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The Age of Chaos: The Multiverse of Michael Moorcock
Cover and interior illustration by Bob Covington. Introduction by Michael Moorcock. An overview of Moorcock's fiction.
115 pages, Leather Bound
First published August 1, 2002
28 people want to read
About the author
Jeff Gardiner
19 books33 followersJeff is a British author author who is also an editor and a supporting artist for TV and film.
'PICA' is the first book in his 'Gaia' fantasy series, followed by 'FALCO' - both from Accent Press. These novels explore the ancient magic of nature in a modern setting.
Jeff also wrote 'IGBOLAND' - a romance set in Nigeria during the Biafran War - and the YA novel, 'MYOPIA', a story about the effects of bullying. These two novels are published by Crooked Cat Books.
'TREADING ON DREAMS' is an ebook about obsession and unrequited love, and Jeff's collection of short stories - 'A GLIMPSE OF THE NUMINOUS' - includes horror, slipstream and humour.
'THE LAW OF CHAOS: The Multiverse of Michael Moorcock', is a work of non-fiction analysing the works of a great British writer.
'PICA' is the first book in his 'Gaia' fantasy series, followed by 'FALCO' - both from Accent Press. These novels explore the ancient magic of nature in a modern setting.
Jeff also wrote 'IGBOLAND' - a romance set in Nigeria during the Biafran War - and the YA novel, 'MYOPIA', a story about the effects of bullying. These two novels are published by Crooked Cat Books.
'TREADING ON DREAMS' is an ebook about obsession and unrequited love, and Jeff's collection of short stories - 'A GLIMPSE OF THE NUMINOUS' - includes horror, slipstream and humour.
'THE LAW OF CHAOS: The Multiverse of Michael Moorcock', is a work of non-fiction analysing the works of a great British writer.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 17, 2016
Here is a link to my FUTURE FIRE review:
http://reviews.futurefire.net/2016/03...
By the by, it's worth checking out FUTURE FIRE's short fiction and book reviews:http://futurefire.net
http://reviews.futurefire.net/2016/03...
By the by, it's worth checking out FUTURE FIRE's short fiction and book reviews:http://futurefire.net
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July 17, 2020Limited to 100 numbered and signed copies. Mine is number 82.
January 26, 2009
This is a well-written overview of Michael Moorcock's complete works, published by the British Fantasy Society with an introduction by Moorcock himself. Moorcock has written hundreds of books, so covering them all in under 120pp is obviously going to leave some underserved. Although the chapters on Moorcock's early and later periods are detailed and fascinating, the heroic fantasy for which he's still best known gets extremely short shrift (quite oddly, given the publisher), being crammed into one nine-page chapter. There's little room for anything more than brief summaries of Elric, Hawkmoon, Corum and the rest. The complete chapter given over to Gloriana, in contrast, seems extremely generous.
Nevertheless, this is an ideal book for anyone looking to get a quick critical grasp on Moorcock. The lack of footnotes may limit its academic usefulness, but a useful reading list is provided. The discussion of Behold the Man leads to a couple of slightly jarring comments (it is apparently "a disturbing expression of Moorcock's mistrust felt towards religious authority" and "Moorcock does not deny the truth of the crucifixion") but is still very illuminating.
It's also a perfect book for someone like me: in my twenties I read everything I could that Moorcock had published up till then; now a new pile of his books has accumulated and I find myself a little daunted. The few hours I spent reading The Age of Chaos have left me primed to have a crack at the pile; recurring themes, characters and in-jokes have been dislodged from my memories and reactivated.
On the other hand, I wonder if this kind of book is what Moorcock's books really need. Of course it's the critic's job to trace the connections between an author's various works, to identify the themes and preoccupations, and Gardiner does an excellent job of that. But these books are already awfully interconnected; they lock together like chainmail. By stressing the connections this book gives an impression of sameiness and repetition; but maybe it's just me, an impression I was left with after reading far too many of them all at once.
After all, reading Gardiner's description of The City in the Autumn Stars, I didn't recognise a thing: my overwhelming memory is of thinking, right, there's Tanelorn, there's Jerry, there's Von Bek, and so on. Gardiner's account has tempted me to re-read it: it's entirely possible that I read it as a fan, looking for the things that fans look out for, rather than paying attention to everything that was new.
Still, I'm probably not alone in thinking Moorcock's books would benefit from being pushed apart a little bit. When I first read most of them they were short, easily digestible books. Then some began to be collected in omnibuses. And then they were all gathered together into a fourteen-volume series of gigantic paperbacks. While I appreciated the value for money, it felt as if they were being drawn closer and closer together, like the stars at the end of the universe. Even an important literary novel of ordinary length like A Cure for Cancer is now only available as part of an omnibus, which is utter madness. These books need to be treated as individuals once again, allowed to each have their own value. Maybe if ebooks take off and economies of scale stop being so all-important, that will happen.
Nevertheless, this is an ideal book for anyone looking to get a quick critical grasp on Moorcock. The lack of footnotes may limit its academic usefulness, but a useful reading list is provided. The discussion of Behold the Man leads to a couple of slightly jarring comments (it is apparently "a disturbing expression of Moorcock's mistrust felt towards religious authority" and "Moorcock does not deny the truth of the crucifixion") but is still very illuminating.
It's also a perfect book for someone like me: in my twenties I read everything I could that Moorcock had published up till then; now a new pile of his books has accumulated and I find myself a little daunted. The few hours I spent reading The Age of Chaos have left me primed to have a crack at the pile; recurring themes, characters and in-jokes have been dislodged from my memories and reactivated.
On the other hand, I wonder if this kind of book is what Moorcock's books really need. Of course it's the critic's job to trace the connections between an author's various works, to identify the themes and preoccupations, and Gardiner does an excellent job of that. But these books are already awfully interconnected; they lock together like chainmail. By stressing the connections this book gives an impression of sameiness and repetition; but maybe it's just me, an impression I was left with after reading far too many of them all at once.
After all, reading Gardiner's description of The City in the Autumn Stars, I didn't recognise a thing: my overwhelming memory is of thinking, right, there's Tanelorn, there's Jerry, there's Von Bek, and so on. Gardiner's account has tempted me to re-read it: it's entirely possible that I read it as a fan, looking for the things that fans look out for, rather than paying attention to everything that was new.
Still, I'm probably not alone in thinking Moorcock's books would benefit from being pushed apart a little bit. When I first read most of them they were short, easily digestible books. Then some began to be collected in omnibuses. And then they were all gathered together into a fourteen-volume series of gigantic paperbacks. While I appreciated the value for money, it felt as if they were being drawn closer and closer together, like the stars at the end of the universe. Even an important literary novel of ordinary length like A Cure for Cancer is now only available as part of an omnibus, which is utter madness. These books need to be treated as individuals once again, allowed to each have their own value. Maybe if ebooks take off and economies of scale stop being so all-important, that will happen.
October 26, 2009
A dreary, plodding little book that did nothing to excite me towards the universe of Michael Moorcock.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews