Where to Start with the Multiverse of Michael Moorcock
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- Опубликовано: 15 май 2022
- A discussion of the many incarnations of the Eternal Champion in Michael Moorcock’s Multiverse.
The Onion AV Club of Moorcock: www.avclub.com/where-to-start...
Champions/Works mentioned:
Elric of Melniboné:
Elric of Melniboné, The Sailor on the Seas of Fate, The Weird of the White Wolf, The Vanishing Tower, Bane of the Black Sword, Stormbringer, Elric at the End of Time, Elric: Stealer of Souls, Elric: Song of the Black Sword
Dorian Hawkmoon and the Runestaff Cycle:
The Jewel in the Skull, The Mad God’s Amulet, The Sword of the Dawn, The Runestaff
Corum:
Corum the Coming of Chaos - The Knight of the Sword, The Queen of the Swords, The King of the Swords
Corum: the Prince with the Silver Hand - The Bull and the Spear, The Oak and the Ram, The Sword and the Stallion
Oswald Bastable:
A Nomad of the Time Stream - The Warlord of the Air, The Land Leviathan, my discussion: • The Land Leviathan by ...
The Steel Tsar
Jerry Cornelius and the Cornelius Chronicles:
The Final Programme, A Cure for Cancer, The English Assassin, The Condition of Muzak, The Lives and Times of Jerry Cornelius, The Entropy Tango, The Adventures of Una Persson and Catherine Cornelius in the Twentieth Century, The Alchemist’s Question
Jherek Carnelian and Dancers at the End of Time:
An Alien Heat
New Wave:
The Roads Between Worlds, my discussion of The Fireclown: • The Fireclown by Micha...
Sailing to Utopia - The Ice Schooner, The Black Corridor, The Distant Suns, Flux
Von Bek:
The War Hound and the World’s Pain, The City in the Autumn Stars, The Dragon in the Sword, The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius
Kane of Old Mars:
City of the Beast, Lord of the Spiders, Masters of the Pit
The Eternal Champion, The Sundered Worlds, Phoenix in Obsidian, To Rescue Tanelorn
Mother London
#booktube
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#steampunk
#hughfantasy
#heroicfantasy
#swordandsorcery
#elric
I've had the good fortune to edit and publish a brand new Elric story, so I can say from personal experience that Mike is as wonderful a person as you could hope for.
Great synopsis of Moorcock’s works. I remember picking up my first Elric novel back in the 80’s at Waldenbooks as a teen. I’ve been a huge Moorcock fan ever since. He has something for everyone
Thanks for the kind words, Chris. Do you have a favorite among Moorcock’s works or characters? There really is something for the taste of every science fiction or fantasy reader! Hope you have a great start to this week.
Cheers, Jack
Elric and Corum is how I started and got me hooked. Courm is also my favorite with the dynamics of the gods and the humans.
The sensibility in the Corum swords books continues to interest me more than the one in Elric. My wife read the first Elric book last month and found it interesting. Is there another member of the Moorcock multiverse that you’re curious to read?
Hope you have a fantastic weekend!
Cheers, Jack
@@ramblingraconteur1616 I have been wanting to read all the big ones just need to actually get around to it.
I'm a simple man with simple tastes and the plain and simple fact is that I'll subscribe to anyone who'll talk about Moorcock's work with a copy of Lilith's Brood sitting behind them.
This is an absolutely brilliant and accurate summation of the Moorcock canon. One small point though... the Eternal Champion doesn't ALWAYS fight on the side of Order against Chaos... he/she fights on whatever side they need to in order to maintain The Balance. Hawkmoon and Cornelius are obvious examples here. Great vid, though! And the Cornelius books and Dancers at the End of Time are my fave MM works!
Me too. And the Alternative History of the 20th Century, though it's bazaar.
Corum is my favorite as well.
Do you have a favorite among the Corum novels?
Cheers, Jack
Yeah I'd have to say that the first book of Corum is my favorite. Along with the first 2 Erekose books.
Corums ending is heart breaking.
That is one of the reasons I love that series from Moorcock. He really seemed to pour his heart into those volumes.
