Michael Moorcock Books

I read this at the same time as I read Don DeLillo's wonderful Cosmopolis which is the 'cool' approach to the same material.
This is an angry, eloquent, all-encompassing book dealing with modern greed and lack of spirituality, our obsession with vulgar fame and money. DeLillo's book concentrates on a relatively small canvas -- one day in New York in the year 2000.
Moorcock starts in London and goes to Paris, New York, Rwanda,
Bosnia and back again. These two books are two different 'takes' on the same modern problems. They are both hugely entertaining, beautifully written, with a keen ear for modern speech. Read them together as I did. You won't regret it!

Moorcock here has written a book about late twentieth century London. It also a of a commentary on the political and media power structures of the time, as a rocker type guy seems to have uncovered evidence that a ridiculously wealthy industrialist named Begg is actually alive, and still plotting.

This leads to wanderings around the world to try and do something about it.

One of Moorcock's finest realistic novels. This book has a strange structure, which gradually reveals why the central character, Danny Dover, is in the situation he's in,
then takes him to embattled Europe (Kosovo specifically) and the book's conclusion, which might or might not be a happy ending.
On the way you learn about his life as a rock and roll guitarist, a photo-journalist and, finally, a cynical paparazzo. He loves the go-getting Rose and has a rival in the equally ambitious Johnny 'Barbican' Begg.
This threesome offers typical Moorcock dynamic. But there are dozens of other great characters. I particularly liked the chain-smoking French giant journo Fromental, who goes with him to Rwanda. The set pieces are great, as you would expect from the Moorcock of Mother London, Byzantium Endures and, of course, The Condition of Muzak.

As a character Danny is most like a 'realistic' Jerry Cornelius (though the book's described significantly as 'a fable') and the concerns are closer to the JC stories, with direct confrontations with modern social problems and politics. Moorcock's understanding of modern politicians, like Clinton or Blair, is wonderful, as is his writing. This is some of the most powerful writing he's ever done -- an incredibly sustained roll of words and ideas, like a great, prolonged rock performance. His descriptions of the rock and roll life have the feel of autobiography, as does much of the Notting Hill material. Where he dealt with real places in Mother London, he here invents or resurrects London backgrounds, such as the Mill at Tufnell Park,
the thieve's sanctuary in Seven Dials and a whole London district, Brookgate, sandwiched between Holborn and Clerkenwell.
Dickensian? Yes. Sentimental? No. The resolution offers a happy ending much in the manner of Condition of Muzak -- ironic, sardonic, hopeful. Moorcock likes his fellow human beings, even some of the worst of them, though he rarely sees them as anything but what they are. The scenes in Rwanda -- angry, accurate, urgent -- are as good as anything Moorcock has done. I loved this book which, like Mother London, rewards several readings. It seems almost a different book every time you come back to it. A classic from one of our finest modern novelists. Totally recommended!

The great thing about this particular novel is that all the music which seems fictitious is actually available on record. The Greenfly and the Rose is on at least one Robert Calvert Album and most of the other numbers are either old Stiff numbers or old Moorcock Deep Fix numbers. It's a weird feeling reading this book -- which is the most authentic account of the Stiff period I know -- Ian Dury, Elvis Costello et al -- while playing the music. Well worth it for this alone.

Whoever thinks this book has no shape just doesn't know what a gem they have in their hands! Like Mother London, you have to let Moorcock lead you through something of a maze. You have to give yourself up to his work, as with the Cornelius books. If you let him lead you -- he'll take you a lot of places you've never been before. The centerpiece of this novel appears to be the big Thanksgiving Party at the Red Mill, when every character in the book dances around the mill, while above them the vanes turn through a third dimension. In Mother London everything radiates from the Blitz scenes. This is a more eccentric shape, but it certainly works for me. It doesn't matter how many times Denny Dover has been married (three, I think) -- just look at the women he's married. Each one a wonderful individual! Rosie, his cousin, is a sort of Diana figure, as beautiful as she is good, and it's at this point, for all Rosie is a living, thinking human being, you realise why this book is called 'A Fable'. It is dealing with the fabulous. It is all invented. Virtually no place in the city, however much you mourn a genuine loss, ever existed. You think the names are familiar, that they are bound to be just around the corner, or on the next tube station, but they never are. This entire London is an invention. But why is it an invention ? I think it is the other side of Mother London, which was all about real places, real London. This is the modern fantasy of London, as unreal and at the same time as real as anything Dickens ever gave us. And, finally, you understand why Peter Ackroyd has called Moorcock the modern Dickens -- for his humanity is as profound as his inventive genius. Moorcock is a true original. If he had not written those rafts of awful sword and sorcery epics and added to the flow of garbage which began with the Attack of the Hobbits, I could forgive him anything. As it is, there is a different kind of engagement here which, if you value original minds, you will want to sample. Moorcock's determination to remain in the popular arena, in spite of every effort (including articles about him in the London Review of
Books and inclusion in the Oxford Companion to English Literature) to draw him in to his rightful place in English literature sometimes to look like a career death-wish, but you have to admire his engagement with his audience, which is as much part of his ethos (see his website multiverse.org) as never offering us the same book twice. Mother London is a gentler book, but King of the City is a wild hunt of a novel, full of rage and love for the unsung, the under-rated and the disrespected. Moorcock's identification with his readers rather than his reviewers is to be applauded.

This book is also known as The Vanishing Tower/Sleeping Sorceress. Elric is not a fan of the sorcerer Theleb K'aarna. In fact he is so much not a fan he would like to introduce him to the Black Blade, in an up close, personal, and body cavity penetrating kind of manner.

