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proloner's review against another edition
2.0
I gave this book two stars for two things. One: the setting and group. It’s rare to read a book that focuses on an elder race. The Melnibonéans remind me of an elvish race, stronger and older than man but dying out in a world transitioning into a new era that no longer suits them. If I could compare them to a similar group then it would be the elves from the Silmarillion. Back when Elves had more presence the in Middle Earth and fought on the behalf of higher powers to defeat evil. Still their era changes and none more so than their emperor. But before I get to the titular character I’ll talk about the other star. If I could describe it then perhaps the theme or vibe I feel. Elric is stuck on a path and whether it is destiny or fate he seeks to make his own path no matter the forces that are out to control him. It’s something that I can respect although the story doesn’t do the idea justice in my opinion.
First off Elric is not fun to follow. He enjoys one of the greatest positions in the mortal world and yet for all his position allows he seems to despise all of it. From his job as emperor to his weak and feeble body. The only thing that doesn’t bore him is his lover and his friends. But even they do not satisfy his conscientious spirit. Somehow being the emperor of the greatest empire in the world simply makes him yawn.
He’s definitely my main problem with the book. I couldn’t help but compare it to Conan another larger than life character who comes from a similar setting and genre. But where Conan has zeal for life and yearning for adventure, Elric has no care for his kingdom or himself. Elric’s lack of charisma and charm makes him more pitiful than admirable.
Definitely my biggest frustration was Elric’s decisions throughout the book. Some human ravager come to kill your people and pillage your land. Let them retreat so that they can live to attack another day. When Yyrkoon almost kills him and then managed to get away I really thought that now Elric would show some backbone and show some righteous fury. But even towards the end after his hated enemy kidnaps his wife and almost gains the power to wipe out half the world he still decided to spare him. AND NOT ONLY THAT he decides to give the empire which they were fighting over to the guy who AGAIN kidnapped his lover and almost killed him. Elric must be insane because none of his decisions make any sense. It’s one thing to have a conscience, it’s a whole nother to be a brian damaged moron. Even his lover questions him about literally trusting a man who almost killed him twice and caused the death of the men who ventured with Elric.
As this is the first book I don’t want to be too judgmental but I can scarcely believe that this is a character on the same level as the legendary Conan.
First off Elric is not fun to follow. He enjoys one of the greatest positions in the mortal world and yet for all his position allows he seems to despise all of it. From his job as emperor to his weak and feeble body. The only thing that doesn’t bore him is his lover and his friends. But even they do not satisfy his conscientious spirit. Somehow being the emperor of the greatest empire in the world simply makes him yawn.
He’s definitely my main problem with the book. I couldn’t help but compare it to Conan another larger than life character who comes from a similar setting and genre. But where Conan has zeal for life and yearning for adventure, Elric has no care for his kingdom or himself. Elric’s lack of charisma and charm makes him more pitiful than admirable.
Definitely my biggest frustration was Elric’s decisions throughout the book. Some human ravager come to kill your people and pillage your land. Let them retreat so that they can live to attack another day. When Yyrkoon almost kills him and then managed to get away I really thought that now Elric would show some backbone and show some righteous fury. But even towards the end after his hated enemy kidnaps his wife and almost gains the power to wipe out half the world he still decided to spare him. AND NOT ONLY THAT he decides to give the empire which they were fighting over to the guy who AGAIN kidnapped his lover and almost killed him. Elric must be insane because none of his decisions make any sense. It’s one thing to have a conscience, it’s a whole nother to be a brian damaged moron. Even his lover questions him about literally trusting a man who almost killed him twice and caused the death of the men who ventured with Elric.
As this is the first book I don’t want to be too judgmental but I can scarcely believe that this is a character on the same level as the legendary Conan.
imminently's review against another edition
Fantasy writing has gotten a lot better in the decades since this turgid novel came out
khairaddin's review against another edition
5.0
Since they are working on the TV show I thought it was time to give it a re-read. It's even better than I remembered it! I hope they don't screw up the TV adaptation.
whackboy's review against another edition
3.0
i am rereading this. i kept it on my bookcase for years and years after having read it the first time since i figured i'd get more out of it later in life.
***
i love how fantastical this story is. the chief interest in these stories is of course the main character: a sickly albino emperor of an ancient and mystical race who keeps himself alive through drugs and magic. his outlook is dismal and his philosophy borders on apathetic, which is a difficult place for a protagonist in high fantasy. underneath that veneer we learn that he has a strong will for adventure and there are, in fact, some things for which he is willing to die in order to defend. a fun, quick beginning to an impressively epic and dark adventure series.
