The Whispering Swarm

February 23, 2015
Moorcock (the Elric saga) returns from a long hiatus with a new novel that melds autobiography and "secret world" fantasy. The result isn't always perfect, but it is an absorbing look at the history of a genre legend, avoiding most of the postmodern clichés the concept implies. The novel begins with Moorcock's adolescence and young adult years, as he meets fellow nascent writers like Barrington Bayley and John Brunner and takes over Tarzan Adventures before he's even 17. But in this alternate history, young Moorcock meets the seemingly out-of-touch Friar Isidore, and their friendship leads to the hidden abbey of Alsacia, as well as assorted characters straight out of legend. Moorcock's fantastic adventuresâcast against his own family and early romantic lifeâare entertaining enough, but it's really the stealthy autobiography disguised as adventure that drives the story (a section in which he admits that he might have pushed some new writers "where they didn't want to go" stands out). Fantasy fans will enjoy the book on its well-polished merits, but those interested in the history of the fantasy genre will get the most out of it. Agent: Howard Morhaim, Howard Morhaim Literary Agency.

January 1, 2015
A semiautobiographical, semifantastical adventure by a legendary author, set in both real and imagined Londons. In Moorcock's (Phoenix in Obsidian, 2014, etc.) latest book, a young man named Michael Moorcock lives and works in post-World War II London, making a name for himself as a writer and editor of gradually more and more radical fantasy and science fiction-and slipping in and out of an alternate London known as Alsacia, or the Sanctuary. In this hidden section of the city, time seems to flow differently, death is almost unknown, and folk heroes like Dick Turpin can often be found drinking down at The Swan With Two Necks. Oh, and there's a girl, Moll Midnight, who seems to have stepped right out of Michael's dreams. Alsacia-and Molly-becomes a kind of tempting retreat from real life, a place where Michael can participate in grand adventures and rescue romance from the clutches of modernity. Moorcock's many fans will relish the complicated blurring of autobiographical fact and fantastical fiction, but more casual readers may find themselves impatient for Michael to stop editing groundbreaking magazines and get back to the swashbuckling. There's a complex and beautiful book in here, with an unusually adult perspective on fantasy as nostalgia for what never was and cannot be again. But many readers will find their impatience at the initially slow-moving plot keeps them from fully enjoying it. This first book in a planned trilogy requires, but also rewards, patient readers and holds out plenty of promise for its sequels.

COPYRIGHT(2015) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.