He is having a lot of problems getting to him though, until he gets help from The Sleeping Sorceress.

1 main guy is sorcerer
2 main guy has soul-eating sword
3 main guy worships the knight of the swords, the 3rd most powerful chaos lord/demon
4 main guy is from long line of tall-elf creatures
5 brit logic even when arguing with demons
6 demons are locked into weapons
7 multiverse 1million "spheres" conjunction, this is one plane
8 main guy one of the "eternal champoins" serving the "cosmic balance"
9 "D&D" action
10 3 incarnations of the eternal champoin meet at once!

11 Law v Chaos!
12 (...)
13 closest thing to Robert E. Hoard the British have produced.

This fourth novel of the Elric saga is epic in every sense of the way. One reviewer claims that it was bad. He gave as example that it was unlogical that Theleb K'aarna didn't kill Elric when his sword was flying to him. But this was because Theleb K'aarna wants to torture Elric for months on end and does not want to grant a quick dead to the albino.
In this fourth novel we follow the milkwhite albino on his quest to take revenge upon Theleb K'aarna, with Moonglum as his companion.
Again driven by hatred he hunts down the Pang Tangian sorcerer Theleb K'aarna. But also driven by love, love for Myshella, Empress of the Dawn. And driven by the black runeblade, Stormbringer, by his side.
Moorcock continues to write in his typical style, like only the master himself can do it. With beautiful discriptions luring around every verbal corner, and the action which is never far away. We find in "The Vanishing Tower" no seemingly endless discriptions like in the Tolkien books. With always new intrigue and hazards to overcome, which shows us that Moorcock's mind must've been full of incredible ideas. He guides us through the psychological maze of Elric's mind. Though the Prince of ruïned Meliniboné is an anti-hero, he is limitlessly fascinating too me, because his character is so paradoxally.Moorcock tells us how Elric sees the first pieces of the puzzle, which is his doomed destiny, being laid.

Michael Moorcock, The Vanishing Tower (DAW, 1970)

Some wag is bound to notice the odd release dates on the DAW definitive editions of the six "classic" Elric novels and ask "what's up?" It only starts making sense when you pair the books with the events therein; Moorcock makes mention of the events in The Vanishing Tower, for example, in The Sailor on the Seas of Fate (q.v.). Those events hadn't yet taken place in Elric's time, as Elric notes in The Sailor on the Seas of Fate; however, they had already taken place in Corum's time. And so yes, it does make some semblance of sense that the definitive Vanishing Tower was released four years before the definitive Sailor on the Seas of Fate. If that sounds confusing, well, it is. Trust me when I tell you that Moorock makes the whole thing as clear as possible. And it does make sense, in the greater scheme of the story.

The Vanishing Tower is where the divergent pieces of Elric's saga are weaved into a single tale; the saga of Elric's dealings with Melnibonë, his homeland, related in books one and three, and the saga of his journeys through the Young Kingdoms (as Melnibonëans call the rest of the world), related in book two, come together in book four.

Elric and his surviving countrymen are stateless wanderers, mercenaries hated and feared by those in the Young Kingdoms whom they dominated for ten thousand years. Elric is apart from the others (a rogue mercenary band led by Elric's childhood friend, Dyvim Tvar); he and his companion Moonglum are occupied by their own problems, most of the time. One of those problems is the desire if the rest of the surviving Melnibonëans to see Elric's head on a spear. But aside from that, Elric's patron deity, Arioch, is becoming more and more loath to help Elric, his actorios ring, his last link to the ancient dynasty of Melnibonë, has been stolen by the king of Nadsokor, city of beggars, and Elric, unused to life as a regular wanderer, has no concept of fiduciary responsibility. (That one tends to be a minor worry, as Moonglum is quite an accomplished thief, and there are no lack of people willing to employ the most powerful sorceror on the planet as a mercenary.) All of these factors weave in and out of the fourth book in the novel, coupled with all the usual strengths and weaknesses of Moorcock's writing in this series, culminating in Elric finally getting to the tower of the title and discovering yet another piece of his fate. It is here that Moorcock throws the series' most intriguing twist into play, but to mention the nature of that twist would be quite the spoiler; you'll just have to read the series for yourself. ****

I have been rereading the Elric series in chronological order since I read The Dreamthief's Daughter this year. What is extraordinary is that there is no 'thinning' of the series over the years. In fact all the additional books serve to deepen and strengthen the saga, drawing it to its extraordinary, strongly mythic ending. It is the nearest thing to a mythological cycle that I know and makes almost all other fantasy series seem like children's fairy stories. Either Michael Moorcock himself or that other consummate fantasy writer M. John Harrison said that for readers who use fantasy fiction only as escapism Elric is a
'failed escape plan' and it is worth warning those who like the usual crop of 'fat fantasy' sequences that Moorcock's imagination does not lead him or you away from reality. He has a habit of confronting you with it unexpectedly and that is most clearly seen in the latest Dreamthief's Daughter. But it is here, too. Those who expect Elric to behave like the average fantasy hero
(all of whom owe something to Moorcock anyway, including McAffrey's dragons and bits of Star Wars, even -- this guy was
publishing before Lord of the Rings appeared!) will probably hate this stuff. Those of us who like to escape AND think -- to have the fun of the fantasy with the contemplative quality of literary fiction -- love it to death. And death is a subject Moorcock doesn't avoid. 'He uses fiction as the divining rod of his age's concerns' said Peter Ackroyd (I think). You get full strength fiction with Moorcock. If you like watery chainstore latte to a good honest cup of java, then you probably won't like Elric.

