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reprint of an action-packed sword and sorcery thriller
The Dark Empire of Granbretan has devastated their opponents who have tried to overthrow their harsh subjection.One such loser the Duke of Koln Dorian Hawkmoon attempted unsuccessfully to destroy the empire, but instead failed and became their pawn.

When Count Brass the lord of the city Kamarang rejects an offer of an alliance with Granbretan, imperial Baron Meliadus sends former rebel Hawkmoon to kidnap Brass' daughter, Yisselda.However, Hawkmoon has problems with carrying out the abduction order that goes against his values; besides his attraction to Yisselda, her father treats him with respect and kindness; reminding him of his original vow to destroy the evil Empire and his deep humiliation of bowing down to Meliadus.

This is a fast-paced, action-packed reprint of a 1960s sword and sorcery thriller that holds up nicely though contains little insight into life under the Black Jewel sorcery rule as the plot is linear.The hero makes the story line work as he believes his ultimate abjection is a betrayal of his own soul and when he meets the last holdout, Hawkmoon knows how far he has fallen in disgrace.Fans will enjoy Dorian's efforts to regain what he lost when the Empire defeated his army; his impetus is the father and daughter who shower him with adulation and respect while he feels he deserves contempt.Future Europe has rarely looked as dark as the continent that Hawkmoon traverses.
... Read more

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“Michael Moorcock’s work as a critic, as an editor and as a writer has made it easier for me and a whole generation of us to roam the ‘moonbeam roads’ of the literary multiverse.”—from the Foreword by Michael Chabon

Has there ever been a hero–or anti-hero–to match Elric of Melniboné, last emperor of an ancient civilization sunk into decadence and inhuman cruelty? Elric the albino, weary of life and enamored of death, bearer of the soul-devouring black sword Stormbringer, cursed to betray all he loves and to save that which he despises: In the unending battle between the forces of Law and Chaos, he is the wildest card of all.

Del Rey proudly presents the fourth in its definitive collection of stories featuring fantasy Grand Master Michael Moorcock’s greatest creation. Here is the full novel The Sailor on the Seas of Fate, the script of the DC comic Duke Elric, the new story “The Flaneur des Arcades de l’Opera,” essays by Moorcock and others, and a selection of classic artwork.

Lavishly illustrated by Justin Sweet, with a Foreword by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon, Duke Elric is essential for all fans of the fantastic. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Huge Elric fan
This is just another amazing book by Michael Moorcock. I cannot think of a greater fantasy character than our beloved albino Elric of Melnibone. This book, as much as all the rest, bring a desire for me to have more of Elric. Ive read this series many times over, and continue to do the same. My only wish is that a movie can be made, with Michael Moorcock next to the director at all times of course. ... Read more

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“Moorcock’s writing is intricate, fabulous, and mellifluous. Reading his words I was, and am, reminded of music. His novels are symphonic experiences. They dance and cry and bleed and make promises that can live only in the moment of their utterance.”
–from the Foreword by Walter Mosley, New York Times bestselling author of Blonde Faith and Devil in a Blue Dress

Elric of Melniboné. The name is like a magic spell, conjuring up the image of an albino champion and his cursed, vampiric sword, Stormbringer. Elric, the last emperor of a cruel and decadent race, rogue and adventurer, hero and murderer, lover and traitor, is mystery and paradox personified–a timeless testament to the creative achievement of Michael Moorcock, the most significant fantasy writer since Tolkien.

Now comes the second in this definitive series of Elric volumes. Gorgeously illustrated by acclaimed artist Michael Wm. Kaluta and including a new Introduction by Michael Moorcock, this collection features, along with Elric, such renowned characters as Erekosë, Rackhir the Red Archer, and Count Renark von Bek. Readers will delight in adventures that include “To Rescue Tanelorn . . .,” “Master of Chaos,” “The Singing Citadel,” “The Black Blade’s Song,” and the novella version of “The Eternal Champion.”

Elric: To Rescue Tanelorn is essential reading for every fantasy fan and provides indelible proof–if any was needed–of the genius of Michael Moorcock.

“The most significant UK author of sword and sorcery, a form he has both borrowed from and transformed.”
–The Encyclopedia of Fantasy ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Elric returns
Huge fan of Elric and Micheal Moorcocks multiverse. I hope this translates well to the movie that is expected to come. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent short stories
The Best of Michael Moorcock is a collection of the legendary author's best short fiction, containing several of his classic stories, as well as one previously unreleased story.

The collection, lovingly edited by John Davey with Jeff and Ann VanderMeer, is nothing short of excellent. There are really no bad stories here, and some that are simply stunning. As someone who has read many of Michael Moorcock's novels but barely any of his shorter work, I was amazed at how well the author's skill -- so much better known for the long, sweeping epic -- translates into the much more concentrated short form.

Also amazing is the ease with which Moorcock switches tones and styles, from the light-hearted to the overwhelmingly deep, from fantasy to SF to non-genre fiction, from the joking staccato prose of "London Bone" to the lyrical sadness of the Elric story "A Portrait In Ivory." It's easy to see why this man is a legend.

One of my favorite aspects of this book are the subtle typographical touches added to each story's title -- e.g. the words "Behold the Man" are placed in the shape of a cross, and "London Bone" looks like a tube sign. Every one is different and somehow relevant to the story, and they give the book an old-fashioned -- in a good way! -- and playful air.

SF and fantasy fans have been lucky recently, with two excellent best-of short story collections: Tor released a brilliant Gene Wolfe collection and then there's this Tachyon Publications Michael Moorcock collection. If, like me, you weren't very familiar with these authors' short works yet, getting these books is practically a must. ... Read more

Product Description
“The stories here are the raw heart of Michael Moorcock. They are the spells that first drew me and all the numerous admirers of his work with whom I am acquainted into Moorcock’s luminous and captivating web.”
–from the Foreword by Alan Moore, creator of V for Vendetta

When Michael Moorcock began chronicling the adventures of the albino sorcerer Elric, last king of decadent Melniboné, and his sentient vampiric sword, Stormbringer, he set out to create a new kind of fantasy adventure, one that broke with tradition and reflected a more up-to-date sophistication of theme and style. The result was a bold and unique hero–weak in body, subtle in mind, dependent on drugs for the vitality to sustain himself–with great crimes behind him and a greater destiny ahead: a rock-and-roll antihero who would channel all the violent excesses of the sixties into one enduring archetype.

Now, with a major film in development, here is the first volume of a dazzling collection of stories containing the seminal appearances of Elric and lavishly illustrated by award-winning artist John Picacio–plus essays, letters, maps, and other material. Adventures include “The Dreaming City,” “While the Gods Laugh,” “Kings in Darkness,” “Dead God’s Homecoming,” “Black Sword’s Brothers,” and “Sad Giant’s Shield.”

An indispensable addition to any fantasy collection, Elric: The Stealer of Souls is an unmatched introduction to a brilliant writer and his most famous–or infamous–creation.

“The most significant UK author of sword and sorcery, a form he has both borrowed from and transformed.”
–The Encyclopedia of Fantasy ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

Formative Fantasy
Some of my earliest reads were Elric stories, and they have helped shape the Sword and Sorcery, and thus the entire Fantasy genre. If you want to know why people play dark elves in MMOs, anti-heroes, this is the stuff to read. R. A. Salvatore's work is what people generally think of when the think "dark elf hero" but this is from a dark era before his work. Elric is much more like a level 100 shadowknight in the game of your choice than anything Salvatore ever wrote. You will see, in fact, that Elric even looks like the undead hero in Warcraft III, and this is no accident.

That said, the stories aren't perfect. They are, after all, written in a wild frenzy by a half-mad Englishman (my opinion). But there is a story here, if you stick through it all, that can't be gotten anywhere else. I'm forever in his debt for the experience.

-B. V. Larson

Last Prince of a Warrior Race
Elric is amazing.Both the writing and the character himself are superb.Highly recommended.

Is this book three of a series?
I feel like I walked in on the middle of something when I was reading this book - like there was a lot of missing background or something.There was a lot of repetitive nonsense too concerning the use of magic/power etc - I felt like a lot of adjectives were being recycled.But you know.... the writing wasn't bad at all, and I did keep reading.

Reviews from Brizmus Blogs Books
Reading through this book was like trudging through the muck-filled, mist-covered, at times deadly Swamps of Sadness; it was difficult and long to get through and sometimes made me forget my purpose in reading it.
Which is weird, because it was non-stop mega action packed and was also actually really well written.
The first half of the book was separated into short stories that introduce us to Elric, his life, and his friends. And while they were interesting, they were also predictable and seemed to serve very little purpose. They were hard to get through, but for no fault of their own. I think my biggest issue was that they were short, and there was therefore so much that should have happened that couldn't - because there's just not enough time in a short story.
The second half of the book was four somewhat longer interlinked stories that, put together, could almost form a book. Yay!
Moorcock's easy use of adjectives and fluttery language creates vivid, believable, and sometimes devestating images of a dying world and its potential savior, Elric the albino emperor of a dead race of sorcerers. Elric's character is a tortured one, torn between Chaos and the Gods of his people, and the Lords of Law and what fate has planned for him.
Unfortunately, for all his verbosity, I don't feel that Moorcock developed Elric as a believable character; it was almost as if Moorcock himself did not understand what Elric must suffer (and the true power that Stormbringer, his sword, held over him) and therefore couldn't write it into the book. Because of this, up until almost the very end, it was hard to cheer for Elric. It was hard to understand that he really might be the good guy in all of this. Elric is THE anti-hero of anti-heros. . .I guess I should probably just say that he is one of the more extreme anti-heroes that I have ever come across.
Still, in the last four stories, Elric and his sword and his world and his quests and his dilemmas captured my attention and made me glad that I trudged through until the end.

Hard to get into for a non-fan
I almost gave up on this book at the very beginning.The whole first part of the book is taken up by writings about the origin of the hero and how the stories situate within the sci-fi/fantasy of the time, etc.Being completely unfamiliar with Elric, this material was of next to no use to me.I am sure devoted Elric/Moorcock fans would be happy to have such background material... but seeing as the book is a Kindle freebie, I'm thinking that they're trying to attract a newer audience.A newer audience (like myself) is likely to be turned off when they open the book on their Kindle to a wealth of introductory material with no meaning to them.It probably would have been a better idea to start the book at the first story and let the new reader try the essays and historical commentary afterwards.Thankfully, there is a nice clickable Table of Contents.So on to the stories...

Honestly, I found it hard to get engaged with the stories.I think it may be a stylistic preference for me.A lot of the narrative is "tell" instead of "show," and I prefer it the other way around.The mythology and world are interesting but could stand to be fleshed out better.I would have loved to learn more about the nations whose denizens seem to pop in and out of the story without really sticking.The plots do have a decent bit of action, but sometimes events seem a little abrupt.I had trouble sticking with the first few stories, but I found myself more engaged as the stories progressed.By the end, I was invested in finding out what would happen, and the narrative seemed to flow with more ease.

Overall, the stories are a mixed bag in regards to quality, though there is definite improvement in the Stormbringer section, which is pretty much the last half.The other material commenting on Elric is probably valuable to fans but doesn't really do much for new readers. ... Read more

Product Description
Miggea - a world on the very edge of reality. The cusp between this universe and the next. A point where space-time has worn thin, and is in danger of collapsing. And the venue for the grand finals of the competition to win the fabled Arrow of Law. The Doctor and Amy have joined the Terraphiles - a group obsessed with all aspects of Earth's history, and dedicated to re-enacting ancient sporting events. They are determined to win the Arrow. But just getting to Miggea proves tricky. Reality is collapsing, ships are disappearing, and Captain Cornelius and his pirates are looking for easy pickings. Even when they arrive, the Doctor and Amy's troubles won't be over. They have to find out who is so desperate to get the Arrow of Law that they will kill for it. And uncover the traitor on their own team. And win the contest fair and square. And, of course, they need to save the universe from total destruction. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Tedious, Terrible & Pointless
I've been an ardent Doctor Who TV fan, and a casual fan of Elric in prose and comics, since my childhood in the 1970s.I was very excited to read this book when I heard it was coming out.While there might be something enjoyable here for a hardcore Moorcock fan, there is nothing close to entertaining here for anyone expecting a Doctor Who, adventure, science-fiction or mystery story.

The Doctor is mostly in character here.Amy...okay.Moorcock depicts her as a spunky woman.There's little of the challenging flirty frisson Amy has in the TV show.Companions are hard to do, especially only a season in; so no crime there.

The problem comes that we're not getting anything out of this as a Doctor Who story.In the 20th Century Who model, we're not seeing any real conflict, character dysfunction, or character insight being discovered about our main cast through the adventure.

In terms of a fan's interest in the Doctor's adventures outside TV, we're not getting any great use of the Who universe or mythology - Moorcock has multiple references to the Judoon (zzz) and that's it.

In terms of science-fiction, there's a lot of trippy visuals and concepts thrown out there which don't add up to much.Brutally dull sections occur of characters yammering on about techno-babble and the cosmology of the Moorcock Multiverse that you'd have to be a huge Moorcock fan and/or high on something to care about.

In terms of adventure, the story never really escalates - the Doctor has a hunch something bad might be going down and runs around trying to get to the championship of some game that he feels he might have to win so he can get a dopey doodad from the Moorcock continuity because it might have something to do with the potential destruction of the universe.

In terms of mystery, there's a brutally stupid search for a hat thief that, I assume, is supposed to be funny on some level, but is lame.There's no real investigation or escalation, it's just culprits pop up, things happen "off-camera" and are explained.There are no real clues for the reader to follow, only exposition pulled out of thin air throughout.

I wanted to like this.I was ready to enjoy the story going places only a novel could.I couldn't get into the tale and it read to me like Moorcockwas writing whatever he felt like with no concern or particularly deep love for the Whoverse.Reading this was like taking blech medicine for hours.

It's interesting to note that within the same year Moorcock, living legend of British sci-fi/fantasy, was commissioned to write a Doctor Who novel, and Neil Gaiman, living legend of British fantasy of a later generation, was commissioned to write a Doctor Who episode.I suspect Gaiman's effort will succeed in all the ways Moorcock doesn't: that we will have an exciting story that not only is a wonderfully crafted adventure in the voice of the author, but also lovingly explores and expands the world of Doctor Who.

Kindle Edition:The Kindle edition has a weird glitch where the words "Doctor Who" and the title of the book randomly pop up in the middle of sentences.
... Read more

Product Description
An omnibus volume of three science fiction novels on the theme of messianic complexes, includes BEHOLD THE MAN, BREAKFAST IN THE RUINS and CONSTANT FIRE. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (27)

A newtake on the life of Jesus
This is a very cleaver story about a guy who goes back in time to find Jesus.His time capsule breaks(of course) so he can't return to present time.He has studied all about Jesus and knows Aramaic.He accidently recreates all the events that Jesus did (baptism by John, etc.), and then everyone thinks he is Jesus.You can guess what happens then.A great read!!

Infantile and Idiotic
I'm amazed at the praise some reviewers heaped on this drivel. I read it a long time ago - when I was an agnostic - and thought it idiotic even then. Whether you believe in Christianity or are an atheist, religious leaders such as Jesus, Buddha or others had to be strong, charismatic figures, not 20th century neurotics. The assertion that the narrator could actually became a religious leader is too idiotic to be believed. Science fiction readers rightly jump all over an author for even a minor scientific inaccuracy. But the psychological flaws in this novel are larger than the Grand Canyon and no one pretends to notice. If the author had written this about another religious figure, he'd be called Islamphobic. Take just one line of Jesus. If you lose your life, you will find it, but it you seek to save it, you will lose it. Even if you don't agree that there is a supernatural element in life, that is a profound psychological statement. Volumes could, and have, been written on it. Hence, the basic "themes" of this book are laughable and infantile.

Behold The Man Fantastic
This book is a fave in my household and we were very happy to get it back on our book shelves, thank you for being so honest in your detail of the book it was in great shape

The 'H' stands for Heresy in Jesus H. Christ
From an avid reader's point of view, this book is unlike any other I have read. If Albert Camus, Charles Bukowski, and Kurt Vonnegut contributed their DNA to create the ideal novella - 'Behold the Man' would be their seminal culmination. It is the perfect blend of existentialism, satire, religious rhetoric, science fiction and sexual exploration, amongst other things.

From a clergy-member's point of view, this book is...unlike any other I have read, in that it poses one of the most significant questions regarding faith and belief (one that I think Christ would compel us to ask ourselves) Does something really need to have happened for the myth surrounding it to be meaningful?

One of the various underlying themes of the book forces us to examine which is more important, legend or history?

I finished the book twice in one afternoon, enthralled with the character, the interactions, and the biblical references.

One needs not have read the Bible to enjoy this book. On the contrary, one might be inspired to read the Bible, in order to consider the possibilities that this book offers.

'Behold the Man' has quickly become one of my favorite books because of it's highly imaginative story and thought-provoking message. Several times throughout the book I was ushered into a fit of laughter, followed by a very sobering moment of reflection.

For those of Faith that consider this book a blasphemous creation, I challenge you to remember that even Christ acted and spoke in a fashion considered heresy by the religious leaders of his time.

Hardly an anti-religion pamphlet
Oh sure, in this book Mary is no virgin, Jesus is a drooling hunchbacked idiot, and the savior of humanity is a mentally unstable wreck who is a walking lifelong subscription of Issues. But anyone railing that this is an anti-Christian piece of propaganda probably misses the point. It's hardly something I would expect a devout Christian to write, and I imagine Tolkien for one would have been uncomfortable with it, but it has much more to do with belief and the nature of myth than anything as political or silly as "Are you an atheist? Subscribe to Karl Glogaeur today!"

Having read Moorcock's other works before, I continue to be impressed. He is truly a diverse writer, able to engage with many different styles and subjects and tones. I actually went in expecting something quite different, and when that expectation is proven wrong, I thought I would quite despise Glogaeur. He's a loser and reminds me somewhat of Robinette from Pohl's GATEWAY, but--if that's possible--he manages to be even more tortured, more messed-up. But his neuroses never annoy; the flashback sections are fascinating, occasionally disturbing, but never dull to trudge through. They use few words to say many things, something which most authors can only dream of doing.

Given Glogaeur's character, I thought he would wimp out before the end, or that the time machine would miraculously activate before he carries out the story of Jesus to its bitter last. In many ways, the novella defies my expectations, and that is perfectly welcome in the days of formulaic, superficial speculative fiction that's all identical to one another. ... Read more

Product Description
Enter a decaying far, far future society, a time when anything and everything is possible, where words like 'conscience' and 'morality' are meaningless, and where heartfelt love blossoms mysteriously between Mrs Amelia Underwood, an unwilling time traveller, and Jherek Carnelian, a bemused denizen of the End of Time. The Dancers at the End of Time, containing the novels An Alien Heat, The Hollow Lands and The End of All Songs, is a brilliant homage to the 1890s of Wilde, Beardsley and the fin de siecle decadents, satire at its sharpest and most colourful. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (27)

A fantastic journey
This series is awesome.It largely takes place millions of years in the future, on the verge of the end of the universe.Humanity has progressed into a bunch of carefree socialites supported by technology granting them godlike powers.
They spend their days oblivious to negative emotions, playing and hosting incredible parties with lavish themes.

I think the best part of the End of Time series is the exploration of innocence.The inhabitants of the end of the universe are not familiar with adversity, pain, or hardship.They are afforded all the time and resources in the world to devote to their creative endeavors.They are kind (though a little thick with regards to the feelings of those unfamiliar with their world) and eager to please.They have never been bothered with bullying, with war, disease, or even the impossible.
Thus Michael Moorcock lets us see the works of omnipotent beings immune to the darkness in us humans.

There is far more to the series than that of course, as we are taken across time to Victorian England (or an English era named after some other queen, I don't remember), where we are allowed to contrast the utopia of the future to the cumbersome rituals of the past.
Really worth reading, even if the 3 part book is a little unwieldy.You may want to consider buying all three separately (or just the first, to see if you like it).

Lastly, the only thing that comes to mind in criticism, is the timeline.I would think that time would end in billions, rather than millions, of years.But that's honestly so damn trivial it isn't worth mentioning.
A superb read.You won't regret it.It's really super.

Never received my order
After attempting to work with the seller since May/June, I have yet to receive the book I ordered. I have received responses to my inquiries that promised a replacement would be shipped, but no information on when I should expect the order. At this point, I am hoping to get a refund because I have no hope that the seller can or will provide the book.

Given my experience, I would strongly advise against purchasing from this vendor.

All Tomorrows Parties at the End of Time
In "The Dancers at the End of Time",Michael Moorcock introduces the reader to a Earth which has survived to the very edge of cosmic twilight through the determined harnessing of colossal energies millennia ago. Paradoxically, the inheritors of these mighty powers are utterly driven by something we might choose to call "fashion".These distinctive beings engage in an endless search for diversion, play and even - "art" performed upon the canvas of a world where all other pursuits have lost much of their meaning. The varied descendants of humanity include the endearing Jherek Carnelian who dares even social ostracism from his peers in the pursuit to discover what love is.A certain time-displaced Mrs. Amelia Underwood becomes the source of Jherek's affections -though the puzzling thing called "virtue" appears to be a nearly unfathomable obstacle.Supporting players include; the enigmatic Lord Jagged who has an enduring interest in Jherek, and one of the last true mothers in existence -the exquisite Iron Orchid, mother of Jherek Carnelian.
The reader encounters a multitude of other rare and nearly alien, human-descended creatures as they entertain their friends, lovers, and rivals in a riot of artistic excess.Even the looming threat of utter extinction and annihilation from the exhaustion of Time itself causes hardly a ripple in the unending party at the end of all things. Alien encounters, poetic love affairs,emancipation of the young, duels to the death, historical recreations - and collisions in time are all presented deftly in the course of the series by it's creator, Michael Moocock.
This reader has enjoyed "The Dancers at the End of Time's" vision of a fantastical future.Fans of Michael Moorcock's works will be pleased to learn that a new Elric novel immanently appears titled "Elric in the Dream Realms".

~ Mark B.

Superb!
The three novels that comprise The Dancers at the End of Time are among the funniest books ever written. I personally can't think of a book that made me laugh as much. The trilogy is simply a masterpiece.

I've never read The Eternal Champion and when I first read these books back in the 1970's, I never heard of The Eternal Champion or Michael Moorcock (sorry, Michael). I'm not even really interested in Elric or that kind of fantasy.

If you buy this book, you will not be sorry.

My only question is...
... why hasnt Hollywood figured out what a gem this is? ... Read more

Product Description
Seaton Begg and his constant companion, pathologist Dr "Taffy" Sinclair, both head the secret British Home Office section of the Metatemporal Investigation Department--an organization whose function is understood only by the most high-ranking government people around the world--and a number of powerful criminals.

Begg's cases cover a multitude of crimes in dozens of alternate worlds, generally where transport is run by electricity, where the internal combustion engine is unknown, and where giant airships are the chief form of international carrier. He investigates the murder of English Prime Minister "Lady Ratchet," the kidnaping of the king of a country taken over by a totalitarian regime, and the death of Geli Raubel, Adolf Hitler's mistress. Other adventures take him to a wild west where "the Masked Buckaroo" is tracking down a mysterious red-eyed Apache known as the White Wolf; to 1960s' Chicago where a girl has been killed in a sordid disco; and to an independent state of Texas controlled by neocon Christians with oily (and bloody) hands. He visits Paris, where he links up with his French colleagues of the Sûreté du Temps Perdu. In several cases the fanatical Adolf Hitler is his opponent, but his arch-enemy is the mysterious black sword wielding aristocrat known as Zenith the Albino, a drug-dependent, charismatic exile from a distant realm he once ruled.

In each story the Metatemporal Detectives' cases take them to worlds at once like and unlike our own, sometimes at odds with and sometimes in league with the beautiful adventuresses Mrs. Una Persson or Lady Rosie von Bek. At last Begg and Sinclair come face to face with their nemesis on the moonbeam roads which cross between the universes, where the great Eternal Balance itself is threatened with destruction and from which only the luckiest and most daring of metatemporal adventurers will return.

These fast-paced mysteries pay homage to Moorcock's many literary enthusiasms for authors as diverse as Clarence E. Mulford, Dashiell Hammett, Georges Simenon, and his boyhood hero, Sexton Blake. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Probably Not for the Uninitiated
While I am of course quite aware of the works of Moorcock, I've somehow managed to not actually read any of them save for a few short stories here and there. I do have a vague understanding about his particular treatment of the multiverse and the Eternal Champion, but I certainly am not steeped in the nuances of his oeuvre. I am then not exactly the target audience for this collection.

Here we have the adventures of Sir Seaton Begg as he tackles his great nemesis, relative, and frenemy Monsieur Zenith across time and space. It took me awhile to figure out that we're dealing with variants of these characters from one story to the next--while most settings share some similarities (no United States, no internal combustion engines or oil production, lots of electric-powered trains and zeppelins, and plenty of Hitler), they differ in certain details, and in only two or three stories is there any suggestion of continuity. Pretty much these are standalone tales featuring a bunch of different guys called Begg and Zenith (who are usually aware of, and skilled in traveling to, parallel dimensions), scattered across the multiverse on their own individual tracks of history. At the same time, each Begg and Zenith also seems to be the *only* incarnation around--there's never an overt suggestion that there's a Begg from Earth-2 and a different one from Earth-616, and while they acknowledge the existence of other worlds, they never speculate about other versions of themselves. It's all very quantum.

