Elric

Elric, Moorcock's damned albino swordsman, is one of the most striking creations of heroic fantasy. Living in a world doomed to be forgotten, last emperor of the decaying empire he betrays, he is a striking figure of teenage angst who becomes something rather more. He is the central figure of a world conceived largely for its gloomy decorativeness--Moorcock's fantasy landscapes derive as much from the author's favourite Romantic and Mannerist pictures as they do from the traditions of a genre for which he had mixed feelings early in his career. Elric is doomed to sacrifice friends and lovers, as well as those enemies he wishes to spare, to the great black sword from which he derives not merely prowess but the capacity to be other than a neurasthenic invalid in these early stories. He also finds his wife Zarozinia and his friend Moonglum only to lose them, and fails heroically to save the world from the melting encroachments of the lords of Chaos. There is a dark power to these stories which belies their occasional absurdities and haunts the reader's dreams and nightmares.--Roz Kaveney

View books by Michael Moorcock.

Technical Mastery and Enchanting Brilliance! - Rated
Michael Moorcock is nothing less than a master of the genre. This captivating 'anti-hero' will keep your interest and his sword will swallow your soul. A great read from start to finish with some truly unique plot twists, the pages almost turn themselves. With Elric you'll always feel pity and respect, truly a great read.
If you're looking for something a little less dark, try The History of the Runestaff series, equally as good but in a different way.

Purple, but fun - Rated
Michael Moorcock's albino fighter-mage is a fairly interesting creation, given that he's both physically crippled and superhumanly strong depending on the situation. As if thats not enough, on various occasions he's a traitor, murderer and downright evil (though the deeply unpleasant sword he carries, Stormbringer, tends to be at fault), for want of a better word. Elric also happens to be the best thing about this collection of stories - the supporting cast and plot do not quite hold up to the originality of the protagonist. The stories largely follow the mould of Robert E. Howard's classic 'Conan' tales, an overriding influence. However, Moorcock is not quite so adept as Howard at creating a believable world, labouring his prose with cringeworthy nomenclature (the tower of B'aal'nezbett is an especially memorable location, an already hilarious name taken to ridiculous new levels by its double apostrophe) and some seriously overblown passages. Having said all that, the stories themselves remain enjoyable sword and sorcery, and have the advantage of continuity over the `Conan' saga. If you can stomach the frequent excesses of Moorcock's style, then this collection is well worth a look.

The Master - Rated
Written in Moorcock's early twenties, these stories are full of fire and colour and show why he has been such a huge influence on almost all other fantasy fiction since he began. A great introduction to his fantasy work. You can always go on to the omnibus volumes (Elric of Melnibone and Stormbringer) which in turn will take you to The Dreamthief's Daughter and The Skrayling Tree. All the Elric novels are good, some more mature than others, but if you read no others, read these and
read a writer in his first flush of glorious inspiration. There remains no better fantasy novel, in my opinion, than Stormbringer which J.G.Ballard recommends with such glowing
woreds of praise.

At last he's about to hit the big screen - Rated
News that Elric is soon to be filmed has produced a flurry of excitement amongst his fans and I must say it's time we saw the old albino brought to the big screen. He has all the right elements to be a huge hit -- the epic qualities of Lord of the Rings combined with a personality which makes him a role model for every teenage boy and a heart-throb for every romantic female. And this particular book, which contains only the very first Elric stories, written between 1961 and 1963, when Moorcock himself was scarcely out of short pants, is the one to read if you want the pure essence of the doom-haunted, self-questioning, soul-feeding weakling who gets his strength from
those he kills and yet somehow remains attractive and likeable.
These are all the marks of a top class Byronic hero and my guess is that Elric is going to run and run, especially now that the movie is in the offing. I can't wait. Meanwhile, this is the volume to get first. If you like it, there are the two omnibuses also available, plus his mature and excellent The Dreamthief's Daughter and The Skrayling Tree which develop the series in ways that are both relevant to the original stories and remain exciting, original fantasies in their own right.
Elric Rules!

ALL NEW READERS SHOULD START WITH THIS - Rated
This collection captures the REAL Elric - it reprints the 5 original stories and Stormbringer - exactly the way a new reader should be introduced to Elric. Reading the stories in the order they were first published is a MUCH better way to get a real feel for the character and his world. This collection captures the real "core" of the character - kudos to the publisher for eschewing a larger collection and returning to the basics. Too bad it doesnt come in hardcover.

Forget the larger collections - the writing of those later stories is very uneven. IF YOU WANT TO READ ABOUT ELRIC, BUY THIS BOOK!