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The Elric Saga #6
Stormbringer
The epic tale of Elric of Melnibone, albino prince of ruins, moves to it's awesome conclusion -with the whole of the natural and supernatural world in mighty conflict - the final conflict, Armageddon. Elric holds the key to the future: the new age which must follow the destruction.To turn that key he must sacrifice all that he loves and risk his very soul.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1965
77 people are currently reading
4928 people want to read
About the author
Michael Moorcock
1,209 books3,752 followersMichael John Moorcock is an English writer primarily of science fiction and fantasy who has also published a number of literary novels.
Moorcock has mentioned The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Apple Cart by George Bernard Shaw and The Constable of St. Nicholas by Edward Lester Arnold as the first three books which captured his imagination. He became editor of Tarzan Adventures in 1956, at the age of sixteen, and later moved on to edit Sexton Blake Library. As editor of the controversial British science fiction magazine New Worlds, from May 1964 until March 1971 and then again from 1976 to 1996, Moorcock fostered the development of the science fiction "New Wave" in the UK and indirectly in the United States. His serialization of Norman Spinrad's Bug Jack Barron was notorious for causing British MPs to condemn in Parliament the Arts Council's funding of the magazine.
During this time, he occasionally wrote under the pseudonym of "James Colvin," a "house pseudonym" used by other critics on New Worlds. A spoof obituary of Colvin appeared in New Worlds #197 (January 1970), written by "William Barclay" (another Moorcock pseudonym). Moorcock, indeed, makes much use of the initials "JC", and not entirely coincidentally these are also the initials of Jesus Christ, the subject of his 1967 Nebula award-winning novella Behold the Man, which tells the story of Karl Glogauer, a time-traveller who takes on the role of Christ. They are also the initials of various "Eternal Champion" Moorcock characters such as Jerry Cornelius, Jerry Cornell and Jherek Carnelian. In more recent years, Moorcock has taken to using "Warwick Colvin, Jr." as yet another pseudonym, particularly in his Second Ether fiction.
Moorcock has mentioned The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Apple Cart by George Bernard Shaw and The Constable of St. Nicholas by Edward Lester Arnold as the first three books which captured his imagination. He became editor of Tarzan Adventures in 1956, at the age of sixteen, and later moved on to edit Sexton Blake Library. As editor of the controversial British science fiction magazine New Worlds, from May 1964 until March 1971 and then again from 1976 to 1996, Moorcock fostered the development of the science fiction "New Wave" in the UK and indirectly in the United States. His serialization of Norman Spinrad's Bug Jack Barron was notorious for causing British MPs to condemn in Parliament the Arts Council's funding of the magazine.
During this time, he occasionally wrote under the pseudonym of "James Colvin," a "house pseudonym" used by other critics on New Worlds. A spoof obituary of Colvin appeared in New Worlds #197 (January 1970), written by "William Barclay" (another Moorcock pseudonym). Moorcock, indeed, makes much use of the initials "JC", and not entirely coincidentally these are also the initials of Jesus Christ, the subject of his 1967 Nebula award-winning novella Behold the Man, which tells the story of Karl Glogauer, a time-traveller who takes on the role of Christ. They are also the initials of various "Eternal Champion" Moorcock characters such as Jerry Cornelius, Jerry Cornell and Jherek Carnelian. In more recent years, Moorcock has taken to using "Warwick Colvin, Jr." as yet another pseudonym, particularly in his Second Ether fiction.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 294 reviews
March 17, 2020
With Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock brings a superior fantasy series to a to formally effective and emotionally satisfying conclusion.
I love the Elric series, and sometimes wonder if I rate the books too highly. After all, the prose, ranging from workmanlike to vigorous, is often evocative but rarely poetic, and the tales themselves run to cliche, with too many love-besotted sorcerers, too many queens with hidden agendas, and too many marvelous towers—chock full of monsters and demons—appearing at the conflux of the time streams.
Here, however, Moorcock is at the top of his game. His prose is unusually concentrated and disciplined, and many of the plot elements he introduces are both surprising and pleasing. (My favorites? The quest for Roland’s horn, and—even better--the Sad Giant and his shield.)
But the best thing about this book is the seriousness with which Moorcock treats his hero, his hero’s destiny, and the startlingly original universe—a world torn between Chaos and Law—in which his hero lives. For it is the brooding Byronic character of Elric himself, fated to kill those whom he loves, and the unique philosophical realm which determines the nature of that character, that together are the twin source of the Elric fans’ delight, making it easy to excuse the patches of mundane prose, the occasional narrative cliche.
In fashioning Stormbringer, Moorcock has shown great courage, not flinching from the demands of fate or the requirements of his chosen universe. He brings the Elric series to its inevitable conclusion, and, in doing so, has crafted a thing of harsh beauty, as heartbreaking and bleak as Arthur’s battle at the plain of Camlann.
January 22, 2012
"I think of myself as a bad writer with big ideas, but I'd rather be that than a big writer with bad ideas." -Michael Moorcock
With this simple sentence, Moorcock reveals something troubling and endemic to the fantasy genre: that not enough fantasy authors start out with fantastical ideas. There are a lot of big writers out there (with really big books) who don't have very big ideas. But perhaps that shouldn't surprise us, since their ur-inspiration, Tolkien, has a remarkably vast amount of skill sadly limited by a very small vision, while Moorcock is the opposite: a man with grandiose visions who is sometimes limited by his meager skill.
Certainly, Moorcock is capable of some pretty, frilly prose, and shows in this story, as in the tale which opens Elric's saga, that he is capable of providing a consistent tone and driving plot. But, at his core, he is still (at least through the early Elric stories), a pulp writer, and he admits as much in the introduction to 'Stealer of Souls', talking about how many of the stories were rushed, how some were written for money, that many disparate stories were combined to make saleable novels, and how most of these stories were explorations of ideas that he would only fully develop in later series.
I admit I appreciate this straightforward humility much more than the pretension of many in the genre, and as usual, it is the most humble author who tends to produce the best work--it is almost as if some level of restraint and self-awareness was vital to being a skilled writer. Though not all of his experiments work out so well, like Leiber, the earlier writing seems to have the most drive and vitality. While this dark, mythic vision of Ragnarok might be the conclusion of Elric's tragedy, it actually comprises some of the earliest stories.
Like the introductory story of the series, this one has a consistent arc of plot and tone, and is much more concerned with Elric's psychological struggles than some of the others, where he is more standoffish and archetypally mythic.
