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The Elric Saga #3-5
The Singing Citadel: Four Tales Of Heroic Fantasy
Spine creased, some marking to tanned page edges. Shipped from the U.K. All orders received before 3pm sent that weekday.
125 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1970
About the author
Michael Moorcock
1,243 books3,895 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 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 13, 2022
Four interesting stories, proving that he can write.
August 14, 2023
A collection of fill in short stories in the Elric series, but with an enjoyable fantasy story about Alexander the Great in the middle.
May 11, 2024
Enjoyed the back story.
June 4, 2025
Four weird new-wave (postmodern?) fantasy stories, standard and classic Moorcock. Final two stories are the best of the bunch.
December 19, 2013
Its hard for me to honestly rate Michael Moorcock's writing. Anyone would have to agree that what he writes is pulp fiction, but it is in my opinion some of the best pulp fantasy to ever be produced. His prose is incredibly readable and his characters and the arcane world they live in draws you in immediately. Perhaps it is his keen sense of tragedy that keeps you riveted (and that sense of tragedy is no better personified than by his character Elric of Melnibone). The action is of course great, but I think it is this hope that somehow the good will overcome, that his characters though psychically torn will know peace, that hooks you so hard. Sadly, and you suspect this from the very first read, the good does overcome but always at a bitter price. It is as if these torn heroes that Moorcock creates must face some form of morbid crucifixion over and over again.
September 7, 2020
If you love fantasy, you'll probably rate this higher than me. I like fantasy, but not wild about it, so take my rating for what it's worth.
The first story was a 3-star rating to me, but the others are better. The final story was a good shot at rewriting the story of Alexander the Great in his final year, when he'd conquered most of the known world.
The stories are all good vs evil with the lines very well drawn. Chaos vs Order as a rule, with a few other deities thrown in and the hero (main character) has to hump like mad to survive and win.
The first story was a 3-star rating to me, but the others are better. The final story was a good shot at rewriting the story of Alexander the Great in his final year, when he'd conquered most of the known world.
The stories are all good vs evil with the lines very well drawn. Chaos vs Order as a rule, with a few other deities thrown in and the hero (main character) has to hump like mad to survive and win.
August 16, 2016
As the Elric saga goes, this is decidedly side-story material, but these four novellas strengthen Moorcock's world-building and establish the varied characters who, first introduced in solo adventures, will become Elric mainstays in future adventures. "The Greater Conquerer" is the most interesting here, as it welds the alternate-universe fantasia of the Elric stories to real-world alternate history, painting Alexander the Great as a man possessed by the chaos demons of Melnibone.
September 18, 2007
Kind of a Moorcock sampler.
The first three stories were incorporated in his Elric books and the last one was only so-so.
The first three stories were incorporated in his Elric books and the last one was only so-so.
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May 5, 2009The Singing Citadel by Michael Moorcock (1970)
March 20, 2011
Uneven collection of strange fantasy tales from the master of them.
March 17, 2015
Four short stories
March 19, 2019
Невелика повість про пригоди імператора Елріка, який Допомагає королеві Йішані подолати могутнього ворога, користуючись допомогою могутнього Аріоха.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews