01-10-2020, 07:30 PM | #1 |
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Best way to read Elric?
This isn't even really an ebook related question, so don't get too hung up on the morass of Elric ebooks.
So the Elric story was published two different ways: Originally, five short stories were published as Stealer of Souls and four Novellas were published as Stormbringer. Later, the series was expanded and reworked into six (slim) volumes again ending with Stormbringer. (I know there are additional novels and stories later, but for this discussion, I'm comparing the sixties originals and the seventies expansion.) The question is: Which of these two versions is a better read? I would figure the six books were reworked and maybe flow together more cohesively. On the other hand, the originals are the originals. I've already read Elric of Melnibone and Sailor on the Seas of Fate, but I thought this year I'd try and read Elric which would include rereading those two if that's the way I go. Lastly, are the stories contained in the Elric: Stealer of Souls collection Del Rey put out a few years ago the same as the stories as they appeared in the two original sixties collections? I believe they are. |
01-11-2020, 06:42 AM | #2 | |
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The eBook version that was put out a few years ago has all of the original stories plus the stuff that has been written since then. I've got the original DAW books in paper and the eBooks. The eBooks seem to have the original stories with some edits, some intros and the novels that were written later. |
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01-11-2020, 12:12 PM | #3 | |
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Elric was first published (in the US) by Lancer in the '60's. This was a two book set. The Daw books you mention came later. The two Lancer books, collecting the original stories and novellas were: Stealer of Souls, which collected:
and Stormbringer collected:
Later, in the seventies, DAW republished the work as six books. Moorcock reworked and expanded The Dreaming City into the first book, Elric of Melibone and the final book Stormbringer is also somewhat reworked (I've been studying it a bit). There's also lots of additional material in the middle books. Honestly, I'm not worried about sequential order or reading every last word written. Both versions of the story seem to have some merit: The earlier Lancer collections are Moorcock's raw, original writing. The later DAW reissues are redone by a more mature writer. I'm mainly hoping that someone out there that has read both versions could say which they prefer. --- The ebook titled Elric: The Stealer of Souls (Chronicles of the Last Emperor of Melniboné, Vol. 1) actually collects all the stories from the two Lancer books mentioned above. Last edited by ZodWallop; 01-11-2020 at 12:19 PM. |
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01-11-2020, 02:35 PM | #4 | |
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The author's note in Stormbringer says "A version of this novel was originally published in the United States by Lancer Books in 1967. This new edition publishes for the first time in any country the full text of the original novel serialized in the English Science Fantasy magazine published 1963-1964. All previous editions have appeared with a quarter of the original text cut from them. This version has also been revised by the author from the original magazine text." Hopefully this is what you were looking for. |
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01-11-2020, 02:37 PM | #5 |
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Go with all the current versions of the stories. That way you can any of the author's preferred text.
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01-11-2020, 09:12 PM | #6 | |
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01-11-2020, 09:14 PM | #7 | |
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Right now, there are two different versions of the Elric stories published, one in the US and one in the UK. Both are the author's preferred text |
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01-12-2020, 04:38 AM | #8 |
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Moorcock seems to be one of those authors who likes to continue to revise his works every so often trying to make everything fit into some sort of philosophical framework. It's a bit like which version of Apocalypse Now do you prefer, I think there were four different versions of the film in various releases. With Moorcock, I tend to prefer the version that I originally read, i.e. the DAW release.
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01-12-2020, 02:03 PM | #9 | |
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I guess it's a combination of the Elric books having been written when he was very young, so had less control over the editing and their popularity, eclipsing the rest of his work. |
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01-12-2020, 06:29 PM | #10 | |
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01-12-2020, 09:34 PM | #11 | |
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From wiki
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I never thought much of the novels. I thought them poor. It was the early stories that were inspired. Incidentally, if you like Eric, try the Witcher. It's in a similar vein, and very good. The netflix series is dreadful. |
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