Please tell me the Elric Saga by Mike Moorcock is in ebook form

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ratinox

Doesn't make it any less wonk.

It's hardly any work at all. It's just two clicks and maybe a little scrolling.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Unfortunately, that's the book world when it comes to backlist books and Geo-restrictions. It took a long time for Stephen Fry's Mythos to become available as an ebook in the US and his sequel still isn't available. Authors, or rather their agents, tend to focus on their home countries and can be slow negotiating publishing contracts in other countries. It's common for authors to have different publishers in different countries. Moorcock and Fry are both English authors.

Most of the time when an ebook becomes no longer available in a given country, it's because the original publishing contract expired and there currently isn't a publisher who has the rights to publish the book in that country. Because each contract is different, that's how you end up with situations like the Belgarion series being available in England, but not the US.

You can see some of the same dynamics with print books that go out of print.

That's why jumping the fence is what you need to do. Kobo makes that very easy to do.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

That's why jumping the fence is what you need to do. Kobo makes that very easy to do.

You can also open an account with Amazon UK, although it is a little more work than using Kobo.
Apache

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Apache

You can also open an account with Amazon UK, although it is a little more work than using Kobo.
Apache

Little? It's a LOT more work.

[ratinox]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

It's hardly any work at all. It's just two clicks and maybe a little scrolling.

woNk, not woRk.

[ratinox]

Originally Posted by Apache

You can also open an account with Amazon UK, although it is a little more work than using Kobo.
Apache

It's a nightmare. Two of the major pieces are:

Your shipping (but not necessarily billing) address needs to be in the UK to buy UK-locked books.

Your IP address (the one Amazon sees) must be geographically within the UK at the time of purchase to buy UK-locked books. The commercial VPNs are blacklisted so that's no workaround.

These are two specific problems I encountered trying to buy the middle Culture novels from Amazon UK from the US. There may be other problems, I don't know. I expect you would have similar problems trying to buy Moorcock's books from Amazon UK from outside the UK.

[Apache]

It was easy for me to set up. I use a friends address and my Am Ex works fine. Some Visa/MC will not work overseas. My IP address has not caused me any problems when buying at Amazon UK and I do not use a VPN. The email for my Amazon UK account is a US email.
Apache

[Cactus Chef]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

That's why jumping the fence is what you need to do. Kobo makes that very easy to do.

I was able to change my billing info to UK with a London postal code, and it then allowed me to buy the book. Thanks!

I grabbed Elric of Melnibone and Other Stories to start, as I've never read the series before, and if I like it I imagine I will buy Stormbringer as well.

Is there a set order for this collection?

EDIT: Nevermind. The back of the book indicates the collection order:
Elric of Melniboné and other Stories
Elric: The Fortress of the Pearl
Elric: The Sailor on the Seas of Fate
Elric: The Sleeping Sorceress
Elric: The Revenge of the Rose
Elric: Stormbringer!

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by Apache

It was easy for me to set up. I use a friends address and my Am Ex works fine. Some Visa/MC will not work overseas. My IP address has not caused me any problems when buying at Amazon UK and I do not use a VPN. The email for my Amazon UK account is a US email.
Apache

In general, it's not that hard to do. At one time Amazon was a lot more diligent about checking for people buying books out of market. That's why you see all the talk about VPN and all that. That's why I ended up getting a friend who lived in Wales to buy them for me and I have a separate kindle associated with that account. She finally got her PhD and has moved back to the US.

My understanding is that Amazon is a lot less diligent about checking these days. That account is still out there, but it's been a while since there was a UK only book that I wasn't willing to wait for, so I haven't tried it recently.

[ratinox]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

My understanding is that Amazon is a lot less diligent about checking these days. That account is still out there, but it's been a while since there was a UK only book that I wasn't willing to wait for, so I haven't tried it recently.

My experience (described previously) is about six months old at this point for what it's worth.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by ratinox

Your IP address (the one Amazon sees) must be geographically within the UK at the time of purchase to buy UK-locked books.

That doesn't seem to be the case, at least not in all cases.
While at work, my public IP appears to be from Germany, but I have no issues buying from either Amazon UK or Amazon US.
While at home, my IP is in the UK, but I can buy from Amazon US with no issues.
Perhaps it is different if you are purchasing on a device, rather than through the website?

[Timboli]

I have been a fan of Michael Moorcock since my teens (in the 70s), and so hopefully I have all his books, all the old ones at least ... not got the last couple of new ones yet.

I don't know whether it was the drugs or a marketing ploy, or probably both, that meant that his backlist and that of the band Hawkwind who he has ties with, have always been a complex mess and a nightmare. Moorcock and or his publishers never seem to leave alone. I studied it all in detail many years ago and I approach with caution any new releases now as a result.

While I enjoyed most of the Elric stories, the Corum ones are actually my favorite period of the Eternal Champion saga.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by Timboli

I have been a fan of Michael Moorcock since my teens (in the 70s), and so hopefully I have all his books, all the old ones at least ... not got the last couple of new ones yet.

I don't know whether it was the drugs or a marketing ploy, or probably both, that meant that his backlist and that of the band Hawkwind who he has ties with, have always been a complex mess and a nightmare. Moorcock and or his publishers never seem to leave alone. I studied it all in detail many years ago and I approach with caution any new releases now as a result.

While I enjoyed most of the Elric stories, the Corum ones are actually my favorite period of the Eternal Champion saga.

I tend to agree with you with regards to Corum.

Yea, I really don't know what was/is going on with Moorcock. He's always been an odd bird. I stopped buying the new books by Moorcock way back in the 80's. I would have to say that Moorcock is one of those authors who hasn't really aged well. That detached ironic tone that was so popular back in the 60's just doesn't have the same appeal these days.

[Pajamaman]

I remember liking Stormbringer a lot (spoiler alert: the one where the sword kills him in the end), when I was young. I tried reading the other Elric books and found them a bit meh. I felt Moorcock was just knocking stuff out of no great quality.

But Moorcock is an interesting character. I recall an interview with him talking about hanging out with Arthur Clarke in bars in the fifties, and how despite Clarke's boyfriends, that he felt Clarke wasn't really gay, but just preferred boys He was truly at the heart of what for us now seem like a mythic time in science fiction.

[Timboli]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Yea, I really don't know what was/is going on with Moorcock. He's always been an odd bird. I stopped buying the new books by Moorcock way back in the 80's. I would have to say that Moorcock is one of those authors who hasn't really aged well. That detached ironic tone that was so popular back in the 60's just doesn't have the same appeal these days.

He is definitely an odd one, but maybe a product of the times, as in 60s and 70s, where he indulged a little too heavily in many of the trends back then. If I was to make a guess, it was his Jerry Cornelius stories that set the tone, and in some ways has given him his radical air and somewhat overblown sense of brilliance. That's not to say he hasn't had brilliant moments, and written many grand things, but in the overall scheme of things, he is probably just an anti-establishment rebel type person who has a good way with words. And one cannot deny he is somewhat an icon in the fields of fiction he has engaged in.

As a reader and collector of his works, I have mixed feelings about him, and especially when he criticizes other writers. I've not read anything yet, story wise, that he has written in the last 2 or 3 decades, so I am mostly going by what I have read (majority) of his earlier works, and a bunch of interviews and essays he has been involved in since.

My favorite novel of his is probably Glorianna. Which of course has ties to Mervyn Peak's Gormenghast, which was absolutely brilliant.

I am also a big fan of some of the music of Hawkwind from various eras, so we do have a few things in common, including being rebel like.