 Cover of the first edition | |
| Author | Michael Moorcock |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Bob Haberfield |
| Language | English |
| Series | Erekosë |
| Genre | Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Mayflower |
Publication date | 1970 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 127 pp |
| ISBN | 0-583-11800-3 |
| OCLC | 5543062 |
| Preceded by | The Eternal Champion |
| Followed by | The Dragon in the Sword |
Phoenix in Obsidian (published in the US as: The Silver Warriors) is a science fantasy novel by Michael Moorcock. First published in 1970, it is the second book in a series that follows the adventures of the Eternal Champion as he is flung from one existence to another. The first book in the series, The Eternal Champion, told the story of John Daker, an average 20th-century man who suddenly found himself incarnated as Erekosë, a legendary hero of Earth in the distant past (or distant future). He had been called to lead humanity against its Eldren foes, but ended up taking the Eldren's side. Phoenix in Obsidian continues the story, which is concluded in The Dragon in the Sword. The trilogy is part of a larger cycle about the Eternal Champion as defender of the Multiverse.
Having resolved the human-Eldren war, Erekosë finds himself once again called to a strange world to defend Earth from invaders. This time he is Count Urlik Skarsol, Lord of the Frozen Keep, sleeping hero of a frozen and dying Earth. At Rowernarc, the Obsidian City, he hears of the Silver Warriors from the Moon, which long ago crashed into the other side of the Earth. But nobody in Rowernarc seems to fear them—nobody, indeed, seems concerned with anything but whiling away the time until death. With nothing to do and no foe to fight, Erekose wonders who could have called him and searches for a way to return to his lost love.
In The Eternal Champion, Erekosë bore the sword Kanajana, a weaker version of Stormbringer. As Urlik, he finds the Black Sword (also known as the Cold Sword) in its purest, most virulent form. Like Stormbringer, Urlik's Cold Sword is vampiric and sentient, and it demands the blood of friends as the price for its aid.
The title Phoenix in Obsidian comes from a scene halfway through the book, when Erekosë, in the guise of Urlik, spends a short time in an obsidian cave. He reflects that he is like a phoenix, immortal by virtue of being reborn time and again, yet he is trapped in the obsidian cave like a fly in amber.