How Elric Became the Patron Saint of Rebellious Youth || Part 5, Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion

[@themangog7900]

A new Library Ladder video is always a treat but a new Library Ladder video about Elric has made my day :)

[@Leopard589]

@@themangog7900 same here.

[@andreamauriziomedici6306]

Elric and the Eternal Champion have had a deep impact on me and even how I see the world.

[@thelibraryladder]

I think Moorcock would be thrilled to hear that. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@murph_archer1129]

Elric is a titan of the genre for sure. My dream is that some of Moorcocks other works get some high quality hardbacks so that other readers might give them a try. Fantastic video as always

[@JimmyDaKoik]

There’s a new hardback edition of the Von Bek tales coming in December

[@murph_archer1129]

@@JimmyDaKoik where do I find any info on this? Haven't found anything after a quick Google search

[@thelibraryladder]

It's being published by Saga Press and is listed on Amazon. The cover art for it is a headscratcher, though. The character featured on the cover isn't Von Bek -- instead, it's Erekose, a different Eternal Champion. It's going to confuse people, because the same illustration by Yoshitaka Amano was previously used as the cover for Volume 1 of the 1990s omnibus edition titled The Eternal Champion (which contained the Erekose and John Daker stories).

[@joemountains1539]

Hello! Excellent point, and your biblio history is wonderful and accurate. Blame me, I’m the editor of these editions. I spent several months trying to track down Amano/his agent(s) to no avail. A lot of this art was not archived properly and is lost. Gollancz didn’t have it to share either. So, this piece was the closest but, yes, a mitigation. Much of my efforts beyond popular artists like Brom and Whelan who have robust archival systems, has been a combination of archaeology and connections through Mike and the community. As I only wanted to use the older art, I have had limitations upon my wish list. Still, it’ll be a proper omnibus of just the two novels, as Mike prefers, with new maps showing the journeys within each novel. And the inside jacket will have the original UK Achillos art printed upon it. And there will be audio editions for the first time.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks for the background info! I love that you're bringing more of Moorcock's works back into print in trade hardcover editions (as opposed to very pricey limited editions with tiny print runs). And audiobooks too! The Von Bek stories are among my favorites by him, so I'm happy that more people might have an opportunity to enjoy them. I also love that you're focusing on the older, classic artwork that defined the characters for many readers. That's a real shame about the lack of archiving of Amano's works. I think he and Bob Gould best captured the abstract strangeness of Moorcock's creations in their artwork, while Whelan and Brom provided more tangible and muscular versions in theirs. Thanks again!

[@Alkemisti]

I have never read Moorcock, but based on this video, I have a hunch I might like it.

[@thelibraryladder]

I hope you do! Thanks for watching.

[@Leopard589]

@@Alkemisti that is literally the Library Ladder effect. 😂 my coworkers and I watch it at work during our lunch breaks. He make the information easy to understand

[@Alkemisti]

@@Leopard589 I usually watch this channel in the late evening or night before bed, when all the day's work is done, sipping some tea.

[@Leopard589]

@@Alkemisti exactly bro. It’s so relaxing with a hot drink and etc

[@GrumpyScotsman]

The library ladder always brightens my day when a new video is released. Moorcock is my go-to author when I can't decide what to read on a rainy day.

[@classicsfwithandyjohnson]

A brilliant video neatly summarising some wonderful stories. Elric is, as you say, essential reading.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[@nyarparablepsis872]

My teenage self feels hugely validated. Elric was the hero of those years! I had the fortune to get into the stories through the German Herder omnibus in the 90s, which presented the books chronologically and added the beautiful old black and white illustrations. ...have you considered making a video about the Eternal Companion? I've always felt that the champion really needs the companion to be complete, both as a character and a literary creation. Jhary-a-Conel and Moonglum do a lot of heavy lifting. Anyways, thank you for this video. I have lots of different editions, and this really helped making sense of the publications.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! That's a great suggestion about the Eternal Companion(s). Prior to the 1990s omnibus editions, I found the Elric saga daunting to read, because I wasn't quite sure about the reading order, due to the practice of some publishers to change the titles and contents of their paperback editions.

[@kdj3000]

Your Moorcock videos are what drew me to the Eternal Champion Saga as a whole. I am grateful. Your channel is always informative and a joy.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thank you! I'm so glad you find my videos useful.

