The Knight of the Swords [Dramatized Adaptation]

Corum, Book 1

By: Michael Moorcock

Narrated by: full cast, Nanette Savard, Chris Genebach, Tracy Olivera, Nick DePinto, Evan Casey, Todd Scofield, Scott McCormick, Andy Clemence, Thomas Keegan, Ken Jackson, Bob Payne

Length: 5 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

The ancient races, the Vadhagh and the Nhadragh, are dying. By creating Mankind, the universe has condemned Earth to a pestilence of destruction and fear.

Prince Corum is the last remaining Vadhagh. He sets out on a crusade of vengeance against the forces that slaughtered his family and his race, to challenge the unjust power of the puppet masters of Man: the Lords of Chaos. Along the way he will barter with his soul for the limbs of gods to repair his mutilated body and will encounter a member of the very race who caused the mutilation, the irresistible Rhalina....

Performed by Nanette Savard, Chris Genebach, Tracy Olivera, Nick DePinto, Evan Casey, Todd Scofield, Scott McCormick, Andy Clemence, Thomas Keegan, Ken Jackson, Bob Payne, Eva Wilhelm, Matthew Keenan, Richard Rohan, Patrick Bussink, Terence Aselford.

©1971 Michael and Linda Moorcock (P)2016 Graphic Audio, LLC

I finally understand + Excellent performances!

I was always sci-fi not fantasy. By the time I finally read Tolkien through and through and now hungry for more fantasy in audio form. Moorcock I had always passed the title by. Recently after hearing of authors and directors inspired by Moorcock and hailed him as the progenitor of modern gothic fantasy (is that a genre or did I make it up after listening to chapter 5?!) I was intrigued. Now I understand. His imagery is amazing and the entire production here truly brings the images to life. I found myself acting out the description as it played. Flaying in the hands of giant disgusting beast of a god that is as horrifying as Smaug. What a joy the book was in this format. I look forward to hearing more producers. Excellent radio theater for great master I am excited to explore more of. Next please!! As I reach out my inhuman left hand....

Superb performance as always.

nobody makes an audio drama like Graphic Audio, the voice acting was amazing and really brought the story to life in a way it wouldn't have from just a normal reading. The story itself was good and you won't be disappointed if you have enjoyed anything in the past Moorcock.

One of the great epics from one of the greats

From Dungeons and Dragons to Final Fantasy to Spiderman's multiverse to Game of Thrones, Moorcock's Eternal Champions inspired and defined fantasy as much as Howard, Lieber, Vance, or Lovecraft.
The epic of Prince Corum is heroic, like an Arthurian tale; a gritty page-turner, like a Conan pulp; and steeped in the kind of weird fiction world building that would drop Dunsany's jaw. All that, with juuust enough philosophy peripheral to the action to be cheeky and ingenius rather than dull and pretentious, Corum is a pulp fiction masterclass. There's a reason Moorcock is in the back of every DnD player's handbook: and Brandon Sanderson knows it, George RR Martin knows it, Tad Williams knows it--and Salvatore, Gaiman, Alan Moore, Yoshitaka Amano, and any fantasy pro alive today knows it, too.

It's Michael's Multiverse, we're just living in it.

Not as good as the unabridged

Still a great story and well acted (with a few awkward choices. I highly recommend it since none of Moorecock's novels are on here unabridged and this is a decent replacement

Exciting fun.

Well done to everyone involved in this production.
Read the books alot, and hearing a dramatic audio production is like one cool surprise after another. ( in the good way). 5 stars

Great adaptation....feels great to 'hear it'

Like many, I read most of Moorcock's books years ago (I can't wait for Elric's books to be available). I loved the Corum books, and really like this adaptation. It is more like a true audio production - than someone just reading it. In a way, I like the standard this sets - and really appreciate the overall feel of the way this book is presented.

The book was great.
This production - is a great way to re-"read" "hear" it! :)

Wish we had the unabridged version

I read all the Eternal Champion books many years ago. I wanted to revisit them on Audible. This story was fine but I miss the full stories.

Heavily influenced Elden Ring!

I’ve been looking everywhere for something that feels like the lore of Elden Ring and in an interview Miyazaki stated this series was an influence on that game and you can absolutely hear and feel it!
Gods grafted limbs, a beautiful mystical world, magic, evil, beast men.
It’s an amazing story. Moving on to Book II now!

Unearned hero

The good: the performance is outstanding! Every actor does an incredible job and the music is great.

The bad: this is a GoT style narrative. It is not my cup of tea, but it is not just gritty: it is also cruel and tasteless. When describing an “evil god”, the story feels the need to elaborate on how disgusting his greasy skin and body hair are. When describing a murder, it alludes to the victim having been raped before getting killed and mutilated, but then revisits it in a nightmare just in case you missed it. I could go on, but I think you get the picture.

The ugly: The heroism is completely unearned; the hero starts out as a member of a noble, strong and wise race, and degenerates from there as he goes through the tragedies that befall him. While he is hurt, scared and vengeful, swearing revenge against the entire race that wronged him and lashing out at the world, a beautiful lady takes him in and loves him unconditionally. When he murders a bunch of people unintentionally, it turns out they were trying to kill him first, so that’s okay. He is neither strong enough nor noble enough to be a hero, but the powers that fall into his hands (literally) and the events that happen around him make him so. Throughout the narrative, the hero barely demonstrates any skill, prowess or moral fibre that is not supernatural or the result of some event.

I hate leaving negative reviews, but I thoroughly did not enjoy this book and feel like people who have tastes similar to mine should at least hear this perspective. I enjoyed very little about this novel other than the superb voice acting.

Overacted

Great story. And the voice actors are talented. But they lay on too much pathos. They also communicate a lot of action with Corrum’s screams, yells, and sighs. So he ends up sounding a bit comical. Kind of like an action-comedy star who isn’t funny.