Is Corum your favorite among the champions?
Cheers, Jack
@@ramblingraconteur1616 Corum story is great. I mostly have the audiobooks. But the graphical novel was great of corum well worth checking out and with it's own music. You really hear the scream of corum when he has his hand removed. It's so good. I've yet to see all the multiverse characters. But I just found it very tragic that he had a chance a peace, but choose love and well you know the ending. After defeating the gods. But also he was called there by humans to help them. He never saw himself as a god. But they made him one. From going of a person who doesn't believe in gods it's tragic. Elric was also tragic with his love. Not hearing her but Elric let his emotions, he knew of gods, etc. Since he pledged himself to chaos since a boy.
The 1st Corum book is just great. Since you really feel for him loosing his people, family, as he said he doesn't know how to kill.
I really need to check out Von Bek and other characters like hawkmoon, etc.
@@JamieZero7 good notes on the divergent forms of tragedy. Hawkmoon is the most directly and classically heroic. Von Bek is very hit or miss, but the heights are superb!
The Cornelius novels are my favourites, but then I'm of Moorcock's generation and read his work as it was published. I also really like his 'serious' fiction such as Mother London.
I love finding so many Cornelius fans!
Completely by accident i satarted my Moorcock journey with Erkose. I found it when looking through the fantasy section in my local library after school when i was about 14 (in the mid 80's). I'd just made the mistake of trying to read the Silmarillion as my introduction to Tolkien & gave up fairly quickly so Erkose was a nice change of pace lol.
Hahaha, I read The Hobbit and then saw a copy of Unfinished Tales on my grandfather’s bookshelf, so I tried that for my second Tolkien . . . Bit of a disaster there.
Do you have a favorite from Moorcock’s characters or novels?
Cheers, Jack
The Jerry Cornelius books are my favourite ..... nice to meet you. (Cure for Cancer I think was genius)
I love finding other fans of the Cornelius Chronicles! I was really taken aback when I read the first one, and then I found more and more to appreciate. Hope you have a great weekend!
Cheers, Jack
This is a fantastic guide. Thank you so much for making it!
Elric at the end of time is actually a story in the Dancers series.
The Dancers series hints at alot of secrets from others series he did as well as being a love letter to his favorite authors.
I started with Corum then Elric, hawkmoon my favourite other the main champions, Erekose.
I later read all his other books.
Which was your favorite among the Hawkmoon books?
Cheers, Jack
Mike has been my favorite author since my teens and will always be a huge influence on me. He is very sweet to his fans as well. I'm fifty by the way, and he told us to call him Mike. WE ATE STORMBRINGER CAKE WITH MICHAEL MOORCOCK AND IT WAS LOVELY ❤
Corum was always my favourite back in the seventies. I did love Jerry Cornelius though and read them all. The Warhound and the Worlds Pain is something I've wanted to read for some time, but life always leads me elsewhere and I forget about it until someone mentions it.
Great stories, Michael is a great weaver of tales Jerry Cornelius, Prisoner and Luther Arkwright are all favourites - so you met some one
It has been fantastic to meet so many folks who enjoy Moorcock’s books. I’ve particularly enjoyed connecting with folks who like the Jerry Cornelius books, always find something interesting in those works. Hope you have a great week, Rod!
Cheers, Jack
A lot of interesting series that I need to pick up. I only read his Elric stuff so far. Thanks for the suggests.
Happy to share, Bryant. I hope that you enjoy your next trip through the Moorcock multiverse.
Cheers, Jack
Stormbringer! I know it's book 6 of Elric but that's where i started and don't regret a second.
Then i read Kane of Mars, Dorian Hawkmoon and about to start Corum.
Thanks for the video. I recently started reading Moorcock earlier this year. While I haven't yet finished Elric or Von Bek, I have read Corum, John Daker and Hawkmoon. I am about to finish up Nomad of the Time Streams. I'd say my favorite eternal champion series so far is Corum or Elric. I also loved how, as I read each series, certain events unfolded differently, or surprisingly similarly to the other books. I liked the cameos that certain characters made in each others stories. My dream is to collect all White Wolf book publications of the Etertnal Champion series!