As a sometime resident of both Central Texas and France, Moorcock does a nice job capturing the atmosphere and distinguishing details of these locales when he sets stories there. But when it comes to characters, Begg and Zenith and their supporting casts are very much (by design?) merely archetypes. The reader rarely gets the vaguest hint about their thoughts or personalities. Similarly, events typically unfold as if preordained, and often it seems as if the outcomes would've been the same regardless of what anyone did. It's as if Moorcock envisions a particular spectacle he wishes to depict at the climax and a particular style he wants to emulate (he excels at banging out excitable prose in the manner of a Boy's Own tale), and then just arranges the pieces to move mechanically toward the end. Often the import of what is taking place is buried in the minds of Begg and Zenith, who only grudgingly provide the reader with a tidbit or two about what it all means. (I assume that Moorcockians get about 117% more meaning out of these stories than the layperson.)

These short stories are fine as stylistic exercises (and for Moorcock to revisit characters over the years and to earn a paycheck in contributing to various anthologies), but they certainly are not very gripping and there's some degree of repetition. I also could've done with less Hitler. And I'm a little tired of how often British genre writers express their hatred of Thatcher and Bush (although Reagan was spared this time). Often I think that they were traumatized as lads when Thatcher evidently confiscated their puppies and took away their candy and personally cancelled "Doctor Who". Fortunately literature gives them avenues for revenge.

Super Reader
A collection compiling all of the tales, whether modified old, or newly constructed, of Sir Seaton Begg versus his nemesis the albino Monsieur Zenith.

Or, the Metatemporal Detective vs The Eternal Champion as Elric in one of his other incarnations in worlds a little more similar to our own than those which contain Melnibone or Tanelorn.

So, something here for whacky alternate history fans, Sexton Blake buffs, as well as Eternal Champion afficionados, or even those who don't mind a little along the lines of Sherlock Holmes pastiche.

Metatemporal Detective : 01 The Affair of the Seven Virgins - Michael Moorcock
Metatemporal Detective : 02 Crimson Eyes - Michael Moorcock
Metatemporal Detective : 03 The Ghost Warriors - Michael Moorcock
Metatemporal Detective : 04 The Girl Who Killed Sylvia Blade - Michael Moorcock
Metatemporal Detective : 05 The Case of the Ratzi Canary - Michael Moorcock
Metatemporal Detective : 06 Sir Milk-and-Blood - Michael Moorcock
Metatemporal Detective : 07 The Mystery of the Texas Twister - Michael Moorcock
Metatemporal Detective : 08 London Flesh - Michael Moorcock
Metatemporal Detective : 09 The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius - Michael Moorcock
Metatemporal Detective : 10 The Affair of the Bassin des Hivers - Michael Moorcock
Metatemporal Detective : 11 The Flaneur des Arcades de l'Opera - Michael Moorcock


The consulting detective, Seaton Begg, has an albino visitor, and things get complicated.

3.5 out of 5


Seaton Begg, in the course of investigating some murders, runs into Count von Bek and his black blade.

3.5 out of 5


A bit of a teamup with The Masked Buckaroo, and an Apache leader to find, named Pale Wolf.

3.5 out of 5


A shooting, and Klosterheim's kinky club.

3 out of 5


Begg is called in to assist when Hitler's girlfriend is killed, but there are Von Beks and albinos around.

3 out of 5


A pair of IRA bombers don't realise that their 'release from active duty' involves The Black Sword.

3.5 out of 5


Seaton Begg becomes enmeshed in a Texas political plot, wherein Zenith has sold his aeronautircal engineering expertise. It is Rose to the rescue.

3.5 out of 5


A blood sacrifice, and an outlaw and Christmas interruptus for Begg and Sinclair.

3.5 out of 5


Sam Begg is a metatemporal investigator in Europe.

He comes across Klosterheim and Eva Braun.


3 out of 5

His travels take him to strange universes, challenging settings, and mind-boggling crime puzzles
Each story in the Metatemporal Detective carries with it a powerful blend of detective cases which mirror worlds like our own and a blend of fantasy and science fiction challenging one's deductive abilities. Seaton Begg and his companion pathologist Dr. 'Taffy' Sinclair head the secret British Home Office section of the Metatemporal Investigation Department, and covers crimes in dozens of alternate worlds. His travels take him to strange universes, challenging settings, and mind-boggling crime puzzles in a collection recommended not just for science fiction collections, but for libraries patronized by mystery and detective fans as well.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

The epitome of fabulonity
New fiction from Michael Moorcock is always a treat and no less so for this latest, chronicling the encounters of the intrepid metatemporal detective Seaton Begg of the von Bek/Aubec/Begg family and Zenith the Albino (also known as Elric of Melnibone and also of the same family). The multiverse is a-swirl through these roughly interconnected stories, culminating in a (perhaps --- one is never quite sure with Moorcock) major and forever shift in the organization of everything. Moorcock's characters have never been more appealing in all their antiheroism and futziness.Stylistically, narrative power and descriptive aplomb are at peak and keep the pages turning. If you are a fan already, this is essential reading and yet further development of long-established Moorcockian themes.If you aren't familiar with the multiverse and its quirky fun, this is not a bad place to jump in and on (although again with Moorcock, one can never be just quite certain, even in this sort of recommendation) this scary, exhilarating ride through everything.

for the Moorcock mob
The eleven tales that make up this fascinating (for fans of the Moorcock multiverse) short story collection are predominately written in the last fifteen years with two of them from 1966They all obviously involve adventures of The Metatemporal Detective on worlds similar yet dissimilar to ours.Although the hero's name slightly varies but for the most part he is British Home Office Metatemporal Investigation Department agent Seaton Begg; his prime adversary is Count Zenith the Albino (Elric by any other name?) although Hitler is an opponent/client in "The Case of the Nazi Canary". His sidekick is MID pathologist Dr. Taffy Sinclair

The satirical entries are fun especially as the skins of politicians better be thick with characters like George Putz, Dicky Shiner and Wolfy Paulowitz (see "The Mystery of the Texas Twister").However, they are also often difficult to follow with obscure references in a pseudo historical setting on an alternate world.Mr. Moorcock also pays tribute to pulp fiction magazine detective Sexton Blake (never read) and the 1966 tales seem to have served as a prototype for Elric.This is definitely for the Moorcock mob, but not a good entry point for newcomers.

Harriet Klausner
... Read more

Product Description
The ninth volume of the Eternal Champion series collects one of Michael Moorcock's most epic fantasy adventures--the story of Kane of Old Mars. The saga begins on the south coast of France, but the adventure continues through space and time. "›Moorcock| is a major novelist of enormous ambition".--"The Washington Post" . ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Mindless fun.
Michael Moorcock, Kane of Old Mars (Warriors of Mars/Blades of Mars/Barbarians of Mars) (Lancer, 1965)

For the first book and a half of this trilogy, I had no idea what Moorcock was on about. Then I did a little research and found out Moorcock was parodying Edgar Rice Burroughs; that helped put things more into perspective and helped me get over some of my usual annoyances with many fantasy writers (the plethora of exclamation points and one-sentence paragraphs, etc.); traps Moorcock usually doesn't fall into.

Once that was behind me, I enjoyed these three books quite a bit more. The astoundingly cheesy premise herein is that a writer, Edward Bradbury (under which pen name the books were originally published), encounters and befriends one Michael Kane while vacationing in the south of France. Kane is a physicist who previously worked for the military but went off to the private sector to develop what he calls a matter transference machine (in this post-Star Trek world, we know them better as transporters or teleporters). Its only problem is that, when Kane tests it on himself, it sends him not to the receiving transference machine, but to Mars millions of years ago, a Mars that is full of thriving communities. They are, of course, at war with one another or in tenuous peace treaties that could erupt into war at any moment, leading to many examples of Kane's ability to show off the swordfighting techniques he learned as a child (how coincidental!), while forging alliances between peoples who have been at war for generations and earning the respect of all he encounters. It's high silliness of the order to be found in old Douglas Fairbanks pictures from the silent era (or the novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs, presumably).

Moorcock keeps the pages turning, and each of the books is slim; it's possible to get through one of them in a lazy afternoon and still have time to tackle thirty of forty pages of the newest Danielle Steel potboiler, if one is so inclined. Just don't be expecting great literature. For that matter, don't be expecting material up to Moorcock's usual high standards. Just turn your brain off and enjoy the ride. ***

If you like John Carter of Mars......
......then you will like this book. Personally I prefer the John Carter stories to Kane of Old Mars. However, these are definitely worth reading.

nice idea, little rough
it's a nice read, but it'll only take an afternoon or two to finish.Very predictable at points, the stories all seemed like they were rushed.A map of the planet would have also been helpful.

A good title to check out of the library for a lazy weekend.

One of the best Moorcock...
I read these books before the were combined into one, and they were in there second printing. Personally this book is much better than the Elric Saga, and much better writen. Kane makes this time machine, hoping to well, go back in time, but it takes him back in time to when Mars had life. This machine also lets him come back to his own time on earth, and the orignal three books were written as he retold his story the three times he came back.Read these if your a Moorcock fan..they are worth it.

