Authors: Michael Moorcock
These days it can take maybe a month for a first draft of a fantasy, with about two weeks for revision. Until
Byzantium
I rarely did more than one draft.
You describe yourself as an anarchist rather than a Marxist. What does this mean politically? Personally? Artistically?
It’s a philosophical/moral position from which I can easily make quick decisions of pretty much every kind. My anarchism informs my pro-feminism, for instance.
I happen to believe as a writer that words are action and that we have to be able to stand by our actions and accept any consequences of our actions.
Therefore if someone tells me they have been, for example, raped by someone claiming to have been encouraged by my work, I feel I have to examine that work to see if it can’t be changed.
If someone tells me they hate or are dissatisfied by a book of mine, I tend to send them their money back.
I modified the Cornelius books as I went along because too many young men were poncing about thinking it was cool to pose around being “amoral.” Like many writers attracted to SF, I’m intensely moralistic.
What has living in the United States brought to your work as an artist?
A little more understanding of a country which is often baffling to Europeans because they feel it should be a betterversion of Europe—certainly better than the Europe settlers left behind. That it is in several ways a worse version is a bit of a shock to us.
The anti-intellectual tradition and the over-intellectualized tradition are both a bit depressing.
The tendency to live in enclaves concerns me. But the language of the South and Southwest gave me some good music for books like
Blood
.
Do you see anything stirring in contemporary SF outside the English language (United States and England)?
Not really. French SF and Indian SF are at last beginning to establish their own idioms, which is encouraging.
Some would say SF, like rock ‘n’ roll, has aged and is no longer the province of youth. Do you agree? Can this be reversed? Should it be?
It depends on what youth finds in it. I don’t think you can bring the ‘60s/’70s back. I know, however, that if I was sixteen in this world I wouldn’t be looking to SF or contemporary pop music for inspiration.
My first novel
, Wyrldmaker,
was a Moorcock (Corum) imitation. Do I owe you an apology, or him? Or do you owe me one?
You owe me one (for that ‘y’ in world). I loved your second novel, the one about the South. One of my absolute favourites.
Wow. Let’s leave that in. How many projects do you generally have going at once? Is this a plan or lack of same?
Usually one novel or sequence of novels at a time, sometimes two or three (three at the moment). A short story or two. I’m usually writing a feature of some kind—a review, article or “diary” (I do a few a year for English newspapers, primarily the
Guardian
or the
Financial Times
. Maybe a comic, a memoir, an introduction and so on. Usually at least one music project.
Does SF have a future? Or is it just reworking of old tropes? What writers do you see today as more forward-looking, i.e., is there any new ground to break? This is a trick question
.
That depends entirely on the individual whose imagination is sparked by a form. I know one intensely modernist intellectual writer, who used to be part of a well-known Oxford literary crew, who taught himself physics because he felt he should know about such stuff. Who then wrote an excellent and convincing time travel story, which appeared in
Asimov’s
.
SF definitely has a canon, and your works are embedded in it. Is there anyone left out or overlooked that you would add?
I’m not sure. I have read very little SF since, say, 1964. If Harness isn’t in the canon I think he should be.
Delete?
Oh, well. There’s always some you feel are overrated. I’ve never understood the appeal of most “Golden Age” writers. In the end a good stylist will remain included, I’d guess—like Bradbury—while the clunkier writers will slowly disappear. Style tends to last, even when at first rejected (Hammett, Faulkner, Peake, Ballard) by the lit establishment.
Have you ever “taught” (academically) SF as literature?
I have never taught anything directly (oh—I taught my daughters to punch and to shoot!) but editing is a bit like teaching in that you try to find out precisely what the author’s wanting to say and help them say it. But I don’t believe I
can
teach, except by example.
I was asked to write a book on technique a few years ago and said I don’t know any rules for writing. All I could do was tell someone how I’d solved a problem in the hope it would be of some use to them.
If you taught a survey course on SF that covered four novels and five short stories, what would they be?
Bring the Jubilee
, maybe,
The Drowned World, A Canticle for Leibowitz, The Time Machine
. Short stories by Fritz Leiber, Bradbury, Wells, M. J. Harrison’s, Forster …
Any regrets so far?
