A fantasy novel by Michael Moorcock, published in 1970, but expanded from a novella published in Science Fantasy #53 in 1962. It takes place in the same multiverse as the rest of Moorcock's characters, such as The Elric Saga, The History of the Runestaff, Corum Saga and The Cornelius Chronicles. It is the first of three books starring John Daker, aka Erekosë, the Eternal Champion, followed by The Phoenix in Obsidian (1970) and The Dragon in the Sword (1982).
20th century Londoner John Daker travels into a strange time, perhaps the distant past or distant future of Earth, where he is hailed as the great, legendary hero Erekosë, who will save Humanity from the menace of the inhuman Eldren. But as the war goes on, he gets visions (or perhaps memories) of past lives, different versions of himself in different worlds, and he grows increasingly skeptical about the righteousness of their war against the Eldren.
Notable for being the first of Moorcock's books to explicitly link together the different heroes of his stories as reincarnations of the same being (the eponymous “Eternal Champion”).
The Eternal Champion series provides examples of:
- Black Swords Are Better: Erekosë wields a sword called Kanajana, witha dull black blade that emits a toxic radiation. In later books, it is revealed to be one incarnation of the Black Sword.
- Canon Welding: The first of Moorcock's texts to be explicitly linked to previous (and future!) works by the author, as John Daker also has flashbacks of being Elric of Melniboné, Corum Jhaelen Irse, Duke Dorian Hawkmoon, Jerry Cornelius and a few others.
- Combat Pragmatism: Deconstructed. The Human armies refuse to afford any respect to their Eldren enemies, and so, in order to win, they commit a number of war crimes, such as firing upon enemy commanders during negotiations, murdering and raping civilians and refusing to release prisioners during an exchange. Erekosë sees this as a sign of bloodthirsty barbarism, which feeds into his final decision.
- Genocide Dilemma: As far as Humanity is concerned, all Eldren must be exterminated, or else there will never know peace. Erekosë partially agrees, as he proceeds to exterminate every single Human in order to give the Eldren the chance at peace.
- Gone Horribly Wrong: King Rigenos summons the ancient hero Erekosë to save Humanity against their enemies, the Eldren. By the end of the novel, Erekosë sides with the Eldren and wipes out Humanity.
- Gone Horribly Right: On the other hand, Rigenos summoned Erekosë so that he would uphold his promise to come and "decide the struggle" between Humans and Eldren. Furthermore, all the Human commanders are disgusted at Erekosë showing decency and compassion towards his enemies. He permanently settles the dispute between the species by exterminating Humans, to the last one.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: If King Rigenos had not summoned Erekosë, his forces would not have dared fight the Eldren. Which would have been a good thing, because then Erekosë would not have changed sides and exterminated humanity. Erekosë speculates that both his own and Rigenos' actions were preordained.
- Psychological Projection: Humans assume that the Eldren would gladly kill every single man, woman and child on the planet, and thus plan to do the exact same thing to them, even scoffing at the idea of negotiating with them, assuming betrayal. It never crosses their minds that the Eldren have no hostile intentions towards humans.
- Suicidal Pacifism: An interesting variation. In ages past, both Humans and Endren fought with extremely powerful weapons, but after they reached a truce, Humanity reverted to pre-technological barbarism and the Eldren swore off using such weapons again, horrified by their power. Even as Humanity is about to wipe out the Eldren, they still refuse to use said advantage. Erekosë convinces them to use said weapons, taking the decision off their hands.
- Violence Is Disturbing: John Daker/Erekosë's actions enable atrocities such as mass rape and genocide.
- War Is Glorious: Defied. Erekosë starts the book itching for a good fight against the Eldren and saving the day, but after witnessing the atrocities the Human army commits against their enemies, he starts to reconsider his loyalties. In the end, he decides that he needs to find the way to bring peace to the planet. And the process to achieve that peace is...not pretty.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: When John Daker wakes in the body of Erekosë, he expects to be the champion in a heroic struggle, saving Humanity from the forces of evil and showing honour and valour. As it turns out, he's called to lead a genocidal war against a peaceful people.
- You Keep Telling Yourself That: A non-confrontational version of the trope. By the end of the novel, after Erekosë has exterminated the entire human species with energy weapons, he tells Arjhav that he feels that he was a puppet, preordained to do the things he's done. Arjhav compassionately tells him that perhaps it's for the best that he think that.
