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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very Good Graphic Prequel, May 26, 2008
This review is from: Elric: The Making of a Sorcerer (Paperback)
Elric of Melniboné has slashed his way through a number of books and short stories since 1961. Even though Elric has had an interesting series of experiences, his history prior to the events in the novel "Elric of Melniboné" has yet to be the focus of a story. This graphic novel, which collects a four-issue release by DC comics, explains how Elric gained his powers.
At the beginning of this story, we see Sadric the Emperor concerned that his son is too weak to lead the empire. The dream couch tests will either kill Elric, or they will prove that he is capable of leadership. Sadric is not the only one who thinks Elric is too weak to lead. Elric's cousin Yyrkoon believes himself to have the ruthlessness it takes to lead the empire into the future, and he tries to influence events by following Elric on his dream quests.
Elric travels through space and time on four dream quests. The first quest helps explain how Melniboné came to be and how King Grome, the King of the Earth Elementals, came to be in Elric's debt. The second quest shows White Crow, the person Elric became on his second dream quest, inviting Arioch, a Lord of Chaos, into the world. The third dream explains how the Spirits of the Air came into Elric's debt. The final dream shows how Elric came to be chosen the King of Melniboné.
The Good: I enjoyed this story a lot. I enjoyed the story so much that I read it twice in a row. Though there is a lot of similarity between the dream quests, there are significant differences between the stories that provide explanations for Elric's abilities and behavior. I liked the artwork as well, though it did seem a bit too much like the style of DC Comic's artists rather than the kind of art that I think would match Elric's stories.
The Bad: I liked the art, but some details in the artwork seemed glossed over. How many teeth are solid bars of white? Other details that would have taken minimal time to include were also left out, enhancing the comic book appearance of the artwork.
I can recommend this book to fans of Elric. Though you do not need to have read any of Moorcock's books about Elric, it does help to understand what is going on if you have read several of the books. If you are a big fan of sword & sorcery you may also find this graphic novel to be interesting. I have read a number of Elric's stories and this book is a nice book to have and to read after having read the first books in the series.
Enjoy!
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Prequel to the saga, October 30, 2007
This review is from: Elric: The Making of a Sorcerer (Paperback)
I am a fan of Michael Moorcock. Specifically his Elric of Melnibone series...
He is a fascinating character - tall, albino, and is one powerful man.
Moorcock's graphic novel shows Elric as he is being trained to become worthy of being the next king. He is given super sleeping draughts and he goes on dangerous journies - and each time he gains power and knowledge.
He finds a great broadsword, which will be his bane and power in later books. Stormbringer. A sword that kills, takes the victim's souls and gives the holder soul's energy too.
In this prequel - Elric is a nice person and has a love - These dreams through time and worlds help us give some insight to the Elric we find in the start of the true Elric series - and if you are a fan of fantasy, especially Elric, you will enjoy this one.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Overall pretty good book, September 26, 2007
This review is from: Elric: The Making of a Sorcerer (Paperback)
If you're an Elric fan, this is a defenite read. Michael Moorcock creates a nice prequal series of how Elric builds up his skills as a a sorceror and emperor, all while struggling with Yrkoon whose ambitions are also well known. While of course without much deatail (it's a comic book!), the stories are packed with quick adventures that don't stray from Elric's overall themes. What's interesting, without giving any of the stories away, is that Moorcock throws a nice twist of Melnibonean historical twist into the lot too. We know snippets of how Melnibone rose to the great power of 10,000... these stories elaborate on that a good deal.
One negative I found in the book is the artwork. I'm not a fan of graphic novels/comics, so this is more just a personal stance. But specifically what I didn't like was how many of the characters are drawn. Elric is okay... but Tanglebones is short and stocky... Cymoril looks like a punk-rock cyber princess... and Yrkoon is BALD looking like Jean Luke Picard! Ha ha... so if you can get past these aspects, just enjoying the stories for the nice little prequals they are, this is a wonderful purchase.
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