There is also an interesting crossover here between Elric's story and the historical myths that inspired him--namely the Song of Roland, and it is an interesting choice on Moorcock's part to create a literal connection to his inspirations instead of merely a symbolic, allusive one. It is another sign of his authorial inventiveness and boldness to delve suddenly into pastiche and give his mythic world a very real connection to his reader's reality.
Once again, I am struck by the fact that, reading the entirety of the original Elric tales, I have grossed about eight-hundred-fifty pages, and in that space, have gotten a character's life: his several loves, many companions met, befriended, lost, and mourned, empires destroyed, mythical realms explored, and a worldwide war begun, waged, and concluded. In many other fantasy series, I might still be waiting for the plot to actually pick up.
Already I have gotten a depth and breadth that exceeds many longer works, and that is despite the fact that several of the Elric stories are experiments that never quite concluded, and thus acted as filler. I know that Elric is not quite an 'Epic Fantasy' (though it does have some epic scope), but it seems to me that too few authors actually have enough ideas to actually fill a series the length of the average epic.
Moorcock does have a wealth of ideas, many of them promising and unusual, and it's unfortunate that Moorcock never quite explores them all, though he has said that for him, the Elric stories were just the opening forays for concepts he would develop more fully later, and so I look forward to reading those later books and seeing how his promising concepts play out when he has the opportunity to put more time and thought into them. One complaint I had with the stories was that the interesting magical cosmology of the world never seemed to manifest in the characters, who tended to be more mythical than psychologically complex, and if, in the future, Moorcock is able to rectify this, it would deepen his fantasy immensely.
The conclusion is impressive, and if all of the stories had the same drive, continuity of tone, and depth of psychology, it would be a much stronger series. As it stands, it is an interesting experiment, an exploration of fantastical concepts that, if not as focused as we might hope, at least present a unique, inspiring vision of what fantasy can be.
My List of Suggested Fantasy Books
With this simple sentence, Moorcock reveals something troubling and endemic to the fantasy genre: that not enough fantasy authors start out with fantastical ideas. There are a lot of big writers out there (with really big books) who don't have very big ideas. But perhaps that shouldn't surprise us, since their ur-inspiration, Tolkien, has a remarkably vast amount of skill sadly limited by a very small vision, while Moorcock is the opposite: a man with grandiose visions who is sometimes limited by his meager skill.
Certainly, Moorcock is capable of some pretty, frilly prose, and shows in this story, as in the tale which opens Elric's saga, that he is capable of providing a consistent tone and driving plot. But, at his core, he is still (at least through the early Elric stories), a pulp writer, and he admits as much in the introduction to 'Stealer of Souls', talking about how many of the stories were rushed, how some were written for money, that many disparate stories were combined to make saleable novels, and how most of these stories were explorations of ideas that he would only fully develop in later series.
I admit I appreciate this straightforward humility much more than the pretension of many in the genre, and as usual, it is the most humble author who tends to produce the best work--it is almost as if some level of restraint and self-awareness was vital to being a skilled writer. Though not all of his experiments work out so well, like Leiber, the earlier writing seems to have the most drive and vitality. While this dark, mythic vision of Ragnarok might be the conclusion of Elric's tragedy, it actually comprises some of the earliest stories.
Like the introductory story of the series, this one has a consistent arc of plot and tone, and is much more concerned with Elric's psychological struggles than some of the others, where he is more standoffish and archetypally mythic.
There is also an interesting crossover here between Elric's story and the historical myths that inspired him--namely the Song of Roland, and it is an interesting choice on Moorcock's part to create a literal connection to his inspirations instead of merely a symbolic, allusive one. It is another sign of his authorial inventiveness and boldness to delve suddenly into pastiche and give his mythic world a very real connection to his reader's reality.
Once again, I am struck by the fact that, reading the entirety of the original Elric tales, I have grossed about eight-hundred-fifty pages, and in that space, have gotten a character's life: his several loves, many companions met, befriended, lost, and mourned, empires destroyed, mythical realms explored, and a worldwide war begun, waged, and concluded. In many other fantasy series, I might still be waiting for the plot to actually pick up.
Already I have gotten a depth and breadth that exceeds many longer works, and that is despite the fact that several of the Elric stories are experiments that never quite concluded, and thus acted as filler. I know that Elric is not quite an 'Epic Fantasy' (though it does have some epic scope), but it seems to me that too few authors actually have enough ideas to actually fill a series the length of the average epic.
Moorcock does have a wealth of ideas, many of them promising and unusual, and it's unfortunate that Moorcock never quite explores them all, though he has said that for him, the Elric stories were just the opening forays for concepts he would develop more fully later, and so I look forward to reading those later books and seeing how his promising concepts play out when he has the opportunity to put more time and thought into them. One complaint I had with the stories was that the interesting magical cosmology of the world never seemed to manifest in the characters, who tended to be more mythical than psychologically complex, and if, in the future, Moorcock is able to rectify this, it would deepen his fantasy immensely.
The conclusion is impressive, and if all of the stories had the same drive, continuity of tone, and depth of psychology, it would be a much stronger series. As it stands, it is an interesting experiment, an exploration of fantastical concepts that, if not as focused as we might hope, at least present a unique, inspiring vision of what fantasy can be.
My List of Suggested Fantasy Books
September 13, 2022
The epic tale of Elric of Melniboné, albino prince of ruins, moves to its awesome conclusion. The whole of the natural and supernatural world is in mighty conflict, Armageddon has come and all of existence clashes in a storm of death and chaos. Elric holds the key to the future: the new age which must follow the destruction of everything that once was. To turn that key, he must sacrifice all that he loves and risk his very soul.
This book was pure chaos (pun definitely intended) and I wouldn't have the finale for such a chaotic series end any other way. The true power of magic and Elric's demonic runeblade Stormbringer are on display, wicked sorcerers and the Dukes of Hell are out in full force, friends and lovers are brutally sacrificed, the fabric of reality comes apart as the world ends so it can begin once more. I think the final book is the best in the series. It's a high fantasy apocalyptic acid trip at its finest.
This book was pure chaos (pun definitely intended) and I wouldn't have the finale for such a chaotic series end any other way. The true power of magic and Elric's demonic runeblade Stormbringer are on display, wicked sorcerers and the Dukes of Hell are out in full force, friends and lovers are brutally sacrificed, the fabric of reality comes apart as the world ends so it can begin once more. I think the final book is the best in the series. It's a high fantasy apocalyptic acid trip at its finest.
January 18, 2020
When I was a student at Cambridge during the late 70s, the Cambridge University Science Fiction Society had an evening every week at one of the local pubs. They were sufficiently well-known there that they had managed to persuade the bartenders to add a few SF-themed cocktails to their repertoire.