[@jakecarlstad6192]

I'm happy for more Moorcock content!!

[@themetaphysicalgentleman]

Always great to see a new Michael Moorcock video by the channel that originally got me interested in reading Moorcock. His works are some of my favorite things in all of literature at this point and this series of videos is directly responsible for that.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thank you! You've made my day! My channel's primary goal is to spark interest in significant works and authors that aren't widely discussed on BookTube, such as Moorcock. So if I convinced you to give him a try, then my mission was accomplished (and all the better that you really enjoyed reading him).

[@mathiashaddoxx8398]

The best kept secret on BookTube dropping another incredible essay for all of us to gobble down. Bridger, you never cease to amaze. Thank you, please continue to make these gems.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thank you! I'm so glad you enjoy my videos. I hope to keep making them for a long time to come. There are a lot of authors and books I want to cover.

[@mathiashaddoxx8398]

@@thelibraryladder If you were ever to make a Gene Wolfe essay, I’ll cry lol

[@thelibraryladder]

It's on my list. :)

[@m.4983]

Fantastic exploration! It is comforting to know that the confusion reading the Eleic series isn't an isolated experience.

[@norbertsuselessknowledge]

Yet again, another great video. Elric is one of my all time fave characters in fantasy literature, and I have not even finished reading all of the Elric stories! Also, Elric is not just crucial for all the other literary works and characters he inspired, but also for rock/metal music: Cirith Ungol, Hawkwind, Blue Oyster Cult, Grand Magus, Eternal Champion, Domine, just to name a few. Thanks again for the video!

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! You're right about Elric's broader influence across different media. I neglected to discuss his connections to music and comic books/graphic novels in this video, as I had mentioned them in my earlier, introductory Moorcock video. Thanks for filling in that omission. :)

[@phillipcarson2544]

Yyyyessss! A new video. And it’s about Moorcock? Even better. Don’t have time to watch it now. But let’s just go ahead and leave a like….

[@rogueinsiderpodcast]

The Elric series really is amazing. I'm reading Gloriana right now and the background of the crossing over of psychology and political theory is so juicy.,

[@gelatin95]

A new video an one from Moorcock. Just what I need to the day.

[@erinjackobssss]

These are so well made. Well researched, well written, well edited, well performed. I wish I could have a series of these videos for all of my favorite authors/stories.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thank you! They're a lot of work, but I have fun making my videos. I'd never done anything like this before starting my channel three years ago, and I've been teaching myself how to do it along the way. Each video is an experiment of sorts with different production or editing techniques. Some have worked out better than others. :D What are your favorite authors or books? I plan to continue highlighting authors who I think are overlooked on BookTube.

[@BookishChas]

This was an excellent video Bridger. I feel much more comfortable on where to start when I begin reading it.

[@thelibraryladder]

I'm glad you found it helpful, Chas! I remember being very confused about the reading order when I first encountered the Elric books more than 40 years ago. I'm glad recent publishers are sorting out that problem.

[@coffemuse]

I don't think I'd like the Elric books much, being very much not the target audience. But I appreciate the introduction. This channel introduced me to Guy Gavriel Kay, and having begun the Sarantine Mosaic I'm forever grateful!

[@thelibraryladder]

It makes me very happy to hear that I introduced you to GGK's works! I can understand your misgivings about reading Elric. His saga is a far cry from a typical GGK story (although Kay's Fionavar trilogy does have significant echoes of Moorcock's multiverse and Eternal Champion). He's worth giving a try, but he's unlikely to appeal to everyone.

[@HellBoy-id6ss]

As an emotionally immature person, I've always loved the Conan stories and never saw them as simplistic power fantasies.. Conan is definitely a Nietzschean ideal.. interesting how Nietzsche's final spiritual stage is the child.. Conan and Elric have more in common than Moorcock would like to admit.. if Conan met Elric I'm sure he would bitch slap him and say " stop being a whiny little bitch and live your life in the moment and don't apologize for your choices"..

[@thelibraryladder]

Great point! You may be right about that. :D

[@calebcox4963]

I’ve been looking forward to this one since you started your series on Moorcock. Great video!

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@orsino88]

Splendid, as always. Now I find myself wondering if Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are too trivial for discussion. Certainly they are much lighter than the Eternal Champion-but they do constitute another revision of the Howard legacy.

[@thelibraryladder]

Leiber's high on my list of future video retrospectives. I love the Fafhrd/Gray Mouser stories.

