Elric: The Stealer of Souls (Chronicles of the Last Emperor of Melniboné, Vol. 1)

I've been a Elric fan since the 1970's I've read every single story most of them several times. They are well worth ones time and attention. But I find it absurd that the decision was made to present the stories to a US audience in the confused, almost random order that the stories were originally written, instead of in the proper order of the Narrative Arc. That Narrative was originally published by Daw books in the 1970s with Michael Whelan's Classic Elric Covers, by themselves worth collecting and some of the best most influential Fantasy Images ever. D&D Players would be well to know the Law/Chaos Dynamic of that game was inspired by Moorcock and Gary Gygax cited Moorcock as a greater influence on his vision of fantasy and thus the game than Tolkien. Given the Phenomena D&D has become on its own I think thats worth noting. One of the points of persistent appeal, to this reader at least, is Elric is a Morally ambiguous character, in an ambiguous world; the certainties of Tolkien are absent and we are presented with a world much more like our own where-in the Characters move in many shades of grey. Moorcock makes it clear, if you read the full text that the Triumph of Law would be as disastrous for our kind as that of Chaos, and that anything like Humanity can only Flourish in those places in the Cosmos that find a cosmic balance between the two, but that balance is never perfect and constantly under challenge by the Gods of Chaos. Great Dukes of Hell are in no way comforting as Gods. It is a grand Vista of Fantasy where anything a God can Dream is possible.It is doubly frustrating to know that the UK publishing house Gollancz has published a "Definitive edition" that presents the Elric stories in Narrative order; but is not available in the US for Kindle owners. If however you wish a updated presentation of the Material and are looking to by the Paper Back, vs Digital Editions I strongly suggest you wait the extra few days and purchase from this collection instead it will greatly increase your enjoyment of the Material. And I can only hope that this collection will eventually be available in the US on Kindle. Elric of Melnibone and Other Stories https://www.amazon.co.uk/Elric-Melnibon%C3%A9-Stories-Moorcocks-Multiverse/dp/057511309X/ref=pd_rhf_ee_p_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=ZG6XKV9CAYT3E0P9JDQP

This fantastic book is a collection of novellas concerning Elric and his accursed blade, Stormbringer. What brilliant writing! This was a complete joy, and anyone that enjoyed Lord of the Rings will find this enthralling as well. The story is so original despite the fact that it shares the common structure of sword & sorcery which is "hero goes on a quest to fulfill said objective, encounters obstacles, and prevails."I knew right away I had to read this book when Alan Moore, one of the most gifted comic book writers of all time said the Elric stories were classics. Michael Moorcock writes in a similar way, with dense description and vocabulary, and philosophical questions in parallel with action.Elric is a fascinating, flawed "anti-hero" in the Greek tradition. The gods put him on endless quests, Sisyphus-like, and his sword Stormbringer is one of the most interesting inanimate objects as character in all of fiction.Elric, Stealer of Souls is a collection of novellas presented in serial form. If you have read trade paperback anthologies of comic book series like "Y- the Last Man" or "The Watchmen" this style will be familiar to you. Each novella is a self-encapsulated story of its own, and in totality, they all build to create a greater dramatic arc together.The introduction is by Alan Moore and it is dense and thoughtful. Remarks by the author follow. Michael Moorcock simultaneously gives the reader a primer on the sword & sorcery structure and history while laying out what he intends to accomplish with Elric.After the stories, the author shares with us some of the allegorical meanings behind the Elric saga. Rather than spoiling the story as so often occurs, it adds a dimension. He writes to entertain, but the bigger issues he attempts to discuss below the surface are profound, and do not detract from the story. Like his Multiverse concept, the story of Elric is enjoyable on many levels. When he tells the reader some of his intent, he also teases, by saying he does not intend to spur us to re-read the book, looking for these themes. I wanted to do exactly that.Elric is a must-read for any fan, casual or serious, of the "fantasy" genre. Anyone that has played Dungeons & Dragons will instantly recognize how extremely foundational Elric was to the game. More so even than Lord of the Rings, or the Arthurian legend, Elric stories were the genesis for D&D.Michael Moorcock has labored in relative obscurity, and is self-effacing in his writing, like a true artist, detesting his work for the minute flaws that only he can see. I consider him a member of the pantheon of writing greats such as Tolkien, Herbert, and Alan Moore. I pity those readers who content themselves with the lightweight work of JK Rowling and have never experienced the multiverse of Elric, Stealer of Souls.