The favourite was the Elric of Melnibone, which, if I recall correctly, consisted of vodka and milk, with two maraschino cherries floating in it. Now what the I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream? I'm pretty sure that ice-cream was involved...
The favourite was the Elric of Melnibone, which, if I recall correctly, consisted of vodka and milk, with two maraschino cherries floating in it. Now what the I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream? I'm pretty sure that ice-cream was involved...
January 2, 2025
*** 2025 reread -
An excellent conclusion to the Elric saga.
There will be some who do not like the ending, and I get it, but contextually, this was how it was going to end and Moorcock played it straight.
To say that Michael Moorcock has been influential in this genre would be a gross understatement. Reading not just his imaginative fantasy but how he puts it all together is like looking at popular blueprints and seeing his foundations all over town.
I see Moorcock as a mix of Gene Wolfe and Jack Vance. He is more accessible than Wolfe and less absurdist than Vance and this is high quality F-A-N-T-A-S-Y.
The closing lines of Stormbringer are some of the most chilling in all of fantasy writing.
An excellent conclusion to the Elric saga.
There will be some who do not like the ending, and I get it, but contextually, this was how it was going to end and Moorcock played it straight.
To say that Michael Moorcock has been influential in this genre would be a gross understatement. Reading not just his imaginative fantasy but how he puts it all together is like looking at popular blueprints and seeing his foundations all over town.
I see Moorcock as a mix of Gene Wolfe and Jack Vance. He is more accessible than Wolfe and less absurdist than Vance and this is high quality F-A-N-T-A-S-Y.
The closing lines of Stormbringer are some of the most chilling in all of fantasy writing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 14, 2025
With all of the doom talk and foreshadowing and general tone of the series, is it even possible to spoil the end? I guess I'll avoid specifics, but I'm pretty sure it's worse than you're imagining.
Let's just say they all live happily ever after on a farm in upstate New York.
I recently watched a YouTube video about Elric, and my wife remarked that she'd never even heard of the series before. I could only gape in astonishment. As near as I can figure, I've been familiar with the books since about 1981 or so. I was into Dungeons and Dragons, and had purchased the brand-new Deities and Demigods rulebook. In addition to Greek, Norse, and other mythologies, it also featured the fictional creations of Michael Moorcock, Fritz Leiber, and H.P. Lovecraft. I promptly made it my mission to read as much of their work as I could find, and quickly acquired a complete run of the DAW Elric books, which were still in print at the time.
Last year, it occurred to me that I still had the books, and that it had been a good thirty or forty years since I last read them. So I dug them out and dusted them off. It's been fun reacquainting myself with the characters. I'm surprised by how much I remember. Clearly, they made a huge impression on teenage Stewart.
Elric is a character for the ages. Although doomed from the start and capable of some extremely stupid decisions at times, his constant struggles against Fate can be quite compelling. Although not exactly a role model, his triumphs and losses are engrossing to read about. Michael Moorcock may disparage his own writing abilities, but he can be surprisingly poetic at times. And he's definitely capable of some truly mad ideas. His influence on more modern Fantasy like The Witcher and Game of Thrones seems fairly clear. All in all, Moorcock is a writer worth reading, and Elric is arguably his most famous creation. Recommended!
Let's just say they all live happily ever after on a farm in upstate New York.
I recently watched a YouTube video about Elric, and my wife remarked that she'd never even heard of the series before. I could only gape in astonishment. As near as I can figure, I've been familiar with the books since about 1981 or so. I was into Dungeons and Dragons, and had purchased the brand-new Deities and Demigods rulebook. In addition to Greek, Norse, and other mythologies, it also featured the fictional creations of Michael Moorcock, Fritz Leiber, and H.P. Lovecraft. I promptly made it my mission to read as much of their work as I could find, and quickly acquired a complete run of the DAW Elric books, which were still in print at the time.
Last year, it occurred to me that I still had the books, and that it had been a good thirty or forty years since I last read them. So I dug them out and dusted them off. It's been fun reacquainting myself with the characters. I'm surprised by how much I remember. Clearly, they made a huge impression on teenage Stewart.
Elric is a character for the ages. Although doomed from the start and capable of some extremely stupid decisions at times, his constant struggles against Fate can be quite compelling. Although not exactly a role model, his triumphs and losses are engrossing to read about. Michael Moorcock may disparage his own writing abilities, but he can be surprisingly poetic at times. And he's definitely capable of some truly mad ideas. His influence on more modern Fantasy like The Witcher and Game of Thrones seems fairly clear. All in all, Moorcock is a writer worth reading, and Elric is arguably his most famous creation. Recommended!
June 6, 2022
The saga of Elric of Melnibone has its highs and its lows - mostly highs - but it really does go down on a good note indeed. Nightmarish apocalyptic visions, terrible bloody battle, and dramatic irony and great tragedy. Even a few good character moments, though it's not Moorcock's strong point.
I wish it could have gone differently for poor Elric, though. I wonder if it could have gone differently. If he could have escaped this fate, and found happiness... or if all of this really was meant to be.
I wish it could have gone differently for poor Elric, though. I wonder if it could have gone differently. If he could have escaped this fate, and found happiness... or if all of this really was meant to be.
February 11, 2019
What an impressive "end"! :) Of course, I already know there are a number of books that continue on, but I have to assume they take place before this Final Battle.
The black blade always gets the final laugh. Indeed.
I need to back up. These Elric tales are epic in the purest sense of the word. Forces of Chaos and Law rage across all lands and the multiverse... all time, as well. Elric's sword, Stormbringer, was designed to destroy the gods of Chaos together its twin, a blade of Law. Both are intelligent, drinkers of souls, and bloodthirsty as hell.
Elric straddles the line between both forces, focused on revenge as everything he's ever known or loved dies before him. He's a god-killer.
You know all those epic fantasies we love so much by all the biggest names in fantasy? Robert Jordan, Neil Gaiman, or hell, all of D&D pull from this author's epic ideas. Incarnations of Chaos, elementals, incarnations of Law (order), and Men. So many huge armies live and die, the continents change, the death toll utterly immense. Think about the fourth season of Babylon 5. It's this scope. This immensity.
But realize Elric came out long before all those. This is what Tolkien COULD have been had he gotten out of the minor details of all these lives and not fought for the static continuation of everyone's lives as the greatest good. Moorcock ramped up the stakes to the same level of Melkor versus all the Illuvatar and beyond since the stakes were for all time and all worlds across the multiverse. :)
Just saying... this is some impressive stuff. :)
The black blade always gets the final laugh. Indeed.
