The City in the Autumn Stars
dust-jacket from the first edition
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| Author | Michael Moorcock |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fantasy |
| Publisher | Grafton Press |
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Publication date
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1986 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 344 pp |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 16351520 |
| 823/.914 19 | |
| LC Class | PR6063.O59 C58 1986 |
The City in the Autumn Stars: Being a Continuation of the Story of the Von Bek Family and Its Association With Lucifer, Prince of Darkness is a science fantasy novel by British author Michael Moorcock. The second book in the Von Bek trilogy, it was published by Grafton in 1986. The story centres on the characters of Manfred von Bek, a descendant of Ulrich von Bek, who is also the protagonist of the previous book in the series (The War Hound and the World's Pain) and Libussa Cartagena y Mendoza-Chilperic, the Duchess of Crete, along with their journey to the mystical Mittelmarchthe, and their search for the Holy Grail.
The book was written in tandem with The Laughter of Carthage, part of the Colonel Pyat tetralogy, with one novel being written during the day, and the other at night.
The fiction preface of the novel, written by The Publishers, explains that the text of the book had originally been published anonymously around 1840 in Heidelberg, its authorship later being traced to Manfred von Bek, and that this "somewhat modernised version of Manfred von Bek's Confession" was adapted from an English edition published in London by D. Omer Smith of St. Paul's Churchyard, in 1856.
Fleeing from the Reign of Terror in 1793, Manfred von Bek (the Ritter von Bek), once a valued revolutionary, leaves Paris and heads towards Switzerland, with the final destination of the Waldenstein city of Mirenberg in mind. Close to Vaud, von Bek, who is masquerading as a messenger carrying secret documents, meets Robert de Montsorbier. Following polite conversation, Montsorbier accuses von Bek of being a traitor, and von Bek flees towards the border.
Shortly after crossing the border, although not knowing it at the time, von Bek meets a group of young revolutionaries on their way to Paris. As Montsorbier is not carrying any flags or standards, the revolutionaries believe him to be part of the Swiss Guard, and open fire. They wound Montsorbier and several of his men. Von Bek thanks them and, after explaining, to their dismay, that the men they opened fire on were enforcers of the Committee of Public Safety, he leaves them, also taking Montsorbier's horse.
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