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"He is the master storyteller of our time."--Angela Carter Michael Moorcock: Legendary author of the Elric saga, Science Fiction Grand Master, platinum album-receiving rock star, and controversial editor of the new wave fiction movement's New Worlds. In this definitive collection, discover the incomparable stories of one of our most important contemporary writers. These exceptional stories range effortlessly from the genre tales that continue to define fantasy to the author's critically acclaimed mainstream works. Classic offerings include the Nebula Award-winning novella "Behold the Man," which introduces a time traveler and unlikely messiah that H.G. Wells never imagined; "The Visible Men," a recent tale of the ambiguous and androgynous secret agent Jerry Cornelius; the trilogy "My Experiences in the Third World War," where a Russian agent in an alternate Cambodia is powerless to prevent an inevitable march toward nuclear disaster; and "A Portrait in Ivory," a Melibone story of troubled anti-hero Elric and his soul-stealing sword, Stormbringer. Newer work handpicked by an expert editing team includes one previously unpublished story and three uncollected stories.… (more)
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When I was a child craving escape I turned to stories of Sword and Sorcery – Fritz Lieber's Fafhrd, Robert E. Howard's Conan the Cimmerian, and others of the genre. I devoured every tale I could find. Of these, Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melniboné was my
A couple of things happened, though. S&S got derailed by the move toward New Wave SF fiction forms ushered in by Dangerous Visions and the like. The Ballantine LOTR bootlegs pushed toward long form contemplative fantasy. While there are good S&S stories published in the 70s and on, they are nothing like the ones from the pulp days.
Something happened to Mr. Moorcock too – actually, three things. And they turned me away.
1) Mr. Moorcock embraced New Wave SF, leading the British and pushing the Yanks by writing, and also editing. He was the editor of "New Worlds" SF magazine for many years. I have seen little of his work from those days.
2) As did many artists of the era, Mr. Moorcock became increasingly political and his fiction became more polemical. The Elric stories didn't fit and I am not interested in Mr. Moorcock's British-anarchist tracts.
3) Mr. Moorcock became obsessed with his idea of the multiverse (Jerry Cornelius and all that), and his concept of the Eternal Hero. Mr. Moorcock revised his earlier fiction converting standalone characters, including Elric, into avatars of the Eternal Hero. The result was awful. You need to be careful about the dates of Mr. Moorcock's publications to avoid these reworks.
I am dismayed to find that there is only a taste of Elric in this story collection. One late story. The editors justify omission in two ways. First they suggest that the stylistic contrast between Mr. Moorcock early S&S and his later complex fictions is so sharp that readers would be put off. Second they refer to the Del Ray Elric reprints, saying that these should satisfy every reader. So be it.
I tried these other stories and I find (sorry editors ) that I simply am not interested.
I received a review copy of "The Best of Michael Moorcock" by Michael Moorcock, edited by John Davey, Jeff Vandermeer, and Ann Vandermeer (Tachyon) through NetGalley.com.
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| Fic SF Moorcock |