Elric of Melnibone books.

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

Let me just say that I love the Fantasy Genre, I love them in all shapes and sizes if they appeal to me from the Epic High Fantasy of Warcraft to the more down to earth Realistic Fantasy of Game of Thrones.

But I have never been properly introduced to what is considered the greatest Fantasy writer and work after Tolkien. Michael Moorcock and his Elric of Melnibone books.

This guy is appearently so influential that alot of his works became refernced and has standardized alot of tropes of the fantasy genre.

So are they worth a read, and I like some summery introduction to the world of the Elric of Melnibone books.

 

[Ogoid]

It's been a while, but as I recall I read up to the fourth book in the series, going by its internal chronology [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elric_of_Melnibon%C3%A9#Internal_Chronology] (as opposed to the order they were published in). I remember finding them quite enjoyable, if perhaps not quite as amazing as some seem to regard them.

If memory serves I started with the 1972 novel, Elric of Melnibone - it's basically his "origin story", so I think it's a good place to jump in.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

It's been a while, but as I recall I read up to the fourth book in the series, going by its internal chronology [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elric_of_Melnibon%C3%A9#Internal_Chronology] (as opposed to the order they were published in). I remember finding them quite enjoyable, if perhaps not quite as amazing as some seem to regard them.

If memory serves I started with the 1972 novel, Elric of Melnibone - it's basically his "origin story", so I think it's a good place to jump in.

This is a finshed series right I have not seen any indication that it is or it is not.

And Michael Moorcock is still alive.

 

[Sixcess]

I'd go with this order :

Elric of Melnibone
The Sailor on the Seas of Fate
The Weird of the White Wolf
The Vanishing Tower
The Bane of the Black Sword
Stormbringer

then

The Fortress of the Pearl
The Revenge of the Rose

and

Elric at the End of Time if you're feeling completist (it's fun, but it's also half in-joke and half self-parody.)

On reflection, you could potentially start with The Revenge of the Rose, despite it being the last of the stories to be published, due to it being more sophisticated in writing style than the much pulpier original stories from the 1970s.

(The same can be said of The Fortress of the Pearl, though I wouldn't recommend that novel as a starting point as it is particularly uncharacteristic of the series as a whole.)

I adore Moorcock, so yes I'd unreservedly recommend the Elric novels, and Moorcock's other works like The History of the Runestaff. How well a lot of it reads nowadays I can't say, but if you enjoy old school pulp fantasy then you'll likely enjoy Moorcock.

 

[Ogoid]

This is a finshed series right I have not seen any indication that it is or it is not.

And Michael Moorcock is still alive.

Well, like I said, it's been a while, and I didn't read the whole thing; from what I remember, while the books all follow the same chronology and continuity, each one is a more or less self-contained story.

As I understand, Moorcock is still alive, but hasn't written an Elric novel since 2005's The White Wolf's Son. I wouldn't know if that one's the ending to the saga, though.