There's now a third way to read the Elric Saga. Gollancz has published a seven volume paperback set which is, as far as I know, complete, and in chronological order.
I’m a big fan of reading in publication order in general, because it’s important to me to see the writer’s evolution. Works are created in time, not all at once or in accordance with an internal chronology. (Usually. Where publication and internal order line up, that’s interesting too.) I’m double extra enthusiastic for it with Elric, where his creation covers such a long time, from right at the beginning of Moorcock’s adulthood to now. I love the Del Rey edition.
My master plan for reading Elric started with "The War Hound and the World's Pain" and "The Eternal Champion" both enjoyed immensely. Now I'm reading "The Dragon in the Sword" (finished "The Sundered Worlds" and "Phoenix in Obsidian" already).
That is a great plan. Sounds a lot like an order of Moorcock’s books that I swear by. docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10f0hFkZTwI_IyCsXGnu0o3Rb2x0XFk07Pji-ptdMdos/edit
Thank you for the publishing history lesson. I read the six paperbacks in the late 1970's. As happens I became separated from those copies. Then whenever I wanted to locate new copies, I found them buried in new anthologies that had Elric stories I knew nothing about. I will get the Saga Press books and then decide about the other stories.
Started reading the Elric Saga a couple years ago and fell in love with it! It also introduced me to Moorcock's other series the Corum Chronicles, which is the most underrated sword-and-sorcery series in my opinion.
I'm going to be a contrary voice and recommend reading in publication order, at least of the stories in "Stealer of Souls" (which does not include Stormbringer). Reading his life before "The Dreaming City" ruins a lot of the drama and suspense in that story. "Stealer of Souls" continues to the first sorta completion point Moorcock reached and is a strong set of stories. After that you can go where you will, but reading earlier stories in Elric's chronology will rob those stories of much of their power.
Volume 3 of the Saga Press editions of Elric crosses over heavily with the Von Bek series, and in the last book, Hawkmoon as well. Von Bek has been out of print, but Saga Press is reprinting it later this year.
I need some help, the first volume of the elric saga just arrived. Really excited to read it, but I hear volume 2 is the end of the series And also that volume 3 acts like it's own trilogys like u said here crosses over with another character. So I'm wondering how to I read them, should I go volume 1, citadel and 2 And finish elric and go back to read volume 3 after reading some von Bek. Or do you think it's not necessary and I should go 1, citadel, 3 then 2. How do I read the elric saga.
@@raiden_187 It's somewhat complicated, due to the very non-linear nature of Michael Moorcock's work. Almost all of his books are part of his Eternal Champion Multiverse, including many series that cross over with one another in big and small ways and often written out of order. Thankfully, most of these can be read independently of one another, but some are more closely linked with other books. To read Elric, I'd suggest starting with Volumes 1 and 2. Then, you could read Citadel of Forgotten Myths. There is some ambiguity about where it fits in the timeline, but it seems to fit in between parts 2 and 3 of The Bane of the Black Sword (which is in Volume 2). However, there is no need to pause reading Bane to read Citadel, as Citadel can simply be read later. Volume 3 takes place while Elric is on a "dream quest" during Stormbringer, the last chronological book of the series. The three books in Volume 3 depend critically on the events of the Fortress of the Pearl, and they are very different from the other books. They cross over heavily with Moorcock's Von Bek series (The War Hound and the World's Pain, and the City in the Autumn Stars). In fact, I'd consider them just as much Von Bek books as they are Elric books. I'd recommend reading at least War Hound before Elric Volume 3. Fortunately, War Hound is short and very good, my favorite non-Elric book from Moorcock. The last book in Volume 3, The White Wolf's Son, is one of the most crossover-heavy Eternal Champion books I've read. It has major connections with the Von Bek, Hawkmoon, and John Daker books, as well as smaller connections to others such as the Oswald Bastable books. I wouldn't say it's necessary to have read all of