A fitting homage to Burroughs
It's an exciting adventure story as other reviewers have already stated. I would definitely recommend picking this up on a rainy afternoon and escaping.

Did anyone else notice the 'game' with anagrams of otherauthors names played as Kane was flying over the islands (I won't say more,work it out for yourself). ... Read more

Product Description
Books 3,4,&5:The Eternal Champion,Phoenix in Obsidian &The Dragon in the S together from Michael Moorcocks fantasy sequence ... Read more

Customer Reviews (26)

"And there was no peace. There was only strife."
Maybe the coolest meta-concept Michael Moorcock ever came up with is that of the Eternal Champion, the poor immortal sap fated to roam the multiverse as a pawn between the forces of Law and Chaos. From early on, I soaked in all those marvelous sword & sorcery adventures featuring Corum, Hawkmoon, Elric and many others. But I remember thrilling to that added rush when I learned that all these characters were actually linked by this unfathomable cosmic force, that these characters were all incarnations of the Eternal Warrior. And, of course, first chance I got years ago, I snatched up this book and started reading about Erekosë and his lethal irradiated sword and his cloud of doom and gloom.

Unlike Corum or Hawkmoon or the other heroes, 20th Century intellectual John Daker becomes dimly aware of his identity as the Eternal Champion. Haunted by half-formed nightmares in which he'd lived other lives and had been called by other names, John Daker is drawn out of his placid existence, summoned across the vast reaches of Time and Space by a desperate plea for help.

Lemme segue a bit: Edgar Rice Burroughs probably didn't invent astral projection as a dubious but very popular device to propel Earthmen to alien planets but, boy, did he and ensuing writers take full advantage of it. From Burroughs' John Carter of Mars to Lin Carter's Green Star series, from Otis Kline to Dray Prescott to, perhaps, even mystery author John Dickson Carr (FIRE, BURN!).

Thru a sort of astral projection, John Daker's awareness was cast across impossible distances. His journey ends on a strange world in which humanity is imperiled and where Daker is known by the name Erekosë (which means "The One Who Is Always There"), a legendary warrior who died ages ago but whose heroism is once more required. By Erekosë's own dusty tomb, Erekosë's name was invoked by the battle weary King Rigenos. His armies are fighting a losing war against mankind's ancient enemy, the unhuman Eldren, also called the Hounds of Evil. Erekosë, newly arrived and still taking his bearings, willingly buys into the cause, and probably the king's beautiful daughter Iolinda has something to do with this.

THE ETERNAL CHAMPION contains all the vivid elements which make Michael Moorcock such a terrific read. The exciting battle scenes, Moorcock's evocation of a fantastic world, that slight sense of surrealism, and the depth given to the protagonist. Moorcock's guys tend to be complicated blokes, and Daker/Erekosë is no exception. In fact, he even goes a step further. I thought Elric of Melniboné was morose and melancholy and tormented, but no one broods like Erekosë, the Eternal Champion andthe Defender of Humanity, destined to always wage in war, to know no lasting peace. First firmly allied with humanity, Erekosë gradually finds himself alienated from his own kind.

Despite the sweeping passages in which Erekosë doles out death to the Eldren, these battles don't come off as rousing, and this is largely due to Erekosë's growing disenchantment. If anything, in this book, Moorcock condemns war, the stupidity of it and callousness and horror of it. What happens when you finally see the face of the faceless enemy? Is it as easy still to harbor hate? The Eternal Champion finds himself at a crossroads, and Erekosë at this stage is so torn that I seriously wasn't sure what he'd do. This ambivalence may turn off a few readers, but it's exactly this touch of complexity that made me a fan of Michael Moorcock.

THE ETERNAL WARRIOR, written in 1970, in significant ways lays the foundation for Moorcock's other works. It also happens to be a blood and thunder sword & sorcery adventure that throws you a shocking curve. It's a very good read. And if you want more, John Daker gets pushed around by destiny some more in the sequels PHOENIX IN OBSIDIAN (a.k.a. THE SILVER WARRIORS) and THE DRAGON IN THE SWORD. He also appears in THE QUEST FOR TANELORN, which is primarily a Dorian Hawkmoon novel.

Great intro to Moorcock's entire oeuvre
This book is the first of three stories Moorcock wrote about the "John Daker" character, who is doomed to travel through time and space, inhabiting the bodies of different heroes for just long enough to resolve whatever current crisis looms. If you like reading books like this "in order," as I do, you'll want to continue on with the other two John Daker books: The Silver Warriors, and then the Dragon in the Sword.

The Eternal Champion is not only the starting point of Moorcock's entire eternal champion series, it is also the first book he ever conceived. The story is more straightforward than many of his later novels, but contains the seeds of all the fantastic notions Moorcock introduced to the sci fi/fantasy genre. Here are the first explanations of the concept of "multiple universes" and folding space, all wrapped up in a great narrative story with well developed characters. These books are all quick reads, yet very enjoyable. I found myself very much caught up in the plot and I find the John Daker/Erekose character much more sympathetic than Elric, Moorcock's most popular hero. There's even a great love story that carries through to many of his other novels. I highly recommend that any fan of fantasy read this one.

Moorcock Takes You Further Than You Want To Go
"The Eternal Champion" may not be Michael Moorcock's best-selling, highest regarded, or most influential work, yet in it's reversal of expectations it is the archetype of Moorcock's Eternal Champions. John Daker has very little backstory and that combined with Moorcock's visceral first-person narration draws in the reader in ways that Elric or Corum stories usually don't. Starting off with a typical beginning of the modern man called into another world to do battle with a legendary evil, Moorcock gradually reverses the conventions of fantasy and makes us question if the human protagonists are as good as they think themselves to be and the Eldren antagonists as evil as they are made out to be. This is most displayed in the love triangle Daker has with a human and an eldren woman, and Daker's choices tear at his very soul. This is a dark tale, and not for the faint of heart. Read this to understand the genesis of the Eternal Champion.
P.S. I wrote this also for a contest Moorcock's official website is having to give away five Elric books, including the upcomingElric In the Dream Realms (Chronicles of the Last Emperor of Melniboné, Vol. 5). Simply write a review of any of Moorcock's books and post the link on this thread: [...]. The rules are very simple as Moorcock himself will read your review and pick the best as winner of the books. At this point I'm the only entrant and winner by default, so please give me some competition and post a review.

The Eternal Champion debut in an obsessed world
In my opinion the best Moorcock novels are the more crisp, sharp novels of the late sixties-early seventies. HereMike's narrative talent sparkles. This novel, introducing the "Eternal Champion" concept, it's an example. John Daker, an ordinary person withan ordinary life, is called in a parallel Earth by the king of the united humans, who seek to recall a mythic hero, Erekose. As Erekose John Daker must fight the elfin "Eldren" who allegedly are menacing the human continents of invasion and destruction. The Eldren are evil, cruel, treacherous, blurts out King Rigenos, you, Erekose, are the Champion to save us! but Erekosè is plagued by strange dreams, the voices of other Eternal Champions, Elric, Corum, Hawkmoon and others torment his dreams, unless he fulfills blindly his role of Eldren's bane. He gets to know the Eldren, and that's enough to making him doubt the almost paranoid view of those humans towards the Eldrens, expecially when the the Eldren Prince's, the beautiful Ermizhad, is captured and given to his custody.He hears a different story, and soon finds himself torn between his betrothed, king Rigenos' daughter Iolinda and his eledren prisoner. Erekose suffers then anharrowing dilemma, who will bring him to a fateful oath and an unpredictable conclusion.
This is a disturbingly actual moral tale about war, peace, and predjudice, told in a maybe too overt manner, but with a narrative style that, unlike Moorcock's late convoluted stories, goes directly to the reader's heart and mind.

Eternal
"Not as well known as Moorcock's other books - e.g., the Elric and Corum series, but this is just as good."
-- Glenn G. Thater, Author of 'Harbinger of Doom' ... Read more

Product Description
Foreword by Tad Williams

Feared by enemies and friends alike, Elric of Melniboné walks a lonely path among the worlds of the Multiverse. The destroyer of his cruel and ancient race, as well as its final ruler, Elric is the bearer of a destiny as dark and cursed as the vampiric sword he carries—the sentient black blade known as Stormbringer.

Del Rey is proud to present the sixth and concluding installment of its definitive omnibus editions featuring fantasy Grand Master Michael Moorcock’s most famous—or infamous—creation. Here is the full text of the novel The Revenge of the Rose, a screenplay for the novel Stormbringer, the novella Black Petals, the conclusion to Moorcock’s influential “Aspects of Fantasy” essay series and other nonfiction, and an indispensable reader’s guide by John Davey.