This is a fine example of fiction that takes so many pains to prove its veracity that you almost find yourself falling for the joke, even though you know going in that you're reading a fiction. Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder comes close to the same subtle and painful humor as the Lambshead guide, creating a reality that is completely palatable as much as it is made up. The collection of fine talent from the entire spectrum of fantastic fiction delivers the goods. Vandermeer deserves credit for lighting the fire under such an entertaining project.

If you allow yourself to be contaminated by the gallows humour at work in the Thackery T. Lambshead Disease Guide, I'm quite sure you'll find it a treasured addition to your library. The writing is often quirky and inventive, and while not all of it is great, the work of such talented people as Stepan Chapman (who writes the best stuff in the Guide), Michael Cisco, Jeff Ford, Shelley Jackson, Michael Moorcock, Alan Moore and Jeffrey Thomas, easily makes up for the few uneven spots the book has.

The Guide is also beautifully produced, with superb design and illustrations by John Coulthart that reflect his obsessive attention to detail. Michael Moorcock's disease entry, set in flawless mock-Victorian style, is perhaps the most striking example.

The Lambshead Disease Guide is a strange and original book that overflows with talent. It's perhaps not for the squeamish, but the humour, though dark, is brave and commendable for it dares to laugh (or at least chuckle) in the face of our own mortality and some of our greatest fears. Can't recommend it enough, definitely one of the best books of 2003.

Jeff VanderMeer (ed.), The Thackery T. Lambshead Guide to Eccentric and Discredited Diseases, 83rd Edition (Night Shade Books, 2003)

Thwack's at it again-- publishing another compendium of diseases that seem like outright fabrications. Until, that is, you find yourself faced with someone suffering from Clear Rice Sickness. Then, of course, you will find this book invaluable.

It helps somewhat that this time round, the esteemed Dr. Lambshead, now at the spry old age of 103 (as of this edition), has combed the planet for some of the finest talents in the medical profession. Such luminaries as K. J. Bishop, Jeffrey Thomas, Neil Gaiman, and many others have contributed their expensive medical knowledge to this volume. He even goes outside the bounds of the medical profession every once in a while, for example in the cast of the Right Rev. Michael Moorcock; one would think that perhaps a man of the cloth wouldn't have much to contribute to a medical volume, but you'd be surprised.

If there is a problem with the newest version of the guide, it is to be found in the environment itself. There are so many eccentric diseases around these days (very few, surprisingly, are discredited; doesn't everyone know by now that Twentieth-Century Chronoshock is nothing more than a bad hangover?) that it sometimes seems that the enterprising young physician with an open mind will be paging through the blasted thing for years, if not decades, trying to figure out what's wrong with his patient. During which time, naturally, the patient might expire. Imagine, if you will, the good doctor's chagrin upon running into the patient's house with the proper tincture and finding the patient had been buried six months previous.

Still, an invaluable asset that belongs on the shelf of any good physician. If yours does not keep a copy of the Guide handy, you'd best go find yourself one who does, or risk the most severe of consequences. ***

Normally, when a person reviews a book, they aren't actually reviewing "the book" but the ideas contained therein. And normally, such a semantic quibble would be absurd, but in the case of "The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric & Discredited Diseases" it holds some merit. Because not only does it contain a fascinating selection of the bizarre from a remarkably talented group of authors, but it compiles their writings in a visually stunning collection that beautifully mimics the style, and rather drolly the content, of a Victorian Era monograph.

The basic premise of the Guide is that it is the long running publication of the eponymous Dr. Lambshead, who specializes in bizarre diseases. Moreover, the esteemed Dr. Lambshead is 102 years old, and his guide focuses on diseases that are, shall we say, beyond the pale of modern medicine. From Bone Leprosy to Wife Blindness there isn't an eccentric or discredited disease uncovered by such medical luminaries as Jeff Vandermeer, Paul Di Fillipo, China Mieville and K. J. Bishop (to name a few).

The book begins with two introductions, one from Lambshead and one from the editors, both of which are hilarious. The book concludes with entries from past guides, as well as remembrances from Lambshead's associates, a history of the guide and biographies of each of the contributors (in doctor manifestation, of course). However, the obvious reason to read the Guide is the meat between these two pieces of bread: the diseases. Each author spends anywhere from two to four pages detailing the history, cause and treatment of their own particular disease.

It would be impossible to consider each contribution here, and would spoil the fun of the book for other readers, but there are a few highlights worth mentioning just to offer the flavor of the Guide. First up is Michael Barry's "Ballistic Organ Syndrome" which should be self-explanatory, and which nicely sets the tone for the rest of the Guide. China Mieville's "Buscard's Murrain" is the first (and best) of several literary, or word based, diseases; it's characterized by his dry wit and excellent use of language and tone. Michael Cisco's "Clear Rice Syndrome" has an almost Lovecraft-ian feel, and is one of several contributions that could easily be fleshed out into something longer. John Coulthart's "Printer's Evil" is cleverly placed within historical context and is superbly printed (more on this later). Finally, there is "Tian Shan-Gobi Assimilation" by Jeff Vandermeer; not only is it another disease that could easily turn into something bigger, but it echoes numerous themes in his Ambergris work (without explicitly tying back to them) and will thus be a particular treat for fans of his work. These are just a few of the many great contributions to the Guide, and my failure to mention others shouldn't be treated as an indictment, but rather as an acknowledgement of the consistently high standard of writing displayed throughout the guide.