Thanks, Andy, that remains a goal of mine still! It is wonderful to find someone else who enjoys Corum. I enjoy that sensibility a bit more than Elric’s. Hope you continue to enjoy the Eternal Champion Multiverse!
Cheers, Jack
Jerry Cornelius - you found one - they have been my favorite, totally click with my personality
It has been fun to see how mnay Cornelius fans are among us!
@@ramblingraconteur1616 did you see the movie for the first book - English film - the man that plays Cornelius is perfectly what you would have imagined him to be. Often we are disappointed with such renditions of our heroes out of books - but for me it was great casting. Him and Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes, David Suchet as Poirot.... but of course this is one man's opinion. Someone else would say Rathbone, haha. I just got done listening to the many incarnations of Mr. Moorcock's psychidelic bands, like Deep Fix, or Spirits Burning with Michael Moorcock the Hollow lands and many more besides the Hawkwind recordings and he really took to the whole rockstar thing. There is so much out of print. We need big leather bound hardcovers of everything. Sorry for packing everything in this one comment. Good Spring.
I have always loved the Elric stories. Haven’t read Cornelius in years. I’ll hunt down the steampunk, which I didn’t know about
Very cool, Mark! I hope you enjoy A Nomad of the Time Streams/Warlord of the Air.
What was your impression of the Cornelius books?
I hope this week is starting well for you!
Cheers, Jack
@@ramblingraconteur1616 I think I read them in the late ‘70s or thereabouts. Honestly can’t remember much. Elric I’ve reread many times.
The Bastable books are in print from Titan in the US and Gollancz in UK
It's incredibly sad that Moorcock is so difficult to come by in used books stores these days. Recently, a number original volumes from the Elric saga fell into my hands I've been very much enjoying re-reading them as a blast from the past. I'm almost tempted to suss out copies of "Dancers at the End of Time" though I've got mixed feelings because of not wanting to possibly spoil the fond memories of it that I've got from having first discovered it many years ago.
I can’t say the Cornelius novels are my favorites of Moorcock (at the moment, that probably belongs to the Dancers at the End of Time sequence), they just might be my number 2. Even more so than his other works, the JC books feel like one novel, that has been brilliantly twisted and complicated into a tapestry that the reader has to put back together, and it was very satisfying to find the plot and pull together all the pieces of the story into a whole. Though, as an English major, I love really dense, complex novels.
Started with The English Assassin, it was the 1st one I came across in my mid teen, in the mid 1970's, in my local library. It's a never ending journey, with no designated start or finish
Great stuff! Takes me back. Ever since I was a fetus, it feels like, my dad has been pushing Elric on me haha. Which I did enjoy, though not as much as he did.
Hahaha, somehow, despite several uncles who love SFF, I made it to my middle twenties before I discovered Elric and the subsequent multiverse. Have you read any of the other works, Fraser?
@@ramblingraconteur1616 I’m pretty sure I read the first Hawkmoon book, but that’s all. I think the reading order was interrupted or something. My dad has those old ace editions and might have been missing some.
@@SpringboardThought Fraser, as I watch your channel, you may wish to try GLORIANNA published in the revised edition by Saga Press, which aslso just reissued the Elric’s in Moorcock’s preferred order & revised editions.
@@joemountains1539 thank you!
I've immersed myself into a number of Moorcock's books! I've read Elric stories (including the more recent stories that were suppose to have taken place between "Sailor on the Seas of Fate" and "Tales of the White Wolf" or "Stealer of Souls" in the original collection), Hawkmoon (and the sequels in the Castle Brass trilogy), Corum, Oswald Bastable, Erekose (including an illustrated short story "The Swords of Heaven, The Flowers of Hell"), The Cornelius Chronicles Volume 1 thru 3 (I've bought "The Nature of the Catastrophe" and The NEW Nature of the Catastrophe" but I didn't read them yet), The Dancers at the End of Time (and "Legends from the End of Time"), the Jack Karaquazian stories and "The Warhound and the World's Pain" (I've bought "City in the Autumn Stars" but haven't read it yet).There were several stories where different aspects of The Eternal Champion meet ("Sailors...," "Vanishing Tower," "The King of Swords," and "Quest for Tanelorn" to name a few). DC Comics released a maxi-series called "Michael Moorcock's Multiverse" which features a number of his characters including a Duke Elric who lived in 11th century Europe....
