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Sojan
Excellent Book
157 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1977
75 people want to read
About the author
Michael Moorcock
1,205 books3,743 followersMichael John Moorcock is an English writer primarily of science fiction and fantasy who has also published a number of literary novels.
Moorcock has mentioned The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Apple Cart by George Bernard Shaw and The Constable of St. Nicholas by Edward Lester Arnold as the first three books which captured his imagination. He became editor of Tarzan Adventures in 1956, at the age of sixteen, and later moved on to edit Sexton Blake Library. As editor of the controversial British science fiction magazine New Worlds, from May 1964 until March 1971 and then again from 1976 to 1996, Moorcock fostered the development of the science fiction "New Wave" in the UK and indirectly in the United States. His serialization of Norman Spinrad's Bug Jack Barron was notorious for causing British MPs to condemn in Parliament the Arts Council's funding of the magazine.
During this time, he occasionally wrote under the pseudonym of "James Colvin," a "house pseudonym" used by other critics on New Worlds. A spoof obituary of Colvin appeared in New Worlds #197 (January 1970), written by "William Barclay" (another Moorcock pseudonym). Moorcock, indeed, makes much use of the initials "JC", and not entirely coincidentally these are also the initials of Jesus Christ, the subject of his 1967 Nebula award-winning novella Behold the Man, which tells the story of Karl Glogauer, a time-traveller who takes on the role of Christ. They are also the initials of various "Eternal Champion" Moorcock characters such as Jerry Cornelius, Jerry Cornell and Jherek Carnelian. In more recent years, Moorcock has taken to using "Warwick Colvin, Jr." as yet another pseudonym, particularly in his Second Ether fiction.
Moorcock has mentioned The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Apple Cart by George Bernard Shaw and The Constable of St. Nicholas by Edward Lester Arnold as the first three books which captured his imagination. He became editor of Tarzan Adventures in 1956, at the age of sixteen, and later moved on to edit Sexton Blake Library. As editor of the controversial British science fiction magazine New Worlds, from May 1964 until March 1971 and then again from 1976 to 1996, Moorcock fostered the development of the science fiction "New Wave" in the UK and indirectly in the United States. His serialization of Norman Spinrad's Bug Jack Barron was notorious for causing British MPs to condemn in Parliament the Arts Council's funding of the magazine.
During this time, he occasionally wrote under the pseudonym of "James Colvin," a "house pseudonym" used by other critics on New Worlds. A spoof obituary of Colvin appeared in New Worlds #197 (January 1970), written by "William Barclay" (another Moorcock pseudonym). Moorcock, indeed, makes much use of the initials "JC", and not entirely coincidentally these are also the initials of Jesus Christ, the subject of his 1967 Nebula award-winning novella Behold the Man, which tells the story of Karl Glogauer, a time-traveller who takes on the role of Christ. They are also the initials of various "Eternal Champion" Moorcock characters such as Jerry Cornelius, Jerry Cornell and Jherek Carnelian. In more recent years, Moorcock has taken to using "Warwick Colvin, Jr." as yet another pseudonym, particularly in his Second Ether fiction.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 4, 2020
I'm half inclined to rate this one very high and half very low, so I'm splitting the difference. For devoted Moorcock fans it's a cornucopia of delights, but I'm sure anyone else would find it of little worth at all. It includes the fiction he wrote for Tarzan Adventures Magazine (of which he was the editor!) in his teenaged years. They're not terrible stories, very accomplished for such a young person in fact, but still nowhere and in no way do they approach the level of the fiction for which he's known currently. Sojan definitely Dorian Hawkmoon. Still, you can see some of the Eternal Champion tropes and themes beginning to emerge... if you squint a little. The original James Cawthorn illustrations are included, which is a bonus. The final third or so of the book is a fascinating selection of essays and musings on Elric, New Worlds, Jerry Cornelius, etc., which is the part making it particularly useful to avowed Nomads of the Timestream Moorcock fans.
July 4, 2021
Well, this nearly wound up on the "frankly pants" shelf. Some context would be helpful: this is essentially Moorcock juvenalia, mostly churned out for the Tarzan Adventures magazine while Moorcock was editing it. Bulked out with a few non-fiction letters and articles, and a long-form dick joke ("The Stone Thing") that is actually better than any of the Sojan stories within, this is probably for completists only. Should you really be interested in reading "The Stone Thing", you can find that bundled into Elric of Melnibone and Other Stories, in the Gollancz editions. For much better "sword & planet" fiction I'd recommend steering towards Leigh Brackett instead, or skipping to Moorcock's Kane of Old Mars trilogy.
December 27, 2023
Una tragedia in pochi passi:
- Rileggo e adoro The Dark World del dinamico duo C.L. Moore e Henry Kuttner.
- Decido di leggere un altro romanzo relativamente breve di science fantasy.
- Mi ricordo che nella mia pila di opere di Moorcock recuperate compulsivamente ho anche Sojan the Swordsman , che sembra perfetto.
- Scopro che Moorcock l'ha scritto a 15 anni per il giornalino scolastico ed è esattamente quello che ti aspetti da un 15enne. Non so se sono più tristi gli spiegoni "raffronto questa tecnologia fittizia con quelle reali, ma chiaramente non sono un ingegnere", oppure tutte le volte che il protagonista si prende una botta in testa in modo da creare un cliffhanger fra due scene. O i personaggi introdotti in due parole e uccisi poco dopo. O le trame in cui non c'è un vero intreccio di fondo, ma scene stock da romanzo d'avventura incollate una dietro l'altra.
Di sicuro ci sono 15enni che scrivono peggio di quanto scrivesse Moorcock da ragazzino, ed è solo doveroso che la sua opera omnia edita Gollancz riproponga anche Sojan – non vuol dire che sia leggibile.
- Rileggo e adoro The Dark World del dinamico duo C.L. Moore e Henry Kuttner.
- Decido di leggere un altro romanzo relativamente breve di science fantasy.
- Mi ricordo che nella mia pila di opere di Moorcock recuperate compulsivamente ho anche Sojan the Swordsman , che sembra perfetto.
- Scopro che Moorcock l'ha scritto a 15 anni per il giornalino scolastico ed è esattamente quello che ti aspetti da un 15enne. Non so se sono più tristi gli spiegoni "raffronto questa tecnologia fittizia con quelle reali, ma chiaramente non sono un ingegnere", oppure tutte le volte che il protagonista si prende una botta in testa in modo da creare un cliffhanger fra due scene. O i personaggi introdotti in due parole e uccisi poco dopo. O le trame in cui non c'è un vero intreccio di fondo, ma scene stock da romanzo d'avventura incollate una dietro l'altra.
Di sicuro ci sono 15enni che scrivono peggio di quanto scrivesse Moorcock da ragazzino, ed è solo doveroso che la sua opera omnia edita Gollancz riproponga anche Sojan – non vuol dire che sia leggibile.
October 16, 2022
Grab-bag of juvenilia, parodies, and essays from Moorcock, none of which are especially essential. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/202...
April 5, 2023
While the Sojan stories are raw, it's fun seeing hints of the better novels that would follow. The author's commentary on his Elric and Jerry Cornelius novels were definitely worth the read.
April 8, 2024
first book of moorcock that is not elric that i read, for a young age and the 50's the steampunk fantasy is ahead of its time but lacks the later moorcock power for sure.
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August 23, 2008isbn,original
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews