appearing around the time of the Castle Brass trilogy (Count Brass, The Champion of Garathorm, The Quest for Tanelorn), as I recall, and only later became a major part of his work (ca. 1980, I believe). As his ideas evolved, he did some rewrites on various earlier books that seemed more in line with the concept (at least, that's how it strikes me), often changing them in subtle but important ways, other times altering them quite considerably.
There are actually quite a few more stories featuring the von Bek family, including several of the tales in London Bone, the entirety of Lunching with the Antichrist, Tales from the Texas Woods, and The Metatemporal Detective... not to mention Blood, Fabulous Harbours, The War Amongst the Angels, and Michael Moorcock's Multiverse (the graphic novel)... to name a few.
Yes, I think The War Hound and the World's Pain is a rather good place to start with the von Beks, as it gives you quite a bit of information about them and their place in the Great Game/Eternal War. I'll try to post a further listing of the von Bek tales later today, when I get back from my evening shift; but, essentially, they became a major part of the entire cycle, much as Una Persson or Elric/Jerry Cornelius, in their various aspects... especially the Rose (who is certainly one of my favorite Moorcock characters....) |