As one can discern, the writing more than justifies the purchase price of the Guide, but what clinches it is the superb quality of the presentation. Liberal use is made of different fonts to denote different periods in the Guide's history, and occasionally (as in the case of the aforementioned "Printer's Evil") to lend a period effect to a given disease. However, the superb illustrations are what set the guide apart. First, each disease is provided with an illustration, in the style of an 18th century illustrated book or newspaper (or the Wall Street Journal today). Some are grotesque, some hilariously subtle, but they all nicely capture the disease in one snapshot. Secondly, there are photographs of "old" copies of the guide and various locations and personalities, all of which are beautifully presented such that they actually look like a sixty year old book or a team of doctors working to contain a vicious outbreak of venereal disease or what have you.

Finally, the editors brought a real sense of historical weight to the Guide by creating "characters" and texts that appear repeatedly throughout the Guide. Not only does this link together what would otherwise be largely unrelated vignettes, but it also deepens the satire by creating a comprehensive sense of realism around an entirely absurd creation.

Clever in its conception and execution, contributed to by an astonishingly talented pool of authors, and beautifully produced, "The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric and Discredited Diseases" is an absolute joy to read and a must have for anyone who appreciates books as works of art. Its mind-bending amalgam of genres and influences is all the more intriguing for their smooth integration into one truly original work; the Guide was an enormously ambitious project that the contributors, and especially the editors, pulled off in spades.

Enjoy!

Jake Mohlman

This is a compilation of accounts of various and sundry diseases and ailments as reported by such contributors as China Mieville, Michael Moorcock, Alan Moore, Brian Stableford, Gahan Wilson, and some flash little twerp named Neil Gaiman. Needless to say, all of these diseases are fictional--OR ARE THEY? (Yes, they are.)

The afflictions discussed are sometimes comical, sometimes ghastly. Some of the more notable ones include buboparazygosia (where the victim is covered by plague-like buboes that swell up to grotesque proportions, eating away the body and then bursting to reveal miniature human fetuses), Buscard's murrain (in which a certain "wormword", when pronounced in just such a way, causes chemical reactions in listeners such that nerve fibers in their brains are converted to self-reproducing parasites), Emordny's Syndrome (which causes those affected to basically chameleonically mimic their surroundings), internalized tattooing disease (where autopsies reveal that certain people have somehow unconsciously created artwork on their spleens and livers), and the unearthly Tian Shan-Gobi assimilation (a "The Thing"-like consumption of the host by fungal colonies).

About two-thirds of the book is taken up by these case studies, and the remainder by short accounts by the contributors of their encounters with the titular doctor and of "reprints" of lengthier studies from previous editions. In some ways, this last section is stronger than the preceding pages. A lot of the material in the first part is repetitious (the collected authors sometimes seemed to all come up with the same idea) or just not that great. Also, many of these folk appear to be English in nature. Americans these days can't seem to stir themselves to dash off a few pages for genre anthologies. But it did introduce me to the work of Kage Baker, whose "Anvil of the World" I recommend.

If you can find this at a library (good luck), it's worth perusing, but I wouldn't commit your monthly book-buying budget to it, unless you've sworn a solemn vow to collect all things Gaiman. But I guess there are worse manias to have.

I think this book will make sense and be enjoyable only if you've read everything Moorcock has written at least twice and at least recently.

I read his earlier stuff many years ago and just started reading his new stuff. I admit I got lost and a little bored, so I guess this was not the book for me.

I ordered just for beauty of pictures.
Now I am back to be young / it was long way to go /and I enjoy book.....
I will keep for my grandchildren... now they can only borow it under my supervision.......

A range of familiar Moorcock characters from Elric , Cornelius to Jack Karaquazian of War Amongst the Angels and Blood, all merging together in a finale which is hard to beat. I can't agree that Moorcock is a lazy writer, though so many people have pinched his ideas, it might seem that he's 'borrowing' what in fact he created inthe first place -- DC alone owe him for ideas found in almost all their current lines. I find him a complex but engaging writer with maybe the broadest sweep of anyone alive today. This version of the comic lacks the departments (letters section, Rick Klaw's column and so on) but gains Moorcock's explanation of his Multiverse seen as a series of 'planes', like so many billions of Mandelbrot sets only varying in the slightest detail from set to set and only diverging markedly when they are millions of planes apart. It's one of the best models of a multiverse I know, borrowing from modern physics and math theory (Doughty and Mandelbrot) -- unless, of course, they're borrowing from him! Whatever, it's some of the most interest pure science fiction around, and coming from someone who says they write fantasy not sf. Reminds us what a good sf writer Moorcock can be when he wants to be (cf Dancers at the End of Time and The Black Corridor).

The outstanding art is enough reason to venture into this multiverse.

The art's so special that it distracted me from the text. When I realized that, I made a complete pass thru the book just looking at the graphics. It's dazzling: artists Simonson, Reeve, and Ridgway and colorist Wood each contribute to a dazzling show.

Presumably Moorcock as writer guides the artists but the text itself seems to me to contribute less than I would have expected from Moorcock (I've read and relished 8 of his books). Well, it's a different genre and maybe the text is meant to take a back seat to the individual art and to the structure the writer provides for that art.

Multiverse, chaos engineers, they may mean something but this book seemed largely a visual trip and a splendid one at that. After you've gone thru it many times, perhaps the graphics will become familiar enough that you can attend well to the text. Ultimately, graphics and text should work together, but so far for me the graphics keep grabbing my attention. Not the worse fate.

