This is an ongoing series looking at books that have influenced on author.

Wizardry and Wild Romance

by Michael Moorcock

I had heard about and read about this book, so it was with some joy that I stumbled upon it in a book store a few years ago. I was familiar with a good bit of author Moorcock’s early Sword and Sorcery writings, and I was intrigued at what he had to say about the sub-genre in particular and fantasy literature over all.

What this book is is Moorcock’s personal analysis of the fantasy genre, with his opinions about a handful of the better-known authors in the genre.

I found surprises here, some that might even be considered shocking to many fans of the genre. For instance, Moorcock seems to have a hate-on for Tolkien. And for C.S. Lewis, as well. Moorcock spends more than a few words in print about the banality of these two, how he finds them boring, boring, boring. And Moorcock goes on the heap plenty of scorn on the heads of those who would follow directly in the footsteps of the likes of Tolkien and Lewis.

But that shouldn’t stop any fantasy fans from reading this book. Why? Because those fans will learn quite a bit. They might even have their eyes and their minds opened to other fantasy literature, books and stories that aren’t so well known but still contain much literary merit.

Also, Moorcock provides quite the extensive overview of the history of the fantasy genre, mentioning ancient works, gothic literature of the 19th Century, early 20th Century writers and so forth. There is knowledge in spades to be found in this book, and much of it will be new to most fans of fantasy.

To learn of hidden gems of the fantasy genre, to gain a basic understanding from where the genre has come, this book is indispensable.

Up next: Dragons of Autumn Twilight

Related links

100 Days of Fantasy: Day 64, Sometimes the Magic Works

100 Days of Fantasy: Day 65, Dragonflight

Logical Misanthropy, horror and fantasy author’s blog