Really confused please help

[samdad]

OK dont be mad, any of you...please
Never read any MM until last week when I unearthed Nomad of the Time Streams in my attic. Obviously it's fantastic, so went onto amazon and bought Von Beck expecting it to be the first in the Eternal Champ series. Rummaging around the net, find this site and come across many different suggested orders.
Uhh.....help?

[Doc]

Welcome, Samdad, and I'm glad you found MM's work.

DL put together a pretty thorough listing of the various EC novels, including the different omnibus volumes. It's the first thread (on a sticky) on this section of the forum. It will probably help you a great deal. (Thanks again, DL!)

For what it's worth, Von Bek is the first of the British omnibus editions, in the US editions it is second, preceeded by The Eternal Champion.

Others may disagree, but my advice is to read what you can find, in any order, and enjoy. You'll find that you'll make sense of the cycle without a need for structuring, because the EC doesn't have a linear experience.

More importantly, don't limit yourself to MM's work with the EC cycle. Try some of his other work--it won't disappoint.

[DeeCrowSeer]

Others may disagree, but my advice is to read what you can find, in any order, and enjoy. You'll find that you'll make sense of the cycle without a need for structuring, because the EC doesn't have a linear experience.

I agree completely. You have to "smoke 'em if you've got 'em", as they say, and work with what you have. I started with The Ice Schooner, moved on to the End of Time and Bastable books, and have branched out from there... I'm nowhere near even the halfway mark, but as we wannabe-Taoists say: It isn't the destination that's important, it's the journey!

Not all of us can find every book, and we can't all wait until we've got them in the right order to begin reading. Perhaps you won't ever attain the highest state of Moorcock-consciousness, but you will get to read some mighty fine stories, and isn't that the point? :D

[devilchicken]

I picked up about 2 thirds of the white paperback omnibus collection when I was in the UK - though I missed out on Jerry Cornelius, The Ice Schooner, Von Bek and The end of Time collection.

That said, I have the 'classics' - the two Elric omnibuses, the Corum's, Hawkmoon, Count Brass, The Earl Aubec Collection and a few others.

Trying to track down the rest (in the US) is a bloody nightmare - I tried to see if I could get hold of a copy of the Kane stories on ebay - only to discover the only bugger selling one wanted $85 for an out of print hardcover resissue.

B*stards