that to enjoy it, but I'm not sure how well it would work for a reader familiar with Elric only. So bottom line, I'd recommend the following: 1. Elric of Melnibone 2. The Fortress of the Pearl 3. The Sailor on the Seas of Fate 4. The Weird of the White Wolf 5. The Vanishing Tower, aka the Sleeping Sorceress 6. The Revenge of the Rose 7. The Bane of the Black Sword 8. Stormbringer 9. The Citadel of Forgotten Myths 9.a The War Hound and World's Pain (recommended) 9.b The City in the Autumn Stars (optional) 10. The Dreamthief's Daughter 11. The Skrayling Tree 11.a Other stories from Moorcock's Multiverse, especially the Eternal Champion and the Jewel in the Skull (optional) 12. The White Wolf's Son
Elric of Melnibone was technically the first "proper" Elric novel, in that it was written as one. Stormbringer was a kind of fix-up of four novellas but I think all of them kind of flowed from each other anyway. I have an ebook of the Gollancz edition that presents them in their original form. Otherwise, I have the Saga volumes and I think I'll stick with those; I'm sure the additional stuff in the Del Reys is nice but the books are a bit preposterously priced; the ones I can find on eBay all want $35-40 just for postage, to say nothing of the price of the actual books...
I'm currently working my way through the Saga Press editions in-between other reads. I've read the first six novels so far. Thanks for the info about the Del Ray set! This is my first read through of Elric and I am glad that I went with the Saga editions. In the back of the omnibus books it has a history of all the Elric books by publication date and a brief description of each. It seems like a lot of the stories had elements pulled from them and combined later on to form the main Elric novels to tell a more cohesive complete story. It would be interesting to read the Del Ray set if they have both these early short stories and the larger novels that they got rolled into. I wonder if it would become confusing if certain scenes or plot points end up repeating. I was thinking thats why the Saga books left them out. But I would love to hear your thoughts on them when you read them! I really love the Elric stories and the immense creativity that is in all the crazy fantasy elements. Although they can get a little convoluted and repetitive at times. I look forward to discussing them!
Not sure how I missed Elric when I was younger, but seeing the New Saga Press hardbacks I decided to read them all. Currently I am nearly done with the first volume and am thoroughly enjoying the story.
I suggest you treat yourself to a copy of New Edge - Sword & Sorcery Magazine issue one for that exclusive Moorcock tale .. The Folk of the Forest : An Elric Story. Good luck with your Elric odyssey, wonderful escapism, all of it.
The first Moorcock Elric I read (previously, as a kid, I'd read some of the comics adaptions) was volume one of the Del Rey series. I never owned it; I borrowed it from a library. I loved it, found it stimulating on multiple levels. A few years later, I was spending a lot of time in used bookstores, acquired all six of the mass market paperback versions (some 70s Daw, some 80s Berkley) and read them all in order. I remember feeling like something was missing from reading the saga that way, vs. the sequence of stories I'd originally read in that first Del Rey volume. If I ever run across any of those DR volumes again, I'll likely grab them. Because of this, I very much appreciate your perspective here. Love the channel, always!
I am not a fan of the 70s DAWs with the silver covers even though there were my start with Elric. They were edited together from the various stories into chronological order and, having come back decades later to read in publication order of what was available in the late 90s, consider the DAWs very much less than the sum of their parts.
Those Del Rey Editions are beautiful ! My Master Plan is reading the Complete Corum saga (I have the complete 70s early 80s UK Granada press Editions ,thrifted😊 )at the same time I am reading Elric's Saga (Spanish vintage Editions that have the Michael Whelan covers, also thrifted). So far read the first three novels of both and definetely Moorcock is a genius 🗡️.
Nice reading project! Thanks so much for explaining the differences in the Saga and the Del Rey versions: just as confusing as I found Moorcock's entire Multiverse canon when I started trying to figure out what to read next. Or, if not confusing, at least convoluted and semi-confounding.
