Many of Moorcock's heroes are aspects of the Eternal Champion, a mystical figure resembling, though predating, Joseph Campbell's "Hero with a Thousand Faces". In times ranging from the sword-wielding, sorcery-ridden past to the post-nuclear future of the Tragic Millennium, Order and Chaos are elemental forces locked in perpetual battle. And at the center of that maelstrom is the Eternal Champion, fighting sometimes for Order, sometimes for Chaos, but always embattled and always crucial to the outcome of the nonetheless endless struggle.
I saw some interesting discussion on his books and short stories, which he inter-connected with this idea of the “Eternal Champion”. The presence of an interesting idea doesn’t guarantee a good book, so I’m wondering if anyone here can recommend him?
Just pick up 'Elric: Song of the Black Sword' and run from there.
Moorcock has been writing long enough that his stuff has influenced alot of things you'll see in 'modern day' sci-fi and fantasy. Two low-hanging fruits; The concept of Chaos that Moorcock wrote about influenced Warhammer to a heavy degree, and people still rag on The Witcher for having the nickname 'White Wolf'. (Hint: He wasn't the first character with that nom de gurre).
Moorcock has written a shit-ton of stuff, and some of it's hit or miss, but people consider the things he wrote 'classics' for a reason, even if they're not all that old. So, yeah, I'd recommend them.
Don't go into his stuff expecting Tolkien, though.
Thanks for the info and recommended place to start! I think I will check that one out (or perhaps the novella “the dreaming city”) and go from there
Does his idea of the eternal champion get fleshed out in individual books, or is it more something which coalesces after having read multiple books in the collection and then stepping back to analyze them?