It’s great to find another fan of Moorcock’s work! I hope you enjoy City in the Autumn Stars. Do you have a favorite incarnation of the Eternal Champion? I hope you’re having a good weekend.
Best, Jack
@@ramblingraconteur1616 That's a difficult question to answer. While I enjoyed the Elric stories that I've read and the "Nomad of the Time Streams" stories, I would have to say that I liked Bastable as a character better than I liked Elric while I enjoyed the Elric stories better than the Barnstable stories. Elric created problems while under the belief that he was solving them while Barnstable tried to solve problems while accidentally creating new problems. I won't give anything away for new readers but I welcome an exchange of perspectives over what role The Eternal Champion has taken in each of his incarnations and whether he/she/they lived up to them. A good example of this is Moorcock's interesting crossover stories like "Sailors on the Sea of Fate"/"Quest for Tanelorn" and "The Vanishing Tower"/"The King of Swords."
There is no start or finish, just a journey with stopping of points of your own choice.
Hi, my favourite Moorcock character is definitely Jerry Cornelius. I started with Elric & Corum, then as a student I picked up Elric at the End of Time. In that volume Moorcock explains and shows that the Final Programme is just a retelling of the 1st Elric story. From there, I was sold. The tetralogy starts gently, then each novel takes you further and further into unknown depths. In your list, you missed out some of the later books, eg Firing The Cathedral (His response to 9/11) and the most recent one Pegging The President - from 2018.
Have you read Moorcocks actual Doctor Who novel - The Coming of the Terraphiles? Its a wonderful cross between Space Opera & a PG Wodehouse novel (Jeeves & Wooster).
I believe Melnibone would be pronounced MEL-NIB-OH-NAY (Theres an accent on thee, like in Café) and Bastable is pronounced BA-STIR-BULL.
Hi, thankyou for this. I remember I wrote an English exam paper 30 years ago comparing and contrasting Stormbringer with The Lord of the Rings.
Glad you enjoyed it! Have you read much from Moorcock beyond Elric? That sounds like a fantastic comparison to explore in a paper.
Cheers, Jack
I am trying to remember the name of the first MM novel I read in junior high which was amazing. I only remember that the main character was part of a team that fought a war with a bunch of giants. At one point almost all the giants were killed and the war was won. I think there was a place Yamerika and perhaps Gran Breton? Can you tell me which book this might have been?
I read a lot of Moorcock when I was young. I recently reread the first volume of the new released Elric reprint.
What about the Pyat Quartet? I read the first volume Byzantium Endures and I have always meant to finish.
Was Elric your favorite among his characters, Greg?
I haven’t read anything from the Pyat Quartet, but it seems like a blend of some of the historical fantasy he did in other works.
@@ramblingraconteur1616 Yes, Elric my was favorite, followed by Hawkmoon. There were a few outlier novels like The Black Corridor I enjoyed too.
I don’t remember much fantasy in the Pyat book.
@@anotherbibliophilereads Me neither. While Col. Pyat has appeared in other Moorcock stories, "Byzantium.." and the other books are just historical dramas that remind me of George MacDonald Frazer's "Flashman" series...
The Pyat books deal with the origins of the Holocaust, written by a self-deluding Jewish inventor who denies he is a Jew They can be pretty grim and also funny. They begin in Ukraine, go to Russia and vividly describe the horrible turmoil of the Russo-Ukrainian war of 1918-1922. They are published by Vintage, UK or PM Press, USA,
@@DavidTSmith-jn5bs THEY ARE MEANT TO SHOW THE WORLD IN WHICH THE HOLOCAUST CAME TO BE!
Great overview. There are the new revised editions of the Elric novels out in the US in 2022. And a new Elric novel, a prequel, THE CITADEL OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS out in December 2022 in the US & UK.
