Michael Moorcock, at 30, begins to stand in relation to the world of science fiction much as Poe stood in relation to the Gothic novel. That is to say, he is an ingenious and energetic experimenter, restlessly original, brimming over with clever ideas, whose exploitation of a certain form is so thorough that one almost smells a whiff of parody at the root of it. Again like Poe, if Mr Moorcock set out half-inspired by a need to mock the conventions he was using he soon lost that cynicism. His albino prince, Elric, hero of the early short stories collected as The Stealer of Souls, is mastered by the sword Stormbringer in the novel of that name…. Elric's handling of Stormbringer has things in common with the author's handling of SF. The weapon comes alive in his grip. Mr Moorcock began with fancies and conceits, which increasingly assumed a...