The Elric Saga by Michael Moorcock - Review for a *Modern Audience*
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- Опубликовано: 23 июл 2024
- Here I review the Elric Saga books by Michael Moorcock. I tried to be as unbiased as possible, despite being a huge fan.
Check out my own book, The Wizard Slayer here; a.co/d/gbXXqBJ
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Great video. I personally can't read, but if I could I would definitely read Moorcock.
Well, i personally can't write, but if i could i would definitely reply to this comment. 🗡
sorry you can't... hey wait a minute...typing needs reading....whats going on here????
But you can write.
by modern, i assume you mean kids who cant read?
The first book is available as a free audiobook...
For those who don't know the backstory, Elric is the OPPOSITE of Howard's Conan in all possible ways. A king who gives up the throne to become a wanderer. A user of magic with demonic pacts. Weak and sickly, and incapable of physical activity (corrected via drugs or Stombringer). Melancholic and self doubting. Etc. Then there are DIRECT parallels with his Jerry Cornelius stories. Cymoral is Catherine. The needle gun is stormbringer. Frank is Yyrkoon. "Rat! Rat!" "Thing Thing .... Frank". My favorite line from the Elric books.
Spot on comment. The JC book "The Final Programme" starts with a straight up rewrite of the first Elric book. The characters are either simple renames or have the exact same purpose and sometimes lines. Elric's Tanglebones becomes Jerry's Gnatbeelson, an awful anagram.
Moorcock is a hugely important writer in the history of SF/fantasy. All of his work has to be taken in the context that he was attempting to critique the various tropes and cliches found in sci-fi and fantasy up to that point. He and his "new wave of sci fi" contemporaries were deliberately experimenting with the traditional forms of SF/fantasy which is why his work becomes more than just genre based SF or fantasy. He was also writing a load of Eternal Champion stories with different characters at the same time which is why the flow of one character storyline (eg Elric) isn't smooth because he is just an embodiment of the larger eternal champion. Moorcock is one of the greats.
In 6th grade we were given the assignment of a spoken book report in front of the class. I decided on "Elric of Melnibone" which I had just read. I tried to convey the awesomeness of the story. But details like Elric being a drug-addicted anti-hero who worships a demon didn't go over well. Ah, 6th grade book reports... good times, good times.
A friend of mine in 7th grade did his favorite book _Crow Killer: The Saga of Liver-Eating Johnson._ (On which the move _Jeremiah Johnson_ was loosely based.) The passage he chose to read was the one where Johnson cut out and ate a Crow Indian's liver. The teacher was not pleased.
oh dear..... your teachers sound just as close-minded as mine up until high school. if it's not in the reading list, it's unimportant
What was their reaction?
We ate up the entire Elric series back in the 80s. They were all amazing! This was before video games when if you hadn't read Tolkien there was something wrong with you.
Count Brass, the champion eternal Corum....great bunch of stories
Yup yup. Constantly scouring used book stores for anything Moorcock. Then stumbling on other Eternal Champion stories. The scene based on the universe of pure law has always stuck with me.
I think the important thing to remember about Elric is that he is at some level the embodiment of an almost comic level of hyper-dramatic teenage angst, and Moorcock absolutely knows this.
Wasnt Elric a response to Conan. In many ways they are opposites. In this way, didn't Moorcock create a challenge for himself by telling a fantasy story that went against the conventions developed in Conan?
Yes, and somehow I love both characters
Elric's evil is not a human evil being that his people are a ancient demi-race. The odd pacing comes also from the nature of pulp writing, it was cranked out fast to put food on the table.
Publish or perish for sure. Moorcock at least had a fairly steady job editing "New Worlds" magazine with a bit of UK government support to supplement his income during the 60s and early 70s. Science Fiction writer Philip K. Dick used amphetamines for much of the later 50s through the early 70s so he could write more short stories (paid by the word) or novels. The amazing thing is that both these authors put out such amazing work under the gun like this.
@ronbo11 Back in the days when it was possible to live off the pulps. What kind of government support did he receive?
tbh I really think there is something about the short story format and the pulp genre, the writing and use of prose seems leagues better than what is available today
@@Esirre Right? It’s as though our favorite writers of the pulp era used up the language.
Elric started in a magazine and the first story is early 60s. Mike Moorcock was still a young writer at the time. Elric of this period is more a moody teenager, but the later Elric books become more thoughtful and reflective. I am re-reading after 30 years and they move a cracking pace. As Mike has written, he would rather be a bad writer with good ideas than a good writet with bad ideas. Although, I think he is a great writer with very good ideas.
Elric was designed as an opposite to a Conan-type character with a lot of influences from Anderson's The Broken Sword and Seaton Begg British pulp stories.
I never actually read them, my best friend used to love them, but I just remember getting a kick out of recommending them to women "oh you should try out Moorcock'...."you definitely need Moorcock".
Lol, did you also recommend a certain libation called Dickens Cider?
The biggest consideration is that Moorcock was a successor of pulp sword and sorcery such as Robert E. Howard's Conan, Fritz Lieber's Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, Jack Vance's Dying Earth, and the Martian Tales of Edgar Rice Burroughs. If you go into this expecting the epic fantasy subgenre with a huge cast of POV characters, a highly documented magic system, in-depth politics, and page upon page of worldbuilding, you're going to be disappointed. But if you've enjoyed any of those others I mentioned earlier, you're probably going to love this series, as well as his lesser-known Corum and Hawkmoon series (these are the other two Eternal Champion incarnations that Elric meets, and their meeting actually is chronicled in all three series, which blew my mind as a kid in the 80s).
@@Goofyservicejerk Plus Jerry Cornelius (including a bunch of aliases using the initials J.C.)
Hah! Yes as a teen I read the meet up via the Corum series and I couldn't believe it. I was so excited by the idea of the eternal champion. As you say blew my mind !
@@HeavyTopspin Especially Jerry Cornelius, the audacity of including (aspects of) him in a fantasy really showed me Moorcock's broad concept of the multiverse and "genre" fiction. The last one I read was The Coming of the Terraphiles, his official Dr Who novel, with the space pirate Captain Cornelius.
A think a thing to keep in mind with Elric and other old sword and sorcery books is that they created the cliches that we are familiar with now. Part of why Elric seems like an over the top edgelord is because he is one of the original edgelords.
This thing with reading Elric is you have to read some of Moorcock’s other works like Corum and Hawkmoon in order for you to grasp the full extent of the serie. And it’s totally worth it!
The interesting thing is you could start with either Corum or Hawkmoon, and then read the other two characters. That's a pretty awesome thing.
The Hawkmoon saga was my personal favourite. That steampunk thing.... SO colourful. And a proper narrative too
I also loved the Dancers at the End of Time stories, which were bizarrely creative with many uniquely strange characters.
What you're missing is that these books were not written in sequence. The Dreaming City was the first Elric story. The final book - Stormbringer - was the second book and the rest of the books and stories were written around these two. They don't need to be read in any sequence at all.
Edit: I just bought your book on Kindle. It looks like interesting read. ✌
1:07 he literally points that out right at the beginning.
Hope you enjoy the Wizard Slayer!
@@franklinroberts4837 So far: Yes. I haven't had as much reading time as usual but I'm about half way through.
The Elric Saga is one of the few series that I'd truly categorize as "couldn't put down". The stories are so fantastical and imaginative. So many epic moments. Then again, some of my favorite authors are Robert E. Howard (the GOAT), Fritz Leiber, HP Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, Michael Moorcock, David Gemmell, etc etc, so if you don't enjoy pulp, sword and sorcery, or heroic fantasy, take my opinion with a grain of salt.
amen
No need, I totally agree with you. I know of now contemporary writer that's a 10th as good as those you mentioned.
@potatopower2144 - Agreed! Your comment is on point in every particular.
To paraphrase, "we stand on the shoulders of giants". So many great writers. Can I add Edgar Rice Burroughs? His John Carter series was as fun and inventive as they come.
@@DAVID-io9nj I also love ERB's land ships on Venus
I read these books when I was a bit younger and loved the sword and sorcery style. I think it's a shame in some ways that fantasy as a whole has drifted away from the genre, but also it's nice to get fully fleshed out characters rather than set pieces 😅. That said, I read the books with no context on publishing order and the insane cosmic shenanigans of book two were what pulled me into the rest of moorcock's writing. It's also so interesting to see how influential Elric and Stormbringer have been. From the Witcher to Warbreaker, the white wolf and the black sword are character tropes set in the foundations of fantasy. Great review, good to see older books getting some love!
I don't care if it's aged, I just adore Elric's original narrative !