Sumptuously illustrated by John Picacio, with a Foreword by Tad Williams, Elric: Swords and Roses is a fitting tribute to the most unique fantasy hero of all time. ... Read more

Product Description
Strange worlds occupy the infinite multiverse. They are worlds very much like the Earth we know--worlds that but for a vew differences could be our own. Visit an Earth where historical fact is turned on its head; slavery remains a practice in the United States. This is the fourth volume in the epic. Includes The Warlord of the Air, The Land Leviathan, and The Steel Tsar. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

Disappoinitng
I really wanted to like these. Each of them starts with an interesting idea -- a world in which WWI didn't occur and tech developed slowly, a world in which high tech appeared early and WWI was much worse -- but two things killed my interest. First, there is never any clear explanation of how and why the protagonist is wandering in time. (You _may_ be able to figure this out if you read a lot of other Moorcock books, but this is too much to ask of the reader). But the main problem is that each of them soon degenerates into heavy-handed political posturing. There is never any moral conflict or ambiguity, and when Moorcock tries to simulate some it's pretty obvious that he's stacking the deck from behind the curtain. If you enjoy PC preaching, you might be able to overlook the flaws. Otherwise, take a pass.

Super Reader
Oswald Bastable - 1 The Warlord of the Air

Oswald Bastable is an English army officer, sent on a mission to the mountains in the Nepal region. It does not go too well, and sick and delirious he stumbles into a citadel that is rumoured to have existed for all time.

When he wakes up, he is several decades in the future and the natives are not disposed to be too friendly.

3.5 out of 5

Oswald Bastable - 2 The Land Leviathan

A device used for these books is that an ancestor of Moorcock's has found tales of Oswald Bastable, in much the same sort of style as the Warlords of Mars trilogy.

This bloke goes looking for more, and finds some. Una Persson also makes an appearance.

A more confident Bastable has gone adventuring again, but when he comes back in time, the world is a lot different to the one he left.

Submarine adventures, Gandhi, a Black Atilla, and other strange national alliances must be navigated and dealt with.

3.5 out of 5

Oswald Bastable - 3 The Steel Tsar

The conclusion of Oswald Bastable's adventures associated with the Temple of the Future Buddha. The time he came back too is full of giant airship and other such fun. This book is really a couple of parts, and again, Una Persson is involved in the story in mysterious ways, as Oswald Bastable learns more about the nature of the universe, and has to face the supervillain of the piece.

3.5 out of 5

Why is this book not a movie yet?
If you are a fan of sci-fi, "magic realism" or alternate history stories, READ THIS BOOK!It's so captivating that I read it every moment I could, and finished it quite quickly.As I read about the various characters' miscellaneous adventures through time, history and war, it was as if I could see a movie playing in my head.Vivid and haunting.Michael Moorcock is a talented sci-fi author that will have you keep flipping the pages for more.

One of the Best of the Best
I love Moorcock's Eternal Champion cycle. I love the way it weaves an entire universe where characters can come and go out of each other's stories at any time. Two years after reading Nomad of the Time Streams, it's still my most memorable volume in the core cycle. Moorcock's vision of alternate histories where airships rule the skies and monorails cross the land manages to portray Utopia and Dystopia in the same space. Brilliant writing from a brilliant man. Although Bastable's main story begins and ends with this volume, he still appears briefly in other stories, such as the final book in the Dancers volume and, I believe, in the Cornelius Quartet and possibly in the Blood trilogy. If you've never read Moorcock's EC series, this book provides an excellent introdution.

One of Moorcock's most enjoyable EC volumes.
This is a book that mixes political commentary with fantastic voyages.Being more of prone to reading sword and sorcery types of novels, I was a bit apprehensive going into this one, but it kept me turning the pages until the end.

Our hero is thrust through a series of alternate realities for how our world might have turned out if certain turns of events were different.There isn't really anything magical or fantastic about these alternate realities, which is what makes it exciting.You feel like things could have been that way.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable departure from dark sorcery and demons of other Eternal Champion novels - not that I don't love those! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

An Eternal Champion
"There are 6 books in the original Elric saga; Elric of Melnibone is the first.All of them are classics not to be missed.Unlike most modern fantasy works, Moorcock's books have complex plots and are rich in language.Keep a thick dictionary at your side as you read these."
-- Glenn G. Thater, Author of 'Harbinger of Doom'

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

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

Super Reader
An Omnibus edition that includes three books.

Elric of Melnibone

Elric is the emperor of a declining civilisation. It is threated from without, by the 'lesser' races of humanity.

He also has to deal with the power plays and ambitions of his relatives, and has his own illnesses to bear, as well.

However, he has a plan. He doesn't realise what and who it will cost him to carry it out, as he makes a deal with Chaos.

5 out of 5

The Sailor On the Seas of Fate

There are three parts to this book. Sailing to the Future includes the crossover where Elric meets, Erekose, Hawkmoon and Corum aboard the Dark Ship of the Captain.

Then there is Sailing to the Present, and Sailing to the Past. The latter is a reworked version of the Jade God's Eyes.

5 out of 5

and

The Weird of the White Wolf

The Weird of the White Wolf also is a book that contains several smaller pieces of work, namely :
The Dream of Earl Aubec
The Dreaming City
While the Gods Laugh
The Singing Citadel

The first is a quick Eternal Champion interlude.

In the Dreaming City Elric returns to the Dragon Isle to attack his cousin, who is holding his lover captive.

While the Gods Laugh show Elric journeying with Moonglum, his version of the Companion to Champions, to find the Dead Gods Book.

The Singing Citadel is a building with the properties of a siren, basically. Elric and Moonglum investigate.


4.5 out of 5

Sword and Sorcery with Art and Intelligence
Moorcock is an excellent writer.His most obvious talent, to me, is his ability to drive both his story and his character's development via the same dark and despairing prose.Even when he writes the brightest, most gorgeous days, in the Elric saga, they are undercut by a real feeling of weight, depression, despair, and fatalism.This contrast can be shocking, especially if you have not previously read anything else by Moorcock.

Moorcock's ability to build a character, and his methods, fall somwhere between Tolkien's action based and Gene Wolfe's sometimes explanatory styles.His prose is as dark as that of Mervyn Peake, though Moorcock is less poetic, and is much more focused on action.This collection of the first three books of the Elric portion of his even larger "Eternal Champion" multiverse, holds, in my opinion, some of the best fantasy available on the market.The story is less predictable an more engaging, more 'different' than I have been accustomed too by years of McCaffrey, Terry Brooks, Salvatore, etc. dominating the fantasy fields.Moorcock brings back the strangeness that, almost twenty years ago, enticed me into the genre of fantasy, via Tolkien's books.

I do not wish to equate Moorcock to Tolkien.Moorcock is a very, VERY different writer, with a style that is very, VERY much his own.It is a good, strong style.It is even a, dare I say it, UNIQUE style, in a literary genre that is consistently derided for the lack of new works with original writing styles.I highly recommend the purchase of both this collection and its sequel collection, 'The Elric Saga, Part II'.They offer an engaging and enjoyable reading experience.

A rare achievement
I'm truly sorry for having taken so long in discovering Michael Moorcock. The element of the supernatural in his stories is as uncanny and unearthly as in vintage Robert E. Howard and H.P. Lovecraft. Definately the most addictive fantasy I've picked up in some time: the prose runs on adrenaline, every chapter ending on a hook that makes the book nearly impossible to put down. But it is the Elric character that bestows upon this series its deserved immortality. An albino, a weak offspring who should've died and yet lived on to become the most powerful sorcerer of his age...Elric is the archetype of all visionaries throughout the ages - those who felt the burden of existence too intensely to bear it. Those whom the rest of humanity both requires and scorns. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Super Reader
A spinoff of Jerry Cornelius, if you like, where his sister features prominently, as does Una Persson, who pops up in several other places.

Jerry perhaps is well out of it, as their mother also shows here, and he would be well outnumbered in gender.

More wild antics, and of course some antics of the s*xual variety.

One of Moorcock's best
This is one of my favorite Michael Moorcock books.Extending the themes and characters established in the Jerry Cornelius quartet, this follows the adventures (erotic and otherwise) of Jerry's sister Catherine and her sometime lover, the temporal adventuress Una Persson (first seen in Moorcock's Oswald Bastable books --- "Warlord of the Air", "Land Leviathan", "The Steel Tsar").

Like the Jerry Cornelius books, this one is freely structured, as our heroines jump back and forth in time, exploring the highs and lows of the 20th century.Jerry's formidable mother, Mrs. Cornelius, also emerges here as a major character.(Jerry puts in a cameo or two.)

Moorcock's writing here is several levels above his style in the Elric and Corum fantasies.The author has often stated his preference for his comedies over his SF and fantasy; this novel is a successful hybrid that fuses the best elements of Moorcock's dramatic and antic work.

