What should I read next?

[Kitsune]

I've recently reread the Elric Saga... And I just finished HAwkmoon... I have the Corum books and I read the Swords trilogy, but haven't read the rest of the series yet. I was wondering if Michael had any suggestions of what to read next. I'm hoping to get more of the EC series read, but more of Michaels works, or even suggestions for other authors are welcome.


While I'm asking, was Corum's silver hand inspired by Nuada the celtic god with the silver hand?

[Anonymous]

I don't like to answer before Mr M, but I'll just stick my quick .02:

read the rest of the corum books

then read the erekose books- eternal champion, phoenix in obsidian (or the silver warriors), the dragon in the sword

read Warhound and the World's Pain and City in the Autumn Stars if you can find those

then try to get the count brass books (which continue hawkmoon)- count brass, champion of garathorm, the quest for tanelorn

That should keep you busy for a while.

Don't forget Amazon UK, which has most of Mr M's work still in print (collected in omnibus editions), and of course Abe (advanced book exchange), one of the best used book sites on the net.

DLackey

[Kitsune]

Thanks for the suggestions. I started reading EC books again because I'm in an RPG set 10 years before the events of the Elric Saga (it's in Rolemaster though, not the Elric RPG) and I wanted to get a feel for the world again. This is appropriate, because it was the old Deities and Demigods that started me reading Elric in the first place...

[Patrick]

Suggestion

Might I suggest mine:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...932434-1448961

[JohnDavey]

DLackey says, "Don't forget Amazon UK, which has most of Mr M's work still in print (collected in omnibus editions), and of course Abe (advanced book exchange), one of the best used book sites on the net."

I thought I should point out that Amazon.co.uk (and, I would guess, Amazon.com, too) do NOT carry anywhere near as many Moorcock items as they claim to!

ABE.com, however, is a site I can't praise highly enough...

That's all.


John.

[JohnDavey]

P.S.

I also meant to point out -- in relation to the precise topic of "What should I read next?" -- that the omnibus volumes were numbered (1-14 in the U.K., 1-15 in the U.S.A.) so as to give an indication of the order in which they're best read.

It's no hard 'n' fast insistence, of course, merely a suggested reading order, especially as the series in the two countries differed from each other.

That's all (again).


John.

[Anonymous]

And of course, John Davey can send you his amazing catalog as well!!!

[Jagged]

Re: What should I read next?

I've recently reread the Elric Saga... And I just finished HAwkmoon... I have the Corum books and I read the Swords trilogy, but haven't read the rest of the series yet.

To be frank, the original Hawkmoon books are just about the most boring books I ever read by Moorcock. The Jewel In the Skull began drawing an intriguing picture of an alternative world, but the rest got lost in random action to my mind. The two middle volumes were much like The Two Towers of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, I think. Full of big words, strange relationships, and signifying nothing.

From there, any other Moorcock book will be an improvement. Warhound, Gloriana or Dreamthief's Daughter etc. ought to be dazzling compared to Hawkmoon if you're into fantasy.

[Michael Moorcock]

I must admit that Hawkmoon was never my favourite character but there are still a lot of people who like him best. I thought Count Brass was one of my weakest books, for instance, and yet it picked up rave reviews with people saying how glad they were that I was back on form (presumably after The Condition of Muzak...).

[Jagged]

I must admit that Hawkmoon was never my favourite character but there are still a lot of people who like him best. I thought Count Brass was one of my weakest books, for instance, and yet it picked up rave reviews with people saying how glad they were that I was back on form (presumably after The Condition of Muzak...).

OK, I meant the original tetralogy, not the final trilogy beginning with Count Brass. The Champion of Garathorm put a new perspective on things (breasts, for example -- it always keeps me thinking of the Eternal Chatter about whether Doctor Who could incarnate as a woman, brought to live recently when startled fans realized that a gay man would be in charge of the scripts of the Dr. Who revival next year).

Of course, if people like Hawkmoon, they have my blessing to read them. Personally, I had to drag myself through them. I often wonder if there're subtle things I didn't spot in them. But then, I wonder about that about almost any book I read.

[Jagged]

I must admit that Hawkmoon was never my favourite character but there are still a lot of people who like him best. I thought Count Brass was one of my weakest books, for instance, and yet it picked up rave reviews with people saying how glad they were that I was back on form (presumably after The Condition of Muzak...).

Come to think of it, my impatience with the Runestaff tetralogy probably had a lot to do with my having read The Swords Trilogy as my first Moorcock books. So, my interest in Hawkmoon was really to know what kind of bloke it was that teamed up with Corum and Elric.

Reading order can probably make all the difference.

[Jeffrey Stadt]

I must admit that Hawkmoon was never my favourite character but there are still a lot of people who like him best. I thought Count Brass was one of my weakest books, for instance, and yet it picked up rave reviews with people saying how glad they were that I was back on form (presumably after The Condition of Muzak...).

That's kind of strange, since there were far more Hawkmoon books than say Corum. I was intrigued by Hawkmoon at first, with Jhary's proclaimation that he was "cursed to suffer" more than any of the others. But I didn't feel his doom was any greater than Elric's or Corum's. I mean, sure, Hawkmoon lost his family, but in the end, they were restored, while Elric murdered everyone he ever loved, and Corum pain such a terrible physical price the first go-round, then lost his love and his life in the second.

It's strange that I had a greater sense of sadness/loss for the two "alien" characters then I did the more prosaic, human Hawkmoon.

If I were to write any of the characters myself, I would picked Corum or Gaynor first, then Elric or the sublime Mssr. Zodiac before even thinking about a Hawkmoon book. Of course a dream fan project would to write a story with the various aspects of Jhary coming together to play the part of champion or making Gaynor the erstwhile champion. Those would be fun scenerios.

But I digress.

Jeff

[Jagged]

But I digress.Jeff

No frets, mate. The most interesting stuff in this forum usually surfaces when people digress.

[Kitsune]

I liked the character Count Brass, but I must admit, it wasn't my favortie series... I love happy endings, but I was a little bothered by everyone comming back from the dead in this story. Bringing characters back from the dead works ok in comedy anime, but not in more serious stuff.

I do, however, wish there were some stories of a young Count Brass out there. I thought he had great potential as a character.

On a total side note, I now for some reason have the concept of super-deformed Eternal Champions (SD is an anime term for the small body big head version of characters) in a cartoon called Moorcock Babies :D. Just the concept of a little version of Elric carrying a sword twice as big as he is, makes me chuckle.

I must admit that Hawkmoon was never my favourite character but there are still a lot of people who like him best. I thought Count Brass was one of my weakest books, for instance, and yet it picked up rave reviews with people saying how glad they were that I was back on form (presumably after The Condition of Muzak...).