Tweet
Q: Is there an official order in which I should read Mike's novels?
A: There isn't an 'official' order as such, but there are a couple of 'suggested' reading orders you might wish to consider. In the early 1990s, Mike and John Davey sat down to compile a 'Recommended' order for the Eternal Champion novels to be published in omnibus editions by Orion in the UK and White Wolf in the US. Mike took this opportunity to revise a number of the books for this project, either tidying up loose ends and bringing books into the central narrative, or in more extreme cases practically re-writing entire novels. However, there are some differences between the two sets that need to be borne in mind. The UK order is effectively the intended order, but some books weren't available to be included in the UK series and Orion decided not to print other omnibuses they'd agreed to, so the US series has some extra books. In addition, some changes to the order of the omnibuses were made to make them more 'user-friendly' to American readers.
Q. Okay, so what’s the best order to read Mike's novels in?
A. The best order is to just pick up whatever’s at hand and take it from there. However, what follows is an attempt to consolidate the two 'recommended' orders mentioned previously in such a way as to make sense of the differences. (Although where there are differences in reading order, the UK series takes precedence over the US one.) This order also draws in titles that weren’t included in either of the recommended orders as well as books/series that weren’t then published.
Notes:
* - Indicates a book in the US series not in the UK series.
¹ - Indicates books/stories not in either series, but nonetheless important within Mike's mythos. I’ve placed these where I think most suitable.
ss - Indicates a title is either a short story or novella.
° – Indicates a work not by Moorcock.
• - Indicates a work written or published after 1995.
Von Bek
...The War Hound and the World's Pain
...The City in the Autumn Stars
...The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius (ss) (see also The Metatemporal Detective)
The Eternal Champion
...The Eternal Champion
...The Sundered Worlds* (aka The Blood-Red Game)
...Phoenix in Obsidian (aka The Silver Warriors)
...The Swords of Heaven, the Flowers of Hell¹ (graphic novel with Howard Chaykin) (Note: not included in any omnibuses)
...The Dragon in the Sword
Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles• (Note: could be read first instead of The War Hound and the World's Pain or The Eternal Champion or The Sundered Worlds. Alternatively, can be read as a precursor to the 'Second Ether' sequence.)
Hawkmoon (aka The History of the Runestaff)
...The Jewel in the Skull
...The Mad God's Amulet (aka Sorcerer’s Amulet)
...The Sword of the Dawn
...The Runestaff (aka The Secret of the Runestaff)
Corum (aka The Swords Trilogy/The Swords of Corum/Corum: The Coming of Chaos)
...The Knight of the Swords
...The Queen of the Swords
...The King of the Swords
Sailing to Utopia
...The Ice Schooner
...The Black Corridor
...The Distant Suns
...Flux (ss)
A Nomad of the Time Streams (aka The Nomad of Time)
...The War Lord of the Air (first uncensored version since 1971 US edition)
...The Land Leviathan
...The Steel Tsar (extensively rewritten from 1981 edition)
Warrior of Mars* (aka Kane of Old Mars)
...City of the Beast* (aka Warriors of Mars)
...Lord of the Spiders* (aka Blades of Mars)
...Masters of the Pit* (aka Barbarians of Mars)
'The End of Time (Part 1)'
...An Alien Heat (in The Dancers at the End of Time omnibus)
...The Hollow Lands (in The Dancers at the End of Time omnibus)
...Pale Roses (ss) (in Legends from the End of Time omnibus)
...White Stars (ss) (in Legends from the End of Time omnibus)
Elric: Making of a Sorcerer• (graphic novel with Walter Simonson)
'Rackhir'
...The Roaming Forest• (ss) (Note: included in Elric: To Rescue Tanelorn collection)
Elric of Melniboné (aka Elric: Song of the Black Sword)
...Elric of Melniboné
...The Fortress of the Pearl
...Elric: The Return to Melniboné¹ (graphic story with Philippe Druillet) (Note: not included in any omnibuses)
...The Sailor on the Seas of Fate
..........Sailing to the Future (ss) (aka Voyage on a Dark Ship)