I will concede that this is perhaps best appreciated by readers familiar with the Jerry Cornelius stories and may be more enjoyable if read in context.Still, this is one of the author's most sophisticated works, one that paves the way for his later, more serious literary work such as "Byzantium Endures" and "Mother London."

An amusing and exciting read; highly recommended.

20th Century Legends
The erotic and exotic adventures of Una Persson and Catherine Cornelius. Friends, lovers, revolutionaries...Through the years and across the continents of real and imagined pasts, presents and futures...Enjoy this trip - it's a white knuckle ride...

Maybe it's just me, but...
...are all of Moorcock's books (except the Eternal Champion series) very, very bad? The writing feels like it is first written down, then processed through a book of synonyms.

The story itself is fun enough I guess, but the writing makes it hard to follow. Maybe if I had read of Una Persson or Catherine Cornelius before it would make more sense. This feels like the third volume in a five-volume series. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Super Reader
This Fontana edition contains the first two books of the Jerry Cornelius Quarter, The Final Programme and A Cure For Cancer.

Jerry Cornelius may be one of the wackiest and wildest superhero adventurer types ever created. Deliberately created by Moorcock to be the ultimate chameleon, which has seen him featured in many places and times. This leads to people looking for people with similar names in famous events in history.

In the Final Programme he is a swinging super-agent with a needle gun.

His family is no less whacky, given his sister is sometimes his lover, and his brother sometimes his target.

A hero like this must have similarly bizarre antagonists, enemies, and allies.

He certainly does, and Una Persson, a female version of himself, to some degree, is also one of his sister's lovers.

Basically, Jerry stuff is a little hard to explain.

4 out of 5

Jerry Cornelius - 2 A Cure For Cancer

There is a whole bunch more Jerry Cornelius weirdness here. He is still roaming around 1960s London, among other places, and in conflict with the villainous Bishop Beesley.

Some people are certainly going to find it too weird, or too impenetrable to enjoy, I think, as it is by no means straightforward, but this is part of JC's appeal.

A little imagination helps
So if a little imagination helps, consider what it's like when your imagination is unreined. No reason to let a little reality stand in your way. And when the forms are constrained, it only somehow heightens the free play. Reinvention of self has rarely gone so far. Jerry's or yours.

Moorcock wrote about these stories: "Part of my original intention with the Jerry Cornelius stories was to 'liberate' the narrative; to leave it open to the reader's interpretation as much as possible - to involve the reader in such a way as to bring their own imagination into play."

These chronicles are among my favorite literary works. Each is a different literary experiment. Transform the mundane, don't let it run you down. How cool can you be? How important can you be? How intriguing can the folks you hang out with? Only Jerry seems to know. Let him show the way. Profound? Well, it's at least great, incredibly well-written fun.

Read "Dancers at the End of Time" if you want to see how well Moorcock can construct a "traditional" story. But if you want to see Moorcock's talent unleashed, give The Cornelius Quartet a try.

P.S. This version includes an outstanding introductory essay by John Clute: "The Repossession of Jerry Cornelius"Although a brief 15 pages, it made this tetralogy more meaningful more meaningful for me, albeit at the cost of being quite revealing of what Jerry Cornelius was about. I welcomed the early revelation.

Moorcock's Finest
The Cornelius Chronicles along with The Adventures of Una Persson and Catherine Cornelius, Life and Times of Jerry Cornelius, and The Entropy Tango represent some of the best fiction Moorcock has ever penned.

As a young teenager I devoured Moorcock's Eternal Champion books, but it wasn't until college that the Cornelius books held any interest for me, and at that point I had stopped reading SF/Fantasy altogether (I had Nabokov to read...). In many ways Jerry is the mature reader's Eternal Champion--the novels do echo many of the themes found in the other EC novels.

I actually find it quite daunting to sum up The Cornelius Chronicles in such a limited space. My 1977 Avon edition is almost 1000 pages and the four novels that make up the Chronicles (a tetrology?) offer different experiences and styles.

My nutshell: The Chronicles are concerned with Jerry's struggle for identity amidst the entropy of urban life in 1970's London. Satirical, funny, sexy, and sad; filled with a wonderful cast of characters. It really is genre-busting--from 60's spy flick to urban realism. Postmodern (in the literary sense; search for Brian McHale). In many ways it reminds me of Pynchon's V.

Find and buy these books if you can. Hopefully they will, as the author states above, be published again. Of Moorcock's "SF" work, these (with Behold the Man) are the ones that should stay in print--eternally.

Moorcock's best work
These four Jerry Cornelius books are some of Moorcock's best work. Carrying on the Eternal Champion, in this series he moves away from heroic fantasy and towards satire, and science-fiction. Unfortunately, it is hard to find. If ANYONE has a copy for sale, email me! ... Read more

Product Description
Experience Michael Moorcock's infamous multiverse and the journeys of the Eternal Champion. Hawkmoon chronicles the fate of yet another aspect of the Eternal Champion, Doriam Hawkmoon, Duke of Koln. This collection of stories features revised text and a new Introduction by the author. "Five hundred pages of the best heroic fantasy you'll ever find."--S.F. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Great Book
Hawkmoon is fantastic!Loved this book when I first read it many years ago and recently read it again with the same result.It is an exciting epic tale told in a rich, unique world that anyone would enjoy!

Very dark Eternal Champion
I have the Millenium edition of this book, and it was my first taste of the Eternal Champion series. It had a Dune-like feel with the ornithopters, and though it's bleak and dark, it's certainly exciting and fast-paced. After reading this, I realized that I had to see more of Michael Moorcock. I never regretted that.

Fascinating world for the Eternal Champion.
Hawkmoon's quest for peace in his world is typical Moorcock fantasy, with bold heroes, evil opponents, hideous fates, weird monsters, and most of all, lots of action. In his preface, Moorcock warns us not to look to deeply for meaning in Hawkmoon, but that's like saying "Don't think of an elephant." There are certainly some themes here that Moorcock returns to in later books, but they are treated perhaps a tad more superficially here than in later years (not really a fault or anything, I just thought I'd mention it). As in Elric and Corum (my personal favorite), the author uses a fable-like semi-mythological style that makes the story move and focuses attention where it needs to be focused. For example, when Hawkmoon travels hundreds of miles to a city in the Middle East, the author devotes about four pages to the journey. Some writers (think Robert Jordan) would make the journey half a book long. This simplicity of style is one of my favorite things about Michael Moorcock. The only real weakness to this novel, as has been mentioned by other reviewers, is Hawkmoon himself. He's not really much of a character. Mostly he is either fighting or saying how he wishes he could return to his wife. He also seems kinda dim-witted at times. Usually one of the other characters is the one who comes up with a solution to a problem, or notices that the bad guys are coming or that Hawkmoon's pants are on fire. Not a big weakness, but in comparison to more interesting characters like Corum or Elric, a noticeable weakness. Still, if you like Elric or Corum, or just sword and sorcery stuff in general, this is highly recommended.

One of my favorites in the eternal champion
When I was in 10th grade, my friend Joe introduced me to the evil and depressing fantasy Elric. By the second book Corum, Erekose and Hawkmoon showed up to do something of great importance which didn't seem all that important except to forshadow Elric's first inadvertant Black Sword victim in the next book. But from that series I was hooked.

This trilogy didn't impress me when I read the first book, but many years later I picked up the entire series and as with many fantasy serieses I needed to read the entire trilogy. Hawkmoon develops from a pawn to a hero and the people around him change in accidental moods. D'Avarec and Count Brass are two of the most intriguing characters in fantasy. The villains make up a fully realized society of animal masks and freaky customs, while the question of how do you deal with anarchy is up for grabs. While you can see that the heroes will fight against the evil empier of Granbretan, the question as to whether an evil government like Granbretan is preferable to chaos is not one that is often asked in fantasies where the evil empires are only in need of defeat.

Overall, this is an underrated and often overlooked Moorcock masterpiece that reads fast, has some very enjoyable moments and gives you something to chew on for years afterwards. In other words, it's everything fantasy should be.

don't just read Hawkmoon
This is possibly my favourite of Moorcock's interwoven Eternal Champions - the battle of Londra is heroic fantasy at its best.However you MUST read this as part of Moorcock's whole body of work to fully appreciate themagnificence of his creations. ... Read more

Product Description
Elric of Melniboné. Traitor. Savior. Lover. Thief. Last king of a fallen empire whose cruelty was surpassed only by its beauty. Sustained by drugs and the vampiric powers of his black sword, Stormbringer, haunted by visions of a tragic past and a doomed future, Elric wanders the world in quest of oblivion. But the great lords of Law and Chaos have other plans for this tormented adventurer.
This volume is the third of Del Rey’s definitive collections featuring the tales of Elric and other aspects of Michael Moorcock’s Eternal Champion, along with essays, a selection of classic artwork, and new material never seen in book form.