***
i love how fantastical this story is. the chief interest in these stories is of course the main character: a sickly albino emperor of an ancient and mystical race who keeps himself alive through drugs and magic. his outlook is dismal and his philosophy borders on apathetic, which is a difficult place for a protagonist in high fantasy. underneath that veneer we learn that he has a strong will for adventure and there are, in fact, some things for which he is willing to die in order to defend. a fun, quick beginning to an impressively epic and dark adventure series.
orkus's review against another edition
borrowed from library, need to revisit it again soon
heregrim's review against another edition
3.0
Although this is a classic of the genre, I did not particularly enjoy the characters or the simple plot. The story did move at a rapid pace and the world-building, little as it was, was interesting. It is the style of writing that I was not a fan of, minimalist in plot with very straightforward, disposable characters.
clarks_dad's review against another edition
2.0
This review will be for the first three books in the Elric series because I'm too lazy now to go back and review each independently. Moreover, the loosely connected, episodic nature of the series thus far makes me feel like I really haven't gotten into the heart of the story and that the first three volumes feels a lot like prologue.
I haven't been having a lot of luck with the NPR list of top fantasy and science fiction lately. The "classics" in particular don't seem to have aged particularly well, at least in the sword and sorcery genre. Elric of Melniboné is sold everywhere as an original fantasy story that centers upon an anti-hero, making it unique particularly for the time it was written (in the 70s), which at least thus far in the story, appears a dubious description of the titular character at best. Elric is the last ruler of the Bright Empire, a neutral evil society driven by hedonism and not particularly bound by any ethical or moral rules that might impinge upon doing whatever feels good and is entertaining. The examples of villainy provided by Moorcock involve the torture of traitors in a variety of medieval ways that most actual denizens of those centuries would have deemed cute. Elric himself is hardly an anti-hero, a philosopher prone to compassion and a distaste for his native culture, he proves to be a rather easy figure to identify with. He occasionally indulges in bouts of anger that he later regrets and finds himself consumed by guilt for making mistakes or for being involved in terrible events over which he had no particular control.
The crux of the story involves Elric's decision to leave his homeland and wander to become a more knowledgeable emperor and to better ascertain his and his peoples' place in a changing world. Books two and three follow Elric along on this journey as Moorcock attempts to build the geography and mythology of Elric's world. Here there is some intriguing development and some of the deeper mythology and the visual imagery created by Moorcock is pretty interesting. Unfortunately, I found it more interesting than the driving narrative and characters that the backdrop should have been created to serve. Plot developments are ridiculously convenient, as are the cast of supporting characters and the whole thing has the feel of a Dungeons and Dragons game - created on the fly without any particular forethought (albeit by a pretty decent dungeonmaster). Narrative developments feel arbitrary and random, like you're on a boat being tugged this way and that in unpredictable directions. "Oh, Elric was fleeing this town from a bunch of people who hate Melniboneans and then.....there was....A MAGIC BOAT THAT APPEARS OUT OF NOWHERE. And on the boat was...there was...A MYSTERIOUS CAPTAIN WITH A MYSTERIOUS QUEST." Companion characters seem to pop-up and disappear without the sense of laying any roots and you quickly learn that there's no point learning about or getting attached to anyone besides Elric because they're not going to be in the story particularly long. Elric's development is very melodramatic and the dialogue is stilted. The magic system is of the convenient variety that lacks realism in the sense that it lacks predefined rules the way the system in a story like the Kingkiller Chronicles does. Elric can summon enough magic to suit any particular situation at no particular cost besides appearing fatigued for a bit afterwards, which provides for an easy out for Moorcock in resolving action points without any ingenuity. Elric and crew get in trouble and it's "Arioch! Arioch!" and they're out.
I keep thinking that perhaps I'm just jaded to these older fantasy works because a lot of the great modern fantasy I've enjoyed is a kind of maturation of these building blocks. It's probably true, and had I grown up with Elric or Zelzany maybe my attitude would be a bit different. Still, I can't imagine that they've aged well even for people whose formative reading years were spent in these stories. It's like trying to go back and watch your favorite Saturday morning cartoons in your mid-30s. There's just something missing no matter how much you were in love when you were 10 - especially when you've discovered better fare in the intervening years. I thought the Elric series to this point was a little more than a shade more sophisticated than Zelzany.