I need to back up. These Elric tales are epic in the purest sense of the word. Forces of Chaos and Law rage across all lands and the multiverse... all time, as well. Elric's sword, Stormbringer, was designed to destroy the gods of Chaos together its twin, a blade of Law. Both are intelligent, drinkers of souls, and bloodthirsty as hell.
Elric straddles the line between both forces, focused on revenge as everything he's ever known or loved dies before him. He's a god-killer.
You know all those epic fantasies we love so much by all the biggest names in fantasy? Robert Jordan, Neil Gaiman, or hell, all of D&D pull from this author's epic ideas. Incarnations of Chaos, elementals, incarnations of Law (order), and Men. So many huge armies live and die, the continents change, the death toll utterly immense. Think about the fourth season of Babylon 5. It's this scope. This immensity.
But realize Elric came out long before all those. This is what Tolkien COULD have been had he gotten out of the minor details of all these lives and not fought for the static continuation of everyone's lives as the greatest good. Moorcock ramped up the stakes to the same level of Melkor versus all the Illuvatar and beyond since the stakes were for all time and all worlds across the multiverse. :)
Just saying... this is some impressive stuff. :)
April 25, 2016
The strongest feeling I get from Moorcock’s Elric series is melancholy. I understand the lure of that state, as I get it when I read my beloved King Arthur books or at the end of a Shakespearian tragedy. But I feel like Moorcock does it with smoke & mirrors instead of through masterful story-telling. In Stormbringer (and the other Elric novels to be sure) I get this feeling from a combination of atmosphere and setting, but Elric himself leaves me cold. It’s pretty hard to root for the guy who is portrayed as the lesser evil. The details of each novel are tiresomely repetitive—Elric tries to resist using his demonic sword, Stormbringer; without it, he is too weak to be of any use in macho pursuits; he returns once again to using his soul-sucking weapon.
One simple word, repeated several times, was also jarring to me. Elric keeps saying “thanks,” which to me feels like a very modern usage and out of place in this rather archaic setting. If he said “many thanks” it would have grated less for me. Likewise, a number of times contracted words were used, when I thought that spelling out both words would have been more true to the ancient atmosphere, not to mention matching with the other language used. I guess I expect more precise language in a pseudo-archaic world.
I can’t say that I’m unhappy to be finished the Elric saga…..in many ways, it has felt like reading the same book six times.
Book 203 of my science fiction and fantasy reading project.
One simple word, repeated several times, was also jarring to me. Elric keeps saying “thanks,” which to me feels like a very modern usage and out of place in this rather archaic setting. If he said “many thanks” it would have grated less for me. Likewise, a number of times contracted words were used, when I thought that spelling out both words would have been more true to the ancient atmosphere, not to mention matching with the other language used. I guess I expect more precise language in a pseudo-archaic world.
I can’t say that I’m unhappy to be finished the Elric saga…..in many ways, it has felt like reading the same book six times.
Book 203 of my science fiction and fantasy reading project.
May 26, 2025
Stormbringer may be the best book in Elric series, a Strong also hard hit ending to Elric Saga. The
installment compares to others is really shockingly good ,at least in my opinion, because the battle scenes and dramatic story line are matched perfectly, especially the ending is appropriate to Elric stories's vibe. Hit the right tune for me after read Stormbringer. Everything had changed since the battle with the chaos lords. Elric stood on his friends's side, didn't support his patron god, Arioch. the whole process of saving young kingdoms Elric must find some magic items and bring them back to combat with chaos lords. Also Elric travel via sorcery to other dimension in order to gain the Horn, but ironically in the prophecy, the arrival of Elric who obtained the horn meant the doom to the dimensional world. It's a Interesting ideal! In the end, Elric still saved the world but everything had changed and eventually Eric was killed by his hateful sword, Stormbringer. It seems that Elric's was eliminated after the new age of Young kingdoms began. Previous books mentioned that Elric was a ancient race of Melnibone who was few still existed in Young Kingdoms and few people in Young Kingdoms knew about Melnibone, implied that Elric would still need to die in order to suit for the change after the battle with chaos lords.
A melancholy ending but it's an excellent book in Elric series no doubt!
installment compares to others is really shockingly good ,at least in my opinion, because the battle scenes and dramatic story line are matched perfectly, especially the ending is appropriate to Elric stories's vibe. Hit the right tune for me after read Stormbringer. Everything had changed since the battle with the chaos lords. Elric stood on his friends's side, didn't support his patron god, Arioch. the whole process of saving young kingdoms Elric must find some magic items and bring them back to combat with chaos lords. Also Elric travel via sorcery to other dimension in order to gain the Horn, but ironically in the prophecy, the arrival of Elric who obtained the horn meant the doom to the dimensional world. It's a Interesting ideal! In the end, Elric still saved the world but everything had changed and eventually Eric was killed by his hateful sword, Stormbringer. It seems that Elric's was eliminated after the new age of Young kingdoms began. Previous books mentioned that Elric was a ancient race of Melnibone who was few still existed in Young Kingdoms and few people in Young Kingdoms knew about Melnibone, implied that Elric would still need to die in order to suit for the change after the battle with chaos lords.
A melancholy ending but it's an excellent book in Elric series no doubt!
January 26, 2016
Short, Sharp, and Pretty Good
10 May 2013
I just browsed through another review of this book and I think that the writer of that review pretty much describes Moorcock's style perfectly. He is an ordinary writer with big vision and is able to tell a story in a short book that can be pretty much read in a day. In fact I am tempted to go down to Northcote and actually try to get my hands on some of the Moorcock books again because of the fact that they tend to be a very short and quick read.
Compare them to say 'Wheel of Time' where the book gets so bogged down into detail that by the time you hit the seventh book (and I think I need to add the seven books of the Wheel of Time up as well, and I think it was seven that I read because by the eighth book I had read at least a third of the book and nothing had happened) pretty much nothing happens for the most part. With Moorcock though, by chapter two you might have already had a city burnt to the ground and demons running around destroying things.
I actually like books that can be read quickly, though on the other hand there are some big books out there that are simply so good that you cannot put it down and in the end you find yourself reading it until you have finished. In fact there are some books that I get so engrossed in that I will literally dawdle home from work, sitting in pubs and drinking beer, simply because the book is so good (though by the time I get home I tend to be plastered).
Moorcock is not the best writer out there, and I must say that I did end up getting bored with some of his Elric books, but when I first discovered him (thankyou Ally, who gave me a copy of a Moorcock book for my birthday) I was instantly hooked. What was interesting though was that my English teacher, who hated us reading what he considered to be airport trash, was happy that I wrote a response to a Moorcock novel (though I am not sure what grade he gave me, and I remember that it involved Elric going mad, killing everybody around him, and then killing himself – no, actually it wasn't Elric it was his sword – Stormbringer is simply one awesome sword, in fact I have never known a sword more awesome than Stormbringer).
