The Sailor on the Seas of Fate by Michael Moorcock

The Sailor on the Seas of Fate is the Elric book that’s been cited to me as “coming from left field” or “the weird one,” which considering it’s Elric is saying something (the next book is actually called The Weird of the White Wolf, for an amusing bit of trivia, although Weird in that context is used archaically to mean “fate”). It’s not that The Sailor on the Seas of Fate is bad necessarily, but as in the first novel, caution doesn’t really seem to be on Moorcock’s radar. An author with a touch more consideration for the casual portion of his audience would probably have given the premise of the multiverse time to develop before careening from traditional sword and sorcery straight into… whatever in fact The Sailor on the Seas of Fate is. There are good points and no... Read More

Web of the Witch World by Andre Norton

Web of the Witch World continues the story of Simon Tregarth, the modern man who escaped assassination by coming through a gate into the Witch World, and Jaelithe, a witch of Estcarp, as they fight the strange enemy who are invading their land. At the end of the previous novel, the Kolder, who are from a technologically advanced planet, had been defeated by the witchery of Jaelithe and her sisters (and it seems that Simon has some powers, too). Jaelithe gave Simon her name, thus showing her trust in (and love for) him, and Loyse and Koris declared love for each other.

But in Web of the Witch World the sappy stuff abruptly ends when Duke Yvian, formally betrothed to Loyse, kidnaps her because he needs to marry her to seal his claim to power in Karsten. This sets off another fast-paced science fantasy adventure in which everything is not as it... Read More