..........Sailing to the Present (ss)
..........Sailing to the Past (ss) (aka The Jade Man's Eyes) (Revised)
...The Dreaming City (ss)
...A Portrait in Ivory (ss)• (Note: included in Elric: In the Dream Realms collection)
...While the Gods Laugh (ss)
...Black Petals (ss)• (Note: not included in any collections - available online)
...The Singing Citadel (ss)
The Cornelius Quartet¹ (aka The Cornelius Chronicles) (Note: the following books may be read in any order)
...The Final Programme¹
...A Cure for Cancer¹
...The English Assassin¹
...The Condition of Muzak¹
The Roads Between the Worlds* (New framing passages tie the following novels into the EC theme)
...The Wrecks of Time* (aka The Rituals of Infinity)
...The Winds of Limbo* (aka The Fireclown)
...The Shores of Death* (aka The Twilight Man) (revised)
The New Nature of the Catastrophe (All short stories - a '°' indicates not by Moorcock)
...The Peking Junction
...The Dehli Division
...The Tank Trapeze
...The Ash Circus°
...The Firmament Theorem°
...The Adventures of Jerry Cornelius (comic strip) (Note: not in mass market paperback edition)
...The Last Hurrah of the Golden Horde°
...The Dodgem Decision (aka The Dodgem Division)
...The Nash Circuit°
...Lines of White on a Sullen Sea°
...The Anxiety in the Eyes of the Cricket°
...The End of the Cycle°
...The Nature of the Catastrophe
...The Sunset Perspective
...Sea Wolves
...Voortrekker
...The Flesh Circle°
...A Prayer to Men°
...Dead Singers
...The Swastika Set-Up
...The Longford Cup
...The Entropy Circuit
...Interlude: Miss Brunner and Jerry°
...The Repossession of Jerry Cornelius° (non-fiction)
...Niki Hoeky°
...Everything Blowing Up°
...The Entropy Tango (fragment)
...The Murderer's Song
...The Gangrene Collection
...The Roumanian Question
...Bruised Time°
...Jerry and Miss Brunner at the Beginning°
...All the Way Around Again (Note: not in hardcover & trade paperback editions)
...Jerry Cornelius: A Reader's Guide° (non-fiction)
The Prince With The Silver Hand (aka The Chronicles of Corum)
...The Bull and the Spear
...The Oak and the Ram
...The Sword and the Stallion
'The S.M.A.S.H.* Novels' - Jerry Cornell/Nick Allard
...The LSD Dossier¹ (as by 'Roger Harris' - Nick Allard novel only – available online)
...The Chinese Agent¹ (aka Somewhere In The Night - as by 'Bill Barclay')
...The Russian Intelligence¹ (aka Printer’s Devil - as by 'Bill Barclay')
*Sick Man's Antidote to Spy Heroics
'The End of Time (Part Two)'
...Ancient Shadows (ss) (in Legends from the End of Time omnibus)
...The End of All Songs (in The Dancers at the End of Time omnibus)
...Constant Fire (aka The Transformation of Miss Mavis Ming/A Messiah at the End of Time) (in Legends from the End of Time omnibus)
...Elric at the End of Time (ss) (in Legends from the End of Time omnibus)
'London Novels'
...Gloriana, or The Unfulfill'd Queen¹ (Original 1978 - Revised 1993)
...Mother London
...King of the City•
...London Bone• (collection)
Stormbringer (aka Elric: The Stealer of Souls)
...The Sleeping Sorceress (aka The Vanishing Tower)
...The Revenge of the Rose
...The Stealer of Souls (ss)
...Kings in Darkness (ss)
...The Caravan of Forgotten Dreams (ss) (aka The Flame Bringers)
...Stormbringer
..........Dead God's Homecoming (ss)
..........Black Sword's Brothers (ss)
..........Sad Giant's Shield (ss)
..........Doomed Lord's Passing (ss)
A Cornelius Calendar¹
...The Adventures of Una Persson and Catherine Cornelius in the Twentieth Century¹
...The Entropy Tango¹
...Gold Diggers of 1977¹ (aka The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle)
...The Alchemist’s Question¹ (ss)
'Sojan'
...Sojan the Swordsman¹ (All short stories)
..........'"Sojan the Swordsman"
.............-.Sojan the Swordsman¹ (aka Daughter of a Warrior King)
.............-.Mission to Asno¹
.........."Sojan, Swordsman of Zylor"
.............-.Revolt in Hatnor¹
.............-.The Hordes Attack¹
.........."Sojan and the Sea of Demons"
.............-.The Purple Galley¹
.............-.The Sea Wolves!¹
.............-.Sojan at Sea¹
.............-.The Sea of Demons¹
.............-.Prisoners in Stone¹
..........Sojan and the Plain of Mystery¹ (aka The Plain of Mystery)
