| Re: Moorcock work: common threads?
It is all connected. This world of ours is just one facet of the Multiverse, where immense powers wage an ongoing battle between order and chaos for ultimate control. There is one Eternal Champion who opposes all extremes and strives to preserve and balance. You may know him as Elric, as Prince Corum, as Hawkmoon, as Jerry Cornelius or any one of a multitude of reincarnations, but it is the same person.
At least, that's the central conception that links most of Moorcock's work.
I am a big Moorcock fan myself. I think Elric may well be the single most brilliantly concieved character in all fantasy, and the Elric tales posess a dark melancholy that is rivetting. The Corum tales are far more ordinary, but have moments of great beauty. The Jerry Cornelius novels are closer to what you'd call science fiction, and are most subversive and witty. His mainstream novels are big, breezy affairs full of believable characters, brilliantly depicted real-life settings and many hidden links to the Multiverse.
Are his works political? Yes, in that he has a distinct stand against tyranny and fascism, and has used Nazi Germany as a symbol of this at times.
I think The Dreamthief's Daughter is a pretty good read - and a good introduction to many of the details of the Multiverse mythos as well. It works well enough as a standalone, by the way. |