And now opens the tragedy which will close many years from now and precipitate the destruction of this world.
In the land of Melnibone, the Dragon Isle, a man sits on the Ruby Throne contemplating the people before him. This powerful kingdom, after ten thousand years of rule, has for the last half century been in decline from its once lofty place. In the hands of the right man Melnibone might return to its former might; in the hands of a cruel ruler bent upon domination Melnibone might rise again. But this man is not that ruler. For he has raised himself on books, filled his mind with vast sums of knowledge from ancestors going back to Melnibone’s first Sorcerer Emperor, and that knowledge has made him thoughtful, given him a conscience, and plagued the efficacy of his leadership. This Sorcerer Emperor, Elric of Melnibone, cannot simply obey the traditions of his people to live only for the pleasure of self. Instead he doubts and wonders and thinks that, perhaps, there might be a better way…
Michael Moorcock’s seminal Eternal Champion series is one that has inscribed itself indelibly on the consciousness of the genre community over the last four plus decades. Many readers, like myself before this past weekend, have not read any of the stories set in this universe but are at the very least aware of Moorcock’s albino anti-hero and his unique sword. For as long as I can remember being aware of genre fiction I was aware of various artistic interpretations of Elric, with his bone-white skin, long white hair and crimson eyes.
Elric of Melnibone tells the story of Elric’s attempted assassination by one who would usurp the throne, how he called upon old friendships to cheat death, and the journey to exact vengeance upon the man who would be king…er, Emperor. Sound familiar? There are other oft-used fantasy tropes here as well, including the rescue of a damsel in distress. I am only vaguely aware of the elements of Michael Moorcock’s series that broke new ground, that turned tropes on their ear and made his series such a success. I am anxious to learn what those elements are and the history behind this influential series, but that will have to wait until I have read more of the books. There is a wealth of information to tap into regarding this series, but with that literary archaeology comes revelations about the story that I want to come to fresh.
What I can tell you from my experience is this: Michael Moorcock will surprise you. In a mere one hundred thirty-three pages Moorcock did many interesting things, including opening the story with a quote that ends with the line I began this review with, giving the reader some up front knowledge that whatever happens from here on out, it may not end well. There is an unexpected wealth of information built into a story that on the surface looks like a pretty standard fantasy tale. With Elric, Moorcock explores the idea of fate and destiny vs. free will and Elric of Melnibone is rife with prophecies and declarations of destiny and suspicions and accusations that the protagonist and antagonist are merely pawns of bored/vengeful gods. However nothing is that simple. This is a story ripe for philosophical debate, a debate that rages within the very mind of our protagonist who remains torn between what he wants to do, what history and tradition demands he do, and what he repeatedly finds himself bound to do because of deals he makes with the spirit world.
Elric is an anti-hero in that he comes from a line of incredibly cruel, selfish people and for all his desire to be different remains a product of the world that he rules. This is another way that Moorcock surprised me. I admittedly came in with the expectation that an anti-hero written so many decades ago would be a one-dimensional character and what I found instead was a very complex character. Without fail I would find myself certain of the next decision Elric would make only to find Moorcock playing mind games with me. It was not just taking the standard fantasy option and going in a different direction, however, for Elric made choices that could lead in multiple different directions as further stories unfold, and not all of them good.
Moorcock also wove moments into the story that left me pondering if there was a deeper meaning to a scene than I initially read into it. An example is a character that Elric comes across who has been exiled to an underworld because he once knew everything and he must forget it all to be set free. This character mentions that he knows Elric’s destiny and when Elric asks he says that he doesn’t remember. Elric thinks he is lying and the reader suspects that but then later on, in an almost throw away moment, you see this character forget something the moment he shares it with another. So does that mean he really had forgotten Elric’s destiny because he had already shared it with someone else? Moorcock may have meant nothing by this, but it an example of the kind of thought-provoking information that Moorcock has layered into the story, purposefully or not.