The Elric Saga I knew from the six DAW paperbacks and the SF book club omnibuses, and the later Berkley and Ace reprints. Many books by other authors used to be short, thin paperbacks that were quick reads, quite different than the 400+ page books of recent times. Moorcock eventually settled into making the bigger book novels. I believe both the short book and long book formats have their good aspects, as well as both the short story fix-up and full novel formats. I read them all. Moorcock's great sum of works live on in Gollancz's Michael Moorcock Collection of trade paperback omnibuses (which reprint everything except for his nonfiction and more than a dozen other fiction books that should have been included but were not). The Gallery hardcovers gather almost all the Elric Saga and present the newest Elric novel (one of the best).
Alright, you sold me on it. I just bought the first book.
People ask me if I am a fan of Michael Moorecock, and his Elric books….. my second son is named Elric
Got introduced to elric from DND. From there I got into the books.Have you read Roger Zelazny's Nine princes in amber?
Great video! I just recently found the all six Elric books at a Half Price books. I've only read The Swords Trilogy by Moorcock and loved it. And dude, that WASP poster in the background combined with your presentation had me quickly hitting SUBSCRIBE.🤘💀🤘
I have a good friend who was a big fan of WASP. Thanks for mentioning the poster; took me back to good memories of happier and more carefree times!
🤘
Fun review! I'm planning to read this soon, so this was a good intro. Thanks!
Great review! Thank you for focusing on the work (as opposed to trying to impress your viewers with how smart you are, for example).
Good delivery of a review on a nuanced work. Thank you for this, my dude!
I couldn’t impress people with how smart I am if I tried 🤙
Watched this to see how you treated the beloved character. Moorcock was revolutionary at the time and is also very poetic. His books are often refreshingly short by today's standards and if you get through Elric too fast you can go for Hawkmoon or Corum (where I started). There are also some brilliant graphic adaptations if you want to experience Elric all over again. There was a prequel to the first Elric stories which came out as a graphic series with Moorcock writing the scripts.
You forgot Erekose... the 'Last' Eternal Champion from 'The Silver Warrior' which had the famous Frazetta if the dark warrior in a chariot drawn by two polar bears
I did not know I needed to see a book review of The Elric Saga performed by Ted Theodore Logan. But I did. Thanks for the video, I've always wanted to read this series. You have provided the inspiration to go and do so.
Good to hear! Excellent 🤘
I agree that the Elric novels and short stories are great, but my favorite Michael Moorcock is the Dorian Hawkmoon series 'The History of the Runestaff'. Also, did you know space rock group Hawkwind (who Moorcock is a huge fan of, and sometimes sings with) adapted the Elric Saga as 'Live Chronicles'. Well worth checking out (I think you can hear it on You Tube somewhere)
He also helped write songs with Blue Oyster Cult, including "Black Blade" (an obvious subject matter).
It's great when men of taste spread the word about Moorcockian-inspired music like these exemplary examples.
Actually, it was adapted as ‘The Chronicles of the Black Sword’. Live Chronicles is a later live version, with a couple of different tracks…
@@DarkRaven4561 That's true, but personally I much prefer the live version
I stumbled across "Stormbringer" in my local library back in '66 and he's been my favourite fantasy author ever since. I'd already read Narnia tales and Tolkein as a child so I took to the sword and sorcery genre as a duck to water. Multiverse was a neat idea on his part.
Bumped into him and Charles Shaar-Murray in early '73 in Soho bookshop "Dark they were and golden-eyed".
You just took me back about 45 years. Nicely done!
Refreshing and fun review, started reading Elric books in my teens as I found them, same DAW paperbacks as you have. Recently got the latest Elric book, Citadel of Forgotten Myths, still one of my favourite fantasy characters.
Sniffing the book and raising your eyebrow clinched it for me. Subscribed. 👍
Seriously, really good review(s) (and yes, I watched the prelude video first). I recently added the four-volume hardback set of all these stories to my library but have not started on them yet. I know, from all I've heard, that once I start I won't be able to stop. Looking forward to it!
PS: Bought your book as well. 💪
Thanks for the sub! You’re definitely in for a fun ride with Elric. Thank you so much for checking out my own work, too. If you ever get around to reading it, I hope you enjoy it :)
Nice retrospective on the Elric series! I want to emphasize a point you touched on, which is that these are *really* *thin* books by modern standards. There just is no time or space to develop a lot of secondary characters. If you want character development, it might be time to hop on over to Lankhmar for a little Fafhrd and Grey Mouser action...