I have been re-reading the original six paperbacks from the eighties but I might pause to read the new one as it fits half way! I haven’t got around to the other trilogy yet…love those del rays too! Lots of extras I dropped the sixth one in the bath and it is a bit damaged which is annoying because they are hugely expensive to replace! I have the hardbacks, mostly for display!
Awesome video. My first Elric book was Stormbringer haha I didn’t realise it was the last one….until I got to the end. Since then I’ve read the first one a couple of times but I need to delve deeper. I like the Elric stuff. Looking forward to more videos on Elric.
I think Moorcock said that if you start with Elric of Melniboné and end with Stormbringer, you can just read everything else in whatever order you like. It's a mess but I like it 😅
I have the first volume of the Saga Press or Elric and I plan to read that in the next month or two...just in time to petition to get the rest of them for June!
Great advice! My Elric collection is a hot mess. I have the original MMPB of Stormbringer, most of the White Wolf Publishing editions, the BCE Erlic Saga Volume 1, and The Fortress of the Pearl BCE. I already wanted to get the Saga Press editions and now you have convinced me to pick up the Del Rey editions. I'm going to be drowning in Eternal Champion books eventually. 🤣
You say Elric to certain fans they think one of two thins. They either think of Moorcock's sword swinging anti-hero or they think of the Elric brothers who are the main characters of the manga/anime Fullmetal Alchemist. (Who were probably named in tribute to Moorcock.) Fans of one often seem not to have heard of the other. Which is a shame since they are both good properties.
I'm actually doing a reread of MM ETERNAL CHAMPION SAGA in his suggested reading order.....slowly. Currently reading the HAWKMOON saga in the GOLLANCZ edition that came out 10 years ago now
I've got to say, I think the order of writing is the ideal way to go, even for a first time reader and it's a shame that that's harder to do now. Consider, for the original fans that was the only order they could read them. Then, there is the fact you mention, that Moorcock's style changed over the years, which can make reading them in chronological order jarring. There are aspects of Elric's motivation and character in the earlier (but written later) stories that can seem not to make sense unless you realise what they are leading up to. I think you can consider Elric like a myth. Some of the stories are more central than others, but you don't need to read them in order. They are kind of linked, but kind of separate as well. You can read about Achilles in the Iliad without having to know about the story of his become (almost) invulnerable and the business of the heel, never mind that weird bit when he was hiding from the war, dressed as a girl. Similarly with Elric, _The Dreaming City_ and _Stormbringer_ are the core myth, and then there's lots of other stuff which either fills in background to the main story, or else has nothing much to do with it, like _The Fortress of the Pearl,_ which is like a heroic legend which didn't have to be about Elric in particular, but is just the kind of thing you expect a guy like him to get up to. _Elric at the End of Time_ is great. It's one of those occasions where Moorcock sends himself up. It's not as silly as _The Stone Thing,_ but heavy on the wry irony. But you have to be familiar with his _End of Time_ stories to get it, which will be why it is not usually collected with other Elric stuff.
I read the first two volumes from Saga Press last year. I liked the old Elric stories I remembered from the DAW paperback I read in the 80s. I was less impressed with newer stories.
Actually, many people consider the first Moorcock novel to be Sexton Blake Library #501: 'Caribbean Crisis', written under the house name 'Desmond Reid' in 1962. In truth it's pretty short. Possibly, more a novella, than a novel. Interestingly, Sexton Blake's greatest nemesis, Monsieur Zenith the Albino, was an influence on Moorcock's creation of Elric. Caribbean Crisis was reissued recently, revised extensively (to remove editor W. Howard Barker's shifting of Moorcock's political bent considerably to the right) alongside a brand new sequel to that story, Voodoo Island. I suspect the rewritten version is somewhat longer than the original. It's certainly as long as those early Moorcock books. 😆
@@salty-walt That could be 'Come Dark, Come Evil,, by Wilfred McNeilly, which was rewritten with the characters changed to become 'Dark Ways to Death', published under the house pseudonym, 'Peter Saxon', and was the first in the Guardians occult detective series.
