If you've been any kind of fan of Fantasy Fiction over the past few decades, then you're probably somewhat familiar with at least one aspect of Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion. My particular favorite happens to be Prince Elric of Melnibone, or the White Wolf as he's also known, the Albino warrior who has thrilled his way through many Moorcock books with his soul-stealing black blade Stormbringer.

Over the years, I have become quite a Moorcock fan, starting with the Elric books and moving quickly through Von Bek, Hawkmoon and Corum. Recently, though, Moorcock has returned to the White Wolf in such novels as THE DREAMTHIEF'S DAUGHTER and his most recent THE SKRAYLING TREE.

About a week ago, I picked up a copy of THE SKRAYLING TREE from the local Bookstore and began it with great anticipation. I had read THE DREAMTHIEF'S DAUGHTER just last year and had enjoyed that book greatly. I quickly learned, however, that this outing was not the usual Moorcock fare by any means.

As a fan of Prince Elric and all of his faults, I was expecting the usual enthralling sword play, horrific battle scenes and in-depth character development that Moorcock is famous for. Instead, in THE SKRAYLING TREE, we see Moorcock moving in a different direction. This book is more of a loose conglomeration of colonial Americanisms, Native American Mythology and religious mysticism than it is a tale of the Eternal Champion. Taking place in North America some time after World War II, at least at the beginning, this book seems to move effortlessly back and forth through time while dealing with a good amount of the ancient myths and legends of early America. This tale is told in three distinct parts and through three different perspectives: The First Branch—Oona's Story, The Second Branch—Elric's Story and The Third Branch—Ulric's story. All three parts tell tales of the whole and, by the end, the story is wound together rather tidily. However, getting there takes you on a long and arduous journey through pre-columbian North America and beyond. We meet a "new" character in this book, another Albino bearing a remarkable resemblance to Von Bek, Oona and Elric, known as White Crow who has been taken into an Indian Tribe and raised as one of them. White Crow proves invaluable to the efforts of the three protagonists as they try to resolve a fantastic clash between good and evil, or Law and Chaos, the two governing superpowers of the Multiverse.

Moorcock manages to successfully blend several aspects of Native American religion with the more fantastical elements of his Multiverse, tying some of his fiction into historical "reality" as he goes. Another prominent character is Ayanawatta, better known to Americans through our History Books as Hiawatha. Ayanawatta is one of Moorcock's better characters in recent years, a being who moves through the planes of the Mulitverse with seeming ease, although he isn't as accurate or smooth with the practice as Oona, the Dreamthief's daughter. A well-versed American Indian with many spiritual and mystical powers, Ayanawatta is present throughout much of the book and almost steals the show (at least for me).

With this tale being told in three distinct parts (the best, in my opinion, being Elric's portion—Moorcock just seems to be more comfortable when wearing the helm of the White Wolf in his fiction), it moves along a bit less smoothly than most of Moorcock's other books. Although this story wasn't full of the masterful sword-play and vicious battle scenes we find in so many of Elric's tales, THE SKRAYLING TREE kept me turning the pages anyway. It proves just how talented Michael Moorcock really is when he can write about characters that he has been consistently dealing with for many years in a totally new way and yet keep his readers hooked.

I won't spoil the plot of this one for you, and I won't even go into details about the quest that the three major players find themselves undertaking (even though they are carrying their quests out separately for the most part) for fear of ruining the story for you. I will say, though, that you might want to read THE DREAMTHIEF'S DAUGHTER before tackling THE SKRAYLING TREE. Although the two novels aren't tied together all too tightly, the events of the former should be known before diving into the events of the latter.

Either way, fans of Fantasy Fiction and fans of Moorcock should both be satisfied with this book. Just keep in mind, if you're looking for the usual Moorcock fare, you might be a bit disappointed—this book is most definitely a departure from the norm for Michael Moorcock but, still, the man handles the change very well.