To call this an ambitious project would be an understatement. That is because this is an attempt to express the totality of Moorcock's conception of the multiverse in graphic novel form. In other words, it describes not only our somewhat familiar universe, but also all possible universes. Not only that, but it describes them all, over the entire range of time, because as the author points out, all of time exists simultaneously. It is only human consciousness that organizes it in a linear or cyclic fashion. In fact, that is what the main protagonists of the story, the Chaos Engineers, do- they range the entire multiverse, upscale and downscale, in their living organic vessels. They do this in the service of complexity and diversity. They do this in opposition to their sworn eternal enemies the lords of sterile, dead, and static Order.

Now, operating on the margins of this great eternal conflict between Chaos and Order are the Jugadors, who are the Great Players who play the multiverse as a game- or is it as an instrument? They maintain the great dynamic equilibrium between Order and Chaos. This is because one must never be allowed to totally triumph over the other- that would spell the end of the whole. It is the Balance, the perfect equilibrium, which is the ideal. Most of the sentient and nonsentient universe is rooted in this struggle. This includes a majority of Moorcock's major characters, from Elric to the Rose, to Begg, Von Bek, Keraquazian, Cornelius, Bastable, etc.

This is not an easy story to follow. The logic is complex, but it is consistent. You almost have to be a metatemporal detective like Sir Seaton Beggs to follow it. Indeed, the principle artist makes an appearance in the story proclaiming that he doesn't understand the rules! That is what makes fiction like this so enjoyable- it is so utterly challenging in the way that Moorcock has thrown away all the rules of conventional fiction. It is a grand jazz riff of metaphysics of flow of consciousness- or higher consciousness. It is no wonder that this has been described as the crowning achievement of all the decades of his work.

See you on the moonbeam roads....

Moorcock notes that this is one of the only times he used a historical type of setting for a series, because he was stuck with a not so good Cornish-English dictionary, partly.

Corum Jhaelen Irsei, the Prince in the Scarlet Robe, is one of the last of the Vhadhagh, a race that is a precursor to the Mabden, or man.

The Lords of Chaos are not too pleased with Corum, as he is siding with the men, which could do bad things to their power base. You would not expect any less from The Eternal Champion, though.

The Knight of Swords is a good book. This series is dark, but not as dark as the ELric books. Unlike the albino, Corum is able to find some peace with Rhalina. Of course, knowing Moorcock this will probably be shattered as the series goes on.

Don't fret that this book is out of print. It is currently available, along with the other two books of The Swords Trilogy (The Queen of the Swords and The King of the Swords), in an omnibus edition published by White Wolf entitled Corum: The Coming of Chaos. This book kicks off one of the best swords-and-sorcery series ever written, with all of the imagination and literary quality fans of Michael Moorcock have come to expect. The premise is provocative, the action is exhilirating, and the descriptive excellence is unmatched anywhere. Absolutely astounding. Recommended.

This book is the first of the Swords Trilogy, part of the Chronicles of Corum, which in turn is part of the Eternal Champions cycle (Michael Moorcock is very prolific!).
The book follows the adventures of Prince Corum, who seeks vengance on those who murdered his family, and destroyed his race, the Vadagh. He finds that his quest is part of a greater struggle; between Law and Chaos, and that mortals are just the pawns of the gods. Along the way, he makes a bargain with a sorcerer, finds true love and confronts the ruler of the first five plane: The Knight of Swords.
Not bad as swords and sorceries go, but the pace is very rushed. Better than Moorcock's Sci-fi stuff though...

This book is what good fantasy is all about. Moorcock's imagination is unlimited, and he has created a huge world in which to set his characters. The depth of his writing is quite admirable.

'The Knight of the Swords' tells of Prince Corum, who is the last living member of his race. He suffers from a burning desire for vengeance on those who killed his family, and his adventures are fraught with danger and more importantly, meaning.

Moorcock is an exceptionally intelligent author, and he juggles the concepts of good and evil with ease, weaving them into a dazzling and complex tapestry. His style of writing might be seen as slightly archaic, but the story is ever-changing, and dynamic enough to capture the reader's interest and hold it.

An Orion publication, subtitled Tales of the Eternal Champion Volume 5. It includes The Ice Schooner, The Black Corridor, The Distant Suns, and Flux. So, you get Arflane, Ryan, Jerry Cornelius and Von Bek version of the Eternal Champion in this one volume. This is a pretty eclectic bunch of heroes to throw together in one book.

White Wolf Publishing did a superb job in collecting Michael Moorcock's fantasy work into these beautiful omnibus editions. This volume, eight in the series, contains three novels and one short story, none of which have any obvious connection to the "Eternal Champion" theme. The tales do have some common elements, however; all four pieces feature a group of travelers fleeing a crumbling or decaying society and looking for solutions elsewhere, or "elsewhen."

The Ice Schooner depicts a future Ice Age. A small civilization is established on the ice fields, cities are built into crevasses, and trades and whalers ply the frozen oceans in their ice ships. Konrad Arflane, a typically moody and grim Moorcock hero, undertakes a quest to New York to discover why the ice is melting and his civilization possibly coming to an end. A rare example of pure SF from Moorcock; well told and atmospheric, with a perhaps too hasty resolution.

