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Gloriana

3.56 of 5 stars 3.56 · rating details · 886 ratings · 47 reviews

A fable satirizing Spenser's "The Fairie Queen" and reflecting the real life of Elizabeth I, tells of a woman who ascends to the throne upon the death of her debauched and corrupted father, King Hern. Gloriana's reign brings the Empire of Albion into a Golden Age, but her oppressive responsibilities choke her, prohibiting any form of sexual satisfaction, no matter what fet...more

Paperback, 496 pages

Published August 1st 2004 by Aspect (first published 1978)

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Jan 06, 2012 Dan Schwent rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: moorcock, steampunk, plan-on-rereading-one-day

Queen Gloriana rules Albion, an alternate reality British Empire, with the help of her Chancellor, Montfallcon, and his dirty deeds in the name of the throne. Gloriana, as the title indicates, gets no release from sex and grows increasingly distraut. Montfallcon's main henchman, Quire, doesn't like how he's being treated and finds a new patron. His goal: the toppling of Albion...

Like a lot of people, the first thing that drew me to Michael Moorcock was the Elric saga. In my old age, the Moorcock...more

24 likes · like · see review

Aug 16, 2007 Keely rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, novel, reviewed, uk-and-ireland

Moorcock has posited himself as the rebel of fantasy, sapping the high walls built by Howard and Tolkien. He is a well-spoken and thoughtful critic of the complete lack of romance in either of these would-be romances, but the love in Gloriana's court is anything but courtly.

There is a delightful Quentin Crisp quote about how innovation is not 'seeing your neighbor to the left has a straight walk and your neighbor to the right a curved and thence making your own diagonal', suffice it to say that...more

8 likes · like · see review

Jan 02, 2009 Adam rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Fans of Peake,Spenser, and Shakespeare

Shelves: literature-fantastique, black-comedy

Another flamboyant cast of decadents from Moorcock. A tribute to Peake’s Titus Groan and tribute/critique of Spenser’s Faerie Queene, this is more of reworking of assumptions and symbols that the myth of the British Empire rests on then an alternative history(though it’s a good one). A fantasy construct, not hinging on an adventure or a quest, filled with madness, political intrigue, travelers from other realms, automatons. Doctor Dee, court rituals, court poetry, and lots of sex. Captain Arctur...more

5 likes · like · see review

Mar 23, 2008 Tim Pendry rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone

Shelves: alternative-histories, five-star

A book that shows that Moorcock can really write and think.

This Gothic Elizabethan fantasy shows an alternate world (in which Moorcock specialises) which clearly, consciously or not in his successors' cases, is part of the same fantasy complexes of Philip Pullman, Neil Gaiman and the American Tim Powers. This is not steam-punk perhaps but sail-punk.

Hidden within the folds of the story (and Moorcock folds his stories in time and space like the folds of a rose) are some serious ruminations on po...more

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May 15, 2013 Neale rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction-and-fantasy

‘Gloriana’ is Michael Moorcock’s tribute to the incomparable Mervyn Peake. The young Moorcock was a great admirer of Peake’s work when it was little known, became a friend in his tragic last illness and assisted in the publication of ‘Titus Alone’.

Structurally, Moorcock’s book has many similarities to the Gormenghast books: the sprawling castle with its worlds-within-worlds, the large and quirky cast of fancifully named characters, the elaborate and ceremonial descriptions – although it is all...more

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Apr 05, 2013 Cams rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: the-motley-fool-book-club

Well, finally I've got to the end of Gloriana, the now fulfill'd Queen.

I've read through the reviews already posted and agree with much of what has been said, but I'll start my review by saying that I really enjoyed it.

I'll also point out from the outset that I have read Gormenghast but that my memory retention is so bad that my reading of that didn't really affect my enjoyment of Gloriana.

There was something about the book that I can't put my finger on, but shall nevertheless try.