The Eternal Champion series is a fun idea: different iterations of the same character in different periods of time. Elric seemed to me to be the most natural place to start and given my enjoyment of the book it was a wise choice.
Several years ago my friend Cameron decided to read through this series and I can recall fondly the Wednesday nights at the local comic shop listening to Jeff and Jerry discuss these stories as Cameron was devouring them. This past May at the Spectrum Fantastic Art Live 2 event artist John Picacio had several of his originals for the interiors of the Elric reprints that he worked on for sale which lead to more discussions about this series with fans who were admiring his work. I took advantage of the opportunity to ask questions from those who were passionate about these books in an attempt to gauge my own interest in reading them.
It is odd how the mood will sometimes strike you to read a certain book. Given that my recent exposure to Elric conversations had primed the pump, it was interesting to note how a Facebook email informing me of my friend Cameron’s upcoming birthday provided that spark that ignited the desire to finally give Michael Moorcock’s famous character a try. I am grateful for the spark as I enjoyed the book very much.
Michael Moorcock wrote an interesting story that introduced a variety of characters, keeping the pace engaging and the imagination flowing over a comparatively small page count. Even as Elric is making decisions about how he will rule based on the circumstances he is undergoing, we see other characters begin to change their minds and question their feelings about Elric and about their devotion to the traditions of Melniborne. Choices are made and paths are taken that will no doubt splinter off into many unforeseen (at least by Elric) directions and that not only made Elric of Melniborne an exciting read but bodes well for the rest of the series.
8/10 stars
I read this novel out of the collection pictured at the right, a gift (along with volume two) from my friend Richard. Thanks Richard. Took me a while but I finally cracked one open. I even managed to get a start on book two earlier this evening.
I appreciate the gift very much, not the least of which because I knew I had them at hand when I finally got the urge to give Elric a try.
One of these days I hope to pick up the series illustrated by John Picacio as well.
I’ve read them all, this one at least twice. Sometimes Moorcock can get a little wordy, or, if there were such a word, “thoughty”, but the larger canvas he paints is engaging and fully worthy of study.
Well put Richard, and thanks again for the gift. It was fun to finally get to this first one.
Ugh…I had a detailed comment written out only for my app to shut down.
In short…I read a book whose character was Elric. I think it may be based of this character you have written about….many similarities. That book was okay but did not really grab me. This book you’ve written about is quite appealing to my reading tastes. I agree with you, it is rather interesting how a mood can urge you to read a book. That has happened to me with my last two books read.
You, friend, are creating my summer reading list. A list that I did not know I had until I started writing my summer reading list post…a post to say that I do not have a list. In a way, I still do not because my my mindset is much different regarding a book list. Even so, several books on the list are due to you. 🙂
I hate it when stuff like that happens, Deanna. Sorry.
I would imagine this would be that same Elric, at least if his appearance matched this.
I’m glad you are creating a summer reading post, if only because they are so much fun to do! And I’ll happily take the blame for adding books to people’s reading list. 🙂
It’s the Whelan covers for me all the way. Sorry John.
Glad you enjoyed the books. I enjoyed a lot as a teen back in my DAW days. Another eternal champion I liked a lot was Corum. You might look it up if you get hooked on these books.
It was fun hearing Whelan talk about his Moorcock work as well as the rest of his stuff at the art panel at SFAL2.
I actually was reading a post recently where the writer suggested actually starting with the Corum books as a way to get hooked on Moorcock. They sound interesting and I certainly would like to see other versions of the character and what Moorcock does with them.
It’s been a while since I read Elric, but I remember enjoying it immensely. I believe Moorcock was responding to all the super heroic fantasy written previously – the Conans and the John Carters, men who used their physical strength to dominate their environment. And Elric is the opposite of physically strong, and when he does fight his strength comes from a demon possessed sword. Pretty damn epic and anti-heroic, right? I too remember a lot of mindgames and surprises.
