Personal Life
Michael John Moorcock was born in Mitcham, Surrey England in 1939. He started his career in 1956 as a teenager when he began selling short stories to the British pulps. In 1964 he took over as editor the long running science fiction magazine New Worlds, where he quickly steered away from traditional science fiction gadget stories towards more literary and experimental fare. Moorcock published some of the first experimental fiction by J.G. Ballard, Thomas Disch, Brian Aldiss, and many more, turning New Worlds into the avant-garde of science fiction and setting new standards for the genre.
Moorcock's most famous creation, Elric started in 1961 with The Dreaming City. Over the years he has developed many more memorable characters: Dorian Hawkmoon, Jerry Cornelius, Corum, and the Von Beck family. All of his stories are woven together through his "multiverse" concept, and the main characters are all aspects of his Eternal Champion who fights to maintain the balance between chaos and order.
Comics Work
Moorcock has written many original stories, starting in 1956 when he was hired to provide the text to the reprints of Hal Foster's Tarzan Strips for the British boys' magazine, Tarzan Adventures. The English plates were destroyed during The London Blitz and Moorcock was hired to translate the Spanish language plates. Moorcock spoke not a word of Spanish so he just wrote whatever seemed to fit and it worked for several years. From 1958 to 1965 Moorcock wrote for Fleetway and other comics publishers, turning in thousands of pages for The Life of Alexander, Kit Carson, Billy The Kid, Robin Hood, Zip Nolan, Bible Story Weekly, Highway Patrol, Buck Jones, Karl The Viking, Sexton Blake Library, and Dogfight Dixon RFC which he co-created.
Original Stories
1972 Conan The Barbarian #14-15 (From a plot by Moorcock)
1977 Heavy Metal Magazine #197909
1977 Heavy Metal Magazine #197911
1977 Heavy Metal Magazine #198211 (Interview with Moorcock)
1979 The Swords of Heaven, the Flowers of Hell (from a plot by Moorcock)
1995 Weird Business (comics anthology containing a new Moorcock Elric story)
1997-1998 Michael Moorcock's Multiverse #1-12
2004-2006 Michael Moorcock's Elric: The Making of a Sorcerer #1-4
2005 Tom Strong #31 and #32
Adaptations
1973 Elric: The Fall of the Dreaming City (based on characters created by Moorcock)
1978 The Jewel In the Skull (adapts The Jewel In the Skull)
1983-1984 Elric (adapts Elric of Melnibone)
1985-1986 Elric The Sailor on the Seas of Fate #1-7 (adapts Elric: The Sailor on the Seas of Fate)
1986 Hawkmoon The Jewel In the Skull #1-4 (adapts The Jewel In the Skull)
1986-1987 Elric The Weird of the White Wolf #1-5 (adapts Elric: The Weird of the White Wolf)
1987 Hawkmoon The Mad God's Amulet #1-4 (adapts The Mad God's Amulet)
1987-1988 Elric The Vanishing Tower #1-6 (adapts Elric: The Vanishing Tower)
1987-1988 The Chronicles Of Corum #1-12 (adapts The Knight of Swords, The Queen of Swords, and The King of Swords)
1987-1988 Hawkmoon The Sword of the Dawn #1-4 (adapts The Sword of the Dawn)
1988 Hawkmoon The Runestaff #1-4 (adapts The Runestaff)
1988-1989 Elric The Bane of the Black Sword #1-6 (adapts Elric: The Bane of the Black Sword)
1989 Corum The Bull and the Spear #1-4 (adapts Corum: The Bull and the Spear)
1989-1990 The Saga of the Man-Elf #1-5 (based on characters and concepts created by Moorcock)
1997 Elric Stormbringer #1-7 (adapts Stormbringer)
2011-2012 Elric the Balance Lost #0-12 (original story based on concepts and characters created by Moorcock)
2014-2015 Elric #1-2 (adaptations of The Ruby Throne and Stormbringer)
Other Media
Novels
Due to the fact that Moorcock constantly rewrites his older work, the preferred text for any of his novels is nearly always the most recent printing. Most of his shorter novels and novellas have been reissued in omnibus form which I have noted, and for ease of perusal, I have grouped his novels by major character rather than chronologically.