[@secretsauceofstorycraft]

I havent read moorcock but if you recommend him to make more than 2 videos on his work, I will have take notes for where you recommend starting. Although he seemed to have a bit of narcissism based off what he is writing about the fantasy genre. I’m looking forward to more content from you! Thank you for all new installment. 😊

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks, Whitney! Early in his career, Moorcock developed a reputation as an _enfant_ _terrible_ with an axe to grind against what he termed the literary Establishment. He had a tendency to express strong (often trollish) opinions as a way of garnering attention for the avant garde SFF pulp magazine he edited at the time and for the SF New Wave movement/rebellion he was shepherding. He also was a self-proclaimed anarchist. Later in life, he became a lot more diplomatic and circumspect in his commentary, perhaps once he realized that the Establishment had evolved, partly due to his influence on the science fiction and fantasy genres.

[@Eluarelon]

Elric was certainly the first Moorcock character I met on my journey as a young reader of fantasy. I think I was 13 or 14 years old at most, so most of the topics talked about in this video went totally over my head. What I was fascinated by back then was the world building in Moorcock's books: the multiverse, the conflict between Law and Chaos, and especially Tanelorn, and the overall darkness that was way different from what I had read in fantasy before that. This said, my favorite Moorcock character will always be Corum Jhaelen Irsai, whose stories I read a bit later. And I'm really curious about which is yours.

[@JimmyDaKoik]

Corum, Jhary and Whiskers for the win!

[@thelibraryladder]

That's about how old I was when I first encountered Moorcock's works, and I had a similar reaction. I might do a ranking of my favorite Champions once I've covered more of them.

[@garymoraco3184]

I appreciate that you take your time making your videos. Always a treat. It's like when I used to smoke weed, I didn't do it every day so I always reacted it as if I never smoked it. OK, not just like that, I mean I'm not giggling at anything but you get the analogy folks. You can get the same effect from too much honey as well. So I'll leave now because I'm beginning to sound "trollish".

[@thelibraryladder]

Thank you! I think that's the first time my videos have ever been compared to a mind-altering drug experience. :D (I wish I were a little faster at making my videos, though.)

[@buddhabillybob]

Fantastic video! Thank you.

[@AeternumInferis]

fantastic video

[@fluorescentartichoke8361]

Having scoured the second hand bookshops in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s trying to complete Moorcocks multiverse I had feared that science was going to need a new branch of physics to pin down the myriad of iterations,reprints and cover art that abounds. I can think of no other confusing bibliography other than that of P G Wodehouses print history. Great illustrative introduction to a completists idea of nightmare. 😊

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! I remember struggling (and failing) back in the 1980s to figure out the confusing assortment of Moorcock reprints. And for this video, I had an ordeal trying to sort out the bibliographic history of parts of the Elric. In an ironic twist, I was informed by another commenter here that Elric's Wikipedia page was updated just in the past few days (after I had filmed the video) to provide a detailed bibliographic chronology. Fortunately, as far as I can tell, I got the details right in the video. :D I'm very happy the omnibus editions, starting in the 1990s, have mostly eliminated the confusion.

[@robmsmithdumbhandle]

Great video. You have a great voice for narration, deep, sonorous... Kudos!

[@thelibraryladder]

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the video.

[@robmsmithdumbhandle]

@@thelibraryladder I love all your videos, bro! You put so much time and care into them. I especially loved seeing that window w/clips from The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton was a master.

[@thelibraryladder]

I wondered if anyone would recognize those film clips from decades past. It makes me happy that some do. :D

[@robmsmithdumbhandle]

@@thelibraryladder Yeah, man, I saw those movies when I was kid and loved them all. My mom caught me recording Rumble Fish on a VHS, and she was a little mad at me and felt I was too young to deal with the violent topics, but she caved in when I made a solid argument that I should be well-armed before beginning my journey into life. Thank God my mom was a teacher and loved literature so much. Growing up, my mom ALWAYS had an open book lying on her bedside table that she would read after we three kids went to bed. I grew up reading all the classics: C.S. Lewis, I read every OZ book they put out up the early 90s, Lloyd Alexander: I especially loved his Vesper series. J.R. Tolkien evolved into Silverberg and Asimov, and Stanislaw. I'm currently working my way through the Chronicles of Amber. I'm writing my own series of books, too. It's been a battle, getting them published, though all my obstacles have mostly been of my own making. Keep making your wonderful videos, man.

