Customer Reviews

Elric: Song of the Black Sword (Eternal Champion Series, Vol. 5)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What to say, what to say... the Elric saga is one of the most excellent fantasy series ever written. This is the first part, composed of the first three books, excluding Fortress of the Pearl, which was written after the six-book saga was completed. Nevertheless, it fits smoothly.

Elric of Melnibone - The flawless beginning of the saga. Elric of Melnibone introduces its namesake, his best friend Dyvim Tvar, his lover Cymoril, and his competent cousin Yyrkoon. This is, obviously, the first true advancement into the story; but as I mentioned before, it is flawless.

The Fortress of the Pearl - A sidestory, taking place between Elric of Melnibone and the Sailor on the Seas of Fate. Not as good as the other installments in the series, but a gem nonetheless.

The Sailor on the Seas of Fate - Split into three seperate, overall unrelated stories. Of course, all three fit into the current storyline, but each can be considered a seperate adventure. The first introduces Hawkmoon, Erekose, and Corum, three of the other incarnations of the Eternal Champion. The next two tell of Elric's adventures with Smiorgan and Duke Avan.

The Dreaming City - The conclusion to the plot that was set up through the entire first book (Elric of Melnibone). To say any more would spoil and excellent plot twist. Also, to mention, this is the first part of Weird of the White Wolf, the third book in the Elric Saga.

While the Gods Laugh - The second part of Weird. Here Elric meets Shaarilla, the wingless woman of Myrrh. Also, in this story, Elric meets Moonglum, his most faithful companion, and the one who stayed with the albino warrior the longest. An excellent story, simply put.

The Singing Citadel - Elric's first meeting with his long-lasting enemy (from this point on), the sorcerer and servant to Chaos, Theleb K'aarna. Here Elric also meets Yishana, who appears once more in the future Elric stories. The third installment in Weird.

My final word: Read it, read it, read it!

Elric is probably the best, and best known, of all of Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion characters (though Jerry Cornelius must be a close second), and I almost rushed through the previous four volumes in the series in an effort to get to this book. And while those books were excellent examples of Moorcock's writing, this blows them all out of the water, showing fantasy unlike anything else. Here are some thoughts on the individual stories:

Elric of Melnibone: Great introduction and brilliant way to kick off the volume. Everything about Elric is explained here.

The Fortress of the Pearl: It's interesting to note that even though this one wasn't published until nearly the nineties, it fits seamlessly into the rest of the books, and of course the device of making him forget explains why the events here aren't referred to in later novels. This one is good, still.

Sailor on the Seas of Fate: Easily the best story in here, period. You know its good when three other Eternal Champions show up (Erekose, Hawkmoon, and Corum), and they only stay through the first part, and the rest of the book just gets better!

The Dreaming City: Elric takes out his home city. I thought this was just a short story until I read the end and saw the rather major upheval Moorcock threw in at the end. Quite the tragic tale.

While the Gods Laugh: Another quickie tale, also tragic. Elric appears to be wrestling with many demons (in his mind, at least). Someone get this guy a shrink.

The Singing Citadel: Last short story of the collection and probably the best, it shows Elric finally getting at least partially over the events of The Dreaming City, for a little while. And hey, any volume with the Duke of Hell in it can't be all bad.

My only quibble is that the entire six book series wasn't reprinted here in its entireity (only the first two were). Hopefully that will be rectified when the eleventh book in the series: Elric: Stealer of Souls, is published. I'll be waiting

This is one of the best dark fantasy books that I have ever read. It has love, death, demons, and magic. It kept me intuged the entire time. And very few books have done that. This book suceeds in taking the reader not only to a different time and place once but in fact it does several times. It will take the reader and the hero through diffrent dimenions. The storyline is very intersting. The book is also gory and pretty precise in its voilence and gore. The demon callings where also very intresting. And how it captures the way the characters look in the book is very nice. There is onl yone problem I had with this. Is that you have to buy another book to cotitnue with Elric's story. It really just leaves you there saying, "now what?" I have yet to read or even find this book. But all in all this book was a fantastic adventure.

Lovers of dark fantasy, look no further than Michael Moorcock's Elric. He is a hero for the modern age, constantly wrestling with his own morality and resigned to his fate at the hands of forces beyond his control. Elric is by no means an anti-hero, on the contrary he is a realisticly tragic hero. His actions are governed by a complex ethical code that may, at times, lead him to acts of revenge, deception and treachery, but he is also capable of risking all for a worthy cause. Real life is rarely black and white and Elric's decisions reflect the complexity created by this terrible truth.

Throughout the book the irresistable temptation of the power that Elric wields drives him to commit terrible atrocities, sometimes for good, sometimes for ill. However, what makes Elric a hero is the fact that he never stops searching for the unattainable goal of a truly peaceful exsistence.

For a time he even manages to achieve that pipe dream, but the moment is fleeting and h! e is called, once again, by the forces of destiny to assume the mantle of the world destroyer.

Anti-hero? No. Tragic hero? Defintely.

What can I say except that I was a bit disappointed by this part of the legendary Elric saga. In the UK and the rest of Europe this omnibus is available under the name "Elric of Melnibone" and contains the same stories Americans read in this "Song of the Black Sword". I've read my share of books, predominantly fantays and history. This is my first review here. Interesting to see how my views differ from a previous reviewer Mr. Battaglia. I'll go by step by step.

