HYPERBOREA / Michael Moorcock

**Posted by Santaj** 4/02/2014 11:28 am

When I was a young teenager, around 13 or so, I read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings for the first time. Those books captured my imagingation like no others had up to that point. My earliest memories of playing D&D, I think B/X at the time, are of making characters with names similar to those in the Tolkien books. I was particularly fond of making Dwarves and Halflings and modeling them after Gimli, Thorin, Merry, Pippin, Frodo and all the others. A year or two later as maybe a Freshman or Sophomore in High School, I found the Elric books. I believe the copies I acquired were the DAW paperbacks with the Michael Whelan covers. The cover of Stormbringer in particular caused me to take notice. I devoured those six paperbacks and they totally changed my thinking about what fantasy was and could be. Those Elric books opened up the world of Swords and Sorcery for me and were my gateway to Conan and Fafhrd and Grey Mouser and others.

I've read the Elric stories multiple times since then but have never read any of Moorcock's other works. Are there any other Moorcock fans here that can recommend some of his better other non-Elric works?

Last edited by Santaj (4/02/2014 11:29 am)

**Posted by JasonZavoda** 4/02/2014 12:15 pm

While I loved the Elric books when I first read them my feelings have changed greatly and I only refer to them for the imaginative source material. If I was going to recommend another Moorcock series I'd say try the Runestaff books. They start with 'The Jewel in the Skull' and I believe there are four of them with a spijn-off trilogy that deals with Count Brass.

**Posted by Handy Haversack** 4/02/2014 12:44 pm

JasonZavoda wrote:
While I loved the Elric books when I first read them my feelings have changed greatly and I only refer to them for the imaginative source material. If I was going to recommend another Moorcock series I'd say try the Runestaff books. They start with 'The Jewel in the Skull' and I believe there are four of them with a spijn-off trilogy that deals with Count Brass.

I agree totally. I keep coming back to these. I mean, he had me at flamingoes large enough for a man to ride.

**Posted by joseph** 4/02/2014 2:35 pm

I recently picked up a collected hardcover of the Elric series and plan to read it after The Dying Earth. I'm looking forward to this first read through!

**Posted by Crisippo** 4/02/2014 4:10 pm

I've only read a few Elric-stories but i've enjoyed them a lot. Besides those i've only read non-fantasy stuff by Moorcock, like a Brothel in Rosenstrasse and Behold the Man, which i found brilliant. Moorcock seems like a writer with incredible concepts and ideas, but since he so prolific i would imagine that his execution is variable.

JasonZavoda wrote:
If I was going to recommend another Moorcock series I'd say try the Runestaff books.

I've read about the Runestaff-books and they are definently on my "to read" list (which very long indeed)

**Posted by JasonZavoda** 4/02/2014 4:31 pm

joseph wrote:
I recently picked up a collected hardcover of the Elric series and plan to read it after The Dying Earth. I'm looking forward to this first read through!

That sounds fantastic. I love the feel of dead tree books, even though the kindle has been a very kind enchantress that reads for me when my one eye is weary and has a vast library of thousands (I'm working on my third thousand for my kindle library) books and collections and stories to choose from.

**Posted by Scalydemon** 4/02/2014 8:14 pm

If you like Moorcock and the out of print RPGs associated with his writing please consider contributing a submission to AFS 5, Submission guidelines etc http://www.odd74.proboards.com/thread/9553/afs-5-seeking-submissions

Thanks

**Posted by finarvyn** 4/03/2014 6:53 am

Like many series that drag on forever, my favorite stories tend to be the early ones. I find that the first Elric stories are vibrant, the later ones seem sort of tired and retread. There is a trade paperback that I would suggest you try called STEALER OF SOULS. It has the early magazine versions of the first stories written, and I think it's an excellent book.
http://www.amazon.com/Elric-Stealer-Chronicles-Emperor-Melnibon%C3%A9/dp/0345498623

Beyond that, my favorite characters are Corum and Hawkmoon. Corum can be found in "The Swords Trilogy" and Hawkmoon in "The Runestaff" series.