Great point! I suppose Lankhmar will have to jump up a few spots in the reading list…
The new Saga hardcover republication of the Elric Saga in 3 volumes solves the issue of flow entirely. It's much better.
Can confirm this! I'm having a great time.
It's funny because I read the original six as a teenager in the 80s and the flow was never a problem for me.
But that's probably more to do with the fact that I read them out of order.
Now that I think about it that's one of the advantages of the way it was originally put together, it didn't matter what order you read them in.
Like the Runestaff and the Swords Trilogy are more straightforward and episodic, but Elric's saga I felt reflected the more chaotic nature of his incarnation of the Eternal Champion.
Erekosë (John Daker) is clearly the most chaotic, literally jumping from body to body, world to world, a "plan" jumper if you will.
😅
The thing about Moorcock that I've come to appreciate more as I've gotten older is that he spent many years working as an editor, which is why his writing is so tight.
I felt like you could read any of those books in any order and enjoy yourself.
He always hits the ground running so that I felt like I had my bearings pretty quickly.
He reminds me of Kurt Vonnegut in the sense that he can say a lot in a few words.
That's what makes his work more poetic than other writers in the genre.
That gift for brevity may also be related to his work as a song writer, where expressing a lot in a few words is the standard.
Okay, I'm babbling now.
I could talk about Michael Moorcock and his writing literally all day.
He's highly underrated.
The cover art alone almost carried the books. He's a better concept in your head than a reading experience in total. You'll think about him long after you've forgotten any detail of any of the stories. I've held on to my DAW edition covers for going on almost 40 years. Think I have to reread Stormbringer now.
That DAW cover art is amazing.
I think Moorcock is the best ever. I think he is best read “out of order”. Forget order and embrace Chaos. Essays like Epic Pooh need to be understood in context. Moorcock is a brilliant “disruptor”. A vast body of his fiction and “faction” all inter-relate in what I find to be a fascinating way. For me the more I read the more I appreciate the different areas of his multiverse ( a term he popularised or even arguably invented as the concept that we are now familiar with).
Embrace Order! Read them in alphabetic sequence. He first used the term multiverse 60 years ago in "The Blood Red Game":
1963 M. Moorcock in Sci. Fiction Adventures 6 No. 32. 54 "Jewelled, the multiverse spread around him, awash with life, rich with pulsating energy."
The novella from 1974 is on the Internet Archive but not the original magazine. The OED seem to have chosen the prettiest quote from the book of the many using the word. Although the full sentence is more typical Moorcock. "Jewelled, the multiverse spread around him, awash with life, rich with pulsating energy, but it could not compensate for his mood of near-despair. "
My favs were the Dancers at the End of Times series. Love that crazy shite.
I like your review. I'm a DEFINITE fan of the Elric stories. The cover art on the original paperbacks is incomparable. Wish I still had mine. 😐 Also, thank you for no "spoilers". Two comments: One - Elric isn't "white" per se; he is an albino. Two - The "random" aspects of the Elric stories is quite in keeping with the power of Chaos waxing in that world.
Your production and presentation are on point, great content too, hope your channel gets the attention it deserves.
Thanks! Now that I’ve got my 2nd book finished, I can give this channel the attention it deserves!
I am planning on reading them. Im a big Gerald Brom fan and he's done great artworks of Elric. I appreciate the warning about flow. I imagine it kind of like the Robert E Howard Conan tales, where each tale is more episodic, but there is a sense of world and major beats in Conan's "career."
That’s exactly how to approach the stories. And Brom definitely does a great job with Elric’s gloominess where I feel other artists depict him too much like a typical action hero.
I love the covers with artwork by Michael Whelan! I had most of them. Moorcock became my favorite author immediately after I read my 1rst Elric book. I actually started with "The Weird of the White Wolf".
"I kill everyone I love". I talk in my sleep. I often repeat phrases from books I read. My new wife didn't know this. Stormbringer was one helluva concept. Her face was straight out of a Lovecraft novel when I woke up. At least I thought the whole thing was funny af.
Great take on tackling this from a "modern reader" pov. Being an old dude, I hadn't really thought of what modern audiences would think. Certainly, Moorcock has an economy of words in a lot of the Eternal Champion stuff... although Corum stuff is a bit more verbose...
Elric vol 4 was available in my local library, I must have taken it out about 12 times. Eventually, I got all 6 Daw books in a collected box set for Xmas. Boy, those Whelan covers really inspired me, although the first 3 Hawkmoon covers are also great (and not Whelan, but someone similar). I've been a fantasy artist for several decades, due in a large part to those covers I had discovered as a kid.
Dorian Hawkmoon is crying in the corner, while Corum Runestaff is punching walls with the six-fingered fist of a god. Elric, Elric, Elric.....
It might help the new reader to think of Elric as a hallucinogenic piss-take on Tolkien (whose work Moorcock dismissed as "epic Pooh") and Conan (who Elric is a near-total inversion of). Recognizing these books as at least partially satirical, and coming from the Monty Python era of British humor, explains a lot about the bizarre tone and content of this saga.
Hey nice review, great to see more love for Elric!
A small nitpick if I may... *SPOILERS*
Yyrkoon was appointed to rule in Elrics stead when Elric left to explore the Young Kingdoms at the end of the first book. Upon his return Elric discovered that Yyrkoon betrayed him and that's when the events of "The Dreaming City" take place :)
Good point! Luckily RUclips’s studio editor was all that was needed to pull out that goof-up. On that subject, though, how did Yyrkoon get Mournblade back? I thought it was lost in the chaos cavern. Off-screen sorcery, perhaps?
@@franklinroberts4837 Definitely off screen sorcery. Mournblade escaped after Storbringer and Elric defeated it in book 1, it might have returned to Yyrkoon after a period of time. Also he was a really strong sorcerer second only to Elric himself 🤔
@@franklinroberts4837 i recall it being as basic and handwave-y as elric saying "i see you've recovered mournblade"
We couldn't get enough of the Eternal Champion series back in the day. I'm glad to say I still have a bunch of those original paperbacks. Some character or another from the books always made an appearance in our D&D games. Moorcock and Leiber were much more of an influence on Gygax than Tolkien ever was.
I loved the first book, but the multiverse switch in book 2's opening was so jarring it made me put it down. multiverse in general is almost always a way to reach when the writer doesn't want to commit to consequences, so i was amazed to learn he more or less came up with the idea. insane to include such a thing in book 2, in any case.
To quote Blue Oyster Cult's "Black Blade," here's Elric in a nutshell:
I have this feeling that my luck is none too good
This sword here at my side don't act the way it should
Keeps calling me its master, but I feel like its slave
Hauling me faster and faster to an early, early grave
And it howls, it howls like hell
I'm told that it's my duty to fight against the Law
That wizardry's my trade and I was born to wade through gore
I just want to be a lover, not a red-eyed screaming ghoul
I wish it'd picked another to be its killing tool.
great video, I've been drawn back to Michael Moorcocks books again recently and Elric is high up on my list to reread, nice reminder, thank you :)
You’re welcome!
Nice summary. I read these books back in the 80s and LOVED them. I've recommended them often over the years. A couple of years ago, I got the two volume hardback editions, and found them to be way more disjointed then I had remembered. I still enjoyed them though.
Have you read Corum The knight of Swords by this author? If not its one of the best stories ever IMO. its short like the Elric books.
Dude, that was a really great, enjoyable video! This was actually the first work of yours that I have seen, but I’m definitely going to subscribe and check out some more of your analysis. I am a long time reader of the Elrick stories totally enjoying them and I enjoyed your take on them as well one of the things that stood out for me in recent years as I look back to call, Rick Books is something that Moorcock said about why he wrote them. He was actually trying to do some thing that was the opposite of Conan the barbarian. Anyhow, I enjoyed what you did and I’m looking forward to the rest of your videos.
Voice recording changed Elric books to Rick books lol, sorry for any confusion!
More vids to come now that I’ve got my 2nd book written. Next up, Jack Vance!
Excellent video, thanks!!!
Always makes me happy to see someone take a deep dive into Mike's work. The appeal, for me has been the almost anarchic way he world builds. Armies are introduced and utterly destroyed in two chapters, characters come into the saga make a mark and then die off just a handful stories later. Heck, one character is introduced at the beginning of a short story, built up as the greatest hero of his age, and ends up on the point of Stormbringer 50 pages later.
