Post by Elric3960 on Jan 22, 2002 2:05:55 GMT -5
As promised(albeit later than I planned), this will be a Home thead of sorts for a series of reviews of the character Elric of Melnibone, the Albino Prince of a decaying empire that existed before humans left the caves and became formidable conquerors in their own rights. When Michael Moorc*ck created these remarkable stories, he started with the short story "The Dreaming City." This was meant to be an esoteric attempt to create an alternative hero to Conan the Barbarian, the popular creation of Robert E. Howard. Little did he realise that Elric would gain a massive following, but when it was confirmed, two full-length novels were written: Stealer of Souls and Stormbringer. Stealer of Souls was an expansion of the original short story with new characters introduced for Elric to interact with as allies and enemies, in an attempt to "flesh him out." Stormbringer was meant to be the final story of how Elric's world ended and The World of Man began. Of course, the fans were furious and demanded more stories to be told. This brought about the first story, Elric of Melnibone, and the other 4 books in the series. The interesting thing about these stories is that they could be read out of sequence and still be enjoyed because of several reasons:
1. They each contained opening passages that gave the reader every piece of information that she/he required to enjoy the story.
2. Elric is usually portrayed as a hysterical amnesiac, in the later stories, who rarely remembers what happened to him in previous adventures due to the traumatic nature of the events or the whims of his patron Chaos god Arioch.
3. Time and space is constantly in flux in the multiverse that structures most of Moorc*ck's works. In the second Elric novel, "Sailor on the Sea of Fate," he meets three alternate versions of himself: Lord Erekose the Eternal Champion, Prince Corum of the Silver Hand and Dorian Hawkmoon, Duke of Koln. Moorc*ck retells this story from Hawkmoon's POV in the book "Quest for Tanelorn." In "Sailor," Elric learns(and eventually forgets) that Corum has met him and Erekose(in a different form) while battling an evil wizard who could travel between dimensions. This story appears in the third volume in the Swords Trilogy "The King of Swords" and Elric's fourth book "The Vanishing Tower" simultaneously. Corum's perspective is in one book and Elric's in another.
After re-editing these and other stories that he's written, Moorc*ck decided that Elric's stories had room for exploration, so he later wrote Fortress of the Pearl and Revenge of the Rose. He also wrote Elric at the End of Time based on a random thought expressed by a friend of his that said that if Elric travelled to the world of the Dancers at The End of Time, another of Moorc*ck's popular SF/fantasy series, he'd mistake them for Chaos lords.
Eventually, I'll give overviews of each of these incredible stories as well as any new novels that will be released involving this incredible character that his creator still manages to write about without watering him down. I'll also create some links for updated information on Moorc*ck's other works as well.
As they say somewhere else, stay tuned for further developments.
1. They each contained opening passages that gave the reader every piece of information that she/he required to enjoy the story.
2. Elric is usually portrayed as a hysterical amnesiac, in the later stories, who rarely remembers what happened to him in previous adventures due to the traumatic nature of the events or the whims of his patron Chaos god Arioch.
3. Time and space is constantly in flux in the multiverse that structures most of Moorc*ck's works. In the second Elric novel, "Sailor on the Sea of Fate," he meets three alternate versions of himself: Lord Erekose the Eternal Champion, Prince Corum of the Silver Hand and Dorian Hawkmoon, Duke of Koln. Moorc*ck retells this story from Hawkmoon's POV in the book "Quest for Tanelorn." In "Sailor," Elric learns(and eventually forgets) that Corum has met him and Erekose(in a different form) while battling an evil wizard who could travel between dimensions. This story appears in the third volume in the Swords Trilogy "The King of Swords" and Elric's fourth book "The Vanishing Tower" simultaneously. Corum's perspective is in one book and Elric's in another.
After re-editing these and other stories that he's written, Moorc*ck decided that Elric's stories had room for exploration, so he later wrote Fortress of the Pearl and Revenge of the Rose. He also wrote Elric at the End of Time based on a random thought expressed by a friend of his that said that if Elric travelled to the world of the Dancers at The End of Time, another of Moorc*ck's popular SF/fantasy series, he'd mistake them for Chaos lords.
Eventually, I'll give overviews of each of these incredible stories as well as any new novels that will be released involving this incredible character that his creator still manages to write about without watering him down. I'll also create some links for updated information on Moorc*ck's other works as well.
As they say somewhere else, stay tuned for further developments.