The whole no...more

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Nov 21, 2012 Smcleish rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: owned

Originally published on my blog here in June 2001.

Gloriana marks something of a new departure for Moorcock. It is more removed from the swqord-and-sorcery epics which were the inspiration for (say) the Runestaff series and is a longer novel not part of a series. It shows clear traces of its influences, but these are in the most part more literary than before.

It is possible that one of the immediate influences on Moorcock was Queen ELizabeth's Silver Jubilee, but I find it difficult to see him be...more Originally published on my blog here in June 2001.

Gloriana marks something of a new departure for Moorcock. It is more removed from the swqord-and-sorcery epics which were the inspiration for (say) the Runestaff series and is a longer novel not part of a series. It shows clear traces of its influences, but these are in the most part more literary than before.

It is possible that one of the immediate influences on Moorcock was Queen ELizabeth's Silver Jubilee, but I find it difficult to see him being inspired by this. The novel is set in an alternated England, ruled by Gloriana, who is clearly based on the myth of Elizabeth I, if a little more advanced in technology. When she inherited the throne of the Empire of Albion from her tyrannical father, her benevolent rule brought a golden age of peace and tranquility. She remains unfulfilled privately - not the Virgin Queen (sexual promiscuity is the rule here, as in much seventies literature), but unable to experience orgasm - and this makes her unhappy.

Onto this scene arrives the disreputable Captain Quire, a one-time spy, formerly employed by Gloriana's Chancellor, Lord Montfallcon. He runs a campaign to destabilise the Court for the benefit of his new employers, the Arabians, but then begins a love affair with the Queen of his own accord. The novel is about how he affects Gloriana, and how his intrigues undermine the Golden Age which seems more and more a superficial cloak over the vicious terror of the previous reign.

The two very obvious literary influences on Gloriana are Spenser's The Faerie Queene and other Elizabethan allegorical poetry; and Peake's Titus Groan and Gormenghast. The first is more superficial in its relationship to the novel; Gloriana is not an epic poem nor is it a consistent allegory as far as I can see. (It does contain poetry, mainly from court occasions and written in a style rather like Dryden's.) From this source come the names Gloriana and Albion, and that is about all; the mythologised ideas we tend to have about the Elizabethan court are more important.

The Gormenghast connection is more profound. (The novel is dedicated to Peake's memory.) The most obvious parallel is between Gloriana's palace and the castle in Peake's novel; both have the same huge complexity (a fair amount of the action of both takes place in hidden passages in the walls and lost, forgotten rooms). There are also links between the characters; Gloriana is in part Fuschia, Quire (in larger part) Steerpike. Then there is the ceremonial; Gloriana is full of descriptions of masques. There are also, however, important differences between the imagined worlds of the two authors. There is an empty purposelessness about Gormenghast's rituals, reduced as they are to conformance to the letter with ancient texts; Albion has a purpose (replacing tyranny with peace) which is the reason for the crowd-pleasing masques. The subtext is not Chinese Imperial but Spenserian allegorical.

There are also, as usual in Moorcock's novels, cross references to his other works. These include names shared (Wheldrake, Pyat, Una, Li Pao), characters shared with different names (Tallow) and names of gods used as oaths (Arioch, Xiombarg). These connections are more superficial than usual, and Gloriana is much freer than earlier novels from Moorcock's ideas about the Eternal Champion. In fact, it is quite different, and displays a more original kind of imagination, making it a most interesting read.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Apr 04, 2011 ♆ BookAddict ~ La Crimson Femme rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Scifi fans

Recommended to ♆ BookAddict by: Senior High School AP Lit Teacher

Shelves: sci-fi, erotica

This was the first rather deviant science fiction book I'd read as a MINOR. My AP lit teacher senior year gave those of us who survived four years of "enriched" English a gift. Only 15 of us made it through to her class. She wasn't kidding when we started as freshmen and she told us to look left, right, front and back. Only one of us would remain and qualify to see her again senior year.

As a gift for making it through, she gave us each a book she felt best represented us. She gave me this book....more

4 likes · like · see review

Apr 15, 2012 Michelle rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dtb-own, fantasy, alternate_history, grand_masters, award_winner

in a far more lush and gothic olde england, a decidedly NOT virgin queen rules over a golden age of expansion, exploration, and harmony. a secret population of those who have slipped into disfavor or diminished in fame live in between the walls of her sprawling palace. her gorgeous reign of peace and prosperity is built upon the blood and misery of her unlamented insane father. she keeps a seraglio of willing creatures of every sort because she loves them too much to ever turn anyone out of her...more

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Apr 02, 2012 Wayne rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I well and truly enjoyed Moorcock's romance, a phrase to be relished when read aloud or quietly alone, the book as is, brimming with court intrigue and the fates, various and imaginative, of dreamers, louts and connivers. My head is nagged, even so; haunted. What this story could have been palimpsests the one that is, built like Gloriana's palaces new upon old. The old galleries and halls of her father's violent regime are a hidden, dust-darkened skeleton underlying the golden skin stretched ove...more

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Sep 17, 2012 Simon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, fantasy-masterworks, 2012-wwe-grand-master

Michael Moorcock is well known for having strong views on what type of fantasy he likes and what he doesn't. For instance, he doesn't like Tolkien but does like Peake, to whose memory he dedicated this book. It's a long time since I read the Gormenghast trilogy but there are some obvious parallels although I didn't dwell on these; I wanted it to stand up as a story in it's own right. And it certainly did.

The events of this story take place in some kind of alternative version of our history at wh...more

1 like · like · see review

Jul 27, 2011 Jayne Lamb rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this becuase my husband's a devoted Moorcock fan (they're on first name terms- isn't this internet thing amazing?) I'll diplomatically say it's just not my cup of tea - there are just too many lists of fabrics, metals, walls that makes the prose unwieldy. I did love the fact that the most powerful character was a woman - exaggerated, but still human and I can't actively dislike a book that concludes that a really good orgasm is good for queen and country. So much SF/ fantasy (especially b...more

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Oct 22, 2012 Shweta rated it 5 of 5 stars

I read it when I was pregnant, with my parents' dog at my feet. I read it in one go, in one day.

It is engrossing, funny, rich, and intriguing. The multiverse, the plot, the characters, the poetry, the culture and the worlds within the walls are really something.

My edition is the one with the original ending. Apparently Moorcock changed the rather controversial original ending but (dare I say it without getting heckled?), the original ending is very enticing.

And I love Una of Scaith. I also li...more

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Dec 08, 2011 Isabel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this for a book club, but it's the kind of book I like anyway.

Moorcock dedicated this book to the memory of Mervyn Peake, and it is indeed very Ghormanghastly. The huge palace with its complex of interlinked buildings and roofed-in alleyways, hidden rooms and secret passages behind the walls is a perfect setting for a tale of courtly intrigue, spying and seduction. I was glad to find that it has a straight-forward narrative, unlike some of his other books such as the Jerry Cornelius nove...more

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Feb 20, 2011 Lani rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: historicalfiction, fantasy, kindle, chicklit

I slogged through the first half of this book with little interest. There was so much exposition with so little action, and characters were piled on. An interesting setting - within the walls of the palace - was introduced, but it didn't really go anywhere.

Finally, almost two-thirds of the way through, plots started to thicken, irrelevant characters started to show up, THINGS HAPPENED.

So the book went from a total loss to a 'meh'. Looking back on the book, I'm mostly disappointed by what could h...more I slogged through the first half of this book with little interest. There was so much exposition with so little action, and characters were piled on. An interesting setting - within the walls of the palace - was introduced, but it didn't really go anywhere.

Finally, almost two-thirds of the way through, plots started to thicken, irrelevant characters started to show up, THINGS HAPPENED.

