Where to Start with Michael Moorcock’s Sci-Fi and Fantasy Multiverse

Michael Moorcock has been called the architect of new science fiction, the anti-Tolkien, and a bad writer with big ideas. (Ok, that last one came from Moorcock himself, but it still counts!) He started writing in the 1950s, and nearly 60 years later he’s still at it. His latest release, out tomorrow, is The Whispering Swarm, his first original solo novel in nine years. It kicks off a brand new series with a bit of an autobiographical slant: in the years after World War II, a young writer with a history not unlike Moorcock’s discovers a hidden magical kingdom underneath London, a place where reality and fiction blend. It’s a fascinating work, but one that you’ll appreciate all the more if you have a grounding in the writer’s remarkable career.
If you ever needed an excuse to get familiar with the sci-fi/fantasy figurehead, this is it. Warning: Michael Moorcock fans must have a sturdy set of bookshelves. Seventy novels take up a lot of space.
In the beginning, there was Tarzan

Moorcock has always been a writer. As a teenager he published short stories in fanzines, a hobby that turned into a career when he became editor of Tarzan Adventures in 1957. He released more than two dozen short stories over the next few years, the most enduring of which were the Sojan the Swordsman tales. In 1962, he published the novella The Sundered Worlds in Science Fiction Adventures magazine. It was eventually expanded and released as his debut novel, but more importantly, its publication put Moorcock into the navigator’s seat for the upcoming sci-fi revolution.
In the middle of 1964, at a critical moment in science fiction history, he took over as editor of New Worlds, the leading sci-fi magazine in the UK. Writers like Moorcock were sick of the genre’s pulpy tales of space travel, hard science, and tired tropes, and a new wave of literary science fiction began to surface. Under Moorcock’s guidance, New Worlds favored these new wave authors, pushing the renaissance forward with a deluge of experimental sci-fi tales. Without Moorcock’s critical eye, we might still be reading books with titles like Mission to Krumbiin’s Fantastic Space Tomb.
Moorcock edited the magazine on and off over the next few decades and was never shy about expressing his opinions on the craft of writing, and he kept the new wave agenda alive with his own releases as well. His publishing credits continued to grow with time. He could write 15,000 words in a single day, polishing off a novel over a long weekend, and often writing multiple books concurrently, one during the day and one at night. Excuse me for a moment, I need to visit my fainting couch.
Understanding Moorcock’s Multiverse
Almost everything Moorcock wrote has been reordered, repackaged, and retitled a dozen times, to the point that his bibliography reads like a thesaurus. Which sounds like a better read, The Vanishing Tower or The Sleeping Sorceress? Trick question: they’re the same story.
Thankfully, t is one unifying theme that connects all of Moorcock’s worlds: the multiverse. His tales take place in the same realm, consisting of countless, multi-layered dimensions and spheres of existence where powers of Law and Chaos are constantly struggling for supremacy. To ensure neither gains the upper hand, the Eternal Champion is called in to maintain balance. The Champion isn’t one heroic character, but an archetype that takes on many forms, both good and bad. Most of Moorcock’s protagonists fall under the Eternal Champion umbrella, and often interact with each other through dreams, visions, or soirées across space and time, but you don’t have to know anything about parallel dimensions to step into their worlds. All you have to do is sit down and read, and let the stories take care of the rest.
Moorcock’s books weren’t written or published in tidy, self-contained blocks. He switched series from year to year, and many of his books collect disparate short stories that have been published and republished in different forms. It makes the author’s bibliography look like decks of cards shuffled together, but it gave his biggest characters plenty of time to gain strong followings. On the bright side, Moorcock himself states there isn’t a definite reading order—there are a few good starting and ending points, but the rest, he says, is a matter of your personal taste.

The Elric series
Elric is probably Moorcock’s best-known character. He was created in a time when fantasy often coddled its readers into thinking evil could be defeated by hugs and friendship. Merry olde England with elves and rings didn’t fly well with Moorcock, so Elric was born: a flawed, frail, drug addicted albino who rules a kingdom of self-absorbed people descended from ancient dragons. Elric isn’t exactly an anti-hero, but because he starts from a place of deep-seated imperfection, going on a journey with him is always an interesting ride.
Elric’s first starring role was in the 1972 tale Elric of Melniboné, a.k.a. The Dreaming City (which appears in the Elric: The Sleeping Sorceress collection). He’s been in nearly two dozen stories since, usually with Stormbringer, his sentient sword that devours the souls of defeated opponents. On the whole, Elric’s books are more typical fantasy adventures, but they’re easy to read and even easier to absorb in single sittings.

The Hawkmoon series
In 1967, Moorcock released The Jewel in the Skull, the first book in the Hawkmoon/Runestaff series. The novel introduces Dorian Hawkmoon, who would star in a total of seven books. Dorian is one of Moorcock’s least twisted characters. He’s not a tortured half-dragon albino or a tragic long-lived prince; he’s just a guy who’s trying to do the right thing. Good on him, right?
The Hawkmoon tales are a cross between sci-fi and fantasy, taking place in a somewhat modern world with place names you’ll recognize from our world. Hawkmoon’s likeability has made him a fan favorite in Moorcock’s multiverse. Plus, he has the Runestaff that preserves Cosmic Balance. That’s been on my Christmas list for ages.

The Jerry Cornelius series
The first novel to feature Jerry Cornelius was The Final Programme, a surreal science fiction tale that’s stood the test of time surprisingly well. It was published in 1968, several years after Moorcock wrote it, because publishing houses initially found the story, “too freaky.” Cornelius is something of a modern day reinvention of the Eternal Champion: He’s a secret agent, he’s a hipster, he’s an anarchist, and, sometimes, he’s a she. The series expanded to nearly a dozen installments over the next 15 years. Probably not the best books to start with if you’re new to Moorcock, but he’s an interesting character in a fascinating section of the multiverse.

Ready to read Michael Moorcock?
Talking about Moorcock’s books can be overwhelming, but actually reading them is anything but. There are several friendly jumping on  points (including new novel The Whispering Swarm), but if you’re in the mood for a classic Moorcock experience, the Elric series is your best bet. Originally published as a series of short stories, the early part of the saga has been reprinted in six volumes, starting with Elric: The Stealer of Souls.
After the Elric series, you can continue your exploration anywhere you like. Go ahead, give the Hawkmoon series a try, starting with The Jewel in the Skull. See what Colonel Pyat is up to by grabbing the historical fiction novel Byzantium Endures. Once you get your foot in the door, you can walk around the house at your leisure. Browse the different bookshelves and pick up tomes from any series you like. Moorcock is notoriously friendly to those who want to play about in his multiverse. There are no rules, just an invitation to come inside, and let your curiosity guide you.