10 May 2013
I just browsed through another review of this book and I think that the writer of that review pretty much describes Moorcock's style perfectly. He is an ordinary writer with big vision and is able to tell a story in a short book that can be pretty much read in a day. In fact I am tempted to go down to Northcote and actually try to get my hands on some of the Moorcock books again because of the fact that they tend to be a very short and quick read.
Compare them to say 'Wheel of Time' where the book gets so bogged down into detail that by the time you hit the seventh book (and I think I need to add the seven books of the Wheel of Time up as well, and I think it was seven that I read because by the eighth book I had read at least a third of the book and nothing had happened) pretty much nothing happens for the most part. With Moorcock though, by chapter two you might have already had a city burnt to the ground and demons running around destroying things.
I actually like books that can be read quickly, though on the other hand there are some big books out there that are simply so good that you cannot put it down and in the end you find yourself reading it until you have finished. In fact there are some books that I get so engrossed in that I will literally dawdle home from work, sitting in pubs and drinking beer, simply because the book is so good (though by the time I get home I tend to be plastered).
Moorcock is not the best writer out there, and I must say that I did end up getting bored with some of his Elric books, but when I first discovered him (thankyou Ally, who gave me a copy of a Moorcock book for my birthday) I was instantly hooked. What was interesting though was that my English teacher, who hated us reading what he considered to be airport trash, was happy that I wrote a response to a Moorcock novel (though I am not sure what grade he gave me, and I remember that it involved Elric going mad, killing everybody around him, and then killing himself – no, actually it wasn't Elric it was his sword – Stormbringer is simply one awesome sword, in fact I have never known a sword more awesome than Stormbringer).
September 19, 2020
So this was in short like this:
Elric/entire world gets in trouble.
Wise folks: Elric, you gonna need that Magical Artifact to defeat your enemies.
Elric: No I won't, there's no time anyway.
Elric loses the battle.
Elric: All right, I'm gonna need that Magical Artifact after all.
Elric wins. Well, sort of.
And I sort of enjoyed the whole thing if we talk about the series but this installment dragged on me without any mercy. But I liked dragons and the ending. And myself for ending the series.
Elric/entire world gets in trouble.
Wise folks: Elric, you gonna need that Magical Artifact to defeat your enemies.
Elric: No I won't, there's no time anyway.
Elric loses the battle.
Elric: All right, I'm gonna need that Magical Artifact after all.
Elric wins. Well, sort of.
And I sort of enjoyed the whole thing if we talk about the series but this installment dragged on me without any mercy. But I liked dragons and the ending. And myself for ending the series.
June 7, 2024
Stormbringer!
“There came a time when there was great movement upon the Earth and above it, when the destiny of Men and Gods was hammered out upon the forge of Fate, when monstrous wars were brewed and mighty deeds were designed. And there rose up in this time, which was called the Age of the Young Kingdoms, heroes. Greatest of these heroes was a doom-driven adventurer who bore a crooning rune blade that he loathed.
His name was Elric of Melniboné, king of ruins, lord of a scattered race that had once ruled the ancient world. Elric, sorcerer and swordsman, slayer of kin, despoiler of his home land, white-faced albino, last of his line.”
This is book six of the original Elric saga and the final book of the series. This one is a full novel instead of a “fix-up” of several short stories. The increased length also ups the stakes for Elric.
This time his entire world is poised to be sundered and undone by the shitty, cock blocking forces of chaos, who kidnap his wife (even worse when you ask how many chicks would get it on with a creepy, doom-driven albino.)
This is an all out battle between law and chaos, like rocky four but with dragons in the montage-good stuff. Still got a whiff of the ol’ fromage about it but Moorcock’s writing clearly improved between the first book and this, final one.
Elric has to try to band together all the armies of the realm and is cruelly rebuffed by some shit king of someplace dumb. And he eloquently smacks the guy down, thusly:
“Know this: Though you foolishly reject my offer of an alliance, the day will come when you will regret your decision. I have been insulted in my own palace, my friends have been insulted and I curse you for the upstart fools you are. But when the time comes for you to learn the error of this decision I swear that we shall aid you, if it is in our power!”
He also amps up the doominess, Elric has been reading some Schopenhauer, because he does not believe in free will at all inescapable fate-all the time!
“destinies were being shaped, great deeds were being planned and, marvellously, could it just be possible that, in
spite of the Lords of the Higher Worlds, in spite of the Cosmic Hand, in spite of the myriad supernatural denizens that swarmed the universe, that Man might decide the issue?
Even - one man?
One man, one sword, one destiny?
Fuck ya, it is!
Go forth, brethren, I beseech thee: readst thou the tales of Elric of Melniboné!
“There came a time when there was great movement upon the Earth and above it, when the destiny of Men and Gods was hammered out upon the forge of Fate, when monstrous wars were brewed and mighty deeds were designed. And there rose up in this time, which was called the Age of the Young Kingdoms, heroes. Greatest of these heroes was a doom-driven adventurer who bore a crooning rune blade that he loathed.
His name was Elric of Melniboné, king of ruins, lord of a scattered race that had once ruled the ancient world. Elric, sorcerer and swordsman, slayer of kin, despoiler of his home land, white-faced albino, last of his line.”
This is book six of the original Elric saga and the final book of the series. This one is a full novel instead of a “fix-up” of several short stories. The increased length also ups the stakes for Elric.
This time his entire world is poised to be sundered and undone by the shitty, cock blocking forces of chaos, who kidnap his wife (even worse when you ask how many chicks would get it on with a creepy, doom-driven albino.)
This is an all out battle between law and chaos, like rocky four but with dragons in the montage-good stuff. Still got a whiff of the ol’ fromage about it but Moorcock’s writing clearly improved between the first book and this, final one.
Elric has to try to band together all the armies of the realm and is cruelly rebuffed by some shit king of someplace dumb. And he eloquently smacks the guy down, thusly:
“Know this: Though you foolishly reject my offer of an alliance, the day will come when you will regret your decision. I have been insulted in my own palace, my friends have been insulted and I curse you for the upstart fools you are. But when the time comes for you to learn the error of this decision I swear that we shall aid you, if it is in our power!”
He also amps up the doominess, Elric has been reading some Schopenhauer, because he does not believe in free will at all inescapable fate-all the time!