**Posted by Scalydemon** 4/17/2014 10:14 am

Well, MM is here this weekend near where I live as the guest of honor at Norwescon http://www.norwescon.org/

I tried looking on the web site to see if he was doing any book signing or pic taking but couldn't find any info.

**Posted by Handy Haversack** 4/17/2014 10:41 am

Scalydemon wrote:
Well, MM is here this weekend near where I live as the guest of honor at Norwescon http://www.norwescon.org/

I tried looking on the web site to see if he was doing any book signing or pic taking but couldn't find any info.

It would be very cool if you could tell him about the upcoming zine issue.

**Posted by joseph** 11/28/2014 9:30 am

I finished the "Song of the Black Sword" collection yesterday and will say that I mostly enjoyed it. The deus ex machina aspect of Elric's summoning power was overused, IMO, but at the same time I like the way Moorcock sets up the Eternal Struggle between law and chaos - something I have mostly ignored in D&D. The way magic works is also something that interested me, I like that it seems dangerous and drains the caster physically and mentally.

Anyway, I intend to pick up the second volume, as well as Hawkmoon and Corum probably next year.

Now, back to Lieber!

**Posted by ThornPlutonius** 11/28/2014 2:12 pm

I just finished reading the Runestaff novels. I found them to be rather poorly written, as if hurried and not well thought out. I bow to his imagination, but wish he had put more craft into these novels. I do not recall having the same feeling when and after reading many of the Elric stories. It has been too many years since I read the Corum books to comment on them.

I also just scored a very good condition 1st Edition Stormbringer box set, 2nd printing if I correctly identify it (green cover on single rule book). Also got the Stormbringer Companion and Demon Magic is on its way.

I will soon finish the several recent reprint editions of the Elric tales. Then on to Mr. Howard's non-Conan works (e.g., Solomon Kane, Kull, Bran Mak Morn, etc.).

**Posted by mabon5127** 9/16/2016 9:58 am

finarvyn wrote:
Like many series that drag on forever, my favorite stories tend to be the early ones. I find that the first Elric stories are vibrant, the later ones seem sort of tired and retread. There is a trade paperback that I would suggest you try called STEALER OF SOULS. It has the early magazine versions of the first stories written, and I think it's an excellent book.
http://www.amazon.com/Elric-Stealer-Chronicles-Emperor-Melnibon%C3%A9/dp/0345498623

Beyond that, my favorite characters are Corum and Hawkmoon. Corum can be found in "The Swords Trilogy" and Hawkmoon in "The Runestaff" series.

Had never read Elric and just picked up the Stealer of Souls trade. Great stuff!

**Posted by Ghul** 9/16/2016 1:17 pm

Great stuff! I love the Elric books, specifically the 6 grey books that were published in the 80s. The later stories I liked less. I know grodog is a huge fan.

**Posted by grodog** 9/21/2016 5:51 pm

Ghul wrote:
I know grodog is a huge fan.

Indeed!---meeting Moorcock eclipses meeting Gygax, Gaiman, and Vonnegut in my iconography of geekdom :D

**Posted by SuperPheemy** 5/24/2018 5:57 pm

Elric will ever be my favorite. All of my Tabletop Campaigns, be they Fantasy, Sci-fi, Superhero or Pulp call back to the Eternal Champion. Mike's characters are so vibrant and engaging, and he plots at a manic pace, creating whole armies, only to break them in a matter of pages.

Moorcock introduced me to the Multiverse, and I introduced my own children to the same with my well-loved yellowed paperbacks. The kids' mom gave me a t-shirt with Michael Whelan's cover from Stormbringer on it I wore that shirt until it fell apart, and even after kept the rags because of that picture.

Y'all better BELIEVE that there is an Eternal Champion in my Hyperborea setting!

**Posted by Ghul** 5/24/2018 7:42 pm

SuperPheemy wrote:
Elric will ever be my favorite. All of my Tabletop Campaigns, be they Fantasy, Sci-fi, Superhero or Pulp call back to the Eternal Champion. Mike's characters are so vibrant and engaging, and he plots at a manic pace, creating whole armies, only to break them in a matter of pages.