@@davebrzeski Awwww shit. It is. You know, when you never heard of Sexton Blake until the Moorcock book came out, it's easily confused with Sax Rohmer that Harlan Ellison always used to give call backs to. Well. Was that a waste of $2 then?
Marvel's CONAN THE BARBARIAN comic book had a crossover with Elric, as I remember. I wonder if Michael Moorcock considers it a part of his Elric 'canon'...?
I need some help, the first volume of the elric saga just arrived. Really excited to read it, but I hear volume 2 is the end of the series, and that volume 3 has some stories. So I'm wondering how to I read them, should I go volume 1, citadel, 3 then 2. Or go 1, citadel, 2. Then go back and read 3 How do I read the elric saga.
Elric fan who just subscribed. I have a question: What's up with the mummy? to me it sort of resembles you in a macabre sort of way. Did you have it made, or am I making weird associations as an artist?
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 ancestor, perhaps. BTW you’re a handsome enough bloke. Wasn’t jabbing at your looks. Love your content! You’ve helped me make some choices on Audible.
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 ancestor perhaps. BTW you’re a handsome enough bloke. Wasn’t jabbing at your looks. Love your content! You helped me make some choices on Audible.
I was excited about the new Saga Press hardcovers, but then I saw that they're glued bindings. I just can't condone publishers doing this, so I'm taking a pass, hoping they'll eventually get released in a trade pb.
Let us compare Elric to Corum. Firstly is there any actor whose performance in a movie captures an attitude similar to Elric or Corum? World weary and arcane? Secondly are they swordsmen or sorcerors? Dr. Strange with a sword or a malnourished, Conan with glasses and a PhD? Acting wise Alan Rickman comes to mind. Bowie for looks. Tall and gaunt? The guy who played Luna's dad in Harry Potter?
We have many similar tastes but the combination of amorality and pretentiousness made Elric unpalatable to me. I tried more than couple but there is so much better out there to read. Hope you enjoy it.
Jumping into an Epic Elric Re-Read! Does this mean you're done with ERB? (I know you've got a lot to read and doing Elric AND ERB at the same time seems like a tactical error.)
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 Oh, okay. I just figured with all your reading projects, monthly read alongs, themed months, Roger's book club, that you wouldn't start in on something like Elric until you were done with ERB, but I was wondering why I hadn't seen a "Hey everybody, I finished reading all of Edgar Rice Burroughs books!" Video. I just figured I missed it.
There's now a third way to read the Elric Saga. Gollancz has published a seven volume paperback set which is, as far as I know, complete, and in chronological order.
That’s true. I know those can be ordered here in the US but I never see them here.
The Fate of Wilkins Remains Unknown.....
I’m a big fan of reading in publication order in general, because it’s important to me to see the writer’s evolution. Works are created in time, not all at once or in accordance with an internal chronology. (Usually. Where publication and internal order line up, that’s interesting too.)
I’m double extra enthusiastic for it with Elric, where his creation covers such a long time, from right at the beginning of Moorcock’s adulthood to now. I love the Del Rey edition.
Can't beat those original Whelan covers
My master plan for reading Elric started with "The War Hound and the World's Pain" and "The Eternal Champion" both enjoyed immensely. Now I'm reading "The Dragon in the Sword" (finished "The Sundered Worlds" and "Phoenix in Obsidian" already).
That is a great plan. Sounds a lot like an order of Moorcock’s books that I swear by.
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10f0hFkZTwI_IyCsXGnu0o3Rb2x0XFk07Pji-ptdMdos/edit
The White Wolf Trilogy is where I started with Elric before going back and reading the earlier collections.
Thank you for the publishing history lesson. I read the six paperbacks in the late 1970's. As happens I became separated from those copies. Then whenever I wanted to locate new copies, I found them buried in new anthologies that had Elric stories I knew nothing about. I will get the Saga Press books and then decide about the other stories.
That way your money goes to Mike!