Spoiler
at least until the point where Elric returns to and contributes to the destruction of The Dreaming CityI haven't been having a lot of luck with the NPR list of top fantasy and science fiction lately. The "classics" in particular don't seem to have aged particularly well, at least in the sword and sorcery genre. Elric of Melniboné is sold everywhere as an original fantasy story that centers upon an anti-hero, making it unique particularly for the time it was written (in the 70s), which at least thus far in the story, appears a dubious description of the titular character at best. Elric is the last ruler of the Bright Empire, a neutral evil society driven by hedonism and not particularly bound by any ethical or moral rules that might impinge upon doing whatever feels good and is entertaining. The examples of villainy provided by Moorcock involve the torture of traitors in a variety of medieval ways that most actual denizens of those centuries would have deemed cute. Elric himself is hardly an anti-hero, a philosopher prone to compassion and a distaste for his native culture, he proves to be a rather easy figure to identify with. He occasionally indulges in bouts of anger that he later regrets and finds himself consumed by guilt for making mistakes or for being involved in terrible events over which he had no particular control.
The crux of the story involves Elric's decision to leave his homeland and wander to become a more knowledgeable emperor and to better ascertain his and his peoples' place in a changing world. Books two and three follow Elric along on this journey as Moorcock attempts to build the geography and mythology of Elric's world. Here there is some intriguing development and some of the deeper mythology and the visual imagery created by Moorcock is pretty interesting. Unfortunately, I found it more interesting than the driving narrative and characters that the backdrop should have been created to serve. Plot developments are ridiculously convenient, as are the cast of supporting characters and the whole thing has the feel of a Dungeons and Dragons game - created on the fly without any particular forethought (albeit by a pretty decent dungeonmaster). Narrative developments feel arbitrary and random, like you're on a boat being tugged this way and that in unpredictable directions. "Oh, Elric was fleeing this town from a bunch of people who hate Melniboneans and then.....there was....A MAGIC BOAT THAT APPEARS OUT OF NOWHERE. And on the boat was...there was...A MYSTERIOUS CAPTAIN WITH A MYSTERIOUS QUEST." Companion characters seem to pop-up and disappear without the sense of laying any roots and you quickly learn that there's no point learning about or getting attached to anyone besides Elric because they're not going to be in the story particularly long. Elric's development is very melodramatic and the dialogue is stilted. The magic system is of the convenient variety that lacks realism in the sense that it lacks predefined rules the way the system in a story like the Kingkiller Chronicles does. Elric can summon enough magic to suit any particular situation at no particular cost besides appearing fatigued for a bit afterwards, which provides for an easy out for Moorcock in resolving action points without any ingenuity. Elric and crew get in trouble and it's "Arioch! Arioch!" and they're out.
I keep thinking that perhaps I'm just jaded to these older fantasy works because a lot of the great modern fantasy I've enjoyed is a kind of maturation of these building blocks. It's probably true, and had I grown up with Elric or Zelzany maybe my attitude would be a bit different. Still, I can't imagine that they've aged well even for people whose formative reading years were spent in these stories. It's like trying to go back and watch your favorite Saturday morning cartoons in your mid-30s. There's just something missing no matter how much you were in love when you were 10 - especially when you've discovered better fare in the intervening years. I thought the Elric series to this point was a little more than a shade more sophisticated than Zelzany.
sjyoklic's review against another edition
3.0
It was a good ride and an epic fantasy. Looking forward to reading more about the adventures of Elric.
miloshjocic's review against another edition
ELRIK OD MELNIBONEA Majka Murkoka (2023, Čarobna knjiga; Michael Moorcock, ELRIC OF MELNIBONE, 1972) danas je klasik herojske fantazije te je oponašan na hiljadu i jedan način, ali je svojevremeno predstavljao avangardu. Za razliku od klasicističkog i tradiciji odanog Tolkina, Murkok je bio modernista i ikonoklast: umesto da na temeljima starih mitova gradi podjednako uzvišene priče, više je bio okrenut njihovom izazivanju i rušenju. "Polaris" je npr. svojevremeno objavio njegovu pripovetku "Gle čoveka" (POLARISOVA SF ANTOLOGIJA '95, prev. Marko Fančović) koja je cinični retelling hrišćanskog mita o Isusu: sam Isus je predstavljen kao fizički deformisani mladić sa smetnjama u razvoju, njegova majka Marija kao kurva, a njegovi apostolski pratioci kao manipulatori i provokanti. Takav je otprilike Murkokov fazon.