Great review. I read anything by Moorcock I could get my hands on back in the 70's. Revisiting the Elric books I found (as other commenters have noted) that the pulp origins of the stories are very apparent (Elric escapes a lot of seemingly intractable predicaments via a deus ex machina) but they are still worth reading. The Hawkmoon and Corum series are also worth a look. I would like to mention as well the work of the great Karl Edward Wagner, whose recurring character, Kane, is another memorable anti-hero. As well as Fantasy, Wagner also wrote some of the best Horror/Supernatural fiction ever (IMHO), but he doesn't seem to get the recognition he deserves, unfortunately. This is probably due to the fact that most of his work is out of print, though the Kane stories are available on Kindle, and an anthology of his Horror writing, 'In a Lonely Place', has been reprinted recently.
The first book i bought after learning about and knowing the gist of the story was Fortress of the Pearl oddly enough. The book alone got me wanting to get the rest.
I read this series as they were being published back in the day, and I always remembered the sword and what curse it had on the bearer, but I could not for the life of me remember the name of the sword. Nor could I remember the name of the author, but as soon as I saw this post it clicked. Thanks for re-sparking and old memory and solving an age old riddle of mine.
I read these books over 30 years ago and loved them. I remember starting off with books scattered between the various incarnations of the hero and the realisation that Moorcock pulled them all together into what would be today called a multiverse was a massive revelation at the time
Uh yeah if you could make more videos that would be great. Very fun and cemented my choice to re-read the Elric books. After I read yours! Great videos. I'll report back on the book,. I have to finish the one I'm on now.....but soon.
Glad you took interest! Trust me, there’s more to come soon. Hope the Wizard Slayer doesn’t dissapoint!
I LOVE old used books, and I love those old Elric paperbacks! I used to have them all, including one I bought in England before you could get international stuff with a few clicks.
Great summary of the books BTW, and I loved the graphic novel shots early in the video -- I sent my graphic novel of "Elric of Melnibone" to my nephew, and I hope he hasn't destroyed it too badly...
I have this feeling that my luck is none to good. This sword here at my side don't act the way it should. Keeps calling me its master but I feel like its slave. Hauling me faster and faster to an early, early grave...
this is the series that introduce to me the concept of the multiverse.
If there's any problem. It is in the modern audience. Not the books or the author
@B..B. - Amen to that!
Preach brother!
Glad to find someone who likes the Eternal Champion series as much as me. I used buy them as they came out. I'm in my 70's now and still read them.
Very nice video and good synopsis of the Elric saga. I’m an “old reader” and I have an extensive collection of Moorcock’s works, as I consider him one of my top 3 fantasy writers as well as an excellent music writer (he collaborated with the bands Hawkwind and Blue Oyster Cult nd has his own band project). One aspect about Elric’s evilness is the fact that he’s partially controlled by his evil sword, Stormbringer. Moorcock used the sword as an allegory for the nuclear weapons and the fear of nuclear war during the heights of the Cold War. I believe that the greatness of Moorcock is in the fact his writings resonate actual to this day.
Other Moorcock works worth of note are the Hawkmoon and Corim of the Silver Hand sagas, both incarnations of the Cosmic Champion.
Just in case no one knew, Michael Moorcock wrote most of the lyrics for Hawkwind in the 1970's. A complete crazy acid progressive rock band (I mean a lot of acid) that had the Lemmy Kilmister playing bass for a few albums till he was kicked out for doing drugs the rest of the band didn't like. Not even sure if most of the players even knew how to really play their instruments but it's not a bad band by any means (they've at least one hit).
Well, no, he wrote a lot of, but nowhere near most.
He also brought out his own album with Hawkwind singing in the style of 70s pop music. Sadly I sold the album.
Moorcock was only involved with two albums: Warrior On The Edge Of Time and Chronicle Of The Black Sword, both of which just used his ideas as inspiration with some lyric input by Moorcock, and he did some spoken word on the former. The lyrics for the opening track of WOTEOT Assault and Battery were lifted from Longfellow. Other than that, he contributed lyrics here and there in their career, and a few vocals.
As for the players not knowing how to play, that's ridiculous. They did have a few people in the early days, who weren't proficient musicians, two of which dealt with the electronics. The other being Nik Turner their sax player. Otherwise, they had excellent bass players and drummers. Dave Brock played blues in the decade before he started Hawkwind. Hits do not make a band great. Often the opposite.
Couldn't play? What are you talking about? They were a great band...still are..although only 1 original member now.
Thx for the video. Speaking of 00:35: popped up nowhere 😆Read Moorcock back in the 80s and I love the stories Elric, Corum and Dorian Hawkmoon.