Beautiful omnibus collection Michael! .... And the never ending world of prequels!
Started reading the Elric Saga a couple years ago and fell in love with it! It also introduced me to Moorcock's other series the Corum Chronicles, which is the most underrated sword-and-sorcery series in my opinion.
Much like Russell Thorndike's Christopher Syn novels. He wrote the last one first and then went back into Syn's history.
(In the tune of "Living Next Door To Alice")
🎼🎶 "Wilkins? Wilkins? 'Ho-The-Tep Ate Wilkins?'" 🎶🎵
I'm going to be a contrary voice and recommend reading in publication order, at least of the stories in "Stealer of Souls" (which does not include Stormbringer). Reading his life before "The Dreaming City" ruins a lot of the drama and suspense in that story. "Stealer of Souls" continues to the first sorta completion point Moorcock reached and is a strong set of stories. After that you can go where you will, but reading earlier stories in Elric's chronology will rob those stories of much of their power.
Volume 3 of the Saga Press editions of Elric crosses over heavily with the Von Bek series, and in the last book, Hawkmoon as well. Von Bek has been out of print, but Saga Press is reprinting it later this year.
I need some help, the first volume of the elric saga just arrived. Really excited to read it, but I hear volume 2 is the end of the series And also that volume 3 acts like it's own trilogys like u said here crosses over with another character. So I'm wondering how to I read them, should I go volume 1, citadel and 2 And finish elric and go back to read volume 3 after reading some von Bek. Or do you think it's not necessary and I should go 1, citadel, 3 then 2.
How do I read the elric saga.
@@raiden_187 It's somewhat complicated, due to the very non-linear nature of Michael Moorcock's work. Almost all of his books are part of his Eternal Champion Multiverse, including many series that cross over with one another in big and small ways and often written out of order. Thankfully, most of these can be read independently of one another, but some are more closely linked with other books.
To read Elric, I'd suggest starting with Volumes 1 and 2. Then, you could read Citadel of Forgotten Myths. There is some ambiguity about where it fits in the timeline, but it seems to fit in between parts 2 and 3 of The Bane of the Black Sword (which is in Volume 2). However, there is no need to pause reading Bane to read Citadel, as Citadel can simply be read later.
Volume 3 takes place while Elric is on a "dream quest" during Stormbringer, the last chronological book of the series. The three books in Volume 3 depend critically on the events of the Fortress of the Pearl, and they are very different from the other books. They cross over heavily with Moorcock's Von Bek series (The War Hound and the World's Pain, and the City in the Autumn Stars). In fact, I'd consider them just as much Von Bek books as they are Elric books. I'd recommend reading at least War Hound before Elric Volume 3. Fortunately, War Hound is short and very good, my favorite non-Elric book from Moorcock.
The last book in Volume 3, The White Wolf's Son, is one of the most crossover-heavy Eternal Champion books I've read. It has major connections with the Von Bek, Hawkmoon, and John Daker books, as well as smaller connections to others such as the Oswald Bastable books. I wouldn't say it's necessary to have read all of that to enjoy it, but I'm not sure how well it would work for a reader familiar with Elric only.
So bottom line, I'd recommend the following:
1. Elric of Melnibone
2. The Fortress of the Pearl
3. The Sailor on the Seas of Fate
4. The Weird of the White Wolf
5. The Vanishing Tower, aka the Sleeping Sorceress
6. The Revenge of the Rose
7. The Bane of the Black Sword
8. Stormbringer
9. The Citadel of Forgotten Myths
9.a The War Hound and World's Pain (recommended)
9.b The City in the Autumn Stars (optional)
10. The Dreamthief's Daughter
11. The Skrayling Tree
11.a Other stories from Moorcock's Multiverse, especially the Eternal Champion and the Jewel in the Skull (optional)
12. The White Wolf's Son
@@calebcox4963 thank you bro, this has been really helpful
I have all 4 of the Saga Press volumes. I'm looking forward to digging into these, too. I read all of the mass market paperbacks as a teenager.