ELRIK je jedno od Murkokovih dela koje je svesno nastalo kao otklon od Tolkinove bajkovitosti. Za razliku od viteškog Aragorna, Elrik je antiheroj koji načelno čini dobre stvari, ali ne uvek dobrim sredstvima; za razliku od svetlog čarobnjaka Gandalfa, Elrik je sledbenik krvne magije, demonologije i nekromantije; za razliku od sjajnog i tek obnovljenog Gondora, Elrikov Melnibone je umiruće i zlokobno carstvo izgrađeno na ropstvu i tiraniji; nasuprot nadahnjujućim oružjima poput Orkrista, Narsila ili Ekskalibura, Elrikov Burevesnik je parazitski artefakt mračnog boga koji svom vlasniku daje ogromnu moć ali postepeno ga ubijajući, itd. itd.
Čak i izvan karakterizacije glavnog junaka, ELRIK je ludačko delo. Po settingu, u pitanju je mešavina tamne fantazije/kosmičkog horora i weird fantasyja, sa brojnim bizarnim i halucinogenim elementima -- od kojih je najupečatljivije to da je ELRIK smešten u Murkokov multiverzum, pa glavni junak tako često putuje ne samo u različite krajeve sveta, već i u alternativne dimenzije, vremenske džepove i paralelne stvarnosti. Način objavljivanja je takođe nestandardan, pa je povest o Elriku ispričana u više labavo povezanih novela i pripovedaka koje zajedno ipak čine jedan koliko-toliko jedinstven pripovedni tok.
Čitav serijal odiše šmekom opičene petparačke B proze, ali je po mom mišljenju uprkos svojoj starosti i dalje jedna od najmaštovitijih pripovesti u fantaziji. Elrik je neobičan ali harizmatičan lik koji se bori protiv svoje prirode i svojih bogova podjednako koliko i protiv svojih neprijatelja, a koliko god njegove avanture delovale šizoidno, i dalje su to po strukturi one iste drevne i voljene priče o Junaku koji polazi na Pohod kako bi, prevazilazeći različite prepreke, spasio svet i na kraju upoznao/spasio samog sebe.
ELRIK je jedno od Murkokovih dela koje je svesno nastalo kao otklon od Tolkinove bajkovitosti. Za razliku od viteškog Aragorna, Elrik je antiheroj koji načelno čini dobre stvari, ali ne uvek dobrim sredstvima; za razliku od svetlog čarobnjaka Gandalfa, Elrik je sledbenik krvne magije, demonologije i nekromantije; za razliku od sjajnog i tek obnovljenog Gondora, Elrikov Melnibone je umiruće i zlokobno carstvo izgrađeno na ropstvu i tiraniji; nasuprot nadahnjujućim oružjima poput Orkrista, Narsila ili Ekskalibura, Elrikov Burevesnik je parazitski artefakt mračnog boga koji svom vlasniku daje ogromnu moć ali postepeno ga ubijajući, itd. itd.
Čak i izvan karakterizacije glavnog junaka, ELRIK je ludačko delo. Po settingu, u pitanju je mešavina tamne fantazije/kosmičkog horora i weird fantasyja, sa brojnim bizarnim i halucinogenim elementima -- od kojih je najupečatljivije to da je ELRIK smešten u Murkokov multiverzum, pa glavni junak tako često putuje ne samo u različite krajeve sveta, već i u alternativne dimenzije, vremenske džepove i paralelne stvarnosti. Način objavljivanja je takođe nestandardan, pa je povest o Elriku ispričana u više labavo povezanih novela i pripovedaka koje zajedno ipak čine jedan koliko-toliko jedinstven pripovedni tok.
Čitav serijal odiše šmekom opičene petparačke B proze, ali je po mom mišljenju uprkos svojoj starosti i dalje jedna od najmaštovitijih pripovesti u fantaziji. Elrik je neobičan ali harizmatičan lik koji se bori protiv svoje prirode i svojih bogova podjednako koliko i protiv svojih neprijatelja, a koliko god njegove avanture delovale šizoidno, i dalje su to po strukturi one iste drevne i voljene priče o Junaku koji polazi na Pohod kako bi, prevazilazeći različite prepreke, spasio svet i na kraju upoznao/spasio samog sebe.