The Mad God's Amulet by Michael Moorcock

The Mad God's Amulet by Michael Moorcock is the second book in the History of the Runestaff series. It documents Hawkmoon's journey back to the Kamarg.
During the journey, Hawkmoon and Oladahn meet the wraiths that inhabit the city of Soryandum. They appear later in the Chronicles of Count Brass but it was great to read about Hawkmoon's first meeting with them. They are a people with very advanced science that allows them to exist in another dimension. They send Hawkmoon and Oladahn on a short quest to retrieve two machines of theirs that they left in a cave guarded by a giant beast machine (also of their creation). While they do successfully bring back the machines, this quest almost spells the end for Hawkmoon. Once they have the machines, the wraiths are able to take Soryandum into the other dimension with them to hide from the invading Granbretanians. Before doing so, they give the second machine to Hawkmoon.
Hawkmoon and Oladahn later secure passage on The Smiling Girl to get to Crimea. The plan is to go from there to the Kamarg. During the journey, they find and rescue a shipwrecked D'Averc and are then attacked by a boat belonging to the Cult of the Mad God. After a long, hard battle, Hawkmoon, Oladahn and D'Averc steal the Cult's ship. Upon searching through the stolen treasure on the ship, they find a severed hand upon which is Yisselda's ring. This, of course, worries Hawkmoon.
The trio are also able to take one of the Cult pirates hostage during all of this. When they later go to check on him, they find him lucid and wondering what has happened. Apparently, the pirates have all been continually drugged into attacking ships and looting them in order to bring the spoils back to the Mad God. The sailor, now sober, tells Hawkmoon that all women captured were to be brought back to the Mad God alive. Upon hearing this, Hawkmoon decides to find the Mad God and hopefully Yisselda.
I do not want to go into more detail than this or give away any more of the story so will stop here. I don't want to spoil it for anyone that plans to read it.
One of the things I like most about these stories is the moral dilemmas that continually pop up. Hawkmoon often has to make a decision regarding the life of another. There are also characters that flip-flop between helping Hawkmoon and harming him (i.e. D'Averc). It all keeps you on your toes as a reader and I thoroughly enjoy it.
I cannot decide if I will move on to The Sword of the Dawn (the third book in the series) or read Elric of Melnibone next. I may take a break from the Runestaff stories for a book or two but will then come back to them if I do.