Looking forward to Citadel! It’s interesting to see which of Moorcock’s books are consistently republished. Elric seems the most popular by a wide margin.
Cheers, Jack
SAGA plan to bring out THE WARHOUND AND THE WORLD'S PAIN and THE CITY IN THE AUTUMN STARS in one volume this year or next!
funnily enough, I started with an Eternal Champion omnibus I picked up on a flea market as a child and absolutely loved it. Been trying to get into the rest of Moorcocks work, not sure where to start, something it seems many people are struggling with. Is there something you'd recommend to me, given that I actually loved the Erekose stories? My impression is that Elric would be a good next step, since I really enjoyed some of the darker themes in Eternal Champion.
Two of my favourites by Michael Moorcock is Gloriana which is homage to Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast and an alternate Elizabethan history and A Brothel In Rosenstrasse which is beautifully written. But really I could choose many others. By the way I thoroughly enjoyed your video.
YOU MIGHT LIKE BREAKFAST IN THE RUINS.
I started with Erekose
I'm a new reader of Moorcock, and I've only read 1 Elric book so far. For some reason it's almost impossible to get hold of any of his books here in Sweden, so I just have to read in the order of what and when I find them.
I stumbled on a couple of these volumes when I became interested in him, but it took 8-9 years to find some of the others. The Elric and Corum books are the ones I saw most frequently until there were reprints of the Bastable books a few years ago. Good luck with finding more and enjoying what you do find.
Cheers, Jack
And why it is considered as not recommended The Eternal Champion with Erekosë? Could you be more specific? It was my first MM book and I thought his ideas were so cool back then 😂
I love Michael Moorcock, but his publications are very confusing to collect. There have been many editions and alternative titles. However, he is an imaginative and prolific writer.
I agree, Clare, both on the books I have enjoyed reading so much and on the various editions that can become treasure hunts. Do you have a favorite among his characters or books?
Cheers, Jack
I am fond of the Elric stories and the Colonel Pyat series. How about you?
Nice! Pyat is under appreciated.
@@joemountains1539 I totally agree.
@@battybibliophile-Clare I really enjoyed Bastable and Corum. Elric is strong, but the tone can feel unvarying if they are read in succession.
Trilogy of Corum is the best.
It has been great to see how many of us really love that series!
I gave up on The Fire Clown, it just seemed like he hadn't figured out what he was doing (although I don't know when it was written). I enjoyed the Jerry Cornelius but wished I had known the original American pbk of the 1st was censored but was into the 2nd by the time I discovered that. I wasn't going to go back and read the original at that point but it probably lost of its effect. My fav. story is still "Behold the Man," which I have the novel version of as well but haven't read yet.
Oh, Behold the Man is one I have yet to read, but I’m looking forward to it. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Fireclown as the Doctor Faustus novel had felt slight compared to Elric, Corum, and Bastable. I hope you have a great week!
Cheers, Jack
Why doesn't anyone ever talk about The Silver Warriors or Gloriana? The Silver Warriors was the first one I ever read and it hooked me on Moorcock's writing. I always understood it to be the follow up to The Eternal Champion.
I haven’t read The Silver Warriors, but I’ll have to look for it. Thanks for the recommendation.
Cheers, Jack
I started with eternal champion, loved the first book but I couldn't get into the second book where he's transported to the ice World been trying to get into the other series but since reading eternal champion I'm secondary school I find reading in general to be more difficult, too bad there arnt many audio book versions as far as I'm aware
Moorcock has written so many books, but I have not seen many appearing as audiobooks. Best of luck with finding more you enjoy to read, Gwen!
Cheers, Jack
I need bookshelves, how much will you take for the pair?
Good over view of moorcock. Missed Behold the man. I think won the awards. When I was collecting books, moorcock was the worst. Maybe not his fault. But they kept releasing his works in new collections. Hard to find like the definitive version. And some conflicted with others. Very frustrating. Key to Moorcock, dont try to understand his underlying themes, just enjoy them as is.
