ELRIC by MICHAEL MOORCOCK
Gollancz/Millenium Masterworks paperback, 432pp, RRP GB£7.99

Reviewed by David McWilliam

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Elric of Melniboné can perhaps be considered Michael Moorcock’s most successful creation in terms of sheer popularity. The albino prince of a dying race, Elric is a powerful sorcerer whose physical prowess is bolstered by his sword, Stormbringer.The blade exacts a heavy price from its wielder, tormenting his dreams, influencing Elric’s decisions in favour of violence so that it can feed on the souls and blood of the living. Without Stormbringer Elric is reduced to a weakened, near-blind state, becoming vulnerable to his adversaries and execrable to his own elitist, imperial heredity. The blade and fighter have an almost symbiotic relationship, seemingly bound together by the threads of Fate - and it is unclear as to which of the two holds mastery over the other.

This collection contains a selection of early stories chronicling the life of Elric:“The Dreaming City”, “While the Gods Laugh”, “The Stealer of Souls”, “Kings in Darkness”, “The Caravan of Forgotten Dreams” and the novella “Stormbringer”. I had previously only been aware of Moorcock as a name reverently referred to by fantasy authors and critics alike, so my expectations for this collection were set very high.

I can honestly say that it thoroughly exceeded them, focussing on a character whose moral and psychological complexity puts most fantasy protagonists to shame. “The Dreaming City” is an abrupt introduction to the anti-hero, as he calls upon dark spirits and mercenary warriors to sack the city of Imrryr. Once he ruled over this last bastion of the dying Melnibonéan race, but was usurped by his cousin Yyrkoon, who has sent his sister Cymoril, Elric’s lover, into an enchanted sleep.

It is made clear that this revenge is born from a history of antagonisms between the two, but the extremity of Elric’s treachery and his willingness to sacrifice his own people for the sake of wounded pride and lost love marks him as a dangerous individual, to his allies as well as his foes. Elric has the air of a Byronic hero who, as much as his actions might cause the reader to despise him, cannot help but impress by the sheer elemental force of his character.

Stormbringer’s insidious effects cloud Elric’s judgement at the pivotal moment of the siege of Imrryr, as the sword fills his mind with a lust for violence that circumvents caution. Cymoril begs the prince to flee with her rather than fight his cousin, but Elric ignores her warning and instead elects to challenge Yyrkoon - and in doing so accidentally kills his lover in the ensuing close quarters sword fight.

The taste of victory turning to ashes in his mouth, Elric realises he has lost everything he had striven to regain. Fleeing the city in the face of a retaliatory attack from its fleet, he abandons those who had followed him to war, choosing to live despite being wracked by self-hate.

If anything, “While the Gods Laugh” darkens the tone even further, as Elric is convinced by a beautiful stranger, Shaarilla, to seek out a tome of knowledge known as the Dead Gods’ Book, a source of infinite knowledge about the mysteries of the universe. Elric is driven to acquiesce to Shaarilla’s request for help as he seeks “the comfort of a benign God”, knowledge of a power that will give a sense of meaning to the chaos he sees around him. Journeying deep into The Silent Land, the pair face a plethora of inventively monstrous entities and a chance encounter introduces the irascible character Moonglum of Elwher, who becomes a companion to Elric for many of the other stories.

In searching for the occult text the complex theology of Moorcock’s world is introduced, with a pantheon of Gods amassed on either side of the division between Law and Chaos. Elric hungers for something more, that there may be a correct path through the ambiguities of the delicate balance between the two. Upon discovering the Dead God’s Book, the Melnibonéan’s hopes are crushed as its age causes it to disintegrate in his hands; a tangible representation of his growing nihilism.

I will forgo any further plot revelations, as I feel that the saga of Elric is best enjoyed when the text reveals its own surprises. Suffice to say that the quality of the other stories matches those I have discussed above, which lead up to “Stormbringer”, a novella that changes the scope of the Melnibonéan’s engagement with the powers which govern his world. To some extent characterisation is limited as the Saga of Elric becomes mythical in scale; the protagonist a pawn in Fate’s greater scheme, travelling the world and other planes of existence to seek out weird entities and battle the anachronistic plans of the Lords of Chaos.

Moorcock’s words are full of fire and energy and, though the sentiments expressed are those of extreme introspection and despair, they retain a vitality that makes them compelling. Elric’s angst and self-loathing are counterbalanced by his arrogance and ability; his powers have brought great sadness but also allow him to lead a free and exhilarating existence.

In a genre traditionally associated with nobility and a clear moral distinction between good and evil, Elric’s negative qualities become almost talismanic and within these pages it is clear to see where much of the inspiration for the recent wave of challenging new fantasy writers, loosely termed the “New Weirdâ€�, has come from.

I must concede that Moorcock’s subversion of fantasy tropes is not as extensive as the heirs to his crown, such as can be found in China Miéville’s Bas-Lag novels. The protagonist is still of noble blood, goes on quests to retrieve legendary items from their monstrous guardians and has a seemingly limitless supply of magic with which to overcome adversities.

However, I would argue that such pulp conventions of page-turning storytelling add a counterbalance to the bleak outlook Elric presents, together creating a body of work that is exuberantly enjoyable without resorting to the traditional fantasy posture of comforting its readers with notions of a simpler, more pastoral world.

Moorcock’s writing is clear and fast paced, but also contains poetic moments that eloquently capture the excitement of the fantasy genre at its very best. This collection is not the definitive selection of Elric stories, merely an introduction to the doom-laden travels of this tormented prince of a land broken by his own treachery. The melancholy woven throughout the stories is of that peculiar quality where the reader is left enlivened by the depth of feeling engendered by the collection, rather than smothered by an excess of emotional outpouring. It has certainly introduced me to the splendour of Moorcock’s writing, and whetted my appetite to find out more about his fascinating anti-hero.

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David McWilliam was born in Liverpool in 1982. He graduated in 2006 with BA Honours in English Literature from the University of Sheffield, where he specialised in literature of the fantastic and speculative fiction and wrote a dissertation on a Foucauldian reading of Kafka’s The Trial and The Castle in relation to the nature of subjecthood. He is currently living and working in South Derbyshire and writing wherever possible.

Tags: book • Elric • Fantasy • Moorcock • review • Stormbringer