First best reason: Buy These To Give Mike Some Money! Sexy covers & great value: 4 books for a little more than Gollancz would charge you for one! Carefully corrected and lacking the typos. Will match *very* nicely with the new Elric book you all know you're going to get!
I recently received volume 3, The White Wolf. Although the book has many more pages than the first 2 volumes (900+), the paper is noticeably thicker. So it's about one-third fatter than the earlier volumes - a real door-stopper.
Thanks for the comparison! I have the Saga Press and Nelson Doubleday hardback editions and some old Berkley and Ace paperbacks. I prefer the Nelson Doubleday hardbacks due to their smaller size. I recently re-read Volume 1 some 35 years after my initial reading!
I Like The Cover Illustrations on the American Editions Stephen,but I think I'll Stick with My Millennium Elric's. Like you I prefer to read them in publication order.I have most of them in Mayflower/Grafton PB's,so for me it's no problem.Another good reason for reading the PB's is the millenniums are quite weighty
Yes, I'm keeping them too. Being a man who has spent almost 40 years shifting huge piles of books around at work on a daily basis, I never struggle with the weight of royal formats, but I hear a lot of my customers say every week that they find hardcovers 'too heavy'. I can see this for the elderly and infirm and with very thick works, but I always say 'It's habit -once you get used to hardcovers and engrossed in the text, you won't notice,' and I have to say I believe it. Often, the same people complain about the print size of B format paperbacks - then I point thm to a A format and say 'Just think, virtually all paperbacks were this size until the early to mid eighties,'. These reasons are why I prefer the Demy above all other formats - good print size and reasonable weight. Thanks again Voctor for your comments!
The order of the stories keeps changing for me because I'm tied to the mast of a ship in a hypnogogic state...my favourite copies display the wear of hands and multiple readings, a textured cracked spine and softened worn corners.... yum!..... K ( :
I'm of two minds with this video, but I'm glad you made it! To each their own. My first thought upon picking these up was how much more elegant they were! I felt that the Millenniums' paper - although a thicker weight - was a much cheaper bond, and that the thin but durable pages in the new additions were silky and luxurious like premium books. I agree with you about which books are Canon and which are supplemental for pretty much the same reasons, but I am glad that they are included in these omnibuses- primarily for Mike's sake. The new younger audience (who all of his fans desperately want to pick up his books instead of his imitators) should be offered their value, and really be presented with the materials in the chronological order of their occurrence (and the order that they will appear in on all the lists across the internet.) It also allows me to not have to buy an additional volume of books that I'm less interested in picking up. Although I love the *idea* of the Millenniums, I found their execution lacking - or at least uneven, for the most part. My understanding is that they are straight up reprints of the White Wolf omnibus editions, with better cover art. (Except on the covers where they made odd cropping and resolution choices to make elegant pieces like Bob Gould's work look thick lined and clumsy!) Those White Wolf editions are their own cursed affair: Mike organized, arranged and went over everything, including corrections for continuity, and whoever they got to enter the data and reset it brought a whole host of errors into the text- of course I have not sat down and done a side by side Page by Page comparison. Then there's the most recent editions that were either Del Rey or Doubleday: with uneven cover art, no hardback editions, covers that curl shortly after you bring them home, and the utterly baffling decision to present non annotated editions in the very academic "order of publication" rendering them unreadable to anyone other than a hardcore fan or an occasional passerby- not a way to grow an audience- and of course the juggling of titles from different editions. That clarifies everything! The American market saw the most books sold over the longest period of time continuously kept in print, that also represents the greatest presence on the second hand market as well meaning those are the versions that have affected the most minds- that's usually my argument for their primacy. "Original published versions" will always remain their own thing, but it cuts down on all the weird half-assed editions that came out with variant titles & variant editing jobs to try and get around rights issues. And these new edditions follow that Canon; those DAW titles, in their order, with their subheadings, useful contents, the original map gorgeously re-rendered, and staggeringly gorgeous cover art first from Brom then from Whelan then from Gould. I would not be too quick to move these editions on sir, with Mike in his 80s and Gen z only knowing Geralt as the White Wolf, I doubt we shall see better. Besides, as I've said before, best thing about these is they make money for Mike now!!