[@budgethornet7498]

Ay! I was worried you forgot the Elric video! Perfect timing as my fancy Elric hardbacks just arrived! Edit: I’ll add that The Citadel of Forgotten Myths is awkwardly placed after the second story of Bane of the Black Sword. Least according to Moorcock’s friend and Biographer in a facebook group. It made sense to me when I read it at that point. Funny enough, the Wikipedia page for the Elric chronology just updated, it’s very comprehensive.

[@thelibraryladder]

Great! I wish that Wikipedia page had been updated a couple of weeks sooner. I would have liked to cross-check the timeline I put together for this video from other sources (including the appendix in Elric: The Stealer of Souls, and ISFDB.org).

[@RedFuryBooks]

I finished the second of the Saga Press Omnibus editions earlier this year, and have mostly enjoyed my time with this character. But as you said, it can be a bit uneven, but is definitely an integral work for any fan of the genre. Thanks for the video!

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks, Josh! Sometimes the concept, image and influence of a character surpass the experience of reading his story. That seems true to me (and perhaps to you) for parts of the overall Elric saga. It's kind of a mixed bag for me.

[@RedFuryBooks]

Agreed. But I did feel pushing through some of the books I didn't love as much were worth it when I got to The Bane of the Black Sword, and Stormbringer, which were my two favorites of them all!

[@taffer4515]

Very good review, and I would also highly recommend the comic adaptations of some of those stories. The older ones written by Roy Thomas and (mostly) drawn by P. Craig Russell are a visual treat of psychedelic and impressionistic art, and follow the chronological order very well. You can find them under the Michael Moorcock Library collection. Also worthy of mention are the most recent adaptations by the french, under Julien Blondel, Jean-Luc Cano, Robin Recht and Julien Telo, who feature some gorgeous large scale artwork and largely maintain the dialogue from the original books. Moorcock himself has said that this is his favorite interpretation of his character, and I believe the team is actively working on publishing the fifth comic in the series.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks for sharing that information! I'm not as familiar with the comic book/graphic novel adaptations of Moorcock's works.

[@keithdonohue4631]

Thanks so much for this video! It's great!!!

[@Lokster71]

I liked Elric, but I loved the Jerry Cornelius stories. Indeed, I re-read the Cornelius Quartet recently and - with some quibbles - enjoyed it again. I've got a pile of Michael Moorcock to read. This is an excellent video. A really solid introduction to the Elric series.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! The prospect of making a Jerry Cornelius video leaves me feeling equal parts eager anticipation and dread. :D

[@Lokster71]

@@thelibraryladder Yeah, it is a lot. I've got loads of other Cornelius stuff to read/re-read. I think it is the series that feels most 'of its time'.

[@SciFi.Horror.Thriller.Fantasy]

Great video-eassay - thank you! :-)

[@Calypso694]

I learned a few days ago the name for Melnibone came from Marylebone, a little town 10min up the road from where Moorcock grew up.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks for sharing that tidbit!

[@baine4040]

I truly enjoy this video. My first Michael Moorcock novel Corum Jhaelen Irsei, reading this in 6th grade library during lunch break in the early 1990's. I found Elric of Melnibone constant whine boring, but as adult more understanding of the character. Also use Dorian Hawkmoon as my moniker to avoid being bother as I used the train service, when some passenger want to start a conversation while I 'm reading. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@thelibraryladder]

Corum's one of the good ones IMO, and I'll be getting to him eventually. Your Hawkmoon anecdote is hilarious -- a very polite way of getting people to leave you alone. :D

[@ryansullivan5854]

I’ve read a lot of Elric but I was way too young and read it in no particular order so found it just confusing. And yet I’m still very aware of the legacy of the character. Probably time to take another crack at it.

[@bookmarkswithjason9445]

I am enjoying these Elric stories immensely. I love how much it feels like Conan, but is nothing like Conan.

[@thelibraryladder]

I think Moorcock would be happy to hear that -- it's exactly what he was aiming for when he created Elric.

[@wileyschmitt]

Hey Bridger, thank you for that awesome Jack Vance video! Got to see it late, but wow! Much appreciated, your videos are the best!

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks, Wiley! I'm so glad you found it (or it found you)! I'd been working on that video off and on for a year and a half, so I was very happy to get it completed at long last.

