Elric: Where to start?

[suupaabaka]

I've been looking at the various Elric titles and am now slightly confused. I've been considering purchasing the Elric Fantasy Masterworks title, but I'm not positive that that's the best place to start.

Any advice is appreciated.

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by suupaabaka

I've been looking at the various Elric titles and am now slightly confused. I've been considering purchasing the Elric Fantasy Masterworks title, but I'm not positive that that's the best place to start.

Any advice is appreciated.

Okay... the order of the Elric stories within the series is as follows:

[quote]Elric of Melniboné:

Elric of Melniboné
The Fortress of the Pearl
The Sailor on the Seas of Fate
"The Dreaming City" (incl. in Weird of the White Wolf )
"While the Gods Laugh" (incl. in Weird of the White Wolf)
"The Singing Citadel" (incl. in Weird of the White Wolf)
The Vanishing Tower (a.k.a. The Sleeping Sorceress)
The Revenge of the Rose
"The Stealer of Souls" (incl. in The Bane of the Black Sword )
"Kings in Darkness" (incl. in The Bane of the Black Sword)
"The Flamebringers" ("The Caravan of Forgotten Dreams") (incl. in The Bane of the Black Sword)
"The Last Enchantment" (incl. in Elric at the End of Time )
"To Rescue Tanelorn..." (incl. in The Bane of the Black Sword)
Stormbringer!

Elric also appears in various other volumes, sometimes in a subsidiary role, sometimes as a major character. There are three volumes which have been published as Elric novels which are actually more closely allied to the Von Bek series, but where Elric plays a very major role:

The Dreamthief's Daughter
The Skrayling Tree
The White Wolf's Son

They are not, however, part of the actual Elric series.

[suupaabaka]

The edition in the Fantasy Masterworks series claims to have "Stealer of Souls" and "Stormbringer" within it. From what I can gather, Stealer of Souls is in fact part of a collection called The Bane of the Black Sword... which is to say that the Masterworks edition does not in fact contain the first Elric story, but one of a collection plus the final episode in the Elric saga?

Your answer will decide my course of action, o j.d!

[j. d. worthington]

I think what they're referring to are the collection Stealer of Souls and the novel Stormbringer -- which were the first two Elric books published, back in 1963 and 1965, respectively. The first contains the stories "The Dreaming City", "While the Gods Laugh", "The Stealer of Souls", "Kings in Darkness", and "The Flame Bringers"; while Stormbringer -- if it follows the original book edition -- is a cut version (almost a quarter cut) of the full novel later released in full by DAW and since included in the Elric uniform series.

[suupaabaka]

Ah, thanks for the clarification, mate. Do you recommend I read the series according to internal chronology or in the order in which they were published?

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by suupaabaka

Ah, thanks for the clarification, mate. Do you recommend I read the series according to internal chronology or in the order in which they were published?

Personally, I think internal chronology is much better; Moorcock kept that in mind when adding new pieces, and he sometimes revised some of the work somewhat for the later editions (though usually only slightly) -- and it gives a more rounded feel to the character and his world, as well. Read as they came out, you can see the growth of Moorcock as a writer, but you miss some of the subtle interplay of themes, characters, and milieu....

[suupaabaka]

Thanks again for your help, j.d. I think I'll get the Millenium edition of Elric. It's part of the "Tale of the Eternal Champion" set, so I guess I'll have to pick up the other two while I'm at it! Never heard of von Beck til now, but that sounds interesting as well.

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by suupaabaka

Thanks again for your help, j.d. I think I'll get the Millenium edition of Elric. It's part of the "Tale of the Eternal Champion" set, so I guess I'll have to pick up the other two while I'm at it! Never heard of von Beck til now, but that sounds interesting as well.

Well, the books in that Von Bek volume aren't the ones mentioned above. They are (if I remember correctly) The War Hound and the World's Pain, The City in the Autumn Stars, and The Dragon in the Sword... the last of which is also the third novel of John Daker/Erekosë, the first two being The Eternal Champion and Phoenix in Obsidian (a.k.a. The Silver Warriors). But, as they're all interconnected, you may also find these to your taste. (Interconnected, but not necessary to enjoy the stories of one particular aspect of the Champion.)

[Jack]

As mush as I hate flattering JD’s ego – He is probably the best source for this type of info – Just don’t get him started on Lovecraft whatever you do.

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by Jack

Just don’t get him started on Lovecraft whatever you do.

Now, now, Jack... That wasn't nice!... Absolutely true, mind you; but not nice....

[Connavar]

I wonder if its alright to read Corum chronicles i saw in SF masterworks series without having read anything else of the eternal champions.

Is it okay to read it first ?

His many stories and characters seem to be connected which is why i wonder.

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by Connavar of Rigante

I wonder if its alright to read Corum chronicles i saw in SF masterworks series without having read anything else of the eternal champions.

Is it okay to read it first ?

His many stories and characters seem to be connected which is why i wonder.

Just about everything he wrote is connected, yes, but each series (and frequently each novel, though the Corum set was written as two trilogies, so this forms an exception) can be read independently of the others. If you read the entirety of the Champion cycle, or for that matter all of his fiction (and some of his non-fiction is also related to the cycle in one way or another), then you end up with a much larger and more complex and fascinating picture; but the separate series were nonetheless written to be read either way....

[Connavar]

Ah good to know.

I saw someone giving away the first trilogy of Corum in a certain site.

• Elric of Melniboné
• The Sailor on the Seas of Fate
• The Weird of the White Wolf
• The Sleeping Sorceress
• The Bane of the Black Sword
• Stormbringer

Did i get the early Elric stories in the correct order chronowise?

Doesnt matter if its a novel or collection.

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by Connavar of Rigante

Ah good to know.

I saw someone giving away the first trilogy of Corum in a certain site.

• Elric of Melniboné
• The Sailor on the Seas of Fate
• The Weird of the White Wolf
• The Sleeping Sorceress
• The Bane of the Black Sword
• Stormbringer

Did i get the early Elric stories in the correct order chronowise?

If you mean chronologically within the series, then the answer is "almost". The Fortress of the Pearl comes between Elric of Melniboné and The Sailor on the Seas of Fate, and The Revenge of the Rose comes between The Vanishing Tower (a.k.a. The Sleeping Sorceress) and Bane of the Black Sword. "The Last Enchantment" comes just before "To Rescue Tanelorn" (in Bane). ("Elric at the End of Time" can be seen as either part of the Elric series or --more logically, I think -- as part of the Dancers at the End of Time sequence.)

If you mean "chronologically" as far as publication... hoo, boy! That's an entirely different thread, as these stories have been (like Howard's Conan tales) written completely out of order as concerns Elric's life....

[Connavar]

Does that mean i can read Elric like i read Conan ?

Publishing orderwise where a story is about an older king Conan and next is 20 years back to a young mercenary Conan and so on.


For me it doesnt matter, just want to know which reading order hurt the stories.


Man Moorcock's work is too confusing to get hold. It would be nice to have a link with all the short stories and which collections etc

Wiki doesnt make it sense for him.

Hope Fantasticfiction has better control on his things.