Elric of Melnibone: Good and interesting intro to the saga. Not overly impressive though 7,5 out of 10.

Fortress of the Pearl: Reasonable story of Elric as a fellow dreamthief. The Lady Oone was what made this story bearable, it was otherwise pretty poor. 6,5 out of 10.

Sailer on the Seas of Fate: Easily the worst tale in this omnibus. It was too vague and the magic didn't impress me at all, no not even the short appearance of Corum Jhaelen Irsei, who will be known to Moorcock fans from his other trilogy. 5 out of 10. The enemy was a poorly written one and the internal struggle was not clear.

Dreaming City: Catastrophical chapter for Melnibone. Terrible ending, the only moment in this entire book when I was touced by what happened. 7,5 out of 10

While the God's laugh: Quality goes down yet again. The struggle within Elric is yet again poorly written. Many superlatives but little actual info. The quest was mediocre. 6 out of 10

The singing citadel: Much better. Appearance of the supreme Chaos Lord Arioch. That always does a lot for the story. I also liked the intro with the queen and her sex enslaved pet wizard Theleb Ka'arna. 7 out of 10.

All in all, certainly not a bad book but I'd expected much more from this often recommended series. Doesn't come close to Lord of the Rings, or Martin's Song of Ice and Fire if you must compare it to something.

However, there are some strong points. Although the internal struggle Elric is supposed to go through is extremely weak in my humble opinion, there's the interesting matter of him being the last in a great and powerful line of sorcerer emperors. There's Elric being such a remarkable character with his long white hair, crimson eyes and his length. There's the intro to his incredible black Runeblade Stormbringer and there's sometimes the appearance, just a hint of the power of the Lords of Chaos in the form of Arioch (great name by the way). And some romances are well done. But like Zelazny's Amber series , there's so much more Moorcock could have done with magic and his characters. Especially the magic is too vague and unless the power of the Chaos Lord is shown, it lacks grandeur. It has it's little inconsistencies, for instance regarding his Red ring of emperor's , the Actorios, which then he does, and then he doesn't need in order for him to be able to use magic.

Note however that the second omnibus, available here under the name "Stormbringer", is about better this one. It contains two stories that are arguably the best Elric tales ever, Stealer of Souls , Stormbringer and Revenge of the Rose. But you need an intro before you can read that one, and that would be "Song of the Black sword".

I was given the new Elric Dreamthief's Daughter for my birthday a week ago. It had been a while since I had read Elric and DD was as good as the best. This sent me back to reading the whole saga and while I've matured since I first read it, the book also seems to have matured! It's true, folks. These books can be read on several levels. It isn't Marcel Proust, but there are so many more resonances in Moorcock (as in Peake) than in Tolkien that you wonder how Tolkien got so big, since they both started at the same time (admittedly Moorcock was a teenager and Prof. T was an oldster). Tolkien is much more an escape from reality, I guess. Cotton candy to Moorcock's sturdy nightmares ? Elric never lets you avoid the fundamental truths whereas LOTR, IMHO, helps you avoid them. Maybe that's what the mass public wants, but frankly I'll go for the adult quality of Moorcock's writing any old day. Now I have to get back to The Stealer of Souls. You can't help hoping that this time he won't die. I feel like that about Desdemona in Othello. There is also a distinct touch of the Hamlets here! The Prince of Ruins and the Prince of Denmark don't always take the most positive view of their situation... These books were a revelation to me when I first started them. They still offer revelations. Echoes of Byron, Shakespeare and Robert E. Howard. Heartily recommended.

Moorcock ranks among the gods of fantasy. What he did with the Elric series was unveil new areas of exploration in the genre, with stunning success. These works imprint themselves in the psyche and leave the reader changed, and exhilerated.

This is the book which started me reading Michael Moorcock and has kept me doing so. It is classic "dark fantasy" before the genre had wide recognition. His richly detailed (some would say graphic) descriptions catch your imagination and keep your fascination. This is the world of fantasy as it should be, described as it would be -- rarely safe and comfortable, always true to life

A journey through time and space.A search for ones beginning,finding true freindship and love.Elric is the ultimate antihero,forever trapped and at the calling of his master and lord Chaos.

Touted by many as the best of Moorcock's Eternal Champion series the reader is thrust into the darkest areas of the human soul. Elric is evil refined by ten thousand years of culture given entirely to the pursuit of evil as an art form. Having become the first of his race to develop a rudimentary conscience, Moorcock uses Elric to explore the forbidden areas of the human mind. In Elric, good is kept on the far horizon, something to achieve. But since Elric knows nothing except evil and his weaknesses are constantly exploited by the forces of evil it becomes a titanic struggle within that is mirrored in the world around him. Elric's new found conscience constantly plagues him and he struggles to break through his evil by using evil in the employ of good. Many of Elric's attributes seem entirely at odds with each other, his critical eye for great beauty and art clash with his blood lust and horrendous aptitude to cause himself and others pain. As you read of the inhuman brutality and great skill Elric wields in his many battles you may find yourself drawn into his world and reveling with him in the blood letting and misery he causes instead of being horrified. In creating what is arguably the greatest anti-hero or anti-protagonist in modern literature Moorcock allows the reader to explore the most restrained of our primal compulsions from the safety of the armchair. There are so many subtleties intricately woven into the fabric of this story it would be impossible to hit upon them all here. Elric's good twin (metaphorically), Corum, and moral opposite, Captain Bastable, provide an excellent contrast to Elric.