Moorcock introduced me to the Multiverse, and I introduced my own children to the same with my well-loved yellowed paperbacks. The kids' mom gave me a t-shirt with Michael Whelan's cover from Stormbringer on it I wore that shirt until it fell apart, and even after kept the rags because of that picture.

Y'all better BELIEVE that there is an Eternal Champion in my Hyperborea setting!

Very nice! I'm reading The Dreamthief's Daughter for the first time, and I'm enjoying it quite a bit. It's been a slow read, because I've been reading two other books at the same time, but I'm at the climax of the story now. I'd like to hear more about how you plan to include the Eternal Champion in your Hyperborea. Because I've considered the same in my own campaign a few times before, but ultimately I felt that if he is 1) a PC, he steals the show, and the rest of the PCs are relegated to less meaningful roles, or 2) as an NPC, the same problem, except now the entire PC party is insignificant as compared to the NPC who does all the most important / pivotal things.

**Posted by grodog** 5/24/2018 7:58 pm

I read The Dreamthief's Daughter when it was first published, but hadn't re-read it until the past few months when reading it aloud with Henry (who's 10). It was a real pleasure to read MM's more mature prose and sense of Elric's character---his anquish, his hopes, dreams, failures, and humanity came through much more strongly than in the original six novels/novellas.

Allan.

**Posted by SuperPheemy** 5/25/2018 1:48 pm

Ghul wrote:
Very nice! I'm reading The Dreamthief's Daughter for the first time, and I'm enjoying it quite a bit. It's been a slow read, because I've been reading two other books at the same time, but I'm at the climax of the story now. I'd like to hear more about how you plan to include the Eternal Champion in your Hyperborea. Because I've considered the same in my own campaign a few times before, but ultimately I felt that if he is 1) a PC, he steals the show, and the rest of the PCs are relegated to less meaningful roles, or 2) as an NPC, the same problem, except now the entire PC party is insignificant as compared to the NPC who does all the most important / pivotal things.

My answer turned into a blog https://plus.google.com/u/0/+KeithPhemister/posts/HBmRpGQmV8w I hope it answers your question. My point is that as the GM, you have the authority to regulate how important the characters are to your story. And yes, it is very easy to let the Eternal Champion dominate the story. But it's not an insurmountable problem. After all, while Elric is carving Stormbringer through the Beggar Horde from Nadsokor, Moonglum is right there at his back, and When Hawkmoon leads the charge against Huon and the hosts of Londra, D'Averc breaks away to find Countess Flana during the battle.

**Posted by Caveman** 5/27/2018 8:19 am

Santaj wrote:
When I was a young teenager, around 13 or so, I read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings for the first time. Those books captured my imagingation like no others had up to that point. My earliest memories of playing D&D, I think B/X at the time, are of making characters with names similar to those in the Tolkien books. I was particularly fond of making Dwarves and Halflings and modeling them after Gimli, Thorin, Merry, Pippin, Frodo and all the others. A year or two later as maybe a Freshman or Sophomore in High School, I found the Elric books. I believe the copies I acquired were the DAW paperbacks with the Michael Whelan covers. The cover of Stormbringer in particular caused me to take notice. I devoured those six paperbacks and they totally changed my thinking about what fantasy was and could be. Those Elric books opened up the world of Swords and Sorcery for me and were my gateway to Conan and Fafhrd and Grey Mouser and others.

I've read the Elric stories multiple times since then but have never read any of Moorcock's other works. Are there any other Moorcock fans here that can recommend some of his better other non-Elric works?

Yes, believe it or not I am at present reading Elric novels, and just purchased them on Amazon, after a near forty year gap since I first read them. Lost the book while moving house, ahg; still it is good to have them again and will purchase Hawkmoon (Count Brass series also) soon, Corum and Erekose, etc.

This is the site I used to get my novels (which links to Amazon), of course the stories can duplicate, as some stories are in one novel (Example: Stealer of Souls have five stories and get spread between "Weird of the White Wolf," and "The Bane of the Black Sword." ), Elric has some new stories, Revenge of the Rose and The Fortress of Pearl amongst others. They are worth at worst; just the postage as you can buy some of the novels for a penny, and it not worth the quibble!

https://www.fantasticfiction.com/m/michael-moorcock/