About Michael Moorcock books

[Eduardo Ficaria]

I'd like to read Moorcocks novels, in particular the Elric of Melniboné, Hawkmoon and Corum ones, but I read in an article that this author likes to return to his creations and rewrite parts of them. So, which edition should I pick, the latest ones?

On the other hand, I'll welcome any opinion you may have about those books or the rest of Moorcock's fiction.

 

[pmmg]

I read the first six elric ones. They were fun short reads. I think he was a little acid trippy at times and probably would have difficulty standing out if he had more competition in his day.

i would whatever he thought current or whatever was the original.

i saw him once self describe as the anti-tolkien. Id have never put it n that context if he did not say it.

 

[Mad Swede]

I've read some of his books and I didn't really think very much of them. That might be because I prefer writers like Tolkien, and Moorcock himself admits that he doesn't write those sorts of books. If anything, Moorcock is more a writer in the style of earlier pulp novelists and so he doesn't really world build in the way that some authors do.

I think I'd read the latest versions of his books. He isn't the first author to go back and re-write some or all of his earlier books, and presumably the re-written versions are what he wants those books to be.

 

[Ned Marcus]

I like his stories and have read a lot of them. I just buy any edition I find and have bought quite a few from secondhand bookshops. I'm not sure I'd notice the difference unless he's done something drastic. The Dancers at the End of Time is quite a good trilogy. It's more sci-fi really. The ones you've mentioned are some of my favourites, but Erekose was also good. Any of the Eternal Champion series are fun, but some of his second series (Count Brass, the second Corum series) are a bit thin. I still enjoyed them, though.

 

[Ned Marcus]

I mean thin on ideas or substance.

 

[Eduardo Ficaria]

Many thanks for your inputs, now I know what to expect from this author. I'll stick to the latest versions I can get of his books then.

i saw him once self describe as the anti-tolkien. Id have never put it n that context if he did not say it.

I suppose that it's Moorcock's way of veering away from Tolkien's influence in fantasy fiction, which is still going strong even today. I read some time ago the essay he wrote criticizing Lord of the Rings (Epic Pooh, 1978) and I don't remember disagreeing with his view, although I'm also aware of the background of Tolkien's work and I appreciate his books very much regardless.

 

[S J Lee]

Never knew he did substantial rewrites!

But the two Courm trilogies are far and away his best work, IMHO