Elric of Melnibone was technically the first "proper" Elric novel, in that it was written as one. Stormbringer was a kind of fix-up of four novellas but I think all of them kind of flowed from each other anyway. I have an ebook of the Gollancz edition that presents them in their original form. Otherwise, I have the Saga volumes and I think I'll stick with those; I'm sure the additional stuff in the Del Reys is nice but the books are a bit preposterously priced; the ones I can find on eBay all want $35-40 just for postage, to say nothing of the price of the actual books...
I was just about to reread these. Great timing
I'm currently working my way through the Saga Press editions in-between other reads. I've read the first six novels so far. Thanks for the info about the Del Ray set! This is my first read through of Elric and I am glad that I went with the Saga editions. In the back of the omnibus books it has a history of all the Elric books by publication date and a brief description of each. It seems like a lot of the stories had elements pulled from them and combined later on to form the main Elric novels to tell a more cohesive complete story. It would be interesting to read the Del Ray set if they have both these early short stories and the larger novels that they got rolled into. I wonder if it would become confusing if certain scenes or plot points end up repeating. I was thinking thats why the Saga books left them out. But I would love to hear your thoughts on them when you read them! I really love the Elric stories and the immense creativity that is in all the crazy fantasy elements. Although they can get a little convoluted and repetitive at times. I look forward to discussing them!
Not sure how I missed Elric when I was younger, but seeing the New Saga Press hardbacks I decided to read them all. Currently I am nearly done with the first volume and am thoroughly enjoying the story.
I suggest you treat yourself to a copy of New Edge - Sword & Sorcery Magazine issue one for that exclusive Moorcock tale .. The Folk of the Forest : An Elric Story.
Good luck with your Elric odyssey, wonderful escapism, all of it.
The first Moorcock Elric I read (previously, as a kid, I'd read some of the comics adaptions) was volume one of the Del Rey series. I never owned it; I borrowed it from a library. I loved it, found it stimulating on multiple levels. A few years later, I was spending a lot of time in used bookstores, acquired all six of the mass market paperback versions (some 70s Daw, some 80s Berkley) and read them all in order. I remember feeling like something was missing from reading the saga that way, vs. the sequence of stories I'd originally read in that first Del Rey volume. If I ever run across any of those DR volumes again, I'll likely grab them. Because of this, I very much appreciate your perspective here. Love the channel, always!
I am not a fan of the 70s DAWs with the silver covers even though there were my start with Elric. They were edited together from the various stories into chronological order and, having come back decades later to read in publication order of what was available in the late 90s, consider the DAWs very much less than the sum of their parts.
Those Del Rey Editions are beautiful ! My Master Plan is reading the Complete Corum saga (I have the complete 70s early 80s UK Granada press Editions ,thrifted😊 )at the same time I am reading Elric's Saga (Spanish vintage Editions that have the Michael Whelan covers, also thrifted). So far read the first three novels of both and definetely Moorcock is a genius 🗡️.
Nice reading project! Thanks so much for explaining the differences in the Saga and the Del Rey versions: just as confusing as I found Moorcock's entire Multiverse canon when I started trying to figure out what to read next. Or, if not confusing, at least convoluted and semi-confounding.
Imma post this on an Elric Fan page
I have been re-reading the original six paperbacks from the eighties but I might pause to read the new one as it fits half way! I haven’t got around to the other trilogy yet…love those del rays too! Lots of extras I dropped the sixth one in the bath and it is a bit damaged which is annoying because they are hugely expensive to replace! I have the hardbacks, mostly for display!
This was on my to-read list after Amber as well. I didnt know the saga press wasnt complete. Looks like I'll just be reading "most" of Elric instead.
Thank you so much I read all the comics now I have the big books ready to dive in!
There were ?5 when I read them decades ago. They read very quickly and were enjoyable.
