[elwin]

> It makes me wonder if Moorcock has ever actually read Tolkien.

Probably he just didn't read it thoroughly enough. Recent writers put characterization and moral ambiguities at the forefront of their stories, like Moorcock wanted. Tolkien (and the pre-modern works he imitated) put those elements in the background and make the reader dig them out.

Agreed about Jack Vance. I recommend Eyes of the Overworld/Cugel the Clever.

[Retric]

What I find so facinating about this is 'complex' charaters in modern fiction are really a dumbing down of the art form.