The Black Corridor, written with Moorcock's then-wife Hilary Bailey, reads more like a Robert Silverberg novel than Moorcock piece. A group of space travelers in cryogenic freeze are fleeing an Earth where xenophobia and war are destroying civilization. One man remains awake to operate the spaceship, and reflects on his final years on Earth, as the world crumbles around him. This is one of Moorcock's best works, taut, suspenseful, evocative, and horrifying. I've read this one three times since it originally appeared in 1969, and it still has an impact... and I'm not sure I completely understand it.

The Distant Suns, a collaboration with British artist and author James Cawthorn, appears in this volume for the first time in the U.S. Again, civilization is crumbling and a trio of space explorers set out to find an answer. (The characters are Jerry, Frank, and Catherine Cornelius, but names aside, they have no apparent connection to the Cornelius characters of Moorcock's other stories.) Written in a hyperventilating pulp style, the purpose here is perhaps to satirize pulp SF clichés, but the authors mimic the purple prose of the 40s too closely for my taste, and I quickly tired of this one, skimming through the last hundred pages to get a general idea of the plot. This ranks as one of Moorcock's misses for me... or perhaps I just missed the point.

Flux, a short story written with Barrington J. Bayley, describes a near future Europe, again facing imminent destruction, which sends an operative into the future to discover a solution. Anyone familiar with Bayley's work will not be surprised to find this story brimming over with madcap ideas. While not as polished as Bayley's later writings (to say nothing of Moorcock's) this is an enjoyable and thought-provoking tale.

Recommended for anyone who enjoys Moorcocks' early SF and fantasy works.

All of the short stories were excellent, but "The Black Corridor" really got the heart moving. Imagine the movie 'Event Horizon' actually done well, heck I think I was hearing things after I finished that piece.

This review is mainly concerning The Black Corridor.

I just read it (mostly yesterday and finished it in the bath). It's a shortish story which starts off harmlessly enough, almost blandly, and yet slowly draws the reader in. But by the end...

Put it this way, right now I'm surfing around trying to find somewhere or someone I can discuss this story with, ask their opinion, what does it mean? What did they think? Where was the line between reality and madness?

How strange that something so short and seemingly unimportant can generate such an emotion. Maybe I need to take some Proditol (read it).

I read it, it greatly stirred my emotions, five stars, enough said.

Sailing to Utopia is definately one of Moorcock's best works. It's sparse language and epic plot lines will leave you terrified, yet at the same time you are completely fulfilled. Each story in the novel is fabulous, even though they don't tie in to each other. Moorcock has written concurrent stories with other Eternal Champion novels (Hawkmoon, Corum: the Coming of Chaos), you can't let this influence you in any way of how intense this book is. Instead of having a concurrent plot line throughout, Moorcock's places themes behind his stories that tie them together as one. However, each story is so enriched with life that each one can definately stand alone as an extraordinary piece of writing.

The War Amongst the Angels pretty much makes Fabulous Harbours superfluous, in a lot of ways, as it is considerably better, and very funny at parts. Plenty of lighthearted English political satire, among other things. Some of the fictitious footnotes are hilarious.

Sam, Rose, Jack, Von Bek, Dick Turpin and the Chaos Engineers face off with Lucifer, Quelch and the Singularity over the fate of the Grail, the Multiverse, and the Spammer Game in a climactic confrontation at the end.

Really enjoyable book.

Moorcock's most ambitious fantasy. Goes with Blood and Fabulous Harbors to form a loose trilogy covering every obsession of a forty year career.

This is Moorcock at his best. "The War Amongst the Angels"
has all the complexity and playfulness that we've come to expect from one of SF's proven masters.Long live the multiverse!

Moorcock is so rich it's possible to compare one of his books to
six books by equally good writers! Like the best work, this rewards a lot of rereadings and above all it's FUN. A fine writer at play.

This is one of the richest of Moorcock's novels, full of different themes and relationships, in which he makes increasingly explicit his vision of the multiverse. It is the culmination of the first two books in the series, Blood and Fabulous Harbors. It raises all kinds of philosophical questions about the nature of identity and our ideas about time. It has a love story and several autobiographical elements and, unlike a previous reviewer, I found this one of the best and most original books Mr Moorcock has yet written. The ending certainly makes reference to Milton, but it seems to be an argument with Milton, rather as Gloriana was an argument with Spencer. Moorcock's great talent, since he began with Elric and The Sundered Worlds, is to inhabit the genre itself and bust it open from the inside out. He doesn't borrow from Milton -- he sets up a dialogue with him! Everything he does, including the Bastable and Pyat novels, is an intervention in an existing genre, stereotype or cultural assumption. War Amongst The Angels is one of the richest and most visually mind-blowing books Moorcock, who has already established his own bench-marks, has ever given us. It is nothing less than a masterpiece.

Breaking windows is a compendium from the Experimental Fantasy Website of FantasticMetropolis (which is now unfortunately in a stasis mode, though still accessable). The website is/was run by Luis Rodrigues in conjunction with Michael Moorcock, and was patterned after Harlan Ellison's "Dangerous Visions". It's mission was to take fantasy out of the Tolkienesque model and expand it to (and over, under, whatever) the far reaches of the genre.

The book is made up of four sections but only one of them is actual stories. The others are Essays, Interview, and Intros. I found most of the stories to be (at the least) interesting and different, but he rest of the book (about 100 of the 245 pages) to be fill. Michael Moorcock's piece about Mervyn Peake reads like a child's complaint that no one under- stands the talent of his idol; it reads more like a whine that a paen.

But, you make up your own mind.