[@wileyschmitt]

@@thelibraryladder Well worth all that effort, and now it's immortalized. :) Keep up the great work!

[@fuzonzord9301]

This reminds me I need to re-read The Stealer of Souls and Stormbringer. I have read some of the other books and I feel it's better to stay with these two.

[@thelibraryladder]

There's no shame at all in sticking with the originals! :D

[@brenthatcher5748]

Perhaps you seen other Moorcock interviews than I have, but from what I read he really admired Howard, but thought that Hour of the Dragon had taken the character as far as it could go, and wanted to do something different. I never saw anything where he puts down REH. Of course, as you said, he may have said different things at different times. Two Gun Bob is my favorite author but Moorcock is a close second. Have you ever gotten into his work with Hawkwind? I highly recommend it if you haven't.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks for watching and commenting! Moorcock has written in essays and forewords to some of his books that he admired and enjoyed reading Howard in his youth, but that as he grew into adulthood, he perceived significant limitations, particularly in Conan. That inspired his original conception of Elric as a Conan-like character, but with a couple of significant twists. For this video, I relied primarily on essays he wrote and published early in his career, several of which were written in the early 1960s while he was still penning the original Elric stories. In his younger days, Moorcock had a tendency to voice strong, unfiltered opinions (what might be called 'hot takes' today) -- perhaps as an attention-grabbing tactic, but also perhaps as the best reflection of his mindset while he was creating Elric. He's become a lot more diplomatic in his commentary and interviews as he's gotten older.

[@veronicaclarke7499]

My very first Moorcock book was a Corum one - "The Bull and the Spear". I discovered Elric a little while later and thought he was much cooler. But my favourite eternal champion is Jherek Carnelian - the Dancers at the End of Time trilogy is great fun.

[@thelibraryladder]

I'll get to Jherek eventually in this series of videos. :)

[@EstoNoEsUnSpoiler]

I was just thinking that I missed your videos!

[@Morraak]

I thought Elric sounded familiar, I have some paintings of him in my Michael Whelan artbook. Always great to watch a library ladder episode :)

[@thelibraryladder]

Whelan is one of my favorite illustrators (and I probably have that same artbook of his). Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@funpolice4416]

We wouldn’t have warhammer either without Elric. And think of all the excellent heavy metal that’s still being made. Just the other day I was listening to a new release, and bam, a song called dreaming city. Or Cirith Ungol wouldn’t be a thing at all without our albino friend. Personally, I think Mike Mignolas version of Elric is my favorite illustration. Would absolutely love to see his take on some of the stories, he did do an illustrated version of Corum iirc. But yeah, I had my exposure to Elric at the end of highschool, and something about a hero who tries to be good, but isn’t very good at it was super appealing.

[@thelibraryladder]

Good point! Warhammer is notable gap in my reading history. Mignola's vision of Elric is iconic. I'm not sure which illustrator's version is my favorite, as they each capture different aspects of the character. Some of the artwork in the recent special editions from Centipede Press is stunning (and bleak) -- I included some of it in this video.

[@samuelleask1132]

Heck yeah more Library Ladder content

[@someokiedude9549]

Moorcock is interesting for the same reason Gaiman is, the guy is a student of the fantasy genre and he knows it well. Though I’m often bugged by his obsession with being subversive, even when it’s impractical. But he is an intelligent writer, and most importantly, a sincere one. I like Elric quite a bit, Elric himself is an intriguing take on sword and sorcery protagonists and Moorcock got away with some weird stuff, probably on account that he was writing for pulp magazines, but nonetheless very interesting stuff. I would like to read some more of his more literary, ‘serious’ stuff like Gloriana, Mother London, and the Pyat books. Also perhaps try some of his other Eternal Champion stuff like Jerry Cornelius, Dancers at the End of Time, Bastable, and Hawkmoon as well. Say one thing about Moorcock, dude cranks ‘em out like it’s nobody business. Great video!

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks, Britton! Moorcock was incredibly prolific, particularly in the first two decades of his writing career when he could write a full trilogy of short novels in a week. I share your skepticism about his belief that subversiveness should be the objective of most fiction. Also, FYI, the editor of Saga Press noted in another comment on this video that it will soon be publishing hardcover editions of the Von Bek stories and Mother London (in December and later next year, respectively).