Never heard of this saga, thanks for the info! Good title to add to the “I’ll get to you sooner or later” list
Idk about yours, but that list for me is getting way too long
@@franklinroberts4837 totally agree, I guess that’s why I’m moving to using these “speed reading” methods, otherwise it will take me a thousand years or so to reach a middle point ))
I read the series beginning in 1977. I was stationed in Germany , in a hospital that was designed by Adolf Hitler (a perfect setting.) , and this series stuck with me. My first book was "Sailors on the sea of Fate." since then I have read and reread Moorcock's catalog. He is by far my favorite author and I have read many thousands of books. Thank you for your video!
I read Michaels’ book as I found them in various libraries. I’m aware that they have a structure but not one I could tell you about. Highly recommend Elric and the dancers from the end of time.
I have read so many of his books from libraries and second hand bookshops that I have no idea which ones I have not read.
Another great video. Your enthusiasm for these books is infectious man! Will you eventually do videos on other Moorcock characters? Like Corum, or Hawkmoon, Erekose, or Jerry Cornelius? Behold The Man? Will you review the Multiverse twelve issue series moorcock scripted in the '90s? That was brilliant stuff, and I would really be interested to hear your thoughts. I bought it issue by issue back then, but they have reprinted it into two graphic novels. A little off topic, but maybe you could do a video on The Crimson Idol.
I want to delve more into Moorcock, but I also don’t want to be the “Moorcock” guy. I’m by no means an authority on his works. I kinda just want to highlight and fairly review the stuff I like. Hopefully I’ll introduce new people to something they like, make old fans happy, and entertain anyone in between.
Also, damn good album. One of my favorites. Few songs really capture the feeling of loneliness like the ones on that album. Might have to cover it…
Rather good - I first read the Elric books back in the 70s, and have revisted them from time to time since. Easily the best of Moorcock's 'Eternal Champions' - as the character is so well drawn and developed - it's good to see that new readers are becoming new fans of the series.
As I lived in Yorkshire in the 60s and 70s, it was hard to get away from Moorcock, as he was involved in so many things, all the book series, Hawkwind and other music, I had a bootleg recording of his band "The deep fix" which was slightly odd, I don`t think they ever performed much as there weren`t many places they could perform. Worth a watch is "the final program" a short film featuring Jerry Cornelius. It is Elric who has stuck in my mind in the most detail though. I would recommend any of the books.
Love the Moorcock books, read them all as a kid and reread them occasionally, got virtually the full set of paperbacks still on my shelf.
Not having a go at you but I pronounce Melnibone as 'Mel' - 'knee' - ,'bone' no idea if I've been wrong all these decades but hey-ho, every day's a school day.
Nice video by the way.
Most, if not all, Moorcock books are still great fantasy. Far better than the Wheel of Time, which is overlong, super repetitive and frankly, the misandry in the story would be OK as a world-building device if the characters were not so stupid. I forced myself to read up to the 4th book, but stopped midway it.
And I particularly love when (SPOILERS), after Kwll and Ryn have killed all the Chaos and Law gods, Corum just hints humans may have to invent new ones into being. The metaphorical nature of the whole story throughout his many series was really a tour de force.
Corum, the first trilogy is the ultimate Michael Moorcock work.
I know Elric is sort of the flagship Moorcock character, but Corum is my favorite. I love Hawkmoon too.
Great review! I'm 49, and I read all the Elric novels in my teens....and, I agree, they might not gel with the expectations of modern audiences. Incidentally, I was reminded of them by the Targaryen Empire from Game of Thrones. The Melnibonean's, that is. After Elric, I read most of the other Eternal Champion novels, and I think, I enjoyed those characters and stories even more.
Heh, I'm dyslexic so reading is a pain for me. However, you really seem like a nice and genuine being which is rare these days.
Bro I hope you get a big fan base for the book and one day I play it on my pc like the Witcher :D
Hope you keep making vid I just enjoy your book explanations :D
Best of luck brother!
Thanks man! I’ll have more vids for you in the near future!
Have you ever tried out audiobooks?
I started reading the Elric Saga about a month ago (taking the time to read when I can) and I love it so far. I needed something a bit on the sword and sorcery side and it has been delivering so far.
I liked the idea of a prince of a dying empire trying to revitalize it despite his weaknesses. He doesn't stay on target with that mission long but it's the original premise.
I'm in my 50s and first read Eric in my teens. I now have the new hardback series, and they are the best version printed so far. I'm thrilled to have Elric in big, beautiful HB editions, with the stories in proper order (except for "Citadel", of course).