Awesome video. My first Elric book was Stormbringer haha I didn’t realise it was the last one….until I got to the end. Since then I’ve read the first one a couple of times but I need to delve deeper. I like the Elric stuff. Looking forward to more videos on Elric.
I think Moorcock said that if you start with Elric of Melniboné and end with Stormbringer, you can just read everything else in whatever order you like.
It's a mess but I like it 😅
I’ve read the first two volumes in the Saga set. Looking forward to starting The White Wolf.
I have the first volume of the Saga Press or Elric and I plan to read that in the next month or two...just in time to petition to get the rest of them for June!
Great advice!
My Elric collection is a hot mess.
I have the original MMPB of Stormbringer, most of the White Wolf Publishing editions, the BCE Erlic Saga Volume 1, and The Fortress of the Pearl BCE.
I already wanted to get the Saga Press editions and now you have convinced me to pick up the Del Rey editions.
I'm going to be drowning in Eternal Champion books eventually.
🤣
You say Elric to certain fans they think one of two thins. They either think of Moorcock's sword swinging anti-hero or they think of the Elric brothers who are the main characters of the manga/anime Fullmetal Alchemist. (Who were probably named in tribute to Moorcock.) Fans of one often seem not to have heard of the other. Which is a shame since they are both good properties.
Ah, yes. You recommended Elric to me a good while back. I still haven’t got around to picking it up. I might have to pick one of these up soon.
Love Elric, but I think I’ve actually grown to like Corum a little bit more. Hope his series gets some newer editions in the near future.
Damon's helmet in House of the Dragon bears a striking resemblance to the helmet in your thumbnail.
Boy, that tie sure looks good!
I worked hard on it.
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 I saw!
Very funny too!
Good choice. I enjoyed the original books.
I'm actually doing a reread of MM ETERNAL CHAMPION SAGA in his suggested reading order.....slowly. Currently reading the HAWKMOON saga in the GOLLANCZ edition that came out 10 years ago now
finally!
I read the Gollancz editons in chronological order.
I've got to say, I think the order of writing is the ideal way to go, even for a first time reader and it's a shame that that's harder to do now. Consider, for the original fans that was the only order they could read them. Then, there is the fact you mention, that Moorcock's style changed over the years, which can make reading them in chronological order jarring. There are aspects of Elric's motivation and character in the earlier (but written later) stories that can seem not to make sense unless you realise what they are leading up to.
I think you can consider Elric like a myth. Some of the stories are more central than others, but you don't need to read them in order. They are kind of linked, but kind of separate as well. You can read about Achilles in the Iliad without having to know about the story of his become (almost) invulnerable and the business of the heel, never mind that weird bit when he was hiding from the war, dressed as a girl. Similarly with Elric, _The Dreaming City_ and _Stormbringer_ are the core myth, and then there's lots of other stuff which either fills in background to the main story, or else has nothing much to do with it, like _The Fortress of the Pearl,_ which is like a heroic legend which didn't have to be about Elric in particular, but is just the kind of thing you expect a guy like him to get up to.
_Elric at the End of Time_ is great. It's one of those occasions where Moorcock sends himself up. It's not as silly as _The Stone Thing,_ but heavy on the wry irony. But you have to be familiar with his _End of Time_ stories to get it, which will be why it is not usually collected with other Elric stuff.
I read the first two volumes from Saga Press last year. I liked the old Elric stories I remembered from the DAW paperback I read in the 80s. I was less impressed with newer stories.
Just picked up Forgotten Myths, haven't had time to read it yet.
And whilst your reading Elric listen to some Hawkwind and Deep FIx.
Actually, many people consider the first Moorcock novel to be Sexton Blake Library #501: 'Caribbean Crisis', written under the house name 'Desmond Reid' in 1962. In truth it's pretty short. Possibly, more a novella, than a novel.
Interestingly, Sexton Blake's greatest nemesis, Monsieur Zenith the Albino, was an influence on Moorcock's creation of Elric.