Gorgeously illustrated by Steve Ellis, and featuring a foreword by Holly Black, The Sleeping Sorceress is a must-have for all lovers of fantasy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

pleased consumer
Very easy to deal with, fast shipping better than going to the book stores and (trying) to find it. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

5 of 6: The setup for Stormbringer.
Michael Moorcock, The Bane of the Black Sword (DAW, 1977)

The fifth of the six classic Elric novels picks up, as is usual with these books, where the fourth leaves off. Moorcock sets the last pieces of the puzzle into place (and here, we get a chance to see how everything that has come before is building to the climactic novel, Stormbringer), introducing us to Zarozinia, the love of Elric's life (and most of his motivation for continuing on the path upon which he was set in The Vanishing Tower). Much of this is setup for Stormbringer, but that's in no way to say this isn't good stuff. Once again, Moorcock takes his already intriguing concepts that he's built up throughout the series (unique hero, solid motivation, the excellent concept of the Eternal Champion, et al) and adds a few more twists and turns, to make them even more intriguing than they already were. Unfortunately, the series' main problem-its penchant for not going into detail on some of the truly fun stuff mentioned (e.g., the Forest of Troos, in the barren land of Org, where Elric and Zarozinia meet, both trying like mad to avoid the denizens of the forest)-is here in spades. But there's enough detail for the reader to get the general gist of what's going on and eventually hope Moorcock will write some stories set in Elric's world that have to do with these ancillary details. This would not be unprecedented; a story with Elric's friend Rackhir as its main character is included as an epilogue to one of the books, for example.

There is one other annoying thing about the series I haven't yet touched on. It's ultimately annoying that Elric, no matter what he's faced with, has some form of supernatural ally who can help him with it. (You're attacked by lizardmen who are unaffected by normal weapons? Call on the god of the insects and get the help of millions of mosquitoes!) Never fails. This particular convention pops up in a number of places in the series, not just here.

Still, overall, the book is good, it's readable, and the payoff, in Stormbringer, is astounding. ****

dope
Interesting monster and magic users.Cool plot.Different from the pompous books of Terry brroks or the rambling of tolkien.
Strikes the perfect balance between fun and serious thought.
Adventure and plot.
Locations and personalities.
No boring social justice themes or about how hard life was etc.
Awesome action.
Monstrous summonings.
Great stuff, stear clear of anything with Von Bek or Erekose and Moorcock will treat you well.M favorite fantasy author bar none.

Not My Favorite Elric Story
I have always greatly enjoyed the tragic saga of Elric of Melnibone, the doomed Champion Eternal and, because of this, had no problem picking up this book and devouring it.But, as I read on, I found that it was my interests in Elric as a character and not the actual plot that kept my attention.The plot was rather similar in nature to most of the others and, because of this, quite predictable.It also left little in the way of deep explaination for Elric's actions at the end. (you understood what was happening and why, but you just didn't feel it)This book does little to sour my tastes on the saga as a whole, but it was not my favorite installment of the series.

Not My Favorite Elric Story
I have always greatly enjoyed the tragic saga of Elric of Melnibone, the doomed Champion Eternal and, because of this, had no problem picking up this book and devouring it.But, as I read on, I found that it was my interests in Elric as a character and not the actual plot that kept my attention.The plot was rather similar in nature to most of the others and, because of this, quite predictable.It also left little in the way of deep explaination for Elric's actions at the end. (you understood what was happening and why, but you just didn't feel it)This book does little to sour my tastes on the saga as a whole, but it was not my favorite installment of the series.

Outstanding
I was not a fantasy fan before I read this series. Now I am hooked. Too bad they are not all this good. It has qualities that writers of anygenre would envy. Read them all... you will not be disappointed. Very fluid delivery, crisp, entertaining, and engrossing. ... Read more

Product Description
Forced to flee his city of Melnibone, Elric and his sorcerous blade Stormbringer journey through barren hills to the edge of a black sea. Elric finds a dark ship and begins a voyage that will bring him face-to-face with all the champions Time can summon--and more. Reissue. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Super Reader
There are three parts to this book. Sailing to the Future includes the crossover where Elric meets, Erekose, Hawkmoon and Corum aboard the Dark Ship of the Captain.

Then there is Sailing to the Present, and Sailing to the Past. The latter is a reworked version of the Jade God's Eyes.

A great follow-up to the first book !
Let me start by saying that I read the 1976 DAW version of this novel. The Sailor on The Seas of Fate begins with our hero Elric escaping from one of the nations of the Young Kingdoms which took him captive between books 1 and 2. He finally loses his pursuers on a lonely unknown beach. Hungry and cold Elric encounters a strange ship with a blind captain and a crew made up of several of the Eternal Champions. Once aboard, Elric begins a long journey through an alternate world where the boarder between dream and reality becomes blurred. The book is really one story told through 3 separate adventures.

During these adventures, Elric makes new friends, fights powerful supernatural creatures and does his usual summoning of demons and elementals. As usual in the Elric novels the line between good and evil is not clear, nor should it be since Elric's world is based around the conflict between Chaos and Order. Because of this good and evil somtimes share the same host. Elric learns more about the strange black sword Stormbringer and how it's lust for blood has the power to influence his relationships.

This book has the same crisp clean writing style of other Moorcock books. Moorcock's writing style is straight forward and to the point. No wasted dialogue or breathy descriptions. Some people don't like Moorcock because or his tendency to be brief and to the point. I however love this style of writing. Moorcock is a master of the english language and as a result his text and dialogue have a medieval flavor while at the same time being very easy for the reader to understand. Of course at the center of any Moorcock novel is his incredible imagination and his ability to keep you turning the page.

I must confess that I am a major Elric and Moorcock fan. His work moves me in a way Tolkien never has. I recommend this book to all fans of good literature and Fantasy. Now i'm off to read Wierd of the White Wolf !

2 of 6: Now a word from our sponsor, the Eternal Champion.
Michael Moorcock, The Sailor on the Seas of Fate (DAW, 1974)

The second novel of the Elric series picks up where the first left off. (There is one major detail regarding Elric's betrothed, Cymoril, that seems to have shifted back in time, but Moorcock resolves it later; still, it seems to have been something of a gaffe.) Here we are introduced, for those who have never read any of Moorcock's other fantasy series, to the idea of the Eternal Champion, and that many of Moorcock's heroes and antiheroes are facets of the same personality throughout time and space. Moorcock meets up with three other incarnations of the Eternal Champion-Corum, Hawkmoon, and Erekose. (Excellent advertising for the other series, whether intended that way or not.) Things get confusing here, as some of the others mention events that haven't happened yet in the Elric series, but just ride with it. It'll all come clear eventually. Needless to say, having read (or reading just after the Elric books) the Hawkoon, Corum, and Erekose series will deepen one's appreciation for this part of the Elric series.

The main complaint I have about Moorcock's writing, while not to be found solely in this novel, is most notable here. Moorcock's action scenes, for all that they are some of the book's turning points, are often described minimally, even sparely. The climax of a battle is often given one sentence, as is the death of a companion, no matter how long that companion has known the characters in the story. (I have made mention many times of what I call characters who enter stories with "kill me now" tattooed on their foreheads. This is the opposite extreme-Moorcock will sometimes spend chapters building up a character, only to treat him as if he did have "kill me now" tattooed on his forehead. It can be disconcerting, to say the least.)

Still, the originalities in the premise, the unique take on the antihero along with the whole concept of the Eternal Champion, coupled with the simple readability of the series, make them all worth picking up. Each can be gotten through in a single afternoon, for most people. ****

A poor sequel for a great character
As much as I love Elric and the Melnibonean mythology, SAILER ON THE SEAS OF FATE is a disappointing follow up to ELRIC OF MELNIBONE.

The book starts with Elric finding himself in a strange land. He boards a mysterious ship and sails off to the first of three unrelated, convenient adventures which do little to progress the overall saga. The stories serve more to explain the whole ETERNAL CHAMPION concept, along with giving details of MELNIBONE'S history and the interaction of all the planes of existence. And ultimately, after 160 pages, nothing really happens.

Though the book is about Elric and his adventures, I found myself really wishing to hear news of Melnibone and the characters who Elric left behind. They are all as much a part of the fun and adventure in the first volume as is Elric. They should have been given some attention.

Three stories in one.
This book is devided into three sections with three different plots. While they are loosely related to each other they could stand alone (I have a feeling Moorcock published them seperately). This is an observation not a criticism. The first and last are excelent. The middle one drags a bit. The first is interesting since Elric teams with three other incarnations of the Eternal Champion (Erekose, Corum, and Hawkmoon). The last fleshes out the multiverse more. ... Read more