Breaking Windows contains an article by Michael Moorcock discussing Mervyn Peake and his influence on fantastic fiction, and on Moorcock personally. It contains a list of fifty books in the SF and Fantasy tradition that China Mieville thinks any socialist should read. It contains 'Gauntlet of Gorgons', which in of itself means you should read it. I could try and dazzle you with verbosity here, but I won't: just consider that these are but three of the manifold delights the book offers. This is a whirlwind assault on the tedious, the trite and the painfully pedantic. You need to read it.

Fantastic Metropolis is a fantastic idea, and I am sure it will help science fiction much in the years to come. Science Fiction, as I see it, is in desperate need of some new ideas. These are people that are more inspired by Merwyn Peake than by Tolkien. They want more intelligent and stylistically advanced science fiction. Now, that is difficult, since it must also be readable. In this sampler I much preferred the editorials and non-fiction over the short stories! I feel that in their creative joy, some authors have missed out on plots or interesting stories. Science Fiction is, at the heart of it, based on plot, not characterization or style. On the other hand, modern scince fiction is deperately lacking in both. I hope that in the future the editors of Fantastic Metropolis will manage to create a viable fusion. So, my verdict is that buy it to read the interesting editorials, and to suport the work of the Fantastic Metropolis website.

'Breaking Windows' is a compilation of editorials, fiction, non-fiction, and interviews by such distinguished authors as Michael Moorcock, China Mieville, and Jeff VanderMeer. Moorcock's recollections and revelations in his editorial are priceless to the hard-core fan of SciFi who's followed the genre's lengthy and sometimes patchy road. His non-fiction tribute to writer/poet/artist Mervyn Peake (Gormenghast) is a "must read".

This book isn't just an anthology; it's a celebration of authors, publishers, creators and supporters of a popular genre, advice, information, and imagination.

The non-fictional tributes are geared toward authors vastly unsung in today's business-orientated publishing houses. True masters of written word, these writers wound out not being generic enough for the tedium of cash hungry editors. Some authors, such as Mieville, get a chance to tout their beliefs rather than their fiction. A major reason I review many obscure books is an effort to unlock this treasure chest of literary genius compared to monetary complacency. 'Writing Rules I Like To Break' by Carol Emshwiller is particularly enlightening for the budding writer bogged down by perpetual rules.

The interviews are fantastic and informative discussions with Jeff VanderMeer (as the interviewer) with Dan Pearlman, Michael Moorcock (as the interviewer) with Barrington J. Bayley, and Paul Witcover (as the interviewer) with Tony Daniel.

The fiction is astounding. Stories include:
1) (All That Happens)Before The Epilogue by Andrew Fuller
2) Captain's Library by Zoran Zivkovic
3) Cogitor, Ergo Sum by Dan Pearlman
4) Dr. North's Wound by John Dodds
5) Gauntlet Of Gorgons by Rhys Hughes
6) Horrors By Waters by Jeffrey Ford
7) Lottery by Colin Brush
8) Love In Backspace by Barrington J. Bailey
9) Pandora's Bust by Rachel Pollack
10) Self Portraits by Aleksandar Gatalica
11) She Found Heaven by Nathan Ballingrud
12) Still Memories by Luis Filipe Silva
13) The Test by Joao Barreiros

Some of the stories are vague, some trippy (like the lovecraftian 'Dr. North's Wound'), some eclectic, and some even humorous (like 'Love In Backspace' where pilots use their hinders to steer through Backspace). One story is an excerpt of a larger piece ('Captain's Library'), and three are Flash Fiction ('Horror By Waters' (one singular, long sentence), 'Self Portraits', and 'Still Memories').

My favorites were 'Lottery', 'She Found Heaven', and 'The Test'. This collection from the FantasticMetropolis website holds something for everybody. If you like non-traditional SciFi/Fantasy or an interesting article related to the genre, then don't miss out on this treasure. Enjoy!

This book is an excuse to re-read the best stuff from the Fantastic Metropolis Web site.

Read Moorcock's editorial, which is sort of a second introduction after Luís' exploration of the city in speculative fiction and the genesis of the site, to get a sense of what Fantastic Metropolis is all about. There's no manifesto, just a committment to creativity, diversity, and originality. Luís did an excellent job culling the best of the best from the site, and keeping the reading interesting with essays, interviews, lists, and of course fiction. And the book even *looks* good.

This novel was published in the late eighties, but comes in around second, chronologically.

Elric is in trouble, and when he arrives at the mysterious city of Quarzhasaat he is easily convinced to undergo a quest in return for aid.

He must find the Pearl at the Heart of the World. It ain't that easy though, as it is in a fortress. But Elric is still Elric, and having recovered his strength, he still has Stormbringer along with his other talents.

Takes place back in time before Stormbringer killed a loved one. I would read it after the first or second Elric book personally. Elric's father's shade is introduced, and it also should be read before The Dreamthief's Daughter. I really need to reread the other books before making a judgement, but would probably rate this as my 3rd favorite Elric book. I like Moorcock's books because I can get thru them quickly, yet they are still magnificent works that are different than 90% of the fantasy out there. I like his writing style better than about every other fantasy/science fiction author except maybe George R.R. Martin. But I don't get that soap opera pull from Moorcock; I can leave his books for a while and know they will always be there when I need a new adventure to escape into. While Tolkien appeals to a wide range of readers, most Moorcock works wouldn't appeal to religious folk, or anyone who doesn't like reading about death. While Elric constantly tries to save humanity in his own way, his sustenance comes to him by sacrificing souls to his patron Duke of Hell - Arioch.