..........Sojan and the Sons of the Snake-God¹ (aka The Sons of the Snake-God)
..........Sojan and the Hunters of Norj¹ (aka The Devil Hunters of Norj)
..........Klan the Spoiler¹ (as by J. R. Taylor)
.........."Dek of Noothar"
.............-.Dek of Noothar¹ (aka The Sword of Life) (as by John Wisdom)
.............-.Sword of Life - The Strange Ones¹ (as by John Wisdom) (Note: not included in any collections)
.............-.The Siege of Noothar¹ (as by John Wisdom)
..........Rens Karto of Bersnol¹ (with Dick Ellingsworth)
'Didactic Novels' - Karl Glogauer/Rickhardt von Bek
...Behold the Man¹
...Breakfast in the Ruins¹ (available online)
...The Brothel in Rosenstrasse
Earl Aubec (All short stories - except where noted) (See also: The Deep Fix/The Time Dweller/The Singing Citadel/Moorcock’s Book of Martyrs (aka Dying for Tomorrow)/My Experiences in the Third World War/Casablanca)
...Earl Aubec (aka Master of Chaos)
...Jesting with Chaos (aka The Last Enchantment) (Note: An 'Elric' story set between The Stealer of Souls and Kings in Darkness - see Stormbringer)
...The Greater Conqueror
...Going Home
...Hanging the Fool (aka Wheel of Fortune)
...Consuming Passion
...Wolf (available online)
...Environment Problem
...The Opium General
...A Dead Singer
...The Lovebeast
...The Ruins
...The Golden Barge (novel)
...The Deep Fix
...The Real Life Mr Newman
...Goodbye, Miranda
...Islands
..."Some Reminiscences of the Third World War"
..........Casablanca
..........Going to Canada
..........Leaving Pasadena
..........Crossing Into Cambodia
...Mars
...The Frozen Cardinal
...Peace on Earth
...The Mountain
...The Time Dweller
...Escape from Evening
...Waiting for the End of Time...
...The Stone Thing
...The Last Call
...My Life
...The Museum of the Future
...To Rescue Tanelorn... (Note: A 'Rackhir' story set during Dead God's Homecoming - see Stormbringer)
'Second Ether' (see also Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles)
...Michael Moorcock's Multiverse• (graphic novel with Walter Simonson, Mark Reeve & John Ridgway)
.........Moonbeams and Roses• (graphic story with Walter Simonson)
.........The Metatemporal Detective• (graphic story with Mark Reeve) (see also The Metatemporal Detective)
.........Duke Elric• (graphic story with John Ridgway)
...Blood¹
...Fabulous Harbours¹(All short stories)
.........The Retirement of Jack Karaquazian¹
.........The White Pirate¹
.........Some Fragments Found in the Effects of Mr. Sam Oakenhurst¹
.........The Black Blade’s Summoning¹ (aka The White Wolf's Song/The Black Blade's Song)
.........Lunching with the Antichrist¹
.........The Affair of the Seven Virgins¹ (see also The Metatemporal Detective)
.........The Girl Who Killed Sylvia Blade¹ (see also The Metatemporal Detective)
.........Crimson Eyes¹ (see also The Metatemporal Detective)
.........No Ordinary Christian¹
.........The Enigma Windows¹
.........The Birds of the Moon¹
...The War Among the Angels•
...Sumptuous Dress• (ss) (Note: not included in any omnibuses)
'The [Further] Lives and Times of Jerry Cornelius'
...The Lives and Times of Jerry Cornelius• (2003 edition)
.........The Spencer Inheritance• (ss) (available online)
.........The Camus Connection• (ss)
.........Cheering for the Rockets• (ss) (available online)
.........Firing the Cathedral• (ss)
...The Visible Men• (ss) (published in The Best of Michael Moorcock, Tachyon, 2009; available online)
...Modem Times 2.0• (ss) (published in Modem Times 2.0, PM Press, 2011)
'Seaton Begg/Sexton Blake/Sherlock Holmes'
...Caribbean Crisis¹ (with James Cawthorn) (as by 'Desmond Reid' - a Sexton Blake novel – available online) (Note: not included in any collection)
...The Adventure of the Texan's Honour¹ (ss) (as by 'Dr. John H. Watson' - a Sherlock Holmes story - available online) (aka The Adventure of the Dorset Street Lodger) (Note: included in Tales from the Texas Woods collection)
...The Metatemporal Detective• (All short stories)
.........The Affair of the Seven Virgins¹ (see also Fabulous Harbours)
.........Crimson Eyes¹ (see also Fabulous Harbours)
.........The Ghost Warriors• (available online)
.........The Girl Who Killed Sylvia Blade¹ (see also Fabulous Harbours)
.........The Case of the Nazi Canary• (see also Michael Moorcock's Multiverse)