My latest buy was Graphic 4 volume box with Blondel write and Stunning Art and are to Moorcock him self Best Graphic Elric Bought it last year and Strongly Recommend For are really Well Thought out and Just say Will not Regrett IT I read Elric since was a kid With another then Graphic Time traveler Luther Arkwright Bryan Talbot Creaton are 3 book 1078 ,87 latest 2022 came out are a Fun read Scifi his Grandville Integral Steampunk Scifi Sherlock just Stunning 600 pages all run also great read If like have little variation 👍 2 British Authours Have great value read 👍
Good video.
The Jerry Cornelius books are my favorites. My favourite Jerry Cornelius stories however were The Ash Circus and The Nash Curcuit written by M. John Harrison in the New Nature of the Catastrophe anthology from the 90's (obviously they appeared in New Worlds originally). Some of my favorite Cornelius stories were not written by Moorcock. I also disagree with your opinion on The Eternal Champion. They are the perfect books to start with. They introduce you to the multiverse and the Eternal Champions. Also Erekose has memories of contemporary London England and can compare his fantasy setting to the world of the reader. I also love Moorcock's first novel (The Sundered Worlds) and its sequel Doctor Who :The Coming of the Terraphiles.
Good video.
Interesting take on the Eternal Champion. It’s great to find someone who loves the Jerry Cornelius books! I’ve found a few readers who really enjoy Harrison’s works, but I can’t ever find them in used bookstores where I am. Hope to read them someday. I hope you have a nice weekend.
Best, Jack
Cornelius books are still appearing and the first quartet are published in the USA by Titan, Victor Gollancz UK,
very cool.. I just am about to finish the 4th Hawkmoon book Runestaff and am wondering where it goes from there? I have the lovely Saga Press Vol 1-2 of the Elric saga to get into, the Sword Trilogy is on the way. I first heard about Michael Moorcock from a Blue oyster Cult interview , talking about Veteran Of a Thousand Psychic Wars, it does mention the Winds of Limbo? which books and character was BOC referring ? always wondered?
I'm not sure about the BOC reference. I'll have to take a look. I hope you enjoy the Swords Trilogy. That's one of my favorites!
Cheers, Jack
THERE IS A SECOND HAWKMOON TRILOGY WHICH STARTS WITH 'COUNT BRASS'.
Help me out here…where does “Silver Warriors” fall?
What happens with Moorcock's books is that different incarnations of the Champion appear in each others cycles.... so can be read in various orders. 'Silver Warriors' is a later anthology version of Erekose and the simple answer would be "after 'The Eternal Champion' book"... I find that the more of his books that are read, the more they are all enhanced, so they reward repeated reading. The meaning and interconnectedness (!) of the concepts are given epiphanies of altered significance (too pompous?). In Moorcock time is not necessarily linear. K ( :
@@keithreynolds thank you so much. That helps a lot!! Much appreciated.
Though I started with Corum, I'd recommend either Elric or The Eternal Champion as a starting point. I strongly disagree with you on the latter. It really feels like the origin point of the saga to me.
It has been really interesting to see how many readers champion The Eternal Champion. I’ll have to revisit it in the future to see if it strikes a different chord. Hope you have a great weekend!
Cheers, Jack
@@ramblingraconteur1616 First, you have a great weekend yourself! I just feel like it was the cleanest novel as far as the concept goes. Part of it is that it is arguably an "original sin" on the part of the Champion (or at least Daker). I would say that the core 6 Elric books and the Swords Trilogy might be better. I should point out that the true origin is The Golden Barge, which Moorcock only released much later to let people see. It's not very good and Moorcock knew that. I would never recommend anyone start here but if anyone wants to understand how the Eternal Champion came about, it is interesting.
@@whom382 ah, that “original sin” concept for the Eternal Champion is an interesting one; I’ll definitely keep it in mind when I reread. (That volume and most of these others are still in storage during a remodel).
Cheers, Jack
FEW SEEM TO REALISE THAT DAKER IS OFTEN BLACK, SOMETIMES A WOMAN, LIKE JERRY CORNELIUS!!
YO!