Latest Updates - Michael Moorcock

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Comment by ppint.:

- well, what else could one do with dorian hawkmoon's brain ?°

° - see back cover blurb...

gloom, doom and the depths of despondency doing duty providing a typically moorcockian dark flavour to this stage in the central character's career towards his eventual but certain early death - or worse(!) - michael moorcock pretty much defined this style or school of sword'n'sorcery, not as a tame copy of robert e. howard's simple strongarm swordsman, but one ever at risk of being cheated or downright double-crossed by his temporary employers, even - perhaps especially (?) - if they gain very nearly all they hire his swords to win.

moorcock also introduced the idea of a constant struggle between opposing forces aimed at or personifying the dedication to the imposition of unalterable law, implacable and cruel in the name of justice - and the drive towards the ultimate chaos of purest entropy, equally unlovable and unlivable-with by humanity, a discord driving events as powerful as - or totally replacing - the hitherto traditional fantasy dichotomy of good and evil.

- and he loathed & hated tolkien's "the lord of the rings" - ignore the idiotic lancer books cover blurb.

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Comment by ppint.:

the (history of the) runestaff tetralogy #4:

#1: ''the jewel in the skull'' (1967), q.v. for series listing, and links.

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Comment by ppint.:

daw books mmpb simultaneous first printings sharing merkin-printed covers, not first mmpb edition

cover art by gino d'achille (unsigned, credited)
cover price $1.50
near-meaningless daw books collector no. 291
176 pp. (check) including titles, indicia etc, end pp. advertising

refer to printing history to see if carcass of copy held was canadian- or merkin- printed
no priority established nor liable to be, both state first daw printing, may 1978 and both bear full first printing number line, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

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Comment by ppint.:

shares the merkin-printed covers of the daw books, inc. mmpb first printing

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Comment by ppint.:

elric series #1.5:

#1: "elric of melniboné" (1972), q.v. for series listing, and links.

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Comment by ppint.:

the sanctuary of the white friars trilogy(?) #2:

#1: "the whispering swarm" (2015), q.v. for series listing, and links.

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Comment by ppint.:

the sanctuary of the white friars trilogy(?) #1:

#1: "the whispering swarm" (2015), (this book)
#2: "the woods of arcady" (2023), q.v.
#3: "the wounds of albion" (nyp)

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Comment by ppint.:

quartet books fourth printing 1976 on same isbn and from same plates/type-setting has new cover design,

dedication: "for marianne"

new cover art by chris achilleos (uncredited, unsigned, collected in "beauty & the beast" chris achilleos (1978), q.v.)
cover price 60p, canada $2.50
160pp. including 6 unnumbered, uncounted pp. titles, indicia etc.4 end pp. advertising and mail-order information (barnicoats, un-id-ed)


the new distributor, futura publications, 's sf imprint orbit logo appears on front cover & spine, but this remains a quartet books limited publication. at least some copies bore a black-on-white peelable sticky label with the quartet logo over the orbit logo on the front cover, when originally distributed, possibly all.


indicia publishing history includes:

published by quartet books limited 1973
27 goodge street, london w1p 1fd (uk)

first published in great britain by allison & busby ltd, 1973

copyright © 1973 by michael moorcock

printed in great britain by
hunt barnard printing ltd., aylesbury, bucks.

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Comment by David Whiteley:

Added review from The Guardian Thursday July 2nd 1981.

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Comment by ppint.:

the hearst corporation avon books equinox rediscovery series b-format p/b first printing, not first merkin p/b edition

cover art by robert (bob) foster (signed, credited as bob foster) (retained from 1970 avon mmpb cover)
cat# 28589 canada
cover price $2.45 canada
cover price $2.25 usa
160pp. including titles, indicia etc, end pp. advertising

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Comment by ppint.:

''author'' field should^W has been varied to ''editor''

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Comment by ppint.:

penguin books p/b second printing with new:

cover art by adrian chesterman (unsigned, credited on back cover)
cover price 85p, $2.75 australia (recommended), $1.95 canada
isbn given on spine & back cover in two rows as isbn 0-14/00.2868-4 (i s'spect no-one now knows why penguin used the '.' between the 00 & original, and certainly not in any totally _new_, 00.wxyz-(checksum digit cat#s))
208pp. including titles, indicia, table-of-contents etc, end p. advertising
(end p. advertising may (very likely does) differ from that in first printing)

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Comment by ppint.:

one of sixteen covers by grignani commissioned for penguin books by art director, david pelham.

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Comment by ppint.:

berkley publishing group berkley imprint mmpb first printing, not first mmpb edition

cover art by robert gould
in uniform, decorated broad silver margined design
cover price $2.50
160pp. including titles, indicia etc, end p. advertising

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Comment by ppint.:

contents:

the dream of earl aubec (short story) fantastic vol.13 #5, 5/1964 as ''master of chaos'', one b+w illustration by virgil finlay
the dreaming city (novelette) science fantasy #47, 6/1961, the cover story, art by brian lewis
while the gods laugh (ntte) science fantasy #49, 10-11/1961
the singing citadel (ntte) in ''the fantastic swordsmen'' ed. l. sprague de camp (1967), q.v.

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Comment by ppint.:

w. h. allen/howard & wyndham star imprint p/b first printing, first uk p/b edition

reprint collection of two novelettes and a novella

cover art unsigned, uncredited
b+w interior illustrations by jill riches
cover price 95p, £M1 malta, $3.50 australia, $3.30 new zealand
184pp. (check) including titles, indicia etc, end pp. advertising

it is possible there was a near-identical second printing the same year: refer to indicia publishing history to see if the copy held is the first or the putative second 1979 printing

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Comment by ppint.:

daw books mmpb simultaneous first printings sharing merkin-printed covers, first p/b edition

reprint collection of two novelettes and a novella

cover art by bob pepper (signed, credited)
interior b+w decorations (illustrations) by jill riches
cover price $1.25
near-meaningless daw books collector no. 229
184pp. (check) including titles, indicia etc, end pp. advertising

refer to indicia publishing history to see if carcass of copy held was canadadian- or merkin- printed
no priority established nor liable to be, both state first daw printing, february, 1977/123456789

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Comment by 23skidoo:

Cover scans added and Cat# correction submitted.