[@Leopard589]

Dear Apple. Where is the show????

[@tasosalexiadis7748]

Blood and souls for my Lord Arioch.

[@SolarLabyrinth]

Elric was my first Moorcock, and I'm not even sure I was aware that he was part of a larger multiverse which led to some confusion at times. The books are just cool, filled with a great atmosphere and ideas. Unlike so many "fantasy" stories today, there is no shortage of fantastical elements and imagination in Elric. After finishing them all, my biggest complaints, though, were 1) there was too much literal deus ex machina, with Elric calling upon or receiving assistance from higher beings a little too often, and 2) his various companions tended to blend together over the course of the books, almost to the point of them turning into forgettable stock characters. Still, it's a series that all fantasy fans should read at least once. I will also mention that the recent bandes dessinées adaptation published by Titan Comics in the U.S. is worth checking out too. Moorcock has even called it the best adaptation of the story and incorporates ideas that he wishes he had thought of 50 years ago.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks for sharing that! My experience reading the Elric stories seems to mirror yours in many ways. I haven't read the comic book/graphic novel adaptations, though.

[@whom382]

Another great video. I personally only recommend the DAW books. It feels like one coherent story and are the best parts. Fortress of the Pearl and Revenge of the Rose are tolerable but don't really add anything. However, the books written after those are outright terrible. His 60s and 70s output were the peak. He declined in the 80s. Once the 90s hit, his works felt tedious. Basically the Doctor Who running down corridors in book form.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks! I'm partial to the earlier, core Elric stories myself, and the DAW editions do a nice job of compiling them in chronological order. My only complaint about them is that they're incomplete, since some of the stories were edited down or consolidated for length to fit them into DAW's page limit for the paperbacks.

[@3choblast3r4]

I read the first saga (the first of the new editions) I found Elric to be a bit dramatic lol even a bit of a drama queen. At one point bro throws himself at the floor crying when the magic book he's after turns to dust. And the lady that's with him plus the other guy have to carry him out of there. But I think I need to read the later books, because the early books seem too disjointed with how they were written for magazines etc. I also find Elric to be exceedingly naive, you mean to tell me your cousin tried to take your throne and your cousin wife as his sister wife. You defeated him. And .. then left your throne for him to rule while you did a world tour? Who could have ever imagined what would happen next lol xD. EDIT loved the book though, but my enjoyment also came a lot from the fact that so many things seem extremely inspired by the Elric books. From Warhammer (even the Chaos god and their symbol) to A Song of Ice and Fire and the Witcher books etc.

[@thelibraryladder]

I believe Moorcock would agree with your assessment of Elric as a drama queen. After all, he intentionally wrote the character to have the emotional stability and naivete of a teenager/young adult. In general, I think Moorcock's writing improved over time, once he stopped publishing first drafts of his works in order to meet a deadline. Over the years, he has revised the texts of many of his early stories, partly for retroactive continuity with newer stories, but also to fix some of the flaws he saw in them. The omnibus editions starting in the 1990s, generally have his preferred text.

[@fengusburnt]

Have you considered doing a Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser video? Curious about your take.

[@thelibraryladder]

Leiber is definitely in my queue!

[@samcostello2861]

Another fantasy author who was heavily influenced by Moorcock is Tad Williams. Certain aspects of Williams’ Osten Ard setting bear similarities to Moorcock’s Elric saga, namely the antagonist Ineluki, a white-haired, elf-like prince whose fate is tied to a dark sword with magical properties. Williams also penned a hilarious short story (I forget the name) in which a pot-smoking slacker travels to Elric’s world and becomes an unlikely companion to Elric.

[@thelibraryladder]

Good point! I think 'Go Ask Elric' is the short story Tad wrote as an homage to Moorcock.

[@samcostello2861]

@@thelibraryladder That’s the one! I know that Williams is primarily known for his epic series, but he writes great short fiction too. A Stark and Wormy Knight is one of the funniest things I’ve ever read! 😅

[@waldo8791]

❤

[@andreassundberg9426]

Does the two omnibuses from 2022 contain every story written up to that point? Including the shortstories? I men the saga press versions

[@thelibraryladder]

The two Saga Press omnibuses Elric of Melnibone and Stormbringer contain all of the stories in Elric's main narrative published up to that point. A third Saga Press omnibus, The White Wolf, contains the Dreamquest/Oona Von Bek trilogy of Elric novels. They don't include a very small number of short stories and novelettes that are tangential to Elric's main storyline. The Gollancz omnibuses contain some of those additional stories, but not all. The most comprehensive omnibuses are the paperback ones published in six volumes by Del Rey/Ballantine in 2008-2010, but they have the significant shortcoming (in my opinion) of presenting Elric's stories in publication order rather than chronological order, which makes them a confusing read.

