In the Sunday, July 20 New York Times, Dave Itzkoff latest Across the Universe column features Michael Moorcock’s seminal creation Elric and the recent repackaging Elric: The Stealer of Souls (Chronicles of the Last Emperor of Melniboné, Volume I).
| Quote: |
| What is stranger still is that the world Elric was born into did not necessarily need him. Moorcock was 21 years old when he introduced the character in the June 1961 issue of a British periodical called Science Fantasy. Ray guns and rocket ships were rapidly overtaking swords and sorcery as the preferred pulp subjects of the day, and many of Moorcock’s lasting science fiction accomplishments — including his novella “Behold the Man”; his radical, satirical Jerry Cornelius novels; and his immensely influential editorship of the sci-fi magazine New Worlds — were several years away. |
Three things leaped out at me from the piece.
1) Itzkoff clearly has done some reading about Moorcock and of his work. Knowing that, it’s very shocking that he writes "also C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien — titans of fantasy who seemed to be obvious influences on him." Moorcock was influenced by the works that originally influenced the two authors as well as the writings of Mervyn Peake and Robert E. Howard.
2) What the hell is that hideous image in the article?
Why would any one choose that objectively inferior piece over John Picacio‘s beautiful cover or incredible interior art? (Picacio is NOT mentioned in the article.)
3) The overall poor quality of Dave Itzkoff’s writing in this piece.
I probably should stop there as both Michael Moorcock and Elric both deserve the attention and respect.
