Authors

Michael Moorcock

Michael John Moorcock (born December 18, 1939) is a prolific British writer and editor. In 1956, aged 16, he became editor of Tarzan Adventures, moving on to edit various commercial magazines for IPC including Sexton Blake Library for which he co-wrote his first published novel, Caribbean Crisis, then Current Topics, the Liberal Party policy magazine. In May 1964 he edited the controversial British SF magazine New Worlds until March 1971 then as New Worlds Quarterly until 1975 and as an irregular magazine from 1976 to 1996, then as consulting editor under David Garnett. He has edited many anthologies. Although he has written in most genres, including a collaboration with Storm Constantine called Silverheart, Moorcock's most popular works have been novels featuring the character Elric of Melniboné. From 1961 Moorcock wrote the first Elric stories as a deliberate reversal of the cliches common to heroic fantasy. Elric themes appear in other stories, including the 'post-modernist adventures' of Jerry Cornelius. His comedies have included The Dancers At The End of Time stories and the Jerry Cornell thrillers. Central to his fantasy novels is an "Eternal Champion" constantly struggling with conventional notions of good and evil and for balance between law and chaos. Since the 1980s, Moorcock tended to write well-reviewed literary novels like Mother London, nominated for Booker and Whitbread prizes, but continued to revisit characters from earlier works, like Elric in The Dreamthief's Daughter or The Skrayling Tree. With the writing of the third and last book in this trilogy, The White Wolf's Son (due 2005), he announced his 'retirement' from writing heroic fantasy, though continuing to write Elric's adventures as graphic novels with his long-time collaborator Walter Simonson. He has recorded two albums and many singles with his own band, The Deep Fix, and appeared as guitarist and background vocalist on various Robert Calvert albums, including Lucky Leif and the Longships. He has worked with the British prog-rock band Hawkwind on many occasions, producing the concept album Warrior on the Edge of Time (1975) and many others, also writing lyrics to three album tracks by the American band Blue Öyster Cult: "Black Blade", referring to Elric's sword Stormbringer, "Veteran Of The Psychic Wars", about the Eternal Champion, and "The Great Sun Jester", about his friend, the poet Bill Butler, who died of a drug overdose. Hawkwind's 'rock opera', Chronicle of the Black Sword, featured Elric. The single "The Brothel in Rosenstrasse" was based on his novel of the same name. Moorcock's Wizardry and Wild Romance, recently revised and published by Monkeybrain Books, famously compares The Lord of the Rings with Winnie the Pooh, and criticises it as 'nursery fiction'. Other non-fiction includes Letters From Hollywood, about working in the movie capital. He has also written a political essay, 'The Retreat from Liberty' and his reviews appear regularly in The Guardian, The Spectator and The London Magazine. He received the BSFA Award in 1966 for his work on New Worlds. Behold the Man won the Nebula award for best novella of 1967. Other novels won August Derleth and British Fantasy awards. He received The Guardian Fiction Prize for the Jerry Cornelius Quartet in 1977. 'Gloriana' won the John W. Campbell Award in 1978 and the World Fantasy Award in 1979. In 2002, he was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. He has received two Lifetime Achievement Awards: The World Fantasy Award in 2000 and the Prix Utopiales, in Nantes, France, in 2004. Books:  Books by Michael Moorcock Official Site:  www.multiverse.org/