I read this book as the seventh book, but it really is supposed to be read earlier, after the first or second. It fits in nicely after either one of those, really. But regardless of when you read it, it is a great book!

Elric has to go inside a girl's dreams to regain a pearl that the countryside is fighting for. It has "dreamcatchers" and stuff like that in it...really a lot like american-indian and african aborigine tribal stuff. I really liked it, and I hope that if you are an Elric fan you'll pick it up!

This book took a while to get into,but once it got going it definatly had potential. After reading books by Terry Brooks, Mark Anthony and Anne Mcarfrey, this book was quite a change. At times the way that Michael Moorcock described things was decidedly vague and lacking using words like "stuff." Another thing i found was that the adventure seemed to roll on by and there was a lack of depth to the adventure but in all honesty the fight scenes were worth the wate. I certainly enjoyed the novel once it got going and although hard to follow at times it left me with a sence of light hearted entertainment. Maybe the book would have made more sence if i had read the other Elric novels before this one. A nice twist at the end but there was definatly an opening for another book, does Elric ever return to lay his claim to the Ruby Throne?

This book adds a great chapter to the Elric Saga.. Elric ventures into a child's dream's to uncover a giant pearl., He has been poisned and forced into the mission, by a power hungry politician. He retrives the Pearl, Gets the antidote, and well I don't want to give away everything.. This book is a Must READ!!!

The second of the Doubleday editions, this contains The Vanishing Tower, The Bane of the Black Sword and Stormbringer.

The Vanishing Tower

This book is also known as The Vanishing Tower. Elric is not a fan of the sorcerer Theleb K'aarna. In fact he is so much not a fan he would like to introduce him to the Black Blade, in an up close, personal, and body cavity penetrating kind of manner.

He is having a lot of problems getting to him though, until he gets help from The Sleeping Sorceress.

4 out of 5

The Bane of the Black Sword

The Bane of the Black Sword is also a collection.

The Stealer of Souls
Kings in Darkness
The Flamebringers (also called The Caravan of Forgotten Dreams)
To Rescue Tanelorn

The first three are adventures with Elric and Moonglum, and the latter is actually a story of Rackhir the Red Archer, one of the worthy individuals the Eternal Champion meets from time to time.


4.5 out of 5

Stormbringer

Stormbringer is the end of this Elric cycle. Many times Elric has struggle with his symbiotic relationship with the powerful demonsword Stormbringer. It gives him energy, but has caused him to destroy those close to him, earning him the sobriquets Kinslayer and Womanslayer, at times.

He finally faces the Dukes of Hell, again, and must summon all his creativity, and dig deep into the last of his bag of tricks, not the least of which are the Dragons of Melnibone.

This is the end for this Eternal Champion, as he faces his final destiny, and his place in the multiverse.

5 out of 5

I've only read the Elric saga part 2 and that was a few years back, now I'm looking to read the rest of the series. I've read fantasy/sci-fi all my life and I would rate this saga right up there with Terry Brooks, Shannara series, Raymond Feists, Riftwar saga and Jordons, Wheel of Time Saga. If you enjoy any of the above this book is money well spent but good luck even the used bookstores recognize it's popularity and ask above average prices. It's a must have for my collection.

This book includes the fourth through the sixth of the old six book Elric series that Moorcock put out. I was seriously into Moorcocks Elric stuff as a teenager and now after rereading it after all these years I still consider this to be a classic in the fantasy genre. Elric is far from being a typical or cliched fantasy hero, in fact I would label him as an anti-hero. Instead of being a strong chivalric hero Elric is a foppish weakling albino who is kept alive only through the use of drugs and sorcery. He sits on the throne of a declining empire that takes pride in being cruel and unjust to the rest of the world. He comes into possession of a sword that is more or less a demon physically manifested into the form of a black bladed two handed sword. The sword, named Stormbringer, feeds on the souls of those that Elric kills giving Elric their lifeforce and energy. He becomes dependent on Stormbringer like a heroin addict to heroin, needing it and the souls of those that he kills just to function. So yeah like I said not exactly Sir Galahad here.

A very dark tale without being overly contrived. I'm surprised more of the black trenchcoat wearing goth/black metal/Marilyn Manson crowd of the younger generation hasn't caught on to the Elric stuff. I really enjoy Moorcocks Mulitiverse/Champion Eternal concept and would put those original Elric stories at the top of the Fantasy heap, second only to Robert E Howard and Tolkiens work.

This book truly does leave you with a feeling of emptiness. But, combined with the 1st saga, it truly has left an impression of beauty entertwined with sadness that has stayed with me for over a decade. I have read this series 3 times now. A masterpiece. Truly one of the greatest fantasy stories ever written.

After reading Part 1 of this series, I had mixed feelings about the characters and storyline as a whole. Now, having finished the 2nd part I have to say that I am left with a rather disappointed feeling.

Elric is constantly pitying himself and making foolish decisions throughout the story. These are interspersed with noble acts that in themselves are unmoving. The author seems to try so hard to make Elric out to be an anguished hero with a dark side, but the attempts are so obvious and the subplots are so poorly developed that you really begin to not care about any of it.

Midway through the book, the flow of the storyline seems completely broken as Elric moves from one place to the other, encountering random events that seem to have no purpose other than to give him yet another poor excuse to demonstrate how anguished and tormented he is.

I have read a good number of fantasy books before this one, but this is the first where I began to feel so absolutely detached from the hero that I really no longer cared what happend to him.