When you compare Tolkien and Moorcock, the focus is usually on Moorcock’s rejection of the high fantasy Good vs Evil theme that Tolkien established. But another big difference relates to Worldbuilding. Tolkien created (and described) a rich world down to small details with languages and complex histories. Elric’s world map was equally evocative, but Moorcock used it as a backdrop for his stories and not as a feature. We can look at the map and see Melnibone or Tanelorn, but know relatively little about them, what they looked like, who lived their, etc. As a reader, we can use our imaginations to fill in the blanks and paint the picture, whereas Tolkien painted a very rich picture for us. In some cases, literally.
I remember reading 3 or 4 of the old Grafton paperbacks as a teenager in the late 80ies, as well as the Grafton Swords of Corum omnibus (which I still have). I found and bought the other Elric Grafton paperbacks a few years ago at a car boot sale.
I always felt that the randomness of the flow in the Eric stories was part of the writings that helps you to feel a part of Elric's life and pain . After all his Patron was a Lord of Chaos.
4:33: Dang, dude. Just the language of the dialogue in that shadowy tavern is enough to draw one in.
So i read Moorcock first when i was a teenager in the 90s. I was most of the way into brutal addiction at the time, the biggest hot take I think I could ever say about it is that the entire Elric saga baring the later additions to the story is that it's about heroin addiction.
Just starting to read Elric & I am enjoying it so far.
I bought a lot of Moorcock's books in the late 1960s and early 1970's and have a lot of paperback first editions. I loved them at the time and loved them again when I recently reread most of them. I think they are still very enjoyable and what modern audience are you referring to? As a retired secondary school teacher I found that some kids love this kind of book while a (sadly) increasing majority are always glued to their mobiles. On the plus side, some of them do read books there.
Thanks for the video. Time for a re-read. I used to enjoy Elric and Moonglum. I have a pair of soul eating scissors called Slightly Damp Weather Bringer. Our adventures Aren't up to much.
My father named me after Elric, was having second thoughts in reading the books though. And I love the works of Tolkien, R. Jordan, R. Feist, D. Gemmel, J. Abercrombie, B. Sanderson and many more Fantasy book authors.
Read the eternal champion stories in the 60s and 70s from Corum to Elric to Oswald Bastable and the tales from the end of time.
They take no time to read and still are not easily digested because of the hidden complexity.
Love em to bits to this day.
I read the Elric books in the 80s when I was a teenager. Loved them then and now.
I read the Lancer/Ace Conan series first, and then I read the Elric series. It's quite jarring, because Elric is almost everything that Conan *isn't.* But you could tell that Moorcock was trying to do more than just typical sword & sorcery stories. I was also quite shocked by how the series ended in Stormbringer, but I won't give any spoilers on it. Maybe modern readers will like it better than I did.
Love to see a similar video on the Corum series
Soon… in the meantime, I have some other stuff in store
Did they age well? Well you have to ask yourself one question, do they contradict factual and verifiable information attained since? Because if that's not the standard, you're not using "age well" correctly. Because too often the metric is "do they offend the most sensitive buttholes on Twitter," and the truth is, those people have always been a thing. Censorship wouldn't have been invented without them.
Read the Elric books decades ago, and reread them last year when my son bought the set at a yard sale.
The trick to reading the books is actually very simple.
Read one story, put the book down, then read the next story tomorrow.
Rinse and repeat.
I remember seeing Michael Moorcock when he was working with Hawkwind. Loved the Elric books
I read Moorcock almost entirely. I introduced a Young Lady to Jerry Cornelius, she has been my wife for 38 years!
I’m just glad we finally have definitive versions, given Moorcock edited and rewrote stuff in every major edition! The DAW paperbacks are awesome, but a bit removed from his “final” version of everything.
I’ll have to check this Elric Saga out.
I read Elric when it was at 6 books in the 1980s.
I had more of a sense of just letting each individual story start. As for Sailor on the Seas of Fate… I did’t feel like I was getting something later than I should. The fact that Corum and Erekose already got info we don’t have seemed intriguing.
Interesting take. I read these back when they came out from DAW, in order, and felt perfectly fine reading them in "order", even though I later found out that most of them were fix-ups of one kind or another. These books made me a life-long Moorcock fan, and I read many of his books, even the (to me at the time) very weird Jerry Cornelius books.