Elric of Melniboné
The Elric Saga, Book 1
Michael Moorcock
Audio Realms
Fiction, Fantasy
Themes: Bonded Companions, Classics, Curses, Demons, Dragons, Epics, Magic Workers
***+
Description
The people of Melniboné are an old and often cruel race, trained since childhood in many dark and mystical arts lost in the Young Countries of ordinary men. Once, they ruled the world with their golden war barges and their dragons, but today they are a diminished nation, rarely venturing beyond the Dragon Isle... and, to many, the latest emperor is yet further proof that the days of Melniboné are near an end. Born an ill-omened albino, Elric is afflicted by terrible weakness, to the point where he can barely stand upright without his draughts and potions. But what's worse in the mind of the other nobles is the apparent weakness of his mind, for he alone of the entire nobility, perhaps his entire race, questions the morality of their sorcery and their rule. Many whisper that the Dragon Isle deserves a stronger leader, one who will lead them back to days of conquest and glory: someone like Elric's cousin Yrkoon, whose brash manners and bloodlust are everything the people of Melniboné used to be in ages past. Even as Yrkoon makes open bids to usurp the Ruby Throne, the barbarians of the Young Countries make unprecedented attempts to assault the very Dragon Isle itself. In desperation, Elric turns to old powers and ancient grimoires long untouched... and finds himself drawn into a game of gods and elementals and demonic forces, a game in which even an emperor such as himself is but a pawn.
Review
Since his appearance in 1961, Elric has been an iconic character in fantasy, the brooding, doomed emperor of a
fading people who rarely faces anything but terrible choices. More introspective and moody than Conan, his physical
strength and swordsmanship forever dependent on medicines and magics and (later) the assistance of a cursed item,
it's clear from the start that there will never be a truly happy outcome for him or Melniboné's population,
who seem half-aware that they are relics of a bygone era and yet cling to their old traditions and prejudices all
the harder. To be the emperor of such a people is to be the captain of a sinking ship, but to be an emperor like
Elric - who actually contemplates how they fell so far and whether they might survive if they became more
introspective, moral, and adapted to the emerging world of ordinary humans - is to paint a target on one's back.
Not that he's a paragon of virtue himself, for all his moral wrestling; he thinks nothing of watching captives
tortured to gruesome deaths, he reaches out to forbidden lords of chaos in times of need, and given the chance he
concocts truly horrific retribution for enemies. He is, after all, the product of a cold and cruel people whose
main driving nature is personal pleasure, followed closely by keeping lessers, be they barbarians of other
nations or lower ranks of their own race, firmly in their place and on their knees. Any perceived virtue in him
is most often by comparison to his surroundings, as charcoal will look lighter compared to solid black. Elric's
journey was always rough and lonely, and even the love of his life, fair Cymoril (Yrkoon's sister, whom the villain
openly lusts over to drive home just how depraved and evil he is), doesn't quite understand him, for all that she
sees the doom upon him before he does. When faced at last with open betrayal, he finds himself on an unexpected
path, one in which it becomes clear that he is but a plaything of forces greater than himself. Yet, still, he can't
stop brooding and second-guessing his own instincts, resulting in some truly boneheaded moments from the
Melnibonéan emperor. Things twist and wend through wild, strange, primeval wonders and dangers of an elder
age, until the story reaches an ending where Elric's torments and journey are still just beginning.
While there's plenty of action to go around and some interesting mind's eye candy here and there, the story
unfortunately shows its age in many ways. Women don't really exist save as objects to threaten or abduct, even when
they're on the page and the narrator is in their thoughts. Yrkoon is such an obvious, cruel, crude villain it was
almost laughable, save when Elric proved repeatedly oblivious to the true threat posed by him (even after the open
betrayal, Elric makes excuses). Elric himself so clearly does not fit what it means to be a Melnibonéan that
one wonders why he wasn't ousted some time ago, or why he didn't voluntarily abdicate and vanish into self-imposed
exile; he was never going to fit in among his own kind, even when he tries to live up to their selfish and cruel
ideals. I also found myself annoyed by the audiobook production I listened to, with constant overbearing background
music and sound effects. While I can appreciate the iconic nature and impact of the character and his world, I
think Elric just dates a little much for me to really enjoy his adventures.