I've found several nice bookshops while on holiday in North Yorkshire, but weirdly have found nothing in any of them I wanted to buy.
Last time we were in Pickering was 2007, the town had flooded a couple of weeks earlier and at its arse end was a still-damp second-hand bookshop piled higgledy-piggledy with treasures. Well, as we're here again, I thought I'd see if, unlikely though it seemed, it was still trading and... Bingpot!! 😃🏆📚🏆
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Although it's mildly amusing that Moorcock has "The terrifying ancient gods of Granbretan - Jhone, Jhorg, Phowl, Rhunga," together with "Chirshil, the Howling God" & "Aral Vilsn, the Roaring God", when listed alongside the gods of Doom & Chaos, "Skvese and Blansacredid" (credit squeeze and balance of credit), he's really grounding the story to the time of writing, 1969, and I was pulled out of the narrative, set thousands of years in the future.
Thought I might as well round off the History of the Runestaff with the fourth and final volume.
With 47.5% more #CatsOfLitsy than my previous photo.
pickI'm enjoying the Hawkmoon series better than I remembered from the first time of reading in the '80s. In many respects, they're fairly formulaic science-fantasy fare: Hawkmoon must go on a quest to recover a mystic object in order to stave off disaster, railing against the destiny wrought for him by that most mystical object, the Runestaff, reluctantly slaughtering anyone who gets in his way. But sometimes atmospheric mayhem is what you want! ⚔ 4⭐
In the second book of the History of the Runestaff, Dorian Hawkmoon is pitted against the Muscovian Mad God of Asiacommunista, who has invaded the land of Ukrania, and in his insane lust for power indiscriminately kills all who cross his path, men, women and children ☹
Which, I guess indicates either that Moorcock is a warlock, or that the geopolitical roots of the present war run deeply. (Although I suppose the two aren't mutually exclusive.)
The feeling you get when you finally find that elusive 1st edition hard cover of a book that completes your collection of a specific author.
#sciencefiction #scifi
#CuriousCovers
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @eggs
Well, yes. This is the very first book in Enish l bought, back when there was no internat, no online stores, no browsing online, and you could only ask a bookshop that offered the service to import the book for you.
Cost a fortune too.
so-soIf I'd read this when I bought it in 1981, I'd undoubtedly have rated it higher than my present 3🌟. As it is, I enjoyed it for its type, & Moorcock's unabashed borrowing wholesale from Edgar Rice Burroughs' A Princess of Mars. There are few surprises, but then I read it for that reason. Comfy slippers.
Moorcock doesn't take himself too seriously, & I had a chuckle at the name of the entrance to the Caves of Darkness: the Gates of Gord Elpus! 😄
Disengage brain and critical faculties, engage senses of wonder and of fun!
A pastiche of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Warlord of Mars books that has been on my tbr shelf for 39 years. I'm making steady inroads into the books I bought from the market as a kid and have lugged around with me for about three-quarters of my life 😊
Reading this hilarious scifi adventure about the band Hawkwind, written by my friend Michael Butterworth.
I love Larry Niven's Known Space hard sci-fi stories, but this collection of stories isn't in that universe, though some are still connected to each other. ⬇️ 1y