Between The Wars
1981 Byzantium Endures
1984 The Laughter Of Carthage
1992 Jerusalem Commands
2006 The Vengeance Of Rome
Corum
The Swords Of Corum
- 1971 The Knight Of The Swords
- 1971 The Queen Of The Swords
- 1971 The King Of The Swords
- 2002 (Omnibus) Corum: The Prince In The Scarlet Robe
The Chronicles Of Corum
- 1973 The Bull And The Spear
- 1973 The Oak And The Ram
- 1974 The Sword And The Stallion
- 1999 (Omnibus) Corum: The Prince With The Silver Hand
Doctor Who
2010 The Coming Of The Terraphiles
The Eternal Champion
1970 The Eternal Champion
1970 Phoenix In Obsidian
1986 The Dragon In The Sword
1994 (Omnibus) The Eternal Champion
Hawkmoon
The Chronicles Of Castle Brass
- 1973 Count Brass
- 1973 The Champion Of Garathorm
- 1975 The Quest For Tanelorn
The History Of The Runestaff
- 1967 The Jewel In The Skull
- 1968 The Mad God's Amulet
- 1968 The Sword Of The Dawn
- 1969 The Runestaff
-1979 (Omnibus) The History Of The Runestaff
Jerry Cornelius
1968 The Final Programme
1971 A Cure For Cancer
1972 The English Assassin
1977 The Condition Of Muzak
1976 (Short Story Collection) The Lives And Times Of Jerry Cornelius
1981 The Entropy Tango
1975 The Distant Suns
1976 The Adventures Of Una Persson And Catherine Cornelius In The Twentieth Century
1980 The Great Rock 'n Roll Swindle
1986 (Omnibus) The Cornelius Chronicles Vol. 2
1987 (Omnibus) The Cornelius Chronicles Vol. 3
1988 (Omnibus) The Cornelius Chronicles: Book One
1988 (Omnibus) The Cornelius Chronicles: Bok Two
1993 (Omnibus) A Cornelius Calendar
1993 (Omnibus) The Cornelius Quartet
2003 (Omnibus) The Lives And Times Of Jerry Cornelius: Stories Of The Comic Apocalypse