So the book went from a total loss to a 'meh'. Looking back on the book, I'm mostly disappointed by what could have been. The idea of a subterranean between the walls second city is awesome, but is merely used as a plot device, barely explored. A cave of a seraglio, treated the same. A mad woman with ties to the story that come up in the last 20 pages? Wasted. A denizen of the hidden city who observes everything and has a cute cat for a sidekick? I want a whole book about him! Two minor chracters betrayed, corrupted, and then some betrayal of their own. But again, mere plot devices that enter and exit as needed with little exposition.

Ultimately I found myself interested in the world that wasn't addressed by this book. The court intrigue and the queen were boring. The climax (haha) of the book that tied everything together was practically independent of the rest of the story. It felt tacked on and rushed.

My edition (the Kindle) had an afterword by Moorcock describing his influences and nods to classic literature. Maybe if I had read those books I would've seen the subtle satire he is apparently working with. His afterword also addresses the last chapter and its rape scene that was later rewritten. I found it interesting that this edition included both endings but kept the original (offensive) while adding the rewrite as an appendix. Odd. I did find the original rather obnoxious, but found the rewrite just as condescending in its own way.

I know this is something of a modern classic, but the descriptions of it set the stage for a much more exciting book than it really is. It's a clever idea with potential for sexy, opulent writing about grimy underworld characters mixing with the strait-laced and proper court with a dark streak. But it falls pathetically flat with long-winded writing and little action for 200 pages.(less)

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May 30, 2011 Phil rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

This is an incredibly lush story about an idealized England. Albion has emerged from tyranny and into a Golden Age, brought about by its perfect queen, the titular Gloriana. As with most empires, there's corruption behind the scenes, however: the queen's advisor, Montfalcon, breaks quite a few eggs making the omelets necessary to keep Albion running while protecting her from his scheming. A careless mistake leads to hurt feelings and a growing sense of enmity that threatens to topple the whole k...more

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Jul 05, 2008 Kathryn rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, sci-fi-fantasy, fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Mar 07, 2009 James rated it 3 of 5 stars

This has what we could call *highly problematic* sexual themes. The conceit is that an alternate fantasy Queen Elizabeth runs a world-spanning and semi-Utopian Empire, and has only one problem -- she can't find sexual satisfaction. Well, it's Mr. Moorcock, and he wrote it in the 70s, so what can you do. Worth reading, but incoherent, and with a pretty appalling ending, even given the conceit.

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Dec 09, 2012 DavidO rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: couldn-t-finish

The idea behind this book is good, but the prose is sadly lacking. Michael Moorcock was apparently short a lot of words while writing this, so to make up space he tended to make long lists of things, such as every kind of inhabitant of the city. The parts that weren't eye-numbingly boring were at best mediocre, and I saw no reason to continue reading after 2 exceedingly boring chapters.

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Apr 20, 2009 Ron rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: high-fantasy

In the original edition of this novel, the rape of Gloriana is excised or at least only implied. In this edition the climactic rape is included, with a long explanation from Moorcock of why it was at first left out. Neither editorial decision seems to me a good one. I don't think Moorcock has a really good handle on what he's satirizing here and I think it leaves the book muddled.

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Jan 06, 2009 Munz rated it 5 of 5 stars

This a bit out of the ordinary for Moorcock. No Black Blades or dammed albino warrior kings here. This is an alternate universe story set in an Elizabethan type world. Not his best known work but maybe his best written. I love the Elric books but this goes above and beyond. Highly recomended.

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Dec 09, 2009 Chris rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ick-attack, historical-fiction-tudors, fantasy-historical, dnf

I have tried reading this blasted book three times. I know it's me. Moorcock does a wonderful job of creating an alternate England. But, for me, something is missing. I'm not sure. Maybe its the whole take on Elizabeth. I don't know. Moorcock does write an excellent Dr. Dee, however.

