Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Michael Moorcock's Swords Trilogy
From: jjfink@skcla.monsanto.com
Date: 22 Jul 92 16:47:08 GMT
Organization: Searle, Skokie, IL
Nntp-Posting-User: jjfink

In article <24056@castle.ed.ac.uk>, fofp@castle.ed.ac.uk (M Holmes) writes:
> davidba@carmel.technion.ac.il (David Ben_Ami) writes:
> 
>>  I just finished reading Michael Moorcock's "The Swords' Trilogy".
...
>>  4. Why are the "Chaos Deities" (The knight, queen and king) are
>>     called "The Sword Rulers"? apart from being standard Fantasy
>>     buzzword I can't see any relationship between them and a Sword.
> 
> That's from Moorcock's standard mythos. Basically all the worlds consist
> of a battle between Chaos and Law. In some worlds Law rules, in some
> Chaos, but there's a battle going on. In many of the worlds this is
> actually represented by Gods, of Chaos and Law. These Gods take a few
> forms but some of them appear in more than one world. Humans can be
> agents of either Chaos or Law. 

Hmm... the "Sword Rulers" could have something to do with the sigil of chaos,
which is an eight-pointed star, or eight arrows, meaning action in every
direction.

> Some humans have a special destiny. The
> Eternal Champion has the destiny always to fight in the battle in one
> incarnation or another. This was because of his crime. Sometimes he
> remembers past and future lives, sometimes not. There's also often a
> Champion's companion.

And often a consort, and there are the two artifacts:  The Gem (law) and the 
Sword (chaos).  Also there are various mystical persons whose initials are
often JC or JK who enlighten the hero (sometimes the companion has these
initials, sometimes the hero also), and the occasional doomed soul who must
continue to serve chaos throughout all of the myriad planes of existence.

One of the primary themes is the outsider (usually mystical) who brings about a
great change in the world, often eliminating the mystical elements in the
world.

>>  5. Any other books by M. Moorcock?
...
> Jerry Cornelius is also technically the Champion, but the style and mood
> of these books is more abstract and less fantasy. Similarly the Oswald
> Bastable books and others based on relatives and friends of Jerry
> Cornelius. There was a film made of The Final Programme starring Jon
> Finch as Jerry (and YES, I'd love a copy...)

There is a scene in Final Programme (the book) which mimics exactly one in one
of the Elric books.  It's the scene where Elric returns to Melnibone,
to see his sister/lover, and ends up (I won't spoil it).

> Then there's the Dancers at the End of Time books. A kind of satirical
> fantasy of superpowerful humans in earth's last days. They get to visit
> Victorian London, one of Moorcock's favourite scenes. I liked these, but
> it depends on your taste. They're definitely not your average fantasy
> books.

Note: Elric visits them in "Elric at the End of Time".  This book also includes
Moorcock's self-satire, "The Stone Thing".  A must read.

> Moorcock also did a scientist-on-mars trilogy in the Rice_Burroughs format.

Note:  These were written under the pen name "Edward P Bradbury", in homage
both to Ray Bradbury, and Edgar Rice Burroughs (the initials EPB look awfully
similar when printed).

> His most controversial book was probably Behold The Man. A story of how
> a persecuted and neurotic jewish boy travels back to see Jesus and finds
> a drooling retard. He then sets out to make the Story true by acting it
> out himself. It got banned in quite a few libraries and schools years
> ago....
> There was a followup of this called Breakfast In The Ruins I think.

I can hardly call it a followup, but the character shares the same name, and
goes through almost as radical changes.

Almost every book Moorcock has written can be tied at least slightly to the
champions, from Gloriana, to the wonderful von Bek stories.

Joel
-- 
jjfink@skcla.monsanto.com
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