Yes, it's important his legacy is curated. He's an unknown figure to the average fantasy reader under forty five in the Uk, when he should be their idol. Personally, I think the Millennium rejig and the covers killed them over here. The Mayflower/Panther/Granada/Editions were hugely successful for over 15 years. Had they kept those liveries and flipped to B format, he'd have been laughing.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal A BIG problem was what Gollancz was doing - making the covers plain with a small circle pinhole view of cover art some other edition got to enjoy full size. How could you justify stocking those? (I've *seen* those covers, but never wanted - or needed - to buy them, They *are* Gollancz, yes?)
@@waltera13 -Yes, they are G and they are the worst book covers in history. They're very, very hard to sell. The theory is -alledgedly- that this came about as a result of a conflict between MM and somebody at Gollancz.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal I went back and checked and the paper : It is not the luxurious stuff that I was thinking of, that was a different author's reprint omnibus! But I still think the paper is nice- definitely not "cheaping" out. I wanted to share your video on some Moorcock fan pages, but the opening sounds so harsh on the new editions that I can't. It sounds like a dressing down, and after a crooked manager and money problems that's the last thing he needs. ( Nor would it win you fans if they didn't watch long enough to see that you are not hating them.)
@@waltera13 -Fair enough, I know some people don't like to hear balanced criticism and tend to knee-jerk. I wouldn't want Mike to lose any money either, as he deserves better than he's had for many years. Re the paper, it's simply too thin for my liking - feels nice, but it is in danger of tearing easily, I feel.
I got rid of all my old Mayflower paperbacks and invested in the Millenium paperbacks which I am quite fond of. I quite like the quirky manga-influenced artwork, but that is just a matter of taste. For the Elric books, I have a very attractive set of the Ballantine Del Rey paperbacks, and they have the stories in chronologocal order with lots of extras including illustrations from many early editions. There are lots of articles by Moorcock and reprints of his Aspects of Fantasy series which I think first appeared in Science Fantasy magazine. The new books which you just unwrapped also seem to have nicked the introductions by Gaiman and Chabon from these books. I'll stick with these, but Mike does keep undermining complete works series by writing new stories!
Yes, he's a serial reviser! For me the DAW paperbacks from the late seventies (and their UK equivalents in Granada and Grafton) are the definitive ones. Moorcock is someone it would be very easy to just keep on collecting, there are so many variants...
The new Saga Press edition doesn't use the old Gaiman intro. Instead there's Gaiman's story "One Life, Furnished in Early Moorcock," and an editor's note saying this was done at Gaiman's request.
Thank you for the comparison. It is a shame about the paper quality of these new editions, but the endpapers and jackets are attractive. It would have been nice if they used thicker paper and had three volumes instead of two, but then the publishers were probably thinking over what the market would bear. The Borealis / White Wolf editions (US) follow closely your Millennium conventions in titles and series order. I prefer the old titles too (obviously).
Well, there is a third volume - the trilogy from the 90s. But yes, fitting eight books into two volumes is a bit much, which makes omnibuses thick, but I despise reading thin-papered volumes- even a lifelong careful reader used to handling books constantly can find this tiresome. If it wasn't for the handsome jackets, I'd be moving the new editions on, but they're quite attractive. As I say, the definitive job is yet to be done!
There ARE 3 volumes! I'm sure that's part of why they worked fortress and revenge into their positions in the chronology even though that's a suboptimal reading order. Oh wow! Is that next one out Thursday? Or the end of the month?
@@salty-walt When you say 'that next one' do you mean the third volume? I mention in the video that it's the later trilogy ('the Dreamthief's Daughter', 'The Skrayling Tree' and 'the White Wolf's Son') - they've had different titles in repackaging.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Yes. And I checked, the next omnibus is October 26th - which is the next one I was referring to. I'm pretty sure those are the only titles for those three.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Interesting. I thought I "@'ed" The Antiquarian, but you respond as though I replied to You. I mean, I just did reply to you, but my *previous* comment (saying there are three volumes) was aimed at the person who asked YOU after you explained it in the video anyway. Hmm. That and unqualified pronouns could explain a number of our exchanges. Mood: Contemplative- A lonely Lord Walks in the Moonlight. . .
It looks from your responses that you think it would be better to track down the Granada/Daw standalones and read them in publication order than the three Saga Press volumes in their ordering (at least from a pure reading perspective, not necessarily from a collector’s point of view)? Or maybe a better question, given the prices those original editions go for: how much would be lost reading the Saga Press editions?
yes, I'd read the late seventies DAW or if you're in the UK mid eighties Granada/Grafton, ignoring 'Fortress' and 'Rose' which I think are so different stylistically they're sore thumbs. Please note, of course that original publication order was all over the place in magazines in the 60s, 'Elric of Melnibone' (the first book in the internal chronology) not being written and published until after 'Stormbringer', which is the climax of the series and actually the first Elric novel to be written. The preceding material was all novellas.
@MathewManning The new Saga Omnis ARE the old DAW's In the Daw order (+ an extra novel in each volume, in story chronology) All set in the diagetic internal story order (ie: how it appeared to Elric) for < $30 ea & The money goes to Moorcock instead of a random ebay dude. You are free to skip over the extra novels which were written later, OR read them where they sit, inserted.
A bit off topic, but do you know Welsh writer Rhys Hughes? Moorcock is a friend and fan of his work, penning intros to some of his books - and many genre stalwarts have sung his praises. He's staggeringly productive and has written about 1000 short stories, multiple novels, volumes of poetry and plays in many genres, from SF to horror, crime, to Borgesian metaphysical tales to absurdist fables and extravagant, Baroque comic inventions. Most of his work is absurdist, satirical, or even slapstick but he can be deadly serious when the mood takes him - and has written the funniest send-up of Lovecraft I've ever read. He's also staggeringly well and widely-read. Anyway, although he's a cult author I think he's not as well known as he should be. Would love to see an interview on this channel and I know his many fans would as well. You've probably got many mutual friends and acquaintances and I think it would be a heap of fun to see you two chat. Just a well-intentioned suggestion with no expectations. Cheers.
I am aware of him but have never read his work, something I need to address as because he's Welsh I'm naturally drawn to his oeuvre, SF writers from m homeland being rare beasts. Leave it with me....
Stephen,whilst on the subject of Moorcock and Elric,have you come across the Trilogy :-The Moonbeam Roads.Only came across this recently,and I know little about them. Wondered if you had an opinion.
Yes, I mention them briefly in this video, but they weren't collected under this title until comparatively recently as such by Gollancz in the UK - and the individual volumes have different titles to the US first editions, which are the ones I bought as they were published. There will be a short video coming about these - and the third of the Gallery Saga editions contains them..
I just bought all three volumes off amazon and was wondering if you had gotten volume 3 yet? There were some odd differences between the first two volumes and the third. Namely, the third was made in Spain (1 & 2 were made in the US), it's not quarter bound (1 & 2 are), the spine is a bit loose, and the pages are thicker. ISBN matches the publisher's site though. Just seems odd. Cheers!
I wont buy volume 3, as I have the original first editions bought new at the time. I suspect it's just different paper stock or different binder/printer.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal oh that’s right, I remember you had said that in the video. I first watched it a while ago and just came back here to ask the question, apologies.
I wish you showed the covers without the jacket. I want these omnibus edition books so bad. I just hate that it will take 2 weeks for them to arrive and then there is a big chance I'll have to return them because both amazon and bol can't be bothered to package books properly.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Yup, I imagine they aren't special. But their material, quality etc still matters xD. Besides, I'm one of those weird people that sometimes chooses to take the dustcover off, because I prefer a more minimal look to the spine when it's on the shelf. Still, thanks for showing off the books!