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May 26, 2013 Shannon Appelcline rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

I can understand why some people think this is a great book. It's a marvelous creation, filled with colorful characters, and evoking a certain mood. But, I've read it twice now, and both times my overwhelming emotion as I read was boredom.

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Feb 10, 2010 Glenda rated it 4 of 5 stars

I started this book a few years ago, when a was on a complete Moorcock kick, but couldn't get into it. This time around, I smashed it.
In usual Moorcock fashion, Gloriana is a fun fantasy romp with a lot of philosophy behind it.

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Nov 11, 2011 Steve rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Keith

Shelves: fantasy, alternate-reality

Very well done. The standard palace intrigue/empire themes from a Moorcock perspective.

Albion, the western empire, is at the peak of a cycle, a golden age. Gloriana, the beloved queen with a fatal flaw only Moorcock could imagine, is at a critical phase of reign. The story follows an inevitable progression of events at a turning point. There are many hints of classic Moorcock philosophy; travel between the planes, debauchery of a stagnant ruling elite, etc., however the plot mainly stays true to...more

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Oct 28, 2008 Karina marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: own, fantasy

When I read the name of the first chapter ("The First Chapter: In Which Is Presented the Palace of Queen Gloriana Together with a Description of Some of Its Denizens and a Brief Account of Certain Activities Taking Place in the City of London on New Year's Eve Ending the Twelfth Year of Gloriana's Rule"), I thought it was a great joke. I soon realized however that the author actually really is using that old writing style with humongous ass sentences of description that just go on and on and on,...more

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Jun 26, 2011 John Montagne rated it 2 of 5 stars

It is the one book by MM that I really had a hard time enjoying... but I'm not one for romances and perhaps I kept seeking Elric-ish or Corum-ish elements.

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Jul 11, 2011 Lily Bart rated it 4 of 5 stars

Plenty of girl-girl action, and you can't argue with a beautiful queen who can't get enough sex. Gloriana is a genuinely nice person. I liked her. The Queen of Albion and her best friend Countess Una are such a cute couple that they really should have had their own book.

On the other hand, the hero of this book, Captain Quire, is a real jerk. He's not evil in a cool way, just in a really slimy and sneaky way. If you like books where mean, creepy older men seduce young boys, and ruin their lives,...more

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Oct 09, 2012 Georgi Atanasov rated it 4 of 5 stars

Gloriana was one of the more difficult books that I have taken on when I first started reading in English.

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Aug 27, 2012 Charles Thorland rated it 1 of 5 stars

Embarrassing, perhaps the author's worst.

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About Michael Moorcock

Michael John Moorcock is an English writer primarily of science fiction and fantasy who has also published a number of literary novels.
Moorcock has mentioned The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Apple Cart by George Bernard Shaw and The Constable of St. Nicholas by Edward Lester Arnold as the first three books which captured his imagination. He became editor of Tarzan Adventures in 1956,...more

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Quotes from Gloriana

“She yawned. If the Lords of Entropy were to manifest themselves on Earth again as they had in the legendary past she felt she might welcome them as a relief, at least, to her boredom. Not, of course, that she believed in those terrible prehistoric fables, though sometimes she could not help wishing that they had really existed and that she had lived in them, for they must surely have been more colourful and stimulating than this present age, where dull Reason drove bright Romance away: granite scattering mercury.” — 3 people liked it

“Unsettled by the sudden appearance of Captain Quire within her court, Gloriana resolved to forego all frivolous entertainments and shun the more unnecessary pleasures. Yet, the queen reasoned, this surely did not apply to healthful exercise, such as riding in the royal park. Nor could she refuse to spend the remainder of the afternoon in quiet seclusion, lying face down upon a cushioned bench in her private dressing room while gentle Lady Mary rubbed all the soreness from her muscles. Such occupations were safe, and harmless. It was only afterwards, when she was sleeping deeply, that Captain Quire came to her in a dream.” — 1 person liked it

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