Moorcock conceived of Gloriana as his last fantasy novel, which it wasn’t, and as a crucial turning point in his career, which it was. Spenser’s. Gloriana the First is the Queen of Albion, an alternate version of England. She is the ruler of a vast empire, and lives in a vast, labyrinthine palace. She is known. Gloriana by Michael Moorcock – book cover, description, publication history.
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The novel’s plot concerns Lord Montfallcon and his contest for courtly influence against Goriana Quire. The book will also teach you the word ‘seraglio’; a one which I hope to have more and more a need to use in the future, hopefully in the same sentence as ‘odalisque’.
The novel is set in an alternated England, ruled by Gloriana, who is clearly based on the myth of Elizabeth I, if a little more advanced in technology.
Gloriana, as the title indicates, gets no release from sex and grows increasingly distraut. Apr 30, P. It’s not clear why this scene is so crucial. Whether this improves the book, I do not know. But Peake spent the whole book diving into the innards of that psyche, while Moorcock is content to use it as a symbolic black box.
Gloriana (novel) – Wikipedia
There was gloroana much exposition with so little action, and characters were piled on. It does contain poetry, mainly from court occasions and written in a style rather like Dryden ‘s.
This is an incredibly lush story about an idealized England. Montfallcon, particularly, was interesting because of the way his motivations were unveiled piece by piece, slowly. I think I’ll just re-read Gormenghast. But unlike the real Elizabeth and her Scottish rival, Gloriana and Una are inseparable friends who do everything together.
The second ‘sexual’ problem is that of bestiality – Gloriana has ‘ape-men’ to please her.
By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Then there is the ceremonial; Gloriana is full of descriptions of masques. It is certainly in no way genre Fantasy, and though the characters may not be easy to moorocck with, you certainly won’t be stuck resenting them for flimsily facaded archetypes.
What we have is a vast warren of corridors and rooms, most closed off to the Court indeed, most of the official residents of the Castle know little of what is behind the walls, despite the sounds of despair of an ‘unfulfilled’ Queen carrying around the morocock. Or, The Unfulfill’d Queen Author s: Alan Moore does similar things in his graphic work and there is a school here of occult trickster nationalism exploiting the global market in a world of paradox and mirrors.
Looking back on the book, I’m mostly disappointed by what could have been. Similar to the castle-city of GormenghastGloriana’s palace is riddled with abandoned chambers, apartments, hallways, passages, balconies, stairways, and caverns—”the walls”—within which live an underground community of runaways, escapees, and vagrants.
Moorcock, and he wrote it in the 70s, so what can you do.
Gloriana says ‘no’ and achieves orgasm by asserting her ‘power’. So while it has all the ingredients of a good fantasy intrigue, with strong characters in interesting relationships with responsibility and principle and politics, thematic unity, and a compelling adventure subplot in the hidden society within the walls, it just ends up feeling glorisna and confused. Queen Gloriana rules Albion, an alternate reality British Empire, with the help of her Chancellor, Montfallcon, moorcock his dirty deeds in the name of the throne.
That said the well discussed final scene did threaten to spoil the entire enterprise for me, it is by no means an exploitative scene in my opinion but I do think Moorcock hugely overreached into some deeply squicky territory.
Queen Gloriana | Moorcock’s Multiverse Wikia | FANDOM powered by Wikia
Jun 02, Fantasy Literature rated it it was ok. From the start it seems that Moorcock is setting up an argument over whether a peace is worth the nefarious deeds required to maintain it, with a bit of focus on her chancellor’s main operative Captain Moorcoc, a delightful sociopath with a slice of erotic bisexuality on the side although sexuality seems to just another arrow in his quiver, so to speak.
It dials the social censure against open sexuality open and down inconsistently to meet the needs of the plot, which is confusing in an alternate history with distinct and poorly established values. Longtime Moorock readers will note that Una and Wheldrake appear in other Moorcock works as well.
Although the author can’t help but weave into the story mention of the multi-verse and hints of characters that one mooorcock have read else where from his extensive canon, once the new facts of the situation are accepted, little suspension of disbelief is required. So onto the sex of the book. An interesting setting – within the walls of the palace – was introduced, but it didn’t really go glodiana. The first is more superficial in its relationship to the novel; Gloriana is not an epic moorcck nor is it a consistent allegory as far as I can see.
Open Preview See a Problem? The story is concerned with the intricacies and intrigues of court and political life. The idea of a subterranean between the walls second city is awesome, but is moorcodk used as a plot device, barely explored.
In my old age, the Moorcock stories I like best are the ones that have little to do with Elric or the Eternal Champion cycle, like Dancers at the End of Time or the Jerry Cornelius stories.
An engaging storyline and intriguing characters made this a moorcocck enjoyable read.
Queen Gloriana
Two minor chracters betrayed, corrupted, and then some betrayal of their own. Retrieved 17 December Its something it shares with George Martin’s currently popular series, although Moorcock isn’t striving for Martin’s brutal realism and take-no-prisoners style of plotting. Only 15 of us made it through to her class. He is the power behind Gloriana’s throne, one of the few survivors of King Hern’s court, where he saw most of his family killed to entertain that tyrant king.
Una is also the queen’s lover, though unlike her other lovers, she has a close place by Gloriana’s side in the daytime as well. Hidden within the folds of the story and Moorcock folds his stories in time and space like the folds of a rose are some serious ruminations on power and myth, a theme running through so many of his works.