Elric as depicted by Rodney Matthews turns up on the sleeve of the first 'official' Diamond Head album too. And the song "Knight of the Swords" by DH appears on their second official albu, 'Canterbury'. This refers to Arioch, of course and it's also the tiel of the first Corum novel, in which Arioch appears.
The Elric saga is a convoluted mess. And every attempt to rationalise it and reconcile the various versions only seems to make things worse. Personally I long ago gave up affording credence and canonicity to anything published after ELRIC AT THE END OF TIME. What I would say though is if nothing else the Millenium editions are worth keeping purely for John Davey's reader's guide contained in the STORMBRINGER volume which usefully details the saga's tortured publishing history. Purely from an aesthetic viewpoint I've always thought the Nelson Doubleday editions were the best looking of the Elric omnibuses. The fact that they came out before the awful FORTRESS OF THE PEARL appeared is something else to be said in their favour.
I have to say I agree with you Richard. I really disliked 'Fortress' though I am planning to re-read it, though I often advise customers to skip it as it slows the pace of the sequence enormously. I like 'Rose', but to me it's more of a Von Bek book and it sits badly in a stylistic sense with the sequence, I feel. Of the later trilogy, I only really liked 'The White Wolf's Son', though as I say, I want to re-read these. So for me the canon is 'Mlenibone', 'Sailor', 'Weird', 'Vanishing', 'Bane' and 'Stormbringer' (i.e, the late 70s DAW/early 80s Granada sequence). I agree re Davey, I used to have his separate guide.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Yes, that would be my take on the canon too. Although I would add ELRIC AT THE END OF TIME if for no other reason than that it contains "The Last Enchantment" which the Millenium editions turfed out into the EARL AUBEC volume as "Jesting With Chaos". It might not be a very good story but it is at least one of the original early 60s ones. It is a testament to Moorcock's nostalgic appeal (and Elric's) that even after the disappointment of PEARL I persevered with both of them long enough to read THE DREAMTHIEF'S DAUGHTER which I thought an abomination and which killed off any lingering interest I had in the character at least. (Moorcock slumming it with a Dr Who novel of all things did likewise for his own credibility in my view). The early works will always retain an appeal though. The original UK hardbacks would be my preferred way of having them [in my dreams]. But just consider what a challenge it would be to put that set together now.
@@richardtoogood9817 -Again, I can't agree more. I sometimes consider buying pre-70s Elric UK hardcovers, but they're hard to find in good condition at reasonable prices. I also looked at the White Lion Hawkmoons the other day and 'Jewel in the Skull' would require a large purse! The others are fairly cheap though. I do agree that MMs quality declined in the 90s. I like much of the work from that period, but much of it never made much of an impact on me. I do feel Mike got too hung up on identity politics from that time onward, but his focus seemed to drift the longer he spent out of the UK. He's a good guy though, I loved hosting him for events, heart in the right place.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal I think his heart was in other projects, but people kept begging him for more eternal champion stuff, and he needed the money.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal You're far more fortunate than me Steve. I've only ever met him the once. And that was some years ago now, at the British Library where he shared a platform with Brian Aldiss and Norman Spinrad. Good chap, as you say. Even then though it was clear he had mellowed somewhat from the rather disgruntled figure he cut in the late 80s and 90s where he appeared to harbour disdain both for his own acclaim and the people who gave it to him. I remember an interview he gave to publicise MOTHER LONDON where he claimed - very churlishly - that the message of his fantasy fiction was that you shouldn't be reading this stuff but something better instead. As someone who had loyally supported and followed his fantasy output up to that point that was hard to hear. Point of fact it was a kick in the teeth.
First best reason:
Buy These To Give Mike Some Money!
Sexy covers & great value:
4 books for a little more than Gollancz would charge you for one!
Carefully corrected and lacking the typos.
Will match *very* nicely with the new Elric book you all know you're going to get!
Yes, I was thinking about the match with the new book.
I recently received volume 3, The White Wolf. Although the book has many more pages than the first 2 volumes (900+), the paper is noticeably thicker. So it's about one-third fatter than the earlier volumes - a real door-stopper.