What about? This interview?
I sometimes wish I hadn’t written quite so many fantasy novels and spent a bit more time on stuff I took more seriously, like
Mother London
.
I let obsession with work affect relationships too much, I think.
The fantasy sequence I’m writing now is about the romantic lure of the exotic and how it can sometimes take your attention away from more important stuff, like politics and people.
NOVELS
The Hungry Dreamers;
lost manuscript—never published
Stormbringer
(1965); restored and revised (1978)
The Sundered Worlds
(1965) a.k.a.
The Blood Red Game
(1970)
The Fireclown
(1965) a.k.a.
The Winds of Limbo
(1969)
Warriors of Mars
(1965) a.k.a.
City of the Beast
(1970); as Edward P. Bradbury
Blades of Mars
(1965) a.k.a.
Lord of the Spiders
(1971); as Edward P. Bradbury
Barbarians of Mars
(1965) a.k.a.
Masters of the Pit
(1971); as Edward P. Bradbury
The Twilight Man
(1965) a.k.a.
The Shores of Death
(1970)
The LSD Dossier
(1966); as Roger Harris
Somewhere in the Night
(1966) revised as
The Chinese Agent
(1970); as Bill Barclay
Printer’s Devil
(1966) revised as
The Russian Intelligence
(1980); as Bill Barclay
The Jewel in the Skull
(1967); revised (1977)
The Wrecks of Time
(1967) (U.S.), censored; a.k.a.
The Rituals of Infinity
(1971) (UK), uncensored
The Mad God’s Amulet
(1969) a.k.a.
Sorcerer’s Amulet
(1968) (U.S. title); revised (1977)
The Sword of the Dawn
(1969); revised (1977)
The Final Programme
(1968); censored in U.S.; revised (1979)
The Runestaff
(1969) a.k.a.
The Secret of the Runestaff
(1969) (U.S. title); revised (1977)
Behold the Man
(1969)
The Black Corridor
(1969); with Hilary Bailey (uncredited)
The Ice Schooner
(1969); revised (1977), (1986)
The Eternal Champion
(1970); revised (1977)
Phoenix in Obsidian
(1970) a.k.a.
The Silver Warriors
(1973) (U.S. title)
A Cure For Cancer
(1971); revised (1979)
The Knight of the Swords
(1971)
The Queen of the Swords
(1971)
The King of the Swords
(1971)
The Warlord of the Air
(1971) (U.S. title); a.k.a.
The War Lord of the Air
(1971); censored in UK, restored in
A Nomad of the Time Steams
(1993)
The Sleeping Sorceress
(1971) a.k.a.
The Vanishing Tower
(1977)
Breakfast in the Ruins
(1971)
The English Assassin
(1972); revised (1979)
An Alien Heat
(1972)
Elric of Melniboné
(1972) a.k.a.
The Dreaming City
(1972) (U.S. title); with unauthorized edits
Count Brass
(1973)
The Bull and the Spear
(1973)
The Champion of Garathorm
(1973)
The Oak and the Ram
(1973)
The Sword and the Stallion
(1974)
The Land Leviathan
(1974)
The Hollow Lands
(1974)
The Quest for Tanelorn
(1975)
The Distant Suns
(1975); as Philip James with James Cawthorn
The Sailor on the Seas of Fate
(1976)
The End of All Songs
(1976)
The Adventures of Una Persson and Catherine Cornelius in the Twentieth Century
(1976)
The Transformation of Miss Mavis Ming
(1977) a.k.a.
A Messiah at the End of Time
(1977) (U.S. title); revised as
Constant Fire
(1993)
The Condition of Muzak
(1977)
Gloriana
(1978); revised (1993)
The Golden Barge
(1979); written 1958
The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle
(1980)
Byzantium Endures
(1981); censored in U.S.
The Entropy Tango
(1981)
The War Hound and the World’s Pain
(1981)
The Steel Tsar
(1981); substantially revised in
A Nomad of the Time Streams
(1993)
The Brothel in Rosenstrasse
(1982)
The Laughter of Carthage
(1984)
The Dragon in the Sword
(1986)
The City in the Autumn Stars
(1986)
Mother London
(1988)
The Fortress of the Pearl
(1989)
The Revenge of the Rose
(1991)
Jerusalem Commands
(1992)
Blood
(1995)
The War Amongst the Angels
(1996)
King of the City
(2000)
Silverheart
(2000); with Storm Constantine
The Dreamthief’s Daughter
(2001)
The Skrayling Tree
(2003)
The White Wolf’s Son
(2005)
The Vengeance of Rome
(2006)
Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles
(2010)
COLLECTIONS & ANTHOLOGIE
S
The Stealer of Souls
(1963)
The Deep Fix
(1966); as James Colvin
The Time Dweller
(1969)
The Singing Citadel
(1970)
The Nature of the Catastrophe
(1971); anthology, stories by Moorcock and others
Legends from the End of Time
(1976)
Moorcock’s Book of Martyrs
(1976) a.k.a.
Dying For Tomorrow
(1976) (U.S. title)
The Lives and Times of Jerry Cornelius
(1976); revised (1987),(2003)
Sojan
(1977)
The Weird of the White Wolf
(1977); formerly
The Singing Citadel/The Stealer of Souls
The Bane of the Black Sword
(1977); formerly
The Stealer of Souls/The Singing Citadel
My Experiences in the Third World War
(1980)
Elric at the End of Time
(1984)
The Opium General and Other Stories
(1984)
Casablanca
(1989)
The New Nature of the Catastrophe
(1993); anthology, stories by Moorcock and others (revised from 1971)
Fabulous Harbours
(1995) a.k.a.
Fabulous Harbors
(1995) (U.S. title)
Lunching with the Antichrist
(1995)
Tales from the Texas Woods
(1997)
London Bone
(2001)
The Metatemporal Detective
(2007)
Elric: The Stealer of Souls
(2008)
Elric: To Rescue Tanelorn
(2008)
Elric: The Sleeping Sorceress
(2008)
Elric: Duke Elric
(2009)
The Best of Michael Moorcock
(2009)
Elric: In the Dream Realms
(2009)
Elric: Swords and Roses
(2010)
Modem Times 2.0
(2011)
DIGESTS, PAMPHLETS, AND NOVELLAS
Caribbean Crisis
(1962); digest, as Desmond Reid with James Cawthorn (text rewritten by publisher)
The Jade Man’s Eyes
(1973); novella, revised in
The Sailor on the Seas of Fate
(1976)
Epic Pooh
(1978); pamphlet, nonfiction, reprinted in
Wizardry and Wild Romance
(1987)
The Real Life Mr. Newman
(1979); pamphlet, originally published in
The Deep Fix
(1966)
The Retreat from Liberty
(1983); pamphlet, non-fiction
Elric at the End of Time
(1987); illustrated novella, with Rodney Matthews
The Birds of the Moon
(1995); pamphlet, reprinted in
Fabulous Harbours
(1995)
Behold the Man: The Thirtieth Anniversary Edition
(1996);novella, originally published in
New Worlds #166
(1966)
Firing the Cathedral
(2002); novella, reprinted in
The Lives and Times of Jerry Cornelius
(2003)
The Mystery of the Texas Twister
(2004); novella, published with
Argosy #1
, reprinted in
The Metatemporal Detective
(2007)
NONFICTION BOOKS
Letters from Hollywood
(1986)
Wizardry and Wild Romance
(1987); revised (2004)
Fantasy - The 100 Best Books
(1988); with James Cawthorn
Death Is No Obstacle
(1992); with Colin Greenland
Into the Media Web
(2010); selected nonfiction, 1956–2006
London Peculiar and Other Nonfiction
(2012)
GRAPHIC STORIES AND ILLUSTRATED BOOKS
The Adventures of Jerry Cornelius: The English Assassin