Moorcock wrote a Doctor Who novel a few years ago, and while the novel itself didn’t grab me, one of the characters was quite obviously the eternal champion making a cameo. I loved those scenes!!
hmmm… Silverberg’s Lord Valentine’s Castle next?
I don’t doubt that he was, which is interesting because these books feel very much like Conan and John Carter but with, as you point out, a hero who in and of himself is weak but draws strength from an external source. Like those heroes of decades before, Elric is brave and proactive despite everything pointing to things being out of his control. I think that is part of the reason I connected so closely with the story because it felt like Moorcock built on the foundations of stories I enjoy but worked to subvert them as well. I have no idea how he feels about those older works and if, when he wrote Elric, he had any affection or respect for them but looking at them from this distance you can see a respect for them whether it was intentional or not. I am over half way through the second book and continue to see why these made such an impression.
I do have the nice recently released trade of the first Lord Valentine book on one of my shelves. 🙂
I’ll second Redhead’s opinion and reinforce the fact that Elric was modelled as the direct antithesis of Conan in particular. Conan was born as a barbarian, who used his strength to fight his way to dominance, feared and avoided magic, worshipped distant unforgiving gods and claimed the throne of the “civilized world”, while Elric was born into a civilization that ruled the world, gave away his throne, embraced sorcery, both relied and fought against his patron gods, became a thief/rogue/adventurer and of course, was frail and weak, and could only gain strength though drugs and sorcery. Moorcock revered R. E. Howard, but he wanted to avoid the stereotypes.
Oh I agree, even with what little I’ve read so far. As I said in my reply to Andrea (Redhead), the books have a very similar “feel” to them but you can see where Moorcock diverged from what came before and created something that not only meant something profound to many reading it as it was coming out but still captures people today. I’m almost through with the second book in the collection I have and can say that these are compelling me to keep reading.
My man read most of this series years ago and highly recommends it. I have yet to start it, being easily distracted by other shiny books, other books recommended by him and others, and life in general. Thanks for your thoughtful review as it puts it back on my radar.
There are always shiny books, aren’t there? Especially shine NEW books. I’ve been reading a lot more newly released work this year, including all the monthly short fiction magazines, so it has been nice to step back into the past again with this book.
Ah, now you’ve put The Eternal Champion back on my radar! I’ve read and loved the Dancers at the End of Time books but never got around to starting this series. I don’t read a lot of fantasy but there’s something about Moorcock’s characters and the multiverse he’s created that I just can’t resist.
I read McCaffrey’s Dragonflight earlier this year which was a nice fantasy/science fiction blend and I’m enjoying how Moorcock’s fantasy also has this time travel/multiverse element in it, especially in the second book which starts out right away introducing the idea of the multiverse and the various iterations of the Eternal Champion.
Only 130 pages and with lots of surprises. Sounds like a talented author and a story I could get into. Thanks for the introduction since I hadn’t heard of it. Shhh! don’t tell anyone.
It was for me at any rate, given that I was expecting certain story elements to go a certain way and then they didn’t. Very enjoyable.
Happy I was able to educate you a bit about Elric and Moorcock’s series.
Michael Moorcock’s books are like potato chips: you can’t stop at one! One of my prized possessions is a complete set of Michael Moorcock’s work in the White Wolf editions. I’ve real all the Eternal Champion novels. Moorcock is a great fantasy writer!
He is indeed. I just finished “The Sailor on the Seas of Fate” earlier this afternoon and started on “Weird of the White Wolf”, the third in this first SFBC volume. I then have Vol. 2 to move on to. I’d love to have the White Wolf editions, those are nice.
The ‘Wierd of the White Wolf’ was my first Elric story, mainly because of ‘that’ exact Michael Whelan cover! This was another of my sneaking books out of my brother’s room adventures. 😀 I read the entire series thru. Elric was my first encounter with an anti-hero. Thanks for reminding me, I need to read these & Roger Zelazny’s Amber novels again. I’ve already gotten all of Nathan Brazil and the Well-world novels off of paperback swap for a reread, soon…