Caribbean Crisis was reissued recently, revised extensively (to remove editor W. Howard Barker's shifting of Moorcock's political bent considerably to the right) alongside a brand new sequel to that story, Voodoo Island. I suspect the rewritten version is somewhat longer than the original. It's certainly as long as those early Moorcock books. 😆
I've been meaning to read it!
Serendipitously I stumbled upon another Sexton Blake Novel as well! Some Proto Folk Horror sounding title . . .
@@salty-walt That could be 'Come Dark, Come Evil,, by Wilfred McNeilly, which was rewritten with the characters changed to become 'Dark Ways to Death', published under the house pseudonym, 'Peter Saxon', and was the first in the Guardians occult detective series.
@@davebrzeski "Brood of the Witch-Queen"
@@salty-walt That's the title of a Sax Rohmer novel!
@@davebrzeski Awwww shit. It is. You know, when you never heard of Sexton Blake until the Moorcock book came out, it's easily confused with Sax Rohmer that Harlan Ellison always used to give call backs to.
Well. Was that a waste of $2 then?
😊
Marvel's CONAN THE BARBARIAN comic book had a crossover with Elric, as I remember. I wonder if Michael Moorcock considers it a part of his Elric 'canon'...?
Well, Moorcock did come up with the plot of those comics, so probably.
Hi Michael. I pinched your idea and started reading the Gollancz 7 volume edition. I'm about half way through. How's it going for you ?
I need some help, the first volume of the elric saga just arrived. Really excited to read it, but I hear volume 2 is the end of the series, and that volume 3 has some stories. So I'm wondering how to I read them, should I go volume 1, citadel, 3 then 2. Or go 1, citadel, 2. Then go back and read 3
How do I read the elric saga.
Del Ray come through again 🤓
Elric fan who just subscribed. I have a question: What's up with the mummy? to me it sort of resembles you in a macabre sort of way. Did you have it made, or am I making weird associations as an artist?
Make Roger? No, he was around thousands of years before me. He is a handsome fellow so thanks for the compliment.
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 ancestor, perhaps. BTW you’re a handsome enough bloke. Wasn’t jabbing at your looks. Love your content! You’ve helped me make some choices on Audible.
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 ancestor perhaps. BTW you’re a handsome enough bloke. Wasn’t jabbing at your looks. Love your content! You helped me make some choices on Audible.
I was excited about the new Saga Press hardcovers, but then I saw that they're glued bindings. I just can't condone publishers doing this, so I'm taking a pass, hoping they'll eventually get released in a trade pb.
This is all well and good, but in which order would you read the Eternal Champion?
Good question
Michael repeats himself. He repeats himself; during the videos he repeats himself.
Let us compare Elric to Corum. Firstly is there any actor whose performance in a movie captures an attitude similar to Elric or Corum? World weary and arcane? Secondly are they swordsmen or sorcerors? Dr. Strange with a sword or a malnourished, Conan with glasses and a PhD?
Acting wise Alan Rickman comes to mind. Bowie for looks. Tall and gaunt? The guy who played Luna's dad in Harry Potter?
You should give Berserk a try.
Was Moorcock named after his father?
We have many similar tastes but the combination of amorality and pretentiousness made Elric unpalatable to me. I tried more than couple but there is so much better out there to read. Hope you enjoy it.
I rather enjoy the amorality and pretentiousness.
Jumping into an Epic Elric Re-Read! Does this mean you're done with ERB?
(I know you've got a lot to read and doing Elric AND ERB at the same time seems like a tactical error.)
Why would I be done with ERB? My whole reading life is a series of tactical errors.
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 Oh, okay.
I just figured with all your reading projects, monthly read alongs, themed months, Roger's book club, that you wouldn't start in on something like Elric until you were done with ERB, but I was wondering why I hadn't seen a "Hey everybody, I finished reading all of Edgar Rice Burroughs books!" Video.
I just figured I missed it.
@@salty-walt I have a long way to go!
@@michaelk.vaughan8617
Sincere Hug emoji