I noticed this too. As the third volume is longer than volume two, why couldn't they all have had better paper?
Very nice! Love those Michael Whelan covers!
Yes, Whelan is one of the greats, isn't it? Do like his work a lot.
Thanks for the comparison! I have the Saga Press and Nelson Doubleday hardback editions and some old Berkley and Ace paperbacks. I prefer the Nelson Doubleday hardbacks due to their smaller size. I recently re-read Volume 1 some 35 years after my initial reading!
Yes, the demy is my preferred hardcover format as well. I re-read 'Elric of Melnibone' fairly regularly - probably every couple of years.
I Like The Cover Illustrations on the American Editions Stephen,but I think I'll Stick with My Millennium Elric's.
Like you I prefer to read them in publication order.I have most of them in Mayflower/Grafton PB's,so for me it's no problem.Another good reason for reading the PB's is the millenniums are quite weighty
Yes, I'm keeping them too. Being a man who has spent almost 40 years shifting huge piles of books around at work on a daily basis, I never struggle with the weight of royal formats, but I hear a lot of my customers say every week that they find hardcovers 'too heavy'. I can see this for the elderly and infirm and with very thick works, but I always say 'It's habit -once you get used to hardcovers and engrossed in the text, you won't notice,' and I have to say I believe it. Often, the same people complain about the print size of B format paperbacks - then I point thm to a A format and say 'Just think, virtually all paperbacks were this size until the early to mid eighties,'. These reasons are why I prefer the Demy above all other formats - good print size and reasonable weight. Thanks again Voctor for your comments!
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Yes,I fall into the Elderly Catagory,being retired
@@victorrodley9099 -Retirement! The magic word, I can't wait....
The order of the stories keeps changing for me because I'm tied to the mast of a ship in a hypnogogic state...my favourite copies display the wear of hands and multiple readings, a textured cracked spine and softened worn corners.... yum!..... K ( :
I know what you mean!
I'm of two minds with this video, but I'm glad you made it! To each their own.
My first thought upon picking these up was how much more elegant they were! I felt that the Millenniums' paper - although a thicker weight - was a much cheaper bond, and that the thin but durable pages in the new additions were silky and luxurious like premium books. I agree with you about which books are Canon and which are supplemental for pretty much the same reasons, but I am glad that they are included in these omnibuses- primarily for Mike's sake. The new younger audience (who all of his fans desperately want to pick up his books instead of his imitators) should be offered their value, and really be presented with the materials in the chronological order of their occurrence (and the order that they will appear in on all the lists across the internet.) It also allows me to not have to buy an additional volume of books that I'm less interested in picking up.
Although I love the *idea* of the Millenniums, I found their execution lacking - or at least uneven, for the most part. My understanding is that they are straight up reprints of the White Wolf omnibus editions, with better cover art. (Except on the covers where they made odd cropping and resolution choices to make elegant pieces like Bob Gould's work look thick lined and clumsy!) Those White Wolf editions are their own cursed affair: Mike organized, arranged and went over everything, including corrections for continuity, and whoever they got to enter the data and reset it brought a whole host of errors into the text- of course I have not sat down and done a side by side Page by Page comparison.
Then there's the most recent editions that were either Del Rey or Doubleday: with uneven cover art, no hardback editions, covers that curl shortly after you bring them home, and the utterly baffling decision to present non annotated editions in the very academic "order of publication" rendering them unreadable to anyone other than a hardcore fan or an occasional passerby- not a way to grow an audience- and of course the juggling of titles from different editions. That clarifies everything!
The American market saw the most books sold over the longest period of time continuously kept in print, that also represents the greatest presence on the second hand market as well meaning those are the versions that have affected the most minds- that's usually my argument for their primacy. "Original published versions" will always remain their own thing, but it cuts down on all the weird half-assed editions that came out with variant titles & variant editing jobs to try and get around rights issues.
And these new edditions follow that Canon; those DAW titles, in their order, with their subheadings, useful contents, the original map gorgeously re-rendered, and staggeringly gorgeous cover art first from Brom then from Whelan then from Gould. I would not be too quick to move these editions on sir, with Mike in his 80s and Gen z only knowing Geralt as the White Wolf, I doubt we shall see better.
Besides, as I've said before, best thing about these is they make money for Mike now!!
Yes, it's important his legacy is curated. He's an unknown figure to the average fantasy reader under forty five in the Uk, when he should be their idol. Personally, I think the Millennium rejig and the covers killed them over here. The Mayflower/Panther/Granada/Editions were hugely successful for over 15 years. Had they kept those liveries and flipped to B format, he'd have been laughing.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal A BIG problem was what Gollancz was doing - making the covers plain with a small circle pinhole view of cover art some other edition got to enjoy full size. How could you justify stocking those?
(I've *seen* those covers, but never wanted - or needed - to buy them, They *are* Gollancz, yes?)
@@waltera13 -Yes, they are G and they are the worst book covers in history. They're very, very hard to sell. The theory is -alledgedly- that this came about as a result of a conflict between MM and somebody at Gollancz.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal I went back and checked and the paper : It is not the luxurious stuff that I was thinking of, that was a different author's reprint omnibus! But I still think the paper is nice- definitely not "cheaping" out.
I wanted to share your video on some Moorcock fan pages, but the opening sounds so harsh on the new editions that I can't. It sounds like a dressing down, and after a crooked manager and money problems that's the last thing he needs.
( Nor would it win you fans if they didn't watch long enough to see that you are not hating them.)
@@waltera13 -Fair enough, I know some people don't like to hear balanced criticism and tend to knee-jerk. I wouldn't want Mike to lose any money either, as he deserves better than he's had for many years. Re the paper, it's simply too thin for my liking - feels nice, but it is in danger of tearing easily, I feel.
I got rid of all my old Mayflower paperbacks and invested in the Millenium paperbacks which I am quite fond of. I quite like the quirky manga-influenced artwork, but that is just a matter of taste. For the Elric books, I have a very attractive set of the Ballantine Del Rey paperbacks, and they have the stories in chronologocal order with lots of extras including illustrations from many early editions. There are lots of articles by Moorcock and reprints of his Aspects of Fantasy series which I think first appeared in Science Fantasy magazine. The new books which you just unwrapped also seem to have nicked the introductions by Gaiman and Chabon from these books. I'll stick with these, but Mike does keep undermining complete works series by writing new stories!
Yes, he's a serial reviser! For me the DAW paperbacks from the late seventies (and their UK equivalents in Granada and Grafton) are the definitive ones. Moorcock is someone it would be very easy to just keep on collecting, there are so many variants...
The new Saga Press edition doesn't use the old Gaiman intro. Instead there's Gaiman's story "One Life, Furnished in Early Moorcock," and an editor's note saying this was done at Gaiman's request.
Thank you for the comparison. It is a shame about the paper quality of these new editions, but the endpapers and jackets are attractive. It would have been nice if they used thicker paper and had three volumes instead of two, but then the publishers were probably thinking over what the market would bear. The Borealis / White Wolf editions (US) follow closely your Millennium conventions in titles and series order. I prefer the old titles too (obviously).
Well, there is a third volume - the trilogy from the 90s. But yes, fitting eight books into two volumes is a bit much, which makes omnibuses thick, but I despise reading thin-papered volumes- even a lifelong careful reader used to handling books constantly can find this tiresome. If it wasn't for the handsome jackets, I'd be moving the new editions on, but they're quite attractive. As I say, the definitive job is yet to be done!
There ARE 3 volumes! I'm sure that's part of why they worked fortress and revenge into their positions in the chronology even though that's a suboptimal reading order.
Oh wow! Is that next one out Thursday? Or the end of the month?
