Customer Reviews

The Vanishing Tower (The Elric Saga, Bk. 4)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Michael Moorcock, The Vanishing Tower (DAW, 1970)

Some wag is bound to notice the odd release dates on the DAW definitive editions of the six "classic" Elric novels and ask "what's up?" It only starts making sense when you pair the books with the events therein; Moorcock makes mention of the events in The Vanishing Tower, for example, in The Sailor on the Seas of Fate (q.v.). Those events hadn't yet taken place in Elric's time, as Elric notes in The Sailor on the Seas of Fate; however, they had already taken place in Corum's time. And so yes, it does make some semblance of sense that the definitive Vanishing Tower was released four years before the definitive Sailor on the Seas of Fate. If that sounds confusing, well, it is. Trust me when I tell you that Moorock makes the whole thing as clear as possible. And it does make sense, in the greater scheme of the story.

The Vanishing Tower is where the divergent pieces of Elric's saga are weaved into a single tale; the saga of Elric's dealings with Melnibonë, his homeland, related in books one and three, and the saga of his journeys through the Young Kingdoms (as Melnibonëans call the rest of the world), related in book two, come together in book four.

Elric and his surviving countrymen are stateless wanderers, mercenaries hated and feared by those in the Young Kingdoms whom they dominated for ten thousand years. Elric is apart from the others (a rogue mercenary band led by Elric's childhood friend, Dyvim Tvar); he and his companion Moonglum are occupied by their own problems, most of the time. One of those problems is the desire if the rest of the surviving Melnibonëans to see Elric's head on a spear. But aside from that, Elric's patron deity, Arioch, is becoming more and more loath to help Elric, his actorios ring, his last link to the ancient dynasty of Melnibonë, has been stolen by the king of Nadsokor, city of beggars, and Elric, unused to life as a regular wanderer, has no concept of fiduciary responsibility. (That one tends to be a minor worry, as Moonglum is quite an accomplished thief, and there are no lack of people willing to employ the most powerful sorceror on the planet as a mercenary.) All of these factors weave in and out of the fourth book in the novel, coupled with all the usual strengths and weaknesses of Moorcock's writing in this series, culminating in Elric finally getting to the tower of the title and discovering yet another piece of his fate. It is here that Moorcock throws the series' most intriguing twist into play, but to mention the nature of that twist would be quite the spoiler; you'll just have to read the series for yourself. ****

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Moorcock's work, this book details the exploits of Elric of Melnibone, the last emperor of a dying nation. He is portayed as a tragic character and often seems unable (or unwilling) to divest himself of his fate. This particular book contains three novellas in one volume, and each story can be read on its own, although more meaning can be derived through the reading of the entire series. I found the last story, "The Vanishing Tower" from which the book derives its title, particularly compelling, as it contains characters from some of his other series.

On the whole, this entire series, and this volume in particular, is good old-fashioned swords and sorcery. What sets it apart from other such ilk is the nature of the protagonist: Elric is at once cruel and compassionate, reckless and restrained, loyal and traitorous. The warring sides of his persona are instantiated by Stormbringer, his runesword. He often remarks of his hellblade that he is unsure of who is master, and who servant, as the sword is as likely to cut down friend as it is to cut down foe. This heightened sense of inner struggle bring a level of angst to Elric that sets his character apart from other series in the genre.

Regarding this particular edition, the volume is bound in collector-quality red leatherette (I am unsure if it is true leather, but I seriously doubt it) with gold print on the cover. One feel of the weight of the paper and the quality of construction had me wishing the entire series would be printed in this fashion. If you are an avid Moorcock or Elric fan, this is a must-have volume.

This fourth novel of the Elric saga is epic in every sense of the way. One reviewer claims that it was bad. He gave as example that it was unlogical that Theleb K'aarna didn't kill Elric when his sword was flying to him. But this was because Theleb K'aarna wants to torture Elric for months on end and does not want to grant a quick dead to the albino.
In this fourth novel we follow the milkwhite albino on his quest to take revenge upon Theleb K'aarna, with Moonglum as his companion.
Again driven by hatred he hunts down the Pang Tangian sorcerer Theleb K'aarna. But also driven by love, love for Myshella, Empress of the Dawn. And driven by the black runeblade, Stormbringer, by his side.
Moorcock continues to write in his typical style, like only the master himself can do it. With beautiful discriptions luring around every verbal corner, and the action which is never far away. We find in "The Vanishing Tower" no seemingly endless discriptions like in the Tolkien books. With always new intrigue and hazards to overcome, which shows us that Moorcock's mind must've been full of incredible ideas. He guides us through the psychological maze of Elric's mind. Though the Prince of ruïned Meliniboné is an anti-hero, he is limitlessly fascinating too me, because his character is so paradoxally.Moorcock tells us how Elric sees the first pieces of the puzzle, which is his doomed destiny, being laid.