[@andreassundberg9426]

@@thelibraryladder thank you for your answer!

[@SmallSpaceCorgi]

I really loved the original Elric stories and "Stormbringer", but I hated (hated!) the whole Eternal Champion idea. I never understood the point of the Eternal Champion. The Elric stories stood alone brilliantly. With the exception of some of the early Hawkmoon stories, none of the other Champion stories are worth reading.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks for watching and commenting! I like the concept of Moorcock's Eternal Champion spanning infinite worlds and different incarnations, but its execution on the page is more than a little unwieldy at times. Among other things, I think some of the linkages seem forced and some Champions are underwhelming as protagonists. To me, Elric definitely is one of the best-conceived and executed ones.

[@josephzamer5802]

At least the previous "rebellious youths" found themselves reflected on Elric: character from a book, so implies that you should read, understand the character....etc, I wonder who is the "Patron Saint" of the current rebellious youth?? Sad...

[@thelibraryladder]

Good question! Given the dramatic decline in reading over the past 20 years, I suspect it's not a character from a book. If I were a betting man, I'd say it's an edgy KZbin 'celebrity' or a character from a TV show, movie or video game.

[@markmunroe-hz8rf]

Conan by Robert E Howard was a far more complex character under the womanizing, treasure seeking, anti hero exterior. Also, can you cover Tamora Pierce?

[@thelibraryladder]

I was presenting Moorcock's opinion about Howard and Conan, not my own. Moorcock has never been shy about expressing strong (and sometimes dubious and inconsistent) opinions. :D Tamora is on my list. I'm a fan of her books. Thanks for the suggestion!

[@markmunroe-hz8rf]

@@thelibraryladder I am writing a short story series inspired by Conan and Jack Reacher. Also, do you think her books are a bit too adult for children in terms of certain elements found in her stories?

[@thelibraryladder]

That sounds like an intriguing combo! I think some of Pierce's books fall into a gray area where it's not clear who her intended audience is. I'll use her Alanna series as an example. It's almost as if she wrote the books for a specific cohort of kids who were growing up and maturing in tandem with Alanna as Pierce wrote each volume. The problem is that the books are available now without the time lag of waiting for the next book to be published. While I think the first book is fine for pre-pubescent readers, later books in the series clearly are aimed at older readers, due to the sex and violence. I encountered that issue with my own daughters -- I wanted them to read the first book around the time they were nine or ten, but I wasn't keen on them reading the whole series at that age.

[@markmunroe-hz8rf]

​@@thelibraryladderThe Chronicles of Prydan sounds far more interesting and all ages. Also, what do you think of clock punk? Steampunk is too oversaturated as a genre in my opinion and it's clichés are annoying.

[@thelibraryladder]

I thoroughly endorse the Prydain Chronicles for all ages! Conceptually, I like the _idea_ of clockpunk, but I don't think I've read enough of it to have a clear opinion about its execution. Of all the engineering fields, mechanical engineering has long held the most fascination for me, so I'm primed to like it. I've enjoyed some of the books featuring clockwork automatons I've read, such as The Invention of Hugo Cabret and Ken Scholes' The Psalms of Isaak, while K.J. Parker's Devices and Desires satisfies the science geek in me. However, I fear that a lot of recent clockpunk suffers from some of the same excesses and shortcomings as much of modern steampunk does.

[@Jonjzi]

Isn't John Daker that legendary singer of hymns?

[@thelibraryladder]

Same name, different character. :D

[@linuslauterbach2975]

Wait, where is episode 4?

[@thelibraryladder]

There's a link to it in the video description. It's my video about the roots of steampunk, which features Moorcock's Oswald Bastable novels prominently.

[@linuslauterbach2975]

@@thelibraryladder Ahh I see, thanks gotta check that out first!

[@whom382]

@@thelibraryladder I had skipped that video because I generally don't like that genre. I never would have thought that video had the OB novels in them. I've always considered them alt-history.