@@salty-walt When you say 'that next one' do you mean the third volume? I mention in the video that it's the later trilogy ('the Dreamthief's Daughter', 'The Skrayling Tree' and 'the White Wolf's Son') - they've had different titles in repackaging.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Yes. And I checked, the next omnibus is October 26th - which is the next one I was referring to. I'm pretty sure those are the only titles for those three.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Interesting. I thought I "@'ed" The Antiquarian, but you respond as though I replied to You. I mean, I just did reply to you, but my *previous* comment (saying there are three volumes) was aimed at the person who asked YOU after you explained it in the video anyway.
Hmm.
That and unqualified pronouns could explain a number of our exchanges.
Mood: Contemplative-
A lonely Lord Walks in the Moonlight. . .
It looks from your responses that you think it would be better to track down the Granada/Daw standalones and read them in publication order than the three Saga Press volumes in their ordering (at least from a pure reading perspective, not necessarily from a collector’s point of view)? Or maybe a better question, given the prices those original editions go for: how much would be lost reading the Saga Press editions?
yes, I'd read the late seventies DAW or if you're in the UK mid eighties Granada/Grafton, ignoring 'Fortress' and 'Rose' which I think are so different stylistically they're sore thumbs. Please note, of course that original publication order was all over the place in magazines in the 60s, 'Elric of Melnibone' (the first book in the internal chronology) not being written and published until after 'Stormbringer', which is the climax of the series and actually the first Elric novel to be written. The preceding material was all novellas.
@MathewManning The new Saga Omnis ARE the old DAW's In the Daw order (+ an extra novel in each volume, in story chronology) All set in the diagetic internal story order (ie: how it appeared to Elric) for < $30 ea & The money goes to Moorcock instead of a random ebay dude. You are free to skip over the extra novels which were written later, OR read them where they sit, inserted.
A bit off topic, but do you know Welsh writer Rhys Hughes? Moorcock is a friend and fan of his work, penning intros to some of his books - and many genre stalwarts have sung his praises. He's staggeringly productive and has written about 1000 short stories, multiple novels, volumes of poetry and plays in many genres, from SF to horror, crime, to Borgesian metaphysical tales to absurdist fables and extravagant, Baroque comic inventions. Most of his work is absurdist, satirical, or even slapstick but he can be deadly serious when the mood takes him - and has written the funniest send-up of Lovecraft I've ever read. He's also staggeringly well and widely-read. Anyway, although he's a cult author I think he's not as well known as he should be. Would love to see an interview on this channel and I know his many fans would as well. You've probably got many mutual friends and acquaintances and I think it would be a heap of fun to see you two chat. Just a well-intentioned suggestion with no expectations. Cheers.
I am aware of him but have never read his work, something I need to address as because he's Welsh I'm naturally drawn to his oeuvre, SF writers from m homeland being rare beasts. Leave it with me....
Stephen,whilst on the subject of Moorcock and Elric,have you come across the Trilogy :-The Moonbeam Roads.Only came across this recently,and I know little about them.
Wondered if you had an opinion.
Yes, I mention them briefly in this video, but they weren't collected under this title until comparatively recently as such by Gollancz in the UK - and the individual volumes have different titles to the US first editions, which are the ones I bought as they were published. There will be a short video coming about these - and the third of the Gallery Saga editions contains them..
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Grand
I just bought all three volumes off amazon and was wondering if you had gotten volume 3 yet? There were some odd differences between the first two volumes and the third. Namely, the third was made in Spain (1 & 2 were made in the US), it's not quarter bound (1 & 2 are), the spine is a bit loose, and the pages are thicker. ISBN matches the publisher's site though. Just seems odd. Cheers!
I wont buy volume 3, as I have the original first editions bought new at the time. I suspect it's just different paper stock or different binder/printer.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal oh that’s right, I remember you had said that in the video. I first watched it a while ago and just came back here to ask the question, apologies.
@@dillontrelawny6417 -No worries, comrade!
I wish you showed the covers without the jacket. I want these omnibus edition books so bad. I just hate that it will take 2 weeks for them to arrive and then there is a big chance I'll have to return them because both amazon and bol can't be bothered to package books properly.
