"He is the master storyteller of our time."-Angela Carter
Michael Moorcock: Legendary author of the Elric saga, Science Fiction Grand Master, platinum album-receiving rock star, and controversial editor of the new wave fiction movement's New Worlds. In this definitive collection, discover the incomparable stories of one of our most important contemporary writers.
These exceptional stories range effortlessly from the genre tales that continue to define fantasy to the author's critically acclaimed mainstream works. Classic offerings include the Nebula Award-winning novella "Behold the Man," which introduces a time traveler and unlikely messiah that H.G. Wells never imagined; "The Visible Men," a recent tale of the ambiguous and androgynous secret agent Jerry Cornelius; the trilogy "My Experiences in the Third World War," where a Russian agent in an alternate Cambodia is powerless to prevent an inevitable march toward nuclear disaster; and "A Portrait in Ivory," a Melibone story of troubled anti-hero Elric and his soul-stealing sword, Stormbringer. Newer work handpicked by an expert editing team includes one previously unpublished story and three uncollected stories.
From the legendary author of the Elric sagas, this definitive collection captures the incomparable short fiction of one of science fiction and literature's most important contemporary writers. These exceptional stories range effortlessly from the genre tales that continue to define heroic fantasy to the author's critically acclaimed mainstream works. Classic offerings include "The Visible Men," the trilogy "My Experiences in the Third World War," "A Portrait in Ivory," and the Nebula award-winning novella "Behold the Man." With all of his finest stories finally collected in one volume, this is a long-overdue tribute to an extraordinarily gifted, versatile, and much-beloved author.
Praise for The Best of Michael Moorcock"The 17 stories in this collection demonstrate the breadth of scope and the excellence in storytelling of SF Grand Master and multigenre author Moorcock . . . Moorcock crosses genres, bends boundaries, and breaks rules as only a master storyteller can."
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Library Journal"Moorcock is a throwback to such outsized 19th-century novelistic talents as Dickens and Tolstoy."
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Locus"[Moorcock] introduced me to the ridiculously powerful things that happen when you put a sophisticated, contemporary literary vocabulary at the service of a blackly grim high-fantasy imagination. A giant of the genre in every possible sense."
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TIME Magazine"It is all quintessential Moorcock-a wild, fascinating batch of stories fairly balancing the fantastic and the nearly ordinary, and showcasing Moorcock's talent very well, thank you."
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Booklist"A handy, one-volume collection that serves as a superb introduction to the boundless imagination of this unique and fascinating author."
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Bookgasm"I enjoyed every story here. This collection is a true pleasure to read."
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The Book Lover's Boudoir"Something for everyone to love . . . This collection illustrates the breadth of Moorcock's talent. A long-overdue retrospective."
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The Guardian"A concise compendium of unrelenting quality."
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FoundationPraise for Michael Moorcock"The greatest writer of post-Tolkien British fantasy."
-Michael Chabon
"Moorcock's writing is intricate, fabulous, and mellifluous."
-Walter Mosley
"Moorcock weaves history, myth, and alternate realities into a seamless whole."
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Publishers Weekly"He is a giant. If you are at all interested in fantastic fiction, you
must read Michael Moorcock."
-Tad Williams
"A major novelist of enormous ambition."
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Washington Post"He is the master storyteller of our time."
-Angela Carter
"The 20th century's central fantasist."
-John Clute
"No one at the moment in England is doing more to break down the artificial divisions that have grown up in novel writing-realism, surrealism, science fiction, historical fiction, social satire, the poetic novel-than Michael Moorcock."
-Angus Wilson
"Michael Moorcock is one of the secret architects of 21st-century pop culture."
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Goodreads"Moorcock is the wielder of the wandlike pen."
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SCI FI WirePraise for Elric: Stealer of Souls"The spells that first drew me and all the numerous admirers of his work with whom I am acquainted into Moorcock's luminous and captivating web."
-Alan Moore, creator of
Watchmen and
V for Vendetta