.........Sir Milk-and-Blood•
.........The Mystery of the Texas Twister•
.........London Flesh•
.........The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius (See also Von Bek)
.........The Affair of the Bassin Les Hivers•
.........The Flaneur des Arcades de l’Opera•
...The Black Blade of the Barbary Coast• (graphic story with Jerry Ordway) (Note: not included in any omnibuses)
'Dream Quest Trilogy'
...The Dreamthief's Daughter•
...The Skrayling Tree•
...The White Wolf's Son•
Count Brass (aka The Chronicles of Castle Brass)
...Count Brass
...The Champion of Garathorm
...The Quest for Tanelorn
Other books which do not (yet) easily fit into the above order:
...'Colonel Pyat'
.........Byzantium Endures
.........The Laughter of Carthage
.........Jerusalem Commands
.........The Vengeance of Rome•
...Silverheart• (with Storm Constantine)
Collections contained within the above order:
...Casablanca
...Lunching with the Antichrist
...Tales from the Texas Woods• (except Johnny Lonesome Comes to Town)
...The Best of Michael Moorcock• (except A Slow Saturday Night at the Surrealist Sporting Club)
Non-fiction:
...Wizardry and Wild Romance
...The Retreat From Liberty
...Letters from Hollywood
...Death is No Obstacle (with Colin Greenland)
...Into the Media Web• (Selected non-fiction, 1956-2006)
...London Peculiar and Other Non-Fiction•
Please feel free to make any comments or suggest any alterations you think appropriate to the above order.
I can explain part of the order on the basis that Mike is a British author and the Orion (UK) omnibuses came out first. When (if?) I can find the comment from Mike saying that the order of Von Bek and The Eternal Champion omnibuses were reversed because he's best known as a fantasy author in the States then I will quote that as well.
Because I placed The Cornelius Quartet after Elric of Melniboné (for the reason mentioned), I decided to likewise place A Cornelius Calendar after Stormbringer, but otherwise that choice is entirely arbitrary.
The 2003 edition of Lives and Times goes where it does for reasons of chronology. I could have put them after New Nature, but I felt that would bunch too many JC stories slap-bang in the 'middle' so to speak. (Jan. 2012: I've re-labelled this section 'The [Further] Lives and Times of Jerry Cornelius' as it also includes 'The Visible Men' and 'Modem Times 2.0', which aren't included in any published edition of TLaToJC.)
I split the Dancers at/Legends from the End of Time omnibuses because if you read the stories you realise that the first three Legends actually take place between The Hollow Lands and The End of All Songs. That does mean splitting the physical omnibuses unfortunately but the correct order should take precedence over the practical order.
The End of Time/Second Ether story 'Sumptuous Dress' is placed after the SE series to make sense of reader familiarity with the SE characters.
A suggestion has been made (by Mike and others) that his Doctor Who novel, The Coming of the Terraphiles, perhaps makes for an easier introduction to the Second Ether novels
Update: Mike agrees that Terraphiles could also make a good 'jumping on' point for new readers to the entire EC saga alongside The War Hound and the World's Pain, The Eternal Champion and The Sundered Worlds, so I've placed it in a (hopefully) appropriate position.
January 2012 Update:
In Death Is No Obstacle, Colin Greenland and Mike group Behold the Man, Breakfast in the Ruins and The Brothel in Rosenstrasse together as a series of 'didactic' novels:
Originally posted by Michael Moorcock
Likewise, I've decided to list Gloriana, Mother London, King of the City and the London Bone collection together as 'London Novels'; the inclusion of London Bone (not technically a novel) means the entire contents of Lunching With the Antichrist are now contained within the 'main' reading order.
Lastly, I've retitled the 'Jerry Cornell/Nick Allard' section as 'The S.M.A.S.H. Novels' simply to give a better thematic title to the books.
IN CONCLUSION:
The bottom line we've all agreed on was that it was better just to start reading than worry about the 'correct' order, since there isn't one really. ;)
). 
Comment