Obviously there is nothing new in this collection but it really is a nicely packaged presentation of some of Moorecock's best and most popular material. I don't often buy these repackaged collections (which seems quite a regular publishers trick with many of the best authors, especially Mr Moorcock) but my much read and much loved copy's of the Elric novels were begining to dissolve into the atmosphere. As these books are not available on Kindle (WHY?, please whoever makes these descions, more Moorcock on Kindle!) I brought it, and I'm glad I did.For anyone not familiar with the Elric stories I urge you to give them a try. These are not the usual heroic fantasy stories that seem mass produced at times, Elric is a far more morally complex character than the obligatory paragon of virtue hero or evilly deranged bad guy in most works in this genre. He's not exactly amoral, far from it, it's simply that his morality is so far removed from humanity hat it's almost unrecognisable. Almost.Elric is a genuinely tortured soul, in a very real and littoral sense, who is trapped by his destiny to be the champion and protector of a humanity that he is not , and never can be a part of, except for very occasional and fleeting moments that only serve to highlight his alienation.If all this sounds a bit heavy (or pretentious, if you like), relax. These are also bloody good stories. Fast paced, exciting sword and sorcery escapism that also happen to be absorbing and very well written.Defiantly for those who like a bit of intelligence and complexity with their blood and mayhem.

Despite reading fantasy novels from a young age, this is, in fact, the first book by Michael Moorcock I have ever read. I had of course heard of Elric, but just had never gotten around to reading the stories. I was really pleased when I found out about this set as I was very confused as to which order the books should be read in - these new editions are ideal for readers new to the saga such as myself.I'll be totally honest and say that the actual quality of writing is not great - in fact it's pretty awful. The characters are not developed very deeply and it wasn't one of those books that I would lose myself in - it was all a bit flat. Also the stories themselves seemed to be rather samey - Elric travels somewhere, encounters a monster, kills it with his big black sword, sobs a bit and feels sorry for himself. I felt that the reader had to fill the gaps in themselves with their imagination to render the characters some personality. I am assuming that as the stories went on (this being only volume one) Moorcock developed as a writer and improvements were made, because if not, then I really am left wondering what all the fuss is about regarding his writing skills. I did feel enough interest in Elric and Moonglum to want to read the next volume, and hope that the characters are developed more fully subsequently.The extras in the book did not really enhance it for me at all as the paper quality is fairly poor - it is a very soft covered book and the illustrations are all b/w.

good

Ob man dieses Buch kaufen sollte, hängt stark davon ab was man sucht.Ist man auf der Suche nach einem Fantasyepos wie ihn George R. R. Martin oder Robert Jordan geschaffen haben, dann ist man hier sicherlich falsch. Ist man aber auf der Suche nach der historischen Entwicklung des Fantasygenres, dann ist man hier richtig.Michael Moorcock hat mit Elric in den frühen sechziger Jahren ein Fantasywerk geschaffen, welches er der Low Fantasy von Howard (Conan) und der High Fantasy von Tolkien (Herr der Ringe) entgegensetzte und dem er gleichzeitig ein Stück des Lebensgefühls seiner Zeit mitgab.Das Buch ist nicht vergleichbar mit neueren Fantasywerken, die als Roman in einem Verlag veröffentlicht wurden. Schon allein die Sprache, die Ausarbeitung der Handlung, der Welt und der Charaktere ist schwierig zu beurteilen, wird aber dem Anspruch der damaligen Zeit und Publikationsform (Journal) gerecht. Man kann das Buch getrost demjenigen empfehlen, der einmal den Kontrast und die Entwicklung der Fantasyliteratur sehen will und nicht abgeschreckt ist vom immensen Anteil Hintergrundliteratur (zur Veröffentlichung und Entwicklung) aus der diese Sammlung besteht, denn auf eine Seite Geschichte kommen gut und gerne zwei Seiten Kommentar.