When I read all of Michael Moorcock’s Elric novels in the early ‘80s, The Fortress of the Pearl was not part of the story. It wasn’t published in the U.S. until 1989, but I missed it. I only learned about it when I began re-reading the Elric books as part of my recent foray into…
My recent foray into the works of Fritz Leiber inspired me to re-read one of my favorite fantasy series of all time. So, this weekend I dove into Michael Moorcock’s Elric of Melniboné. I grew up on Elric. There was no hero more complex, more tragic, or more dangerous than he was. Elric is a…
The second book in Michael Moorcock’s Eternal Champion Sequence, Phoenix in Obsidian, isn’t as good as its predecessor, but still adds to the mythology of the Eternal Champion. This is particularly true with the reemergence of the black sword Stormbringer. Without a doubt, it was the best part of this novel. The story picks up…
One of my goals for 2018 is to explore more vintage fantasy, so I’m kicking off the New Year with a review of The Eternal Champion, one of the lesser known novels from British author Michael Moorcock. Michael Moorcock is one of the godfathers of fantasy fiction. He found fame in the 1960s as part…
After rediscovering vintage fantasy fiction by Robert E. Howard last month, it got me thinking about some of the other classics I’ve read over the years. Among these is Three Hears and Three Lions by Poul Anderson, first published as a novella in 1953. This may not be one of the most well-known works of vintage…
I have long preferred novels (the written kind) to novels of the graphic kind, and I haven’t collected a comic book in more than twenty-five years. But last week, I learned of a new graphic adaptation of Michael Moorcock’s fantasy classic Elric of Melniboné – and, according to one source, Moorcock thinks this adaptation may…
A while back, I was doing research on Vikings for my next novel, which will be the sequel to Enoch’s Device. In the course of that research, I spent some time on Norse mythology, since many a tenth-century Viking would have clung to the worship of Thor or Odin instead of embracing the Christian faith…
Last week I wrote about what makes a great beginning to a novel. This includes the hint of conflict, an interesting character, and, perhaps most importantly, writing that sets the tone or mood for the story to come. My first 10 “beginnings” focused on a number great works of historical and fantasy fiction, some of which…