I assume you mean you want to see the boards and spine? They're fairly standard, nothing special.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Yup, I imagine they aren't special. But their material, quality etc still matters xD. Besides, I'm one of those weird people that sometimes chooses to take the dustcover off, because I prefer a more minimal look to the spine when it's on the shelf.
Still, thanks for showing off the books!
heavy metal band's 1980 lp has the same cover. Cirith Ungol - Frost and Fire lp . just saying.
Elric as depicted by Rodney Matthews turns up on the sleeve of the first 'official' Diamond Head album too. And the song "Knight of the Swords" by DH appears on their second official albu, 'Canterbury'. This refers to Arioch, of course and it's also the tiel of the first Corum novel, in which Arioch appears.
The Elric saga is a convoluted mess. And every attempt to rationalise it and reconcile the various versions only seems to make things worse. Personally I long ago gave up affording credence and canonicity to anything published after ELRIC AT THE END OF TIME.
What I would say though is if nothing else the Millenium editions are worth keeping purely for John Davey's reader's guide contained in the STORMBRINGER volume which usefully details the saga's tortured publishing history.
Purely from an aesthetic viewpoint I've always thought the Nelson Doubleday editions were the best looking of the Elric omnibuses. The fact that they came out before the awful FORTRESS OF THE PEARL appeared is something else to be said in their favour.
I have to say I agree with you Richard. I really disliked 'Fortress' though I am planning to re-read it, though I often advise customers to skip it as it slows the pace of the sequence enormously. I like 'Rose', but to me it's more of a Von Bek book and it sits badly in a stylistic sense with the sequence, I feel. Of the later trilogy, I only really liked 'The White Wolf's Son', though as I say, I want to re-read these. So for me the canon is 'Mlenibone', 'Sailor', 'Weird', 'Vanishing', 'Bane' and 'Stormbringer' (i.e, the late 70s DAW/early 80s Granada sequence). I agree re Davey, I used to have his separate guide.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Yes, that would be my take on the canon too. Although I would add ELRIC AT THE END OF TIME if for no other reason than that it contains "The Last Enchantment" which the Millenium editions turfed out into the EARL AUBEC volume as "Jesting With Chaos". It might not be a very good story but it is at least one of the original early 60s ones.
It is a testament to Moorcock's nostalgic appeal (and Elric's) that even after the disappointment of PEARL I persevered with both of them long enough to read THE DREAMTHIEF'S DAUGHTER which I thought an abomination and which killed off any lingering interest I had in the character at least. (Moorcock slumming it with a Dr Who novel of all things did likewise for his own credibility in my view).
The early works will always retain an appeal though. The original UK hardbacks would be my preferred way of having them [in my dreams]. But just consider what a challenge it would be to put that set together now.
@@richardtoogood9817 -Again, I can't agree more. I sometimes consider buying pre-70s Elric UK hardcovers, but they're hard to find in good condition at reasonable prices. I also looked at the White Lion Hawkmoons the other day and 'Jewel in the Skull' would require a large purse! The others are fairly cheap though.
I do agree that MMs quality declined in the 90s. I like much of the work from that period, but much of it never made much of an impact on me. I do feel Mike got too hung up on identity politics from that time onward, but his focus seemed to drift the longer he spent out of the UK. He's a good guy though, I loved hosting him for events, heart in the right place.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal I think his heart was in other projects, but people kept begging him for more eternal champion stuff, and he needed the money.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal You're far more fortunate than me Steve. I've only ever met him the once. And that was some years ago now, at the British Library where he shared a platform with Brian Aldiss and Norman Spinrad. Good chap, as you say. Even then though it was clear he had mellowed somewhat from the rather disgruntled figure he cut in the late 80s and 90s where he appeared to harbour disdain both for his own acclaim and the people who gave it to him.
I remember an interview he gave to publicise MOTHER LONDON where he claimed - very churlishly - that the message of his fantasy fiction was that you shouldn't be reading this stuff but something better instead. As someone who had loyally supported and followed his fantasy output up to that point that was hard to hear. Point of fact it was a kick in the teeth.