[@thelibraryladder]

You just stated one of the main points I make in that video -- that there isn't a generally accepted definition of steampunk -- hence the "identity crisis" referenced in the thumbnail. :) Moorcock's Oswald Bastable trilogy, particularly the first book, is considered by many SFF scholars to be one of the first of what would later be called steampunk (or at least the version of steampunk that focuses more on substance than fashion). My video about it looks primarily at the roots of steampunk before it morphed into an aesthetic.

[@LordEriolTolkien]

I have read much many Moorcock: many incarnations of immortality. Elric is the best of them, but Corum and Hawkmoon are close

[@BallroomBlitzkrieg]

Ships of Chaos upwards churning from the nightmare realms below... Dragons downwards, venom burning now attack the malformed foe... Lords of Hell, all pity spurning cry "REVENGE!!!" and lust for death... Their servant Elric's mind is turning to sweet Law's promises of rest... Monstrous men and manlike monsters battle for the end of time... Meanwhile heavy metal songsters cut themselves another line...

[@thelibraryladder]

Sweet! (and Hawkwind!) :D

[@BallroomBlitzkrieg]

@@thelibraryladder Excellent work on the video, your channel delivers.

[@thelibraryladder]

@@BallroomBlitzkrieg Thanks!

[@paulcooper3611]

I am, alas, one of those who is not a fan of Elric. Part of this may be because, when I discovered him as a teenager, 'The Stealer Of Souls' and 'Stormbringer' were the only books about him that were available. I quite, enjoyed them, actually. The two books were a satisfying and intriguing adventure which lead to a satisfying and tragic conclusion. When Moorcock started writing new stories, however, I felt he was pissing in his own swimming pool. I had also gotten tired of his constant harping on underling themes in his other works, and his Eternal Champion I found ludicrous. For morally ambiguous heroes, I find Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and Grey Mouser stories more interesting and readable. Your presentation is well done, don't get me wrong, and I can understand other people loving Elric, much like Elric's own adiction drugs and to Stormbringer. It just doesn't speak to me.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks for commenting! I share your love of Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, and the hit-or-miss enjoyment of Elric's stories.

[@AkosKovacs.Author.Musician]

"Emotionally stunted bully." Man, what a superficial reading of Conan. Like, I get that at the time it was in vogue to talk down on Howard's work, but you would think by now, we've left that fart-huffing elitism behind by now. Conan is a wild man from a wild land, living in an era where survival is dependent on split second decisions. He's just a mortal man who's got a great deal of self-determination, who's not without his criticism towards civilization (i.e. modern society). But the 20th century man is so full of anxieties and compulsions, we sheepishly gawk at this deliberately pre-historic/pre-modern persona of his and declare it "simple" and "immature" because we're vexed by a mind that is upfront and never wavers.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. You might have missed that I was characterizing how Moorcock viewed Conan more than 60 years ago. That wasn't my own review of Howard's creation. I enjoy the Conan stories for what they are (and Moorcock has said that he did too, despite the significant limitations he perceived in them). :)

[@Belisaur]

yo do you sound like this irl

[@thelibraryladder]

Yes, I do. :)

[@garysmith9823]

To each their own, but I Found Eric a more interesting concept than experience.

[@thelibraryladder]

Thanks for watching and commenting! I can understand why you might feel that way about the stories. I find the overall Eternal Champion framework to be fascinating, but the execution is a mixed bag for me -- some Champions provide more engaging storytelling experiences and likeable protagonists than others.

[@jeroenadmiraal8714]

Elric is such a drama queen!

[@thelibraryladder]

I think Moorcock would agree with you, Jeroen! He wrote him that way intentionally to mirror the angst and emotional immaturity of many teenagers and young adults. :D

[@martinrobert6709]

After watching this Moorrcock comes off has a fat pretentious pseudo intellectual college boy with delusions of grander. I like the Elric saga but it never gets past an adolescent fairy tale. You can read more into it if you wish , but that has more to do with the reader than the stories.

[@thelibraryladder]

Reading them now, decades after they were written, many of Moorcock's early essays and commentary (some of which I quoted in the video) seem like calculated attempts to troll the literary 'Establishment' in an effort to attract attention and publicity. He probably believed much of what he was writing, but he often expressed himself in intentionally provocative (and offensive) ways. Much like Elric, he seems to have been an angry young man shouting "look at me!"