Elric is one who wishes to forget the past, the pain, the dreams. In this they all come back to haunt him. He is daunted by the new tasks that await him. His confrontations with Myshella are those that would move you the most. At times it is the most crule, yet Elric tears himself apart through this novel, we feel it. He weeps, kills, and laughs all in one. he is the pure anti-hero and Moorcock shows it so well

I have been rereading the Elric series in chronological order since I read The Dreamthief's Daughter this year. What is extraordinary is that there is no 'thinning' of the series over the years. In fact all the additional books serve to deepen and strengthen the saga, drawing it to its extraordinary, strongly mythic ending. It is the nearest thing to a mythological cycle that I know and makes almost all other fantasy series seem like children's fairy stories. Either Michael Moorcock himself or that other consummate fantasy writer M. John Harrison said that for readers who use fantasy fiction only as escapism Elric is a
'failed escape plan' and it is worth warning those who like the usual crop of 'fat fantasy' sequences that Moorcock's imagination does not lead him or you away from reality. He has a habit of confronting you with it unexpectedly and that is most clearly seen in the latest Dreamthief's Daughter. But it is here, too. Those who expect Elric to behave like the average fantasy hero
(all of whom owe something to Moorcock anyway, including McAffrey's dragons and bits of Star Wars, even -- this guy was
publishing before Lord of the Rings appeared!) will probably hate this stuff. Those of us who like to escape AND think -- to have the fun of the fantasy with the contemplative quality of literary fiction -- love it to death. And death is a subject Moorcock doesn't avoid. 'He uses fiction as the divining rod of his age's concerns' said Peter Ackroyd (I think). You get full strength fiction with Moorcock. If you like watery chainstore latte to a good honest cup of java, then you probably won't like Elric.

If you like whiny fantasy where pages are spent on the character as fi they are unergoing psychoanalysis and are a ttoal pussy by all means read mccafferey or brooks like the 1 star guys says to.

If you like high adventure. Jack Vance. Robert e howard. perhaps glen coosk black company you might like this.

Also if you like powerful characters involved in quests this is good stuff.

If you are a lover of endless political crap and the ignoring of any one character doing anything because that is too egotistical and everyone si equal then no you won't like this.

There is a heavy dose of what haters call elitism. Characters are not ordinary or interchangable. Characters are unique and go against low to impossible odds.

There is no wakky romance butting its head in every 5 minutes.
No emotional tirades.
No hardened warriros wondering if "I'm good enuf" and other bs.

Just exotic high adventure by an author who says often in 1 paragraph what others say in 10 pages.

Stunning that these have not been made into movies.

This book is also known as The Vanishing Tower/Sleeping Sorceress. Elric is not a fan of the sorcerer Theleb K'aarna. In fact he is so much not a fan he would like to introduce him to the Black Blade, in an up close, personal, and body cavity penetrating kind of manner.

He is having a lot of problems getting to him though, until he gets help from The Sleeping Sorceress.

The story line is strong as Elric almost kills his enemy, the sorcerer Theleb K'aarna. I love the way Corum makes his way into the story were he actually came from the book THE KING OF THE SWORDS

In this book, Elric faces yet more challenges; He finds an almost victory when he almost destroys Theleb K'aarna, but evil triumphs still. Myshella and her partner are major roles in this book, making it a great and enjoyable novel to read. Keep on rooting for Elric and read the next Elric of Moonabone' novel (Is that how you spell it?) Feel free to email me at flappy_14@yahoo.com

1 main guy is sorcerer
2 main guy has soul-eating sword
3 main guy worships the knight of the swords, the 3rd most powerful chaos lord/demon
4 main guy is from long line of tall-elf creatures
5 brit logic even when arguing with demons
6 demons are locked into weapons
7 multiverse 1million "spheres" conjunction, this is one plane
8 main guy one of the "eternal champoins" serving the "cosmic balance"
9 "D&D" action
10 3 incarnations of the eternal champoin meet at once!

11 Law v Chaos!
12 (...)
13 closest thing to Robert E. Hoard the British have produced.