2014 (Omnibus) Jerry Cornelius: His Lives And His Times
Jerry Cornell
1970 The Chinese Agent
1980 The Russian Intelligence
2005 (Omnibus) Jerry Cornell's Comic Capers
Karl Glogauer
1969 Behold The Man
1972 Breakfast In The Ruins
Oona Von Beck
2001 The Dreamthief's Daughter
2003 The Skrayling Tree
2005 The White Wolf's Son
Oswald Bastable
1971 The Warlord Of The Air
1974 The Land Leviathan
1981 The Steel Tsar
1982 (Omnibus) The Nomad Of Time
The Second Ether Trilogy
1995 Blood
1995 Fabulous Harbours
1996 The War Amongst The Angels
Elric Of Melnibone
1965 Stormbringer
1970 (Short Story Collection) The Singing Citadel
1971 The Sleeping Sorceress
1972 Elric Of Melnibone
1976 The Sailor On The Seas Of Fate
1977 (Short Story Collection) The Weird Of The White Wolf
1977 The Bane Of The Black Sword
1984 (Short Story Collection) Elric At The End Of Time
The Elric Saga Omnibus
- 1984 (Omnibus) The Elric Saga: Part One
- 1984 (Omnibus) The Elric Saga: Part Two
1989 The Fortress Of The Pearl
1991 The Revenge Of The Rose
1993 (Omnibus) Elric Of Melnibone
1993 (Omnibus) Stormbringer
2001 (Omnibus) Elric
2003 (Omnibus) The Elric Saga: Part Three
The Chronicles Of The Last Emperor Of Melnibone
- 2008 (Short Story Collection) Elric: The Stealer Of Souls
- 2008 (Short Story Collection) Elric: To Rescue Tanelorn
- 2008 (Omnibus) Elric: The Sleeping Sorceress
- 2009 (Omnibus) Duke Elric
- 2009 (Omnibus) Elric: In The Dream Realms
- 2010 (Omnibus) Elric: Swords And Roses
2013 (Short Story Collection) Elric Of Melnibone And Other Stories
2013 (Short Story Collection) Elric: The Sailor On The Seas Of Fate
2013 (Short Story Collection) Elric: The Sleeping Sorceress
2014 (Short Story Collection) Elric: The Revenge Of The Rose
The End Of Time
Tales From The End Of Time
- 1976 (Short Story Collection) Legends From The End Of Time
- 1977 The Transformation Of Miss Mavis Ming
- 1989 (Omnibus) Tales From The End Of Time
- 1997 (Omnibus) Legends From The End Of Time
The Dancers At The End Of Time
- 1972 An Alien Heat
- 1974 The Hollow Lands
- 1976 The End Of All Songs
- 1981 (Omnibus) The Dancers At The End Of Time
The Sanctuary Of The White Friars
2015 The Whispering Swarm
The Hawklords
1976 The Time Of The Hawklords
Von Bek
1981 The War Hound And The World's Pain
1982 The Brothel In Rosenstrasse
1986 The City In The Autumn Stars
1992 (Omnibus) Von Bek
1995 (Omnibus) Von Bek
2013 (Omnibus) Von Bek
Warrior Of Mars
1965 Warriors Of Mars (Written as Edward P. Bradbury)
1965 Blades Of Mars (Written as Edward P. Bradbury)
1965 Barbarians Of Mars (Written as Edward P. Bradbury)
1981 (Omnibus) Warrior Of Mars
Corsairs Of The Second Ether
1992 Corsairs Of The Second Ether 1 - 3 (Written as Warwick Colvin Jr.)
M. Zenith The Albino
2012 Curare
Sexton Blake
1962 Sexton Blake Series 4 A Caribbean Crisis (Written as Desmond Reid)
Sojan The Swordsman
1957 Sojan The Swordsman
1957 Sojan, Swordsman Of Zylor!
1958 Sojan And The Sea Of Demons
1958 Sojan And The Plain Of Mystery
1958 Sojan And The Sons Of The Snake-God
1958 Sojan And The Devil Hunters
Thackery T. Lambshead
2011 Shamalung (The Dimunitions)
Nick Allard
1965 The LSD Dossier (Written as Roger Harris)
1966 Somewhere In The Night (Written as Bill Barclay)
1966 Printer's Devil (Written as Bill Barclay)
Non-Series Novels
1965 The Fireclown (Retitled: The Winds Of Limbo in 1969)
1965 The Sundered Worlds (Retitled: The Blood Red Game in 1965)
1966 The Twilight Man (Retitled: The Shores Of Death in 1966)
1967 The Wrecks Of Time (Retitled: The Rituals Of Infinity in 1971)
1969 The Black Corridor
1969 The Ice Schooner
1978 Gloriana Or The Unfulfill'd Queen
1979 The Golden Barge: A Fable
1988 Mother London
2000 King Of The City
2014 Elric: Stormbringer
Collaborations
1969 The Black Corridor with Hilary Bailey
1975 The Distant Suns with James Cawthorn
1976 The Time Of The Hawklords with Michael Butterworth
1980 The Adventures Of Jerry Cornelius: The English Assassin with M. John Harrison
2000 Silverheart with Storm Constantine
2011 The Sunday Books with Mervyn Peake
Short Story Collections
1966 The Deep Fix (Written as James Colvin)
1969 The Time Dweller
1976 Moorcock's Book Of Martyrs
1977 Sojan
1978 Dying For Tomorrow
1980 My Experiences In The Third World War
1981 The Entropy Tango
1984 The Opium General
1989 Casablanca
1993 Earl Aubec And Other Stories
1995 Lunching With The Antichrist
1997 Tales From The Texas Woods
1999 Earl Aubec
2001 London Bone
2007 The Metatemporal Detective
2009 The Best Of Michael Moorcock
2011 The Sunday Books
Non-Fiction
1978 Epic Pooh
1983 The Retreat From Liberty: The Erosion Of Democracy In Today's Britain
1986 Letters From Hollywood
1987 Wizardry And Wild Romance: A Study Of Epic Fantasy
1988 Fantasy: The 100 Best Books (With James Cawthorn)
2010 Into The Media Web: Selected Short Non-Fiction, 1956-2006
2012 London Peculiar And Other Nonfiction (With Allan Kausch)
As Editor
1964 - 1969 New Worlds Magazine
1965 The Best Of New Worlds
1967 - 1974 The Best S.F. Stories From New Worlds 1 - 8
1971 - 1973 New Worlds Quarterly 1 - 6
1959 - 1960 Vector 5 - 7
1966 SF Reprise 1
1966 SF Reprise 2
1966 SF Reprise 5
1968 The Traps Of Time
1969 The Inner Landscape
1971 The Nature Of Catastrophe (With Langdon Jones)
1975 Before Armageddon
1977 England Invaded
1983 New Worlds: An Anthology
1993 The New Nature Of The Catastrophe (With Langdon Jones)
2010 Sojan The Swordsman/Under The Warrior Star (With Joe R. Lansdale)
Audiobooks
2006 Elric volume 1: Elric of Melnibone
2011 Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles
2016 The Whispering Swarm (The Sanctuary of the White Friars)
Video Games
In 2000 Moorcock wrote an outline for a video game that was never produced. The outline was fleshed out by Storm Constantine into the novel Silverheart.
Music
Moorcock has been involved with rock music like almost no other novelist. His works have regularly served as inspiration for bands from Pink Floyd to Tygers of Pan Tang. He has long been associated with the band Hawkwind, occasionally writing lyrics for them and playing several instruments for the band across many different albums. Possibly most notably, Moorcock co-wrote the songs: The Great Sun Jester, Black Blade, and Veteran of the Psychic Wars with Blue Oyster Cult. He also has his own band Deep Fix, which is an on again, off again project that he shoehorns into his busy writing schedule. Deep Fix actually released one album, New World's Fair in 1975.
Movies and Television
1973 The Last Days Of Man On Earth (Adapted from the novel The Final Programme)
1974 The Land That Time Forgot (Screenplay)
Awards
Nebula Awards
1969 Best Novella Behold the Man
August Derleth Awards
1972 The Knight of the Swords
1973 The King of the Swords
1975 The Sword and the Stallion
1976 The Hollow Lands
Guardian Fiction Prize
(Sponsored by The Guardian Newspaper in Manchester, the award recognized one novel each year. The award was changed in 1999 to include non-fiction.)
1977 The Condition of Muzak
John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best science fiction novel
1979 Gloriana
World Fantasy Award
1979 Gloriana
2000 Lifetime Achievement
Bram Stoker Award
2004 Lifetime Achievement
SFWA Award
2008 Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award
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