(1969–70); with M. John Harrison, Mal Dean, and Richard Glyn Jones, in
International Times #57–71
“A Sword Called Stormbringer”
(1972); with James Cawthorn, Roy Thomas, and Barry Windsor Smith, in
Conan the Barbarian #14
“The Green Empress of Melniboné”
(1972); with JamesCawthorn, Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor Smith, in
Conan the Barbarian #15
Elric: The Return to Melniboné
(1973); with Philippe Druillet
The Swords of Heaven, the Flowers of Hell
(1979); with Howard Chaykin
Michael Moorcock’s Multiverse
(1999); with Walter Simonson, Mark Reeves, and John Ridgeway
“Blitz Kid”
(2002); with Walter Simonson, in
9–11: The World’s Finest Comic Book Writers and Artists Tell Stories To Remember, Volume 2
“The Black Blade of the Barbary Coast”
(2005), with Jerry Ordway, in
Tom Strong #31–32
Elric: The Making of a Sorcerer
(2006); with Walter Simonson
The Sunday Books
(2010); words by Moorcock, pictures by Mervyn Peake (published in French)
SELECTED OMNIBUSES
Tales from the End of Time
(1976) (U.S. omnibus)
The Elric Saga, Part I
(1977) (U.S. omnibus)
The Elric Saga, Part II
(1977) (U.S. omnibus)
The Cornelius Chronicles
(1977) (U.S. omnibus) as twovolumes in the UK:
The Cornelius Chronicles Book One & The Cornelius Chronicles Book Two
(1987) a.k.a.
The Cornelius Quartet
(1993)
The Swords Trilogy
(1977) (U.S. title) a.k.a.
The Swords of Corum
(1986) (UK title) a.k.a.
Corum
(1992) (UK title) a.k.a.
Corum: The Coming of Chaos
(1997) (U.S. title) a.k.a.
Corum: The Prince in the Scarlet Robe
(2002) (UK title)
The Chronicles of Corum
(1978) a.k.a.
The Prince with the Silver Hand
(1993) a.k.a.
Corum: The Prince with the Silver Hand
(1999) (U.S. title)
The History of the Runestaff
(1979) (UK omnibus) a.k.a.
Hawkmoon;
revised (1993)
The Dancers at the End of Time
(1981)
Warrior of Mars
(1981) (UK title) a.k.a.
Kane of Old Mars
(1998) (U.S. title)
The Nomad of Time
(1982) a.k.a.
A Nomad of the Time Streams;
revised (1993)
The Chronicles of Castle Brass
(1985) (UK omnibus) a.k.a.
Count
Brass;
revised (1993)
The Cornelius Chronicles, Vol. II
(1986) (U.S. omnibus)
The Cornelius Chronicles, Vol. III
(1987) (U.S. omnibus)
Von Bek
(1992)
The Eternal Champion
(1992)
Sailing to Utopia
(1993)
Elric of Melniboné
(1993) (UK title) a.k.a.
Elric: Song of the Black Sword
(1995) (U.S. title)
Legends from the End of Time
(1993)
Stormbringer
(1993) (UK title) a.k.a.
Elric: The Stealer of Souls
(1998) (U.S. title)
Earl Aubec
(1993) (UK title) a.k.a.
Earl Aubec and Other Stories
(1999) (U.S. title)
A Cornelius Calendar
(1993) (UK omnibus)
Behold the Man and Other Stories
(1994) (UK omnibus)
The Roads Between the Worlds
(1996) (U.S. omnibus)
Elric
(2001)
The Elric Saga, Part III
(2002) (U.S. omnibus)
Jerry Cornell’s Comic Capers
(2005)
The Elric Saga, Part IV
(2005) (U.S. omnibus)
EDITED ANTHOLOGIES
The Best of New Worlds
(1965)
Best SF Stories from New Worlds
(1967)
Best Stories from New Worlds II
(1968)
Best SF Stories from New Worlds 3
(1968)
The Traps of Time
(1968)
Best SF Stories from New Worlds 4
(1969)
Best SF Stories from New Worlds 5
(1969)
The Inner Landscape
(1969) (uncredited)
Best SF Stories from New Worlds 6
(1970)
Best SF Stories from New Worlds 7
(1971)
Best SF Stories from New Worlds 8
(1974)
Before Armageddon
(1975)
England Invaded
(1977)
New Worlds: An Anthology
(1983, revised 2004)