A review by outcolder
Elric of Melniboné by Michael Moorcock

4.0

At first I was a bit surprised by the writing style, which was somewhere between juvenile literature and the matter-of-fact bluntness of viking sagas. I mean it was kind of a rockier path to tread than other Moorcock fantasies I have read. The simple style belies the themes he is introducing. Elric wants to be a good guy, but he is the emperor of an evil kingdom and so torn between his "strange ideas" and "tradition." I think anyone growing up with some privilege in this world is in a similar situation. If we do what is expected of us, we are just keeping the remnants of imperialism chugging along even though we know it is doomed to fail sooner or later. So that's like how once Melnibone was the center or power and trade in the world but they know it will one be overwhelmed by the "young kingdoms." It is done in a way where it is fanciful enough that you can just get into the story like a fairy tale, only a nerd like me would be like, "oh, Melnibone is like London or New York..." because it's not. Not at all. But then again. Also, there are the Faustian pacts which appear in other Moorcock stories as well, the hero knows he is being manipulated by forces he is trying to resist but he needs to work with those forces anyhow to attain his goals and he doesn't know the full extent of the manipulation or the motivation behind it. We think we are individuals making our own decisions all day long: what to eat, what to say in the meeting, who to vote for, what to wear... but all the while we are being manipulated and we can't really know if it was really the right thing to do and in the meantime the princess is a prisoner and we gotta go rescue her. If you follow my drift. I think there are other Moorcock books that I liked more, but I can definitely see why this series is always near the top of best of lists of 20th century fantasy stories, right up there with Tolkien and Le Guin.