“destinies were being shaped, great deeds were being planned and, marvellously, could it just be possible that, in
spite of the Lords of the Higher Worlds, in spite of the Cosmic Hand, in spite of the myriad supernatural denizens that swarmed the universe, that Man might decide the issue?
Even - one man?
One man, one sword, one destiny?
Fuck ya, it is!
Go forth, brethren, I beseech thee: readst thou the tales of Elric of Melniboné!
July 16, 2011
It's hard for me to write objectively about this book. It blew me away when I first read it as a teenager and the memory of reading and re-reading it stays with me still. It's a doomy, angst-ridden tale with a bleak ending and some very haunting scenes. To this day, fourty years later, I can remember the mighty skyscraper sized Chaos fleet sailing across land and sea with its crew of the damned. I'm not sure it would have such impact if I read it for the first time now. Don't care. My angst-ridden teenage self gives it five stars!
January 3, 2019
By book six I get the feeling that Moorcock has really gotten into his writing style. Each book is so much better than the last.
July 11, 2020
This is the sixth and final (chronologically) book in the Elric series, arguably Moorcock's most famous and popular character. The novel was originally published in 1963, and it's amazing to think that so much of the saga set prior to this one was written after it. Elric is the heroic fantasy field's ultimate anti-hero, an anti-Conan if you will... weak, dependent on drugs, magic, and the titular sword, he's doomed to fail and betray and kill those he loves. Stormbringer is more carefully written and polished than the earlier books, I think, and more of a traditional novel as opposed to novella-length stories put together. It brings the overall story to a satisfying conclusion, tying up characters and events from the first volume on, as well as doing more to showing more of how Elric fits into the overall Eternal Champion multiverse tapestry. My DAW edition has a terrific Michael Whelan cover; if anyone ever captured Elric as well as Jim Cawthorn, it was Whelan.
"Farewell, friend. I was a thousand times more evil than thou!"
"Farewell, friend. I was a thousand times more evil than thou!"
February 3, 2024
Stormbringer is easily the best of the Elric novels. (I've read 8 of them, from the first two omnibus editions recently released by Saga Press). The biggest thing that this book had that the rest of the novels lacked was a singular focus to the story, which many of the novels lack because they are combinations of already existing novellas. And this is easily the darkest in tone of all of the books I've read so far. I really enjoyed this book.
April 22, 2023
Thus ends the re-read saga for me. I don’t re-read anything after the original six. A lot happens in this final volume. Can Elric change fate? Tragedy seems to strike Elric as much as he is victorious. The world changes after the Lords of Chaos and Law have their battle. Interesting twist with the sword Stormbringer. Tragic and excellent at the same time.
June 15, 2023
Well…Damn! I have enjoyed reading the Elric saga so much and although we know he is doomed, the ending still hits hard. I feel quite bereft actually. What a journey! ⚔️
February 9, 2025
Wow, I love Elric! His brooding, vindictive character, pale skin and unusual tormented eyes, combined with existential agony makes for a - bluntly putting- sexy badass! He's the type of dark prince you want rescuing you from rich sadistic merchants! okay, enough fantasizing now!
-----
It is the end, the world is writhing with war and Chaos Lords are out seeking total sovereignty over the plane of earth. In the midst of turbulence and nature's revolt, Elric finds answers. Fate's servants are awoken and call to Elric to fulfill his destiny and Elric, though more saddened and tragedy stricken, accepts his role.
In learning of his destiny, Elric is also given knowledge of how cruel and unjust the course of life really is; In the beginning He is an outcast, driven from his homeland seeking some sense of belonging that would remedy his alien nature, He is inclined, at first, to question the ways of his fathers, to, at least mentally, experiment the more humane ways which are unnatural to his race and that is why he sets sails towards other lands. To find out if he is truely singled out in his peculiar dispositions. But His attempts at mercy and moderation fail and ultimately brings about destruction. He becomes stricken, failed and the evil in him is nurtured as he realises that, despite trying to be good natured, he cannot control the tide of events. He tries to find some pattern as to how the world operates, how things come to pass, if his presence in this world is meaningful now that he is most certainly not his own master. Who is it that pulls at the string? Is there some force that is compassionate? That will hold him firmly after his struggles are over? And to what end? Anything that would give meaning to his being where he is, when he is, who he is ... anything that flickers with even a faint light of an end.
After committing many acts of evil, is there anything that will be of consolation? Elric is not unrealistic, however, and knows the gravity of his deeds (or does not expect to simply be rid of the weight on his conscience) but he sees himself as 'driven' and in accepting that he raveges many things. Still, corrupted as he is I find that he is very understandable; not merely the nature of the questions that plague him (which I am sure will be a reminder to most people, of some bleak periods in their own lives) but how he responds to these forces, how he can be impulsive and evil...He still allows himself be possessed of Stormbringer despite loathing it and joyfully kills and destroys. He is by no means a man of pretense and does not try to be righteous, does not seek the human ways anymore but stays true to his emotions. Perhaps that is why I don't consider him entirely evil but in being what he is, he seems to be even more human.
Stormbringer (book VI) brings the most plausible answers regarding the nature and functionality of its world and Elric's place in it, answers that wouldn't stand on a bulky incongruity in Moorecock's world and turn his universe into a pleasant meal for the faint hearted.
Evil must fight Evil until good is strong enough to take hold. Thousands of years that have come to pass are merely an intro to exiatance, true civilization and nothing more. And The only thing that will comfort a turbulant mind is the smallest of hopes: We can only be assured that by being where we are, we - inadvertently - leave somethin behind and the earth will inherit it from us. It is a well -understood fear of mine; That we suffer and perish and all for nothing;
"Elric said: "but what are all our strivings for if we are doomed to die and the results of our actions with us?"
"That is not absolutely the case. Something will continue. Those who come after us will inherit something from us.""
This alone, is enough to convince Elric that he has to fight, even if he and the world to which he belongs must come to an end and be made as if they never existed. maybe it is all that can be offered, all other expectations are uncertain.
To attain this new horizon in the history of the earth (as the bringer of a new Era) he must fight himself; Chaos are the enemies and that is what he is also, different as he was from his people, his Melnibonean blood still runs hot. He must fight his very own nature and bring destruction to all and himself.
The final piece not only decides the fate of our dark protagonist, but also illustrates the working of different astral forces, how they all have been incorporating their will upon the plane of Earth and the effects of their cosmic struggle through the end. The configuration of the multiverse, the rules and physics governing it, the entirety of its definition is a major component of the Saga and despite seeming rather experimental than fully worked out, is engaging, thought-provoking and has a monumental scope.
This finale is magnifique; action packed, emotional, philosophically rich and graphically powerful.
there are still a lot I have to say about this great series.
-----
It is the end, the world is writhing with war and Chaos Lords are out seeking total sovereignty over the plane of earth. In the midst of turbulence and nature's revolt, Elric finds answers. Fate's servants are awoken and call to Elric to fulfill his destiny and Elric, though more saddened and tragedy stricken, accepts his role.
In learning of his destiny, Elric is also given knowledge of how cruel and unjust the course of life really is; In the beginning He is an outcast, driven from his homeland seeking some sense of belonging that would remedy his alien nature, He is inclined, at first, to question the ways of his fathers, to, at least mentally, experiment the more humane ways which are unnatural to his race and that is why he sets sails towards other lands. To find out if he is truely singled out in his peculiar dispositions. But His attempts at mercy and moderation fail and ultimately brings about destruction. He becomes stricken, failed and the evil in him is nurtured as he realises that, despite trying to be good natured, he cannot control the tide of events. He tries to find some pattern as to how the world operates, how things come to pass, if his presence in this world is meaningful now that he is most certainly not his own master. Who is it that pulls at the string? Is there some force that is compassionate? That will hold him firmly after his struggles are over? And to what end? Anything that would give meaning to his being where he is, when he is, who he is ... anything that flickers with even a faint light of an end.
After committing many acts of evil, is there anything that will be of consolation? Elric is not unrealistic, however, and knows the gravity of his deeds (or does not expect to simply be rid of the weight on his conscience) but he sees himself as 'driven' and in accepting that he raveges many things. Still, corrupted as he is I find that he is very understandable; not merely the nature of the questions that plague him (which I am sure will be a reminder to most people, of some bleak periods in their own lives) but how he responds to these forces, how he can be impulsive and evil...He still allows himself be possessed of Stormbringer despite loathing it and joyfully kills and destroys. He is by no means a man of pretense and does not try to be righteous, does not seek the human ways anymore but stays true to his emotions. Perhaps that is why I don't consider him entirely evil but in being what he is, he seems to be even more human.
Stormbringer (book VI) brings the most plausible answers regarding the nature and functionality of its world and Elric's place in it, answers that wouldn't stand on a bulky incongruity in Moorecock's world and turn his universe into a pleasant meal for the faint hearted.
Evil must fight Evil until good is strong enough to take hold. Thousands of years that have come to pass are merely an intro to exiatance, true civilization and nothing more. And The only thing that will comfort a turbulant mind is the smallest of hopes: We can only be assured that by being where we are, we - inadvertently - leave somethin behind and the earth will inherit it from us. It is a well -understood fear of mine; That we suffer and perish and all for nothing;
"Elric said: "but what are all our strivings for if we are doomed to die and the results of our actions with us?"
"That is not absolutely the case. Something will continue. Those who come after us will inherit something from us.""
This alone, is enough to convince Elric that he has to fight, even if he and the world to which he belongs must come to an end and be made as if they never existed. maybe it is all that can be offered, all other expectations are uncertain.
To attain this new horizon in the history of the earth (as the bringer of a new Era) he must fight himself; Chaos are the enemies and that is what he is also, different as he was from his people, his Melnibonean blood still runs hot. He must fight his very own nature and bring destruction to all and himself.
The final piece not only decides the fate of our dark protagonist, but also illustrates the working of different astral forces, how they all have been incorporating their will upon the plane of Earth and the effects of their cosmic struggle through the end. The configuration of the multiverse, the rules and physics governing it, the entirety of its definition is a major component of the Saga and despite seeming rather experimental than fully worked out, is engaging, thought-provoking and has a monumental scope.
This finale is magnifique; action packed, emotional, philosophically rich and graphically powerful.
there are still a lot I have to say about this great series.
Read
April 27, 2024Elric knows the right answer to the question "would you still love me if I was a worm?"
February 4, 2016
Probably the best know of the Eternal Champion incarnations. Elric is a tragic figure, enough to make an ancient Greek weep with joy. Great fantasy epic. Not your Tolkien style story. Very good plots and characters. Highly recommended.
February 9, 2016
So tragic, so sad, so beautiful.
December 8, 2017
Notice: I have made a review for every book of this series and they need to be read in order since they are supposed to feel like an on-going impression. So if you read the second without reading the first will feel rather off.
I am mostly focusing on the style of storytelling and a lot less on if it reads well or something sophisticated like that. For the same reason I tend to have lots of SPOILERS which means that if you read this text you will know THE OVERALL PLOT and how much I DIDN’T like it. So be warned that this is a mostly negative opinion for the whole trilogy which tends to reveal in detail why I didn’t like it. Better be read after you have read the books or if you want to avoid a not-so-smart series. YOU HAVE NOW BEEN WARNED and I can now initiate the slaughter.
--- Storm Bringer ---
(Most boring title for an Elric story)
It begins with Elric’s slut of a wife getting kidnapped. Veeery easily. And Elric doesn’t even summon a god to chase the kidnapers. How convenient Moorcock! By the way, isn’t that a rehash of the first book where Erlik needs to save Cymoril?
And what is that? One of the dying attackers says there is a prophesy Elric needs to fulfil? Oh crap, here we go again with the automatic win BS! So he tells him where his wife is held and that it’s his destiny to go find her. Because if it wasn’t Elric would dump her? Silly Moorcock…
So Elric needs to invade the nation where his wife is held and for some reason he doesn’t summon a god to just wipe them all out or use a gizmo of mass destruction as he did before, things that are sooo easy for him to do. He instead gathers all the armies of all the nations he didn’t destroy so far and attacks at once. The enemy is surprisingly that powerful that every nation Elric didn’t destroy so far was now slaughtered for joining him in battle. Furthermore, a warrior-wizard manages to beat Elric in a duel yet doesn’t kill him (oh what a surprise) because the prophesy says it is not him who is destined to kill him. Great way to save your hero Moorcock…
After that Elric escapes the battle and confronts a rebel army who explain that his sword can kill even a god. They also tell him that the prophesy is about him going to a specific place to save his wife. AGAIN WITH THIS PROPHESY PULLING ELRIC BY THE NOSE??? How about some investigation or free will Moorcock?
And hold on a second, if Elric could just go to a light guarded place to save her all alone, what was the point of raising all the armies of the world? You have no idea what you are doing Moorcock…
So he goes there, along with an ally of his who yields the second cursed sword… Hey wait a second, wasn’t this sword thrown to limbo after Yrkoon was killed … again? How the hell do they keep losing and finding it every time Moorcock feels like it? Thanks for the explanation you idiot!
Elric confronts the God who tells him that if he dies, the entire world will be destroyed along with him and reality will change to that of a completely new world. Elric in the meantime is completely deaf because all he wants to do is save his slut. So he slays him and then gets surprised his world is about to be erased despite being warned about it. Oh you horny little devil, you destroyed the world for some pussy…
Anyways, Elric seeks guidance and more people Moorcock uses as means to pull him by the nose with the excuse of the prophesy, appear and tell him what to do. He finds this seer who tells him that it’s his fate to kill all the gods of chaos in order for the world to be remade in a more harmonic way and that it is ok to do so since YOU CAN’T ESCAPE FATE! Elric agrees, even when he knows that this way, he, his slut, and all the other faceless crowds Moorcock has filled this world with will be destroyed and forgotten. So what does he have to gain from all this? Death as means of finding peace? Well he is forcing everyone else to just go along with it even if they disagree. Hell, he decides to kill all his patron deities when up until a few hours ago he was they fanatic supporter since the first book. Oh but I forgot, the only character with a personality in this series is Elric so there is no problem as long as he does his emo stuff.
What is even more facepalming is that the gods were helping him with the excuse to NOT kill them when the time comes. Well excuse me you idiots, when a prophesy is telling you that you will be killed by him then you do not aid him in doing so. You refuse to help him and you let him get killed; thus the prophesy is averted. How hard was that to figure out?
After that he faces the gods and their archbishop, and despite their efforts to tell him to stop with the reward of him becoming a god as well, he attacks them anyway. Normally he is now toast because he can no longer summon gods to aid him, since it’s the same gods he is fighting. But no worries; he learns this new summon that will make a thousand swords like his own to rain down from the sky and they are supposed to be powerful enough to beat even them. Jesus, so he even summon swords??? Then who needs gods in the first place? Moorcock, did you just admitted that Elric never really needed them and that his sword was enough?
Anyways, for reasons not even Moorcock knows, Elric does NOT use the summon. He chooses to go for something smaller first, as if it would make a difference. He summons a few weak monsters to attack the gods and then he chases after the archbishop. He captures him and instead of killing him he starts to chat long enough for the gods to have won and to attack him. And THEN he summons the swords. WHY DID HE DO THAT NOW AND NOT RIGHT AWAY??? What is wrong Moorcock, did you need to waste a few pages so the book will look big?
Anyways, the gods are vanquished and he loses his power, so he is now captured by the archbishop. This wouldn’t have happened if he had killed him right away instead of chatting. The archbishop does NOT kill him (oh what a surprise) and instead he ties him on a flagship to witness the world being conquered by an evil army. As you probably guessed right away, Elric escapes by summoning back his sword.
After that he needs to find a magic shield that will negate the powers of chaos. Oh I see, so he does need a super gizmo after all. Why didn’t he go for it in the first place if his sword was not enough and the seer knew about it all along? Looks like fate makes no sense.
During his quest he and his allies are attacked by monsters so they fight them and kill them, the only thing Elric does with anyone he meets. His sword once again flies off on its own and kills the Red Archer and Erlic goes emo again. Moorcock dear, it was tragic the first time and a bit the second. After a dozen times I don’t care anymore. And you also gave him those herbs that make him be able to live without the sword; there isn’t even any black irony at how he needs to kill in order to live anymore. Thus you just killed a character with zero emotional response.
After that he goes to fight another god he missed the other day and finds his slut turned to a monster by him. She doesn’t feel like living as a monster so she jumps on the sword and dies too. Moorcock, what did we say about useless deaths? I DON’T CARE! In fact, I don’t even understand why they kidnapped her in the first place. As bait for Elric to come to them? That is exactly why you were all killed you stupid idiots! Just like Yrkoon in the first book, you dug your own graves; he would never chase after you if you didn’t take his woman. And what’s with the transformation to a monster? Was that supposed to make him lose faith in his quest to kill you all? You just enraged him and now he will kill you ten times more horribly you retarded gods! That goes for you too Moorcock; your characters are all retarded and you are a terrible scriptwriter.
After that he goes to fight the archbishop in the ruins of Melibone and he feels all nostalgic about it. Oh how nice were all the slaves he tortured, all the women he raped, all the nations he destroyed. He really missed those times and it’s a shame some asshole ruined the place… Oh that’s right; IT WAS HIMSELF WHO DID IT! Because he didn’t stay home, didn’t kill his cousin, didn’t summon a god to stop him and instead just KILLED EVERYONE! Yeah, that makes sense; I would feel nostalgic too… Not.
After that, a long line of ontological dialogues take place as he and his remaining allies ponder about the meaning of life. The evil army attacks to take over the world but Elric finds a magic horn that can summon other gods (oh how original) to battle his ex patrons. As usual, no matter how many millions of soldiers an army has, only its deities matter so it’s just a battle about them and all the rest dying fast and miserable. The battle ends and the old gods are now defeated and the world is now remade into something else that I have no idea how different it is than before. So Elric and his few allies are the last creatures of the old world, destined to die soon so he pretty much kills them and then falls on his own cursed blade as means to reunite with al those it absorbed. Oh how romantic. Too bad that place is Limbo and the souls are horribly tormented before fading to nothingness. Not exactly the best place to see old friends.
So only Storm Bringer remains in this world and it too takes a human shape and flies away to space or something, saying it was a million times more evil than Elric. Cocky little bastard.
Ok the final part of the book was exciting for having Armageddon taking place and all the heroes getting philosophical. The ending is otherwise a “kill them all” finale which leaves you a bit hollow inside since all that seem to have been done for nothing. But hey, no matter how good it was it could never make me savour the series, since I found a ton of BS in it.
I am mostly focusing on the style of storytelling and a lot less on if it reads well or something sophisticated like that. For the same reason I tend to have lots of SPOILERS which means that if you read this text you will know THE OVERALL PLOT and how much I DIDN’T like it. So be warned that this is a mostly negative opinion for the whole trilogy which tends to reveal in detail why I didn’t like it. Better be read after you have read the books or if you want to avoid a not-so-smart series. YOU HAVE NOW BEEN WARNED and I can now initiate the slaughter.
--- Storm Bringer ---
(Most boring title for an Elric story)
It begins with Elric’s slut of a wife getting kidnapped. Veeery easily. And Elric doesn’t even summon a god to chase the kidnapers. How convenient Moorcock! By the way, isn’t that a rehash of the first book where Erlik needs to save Cymoril?
And what is that? One of the dying attackers says there is a prophesy Elric needs to fulfil? Oh crap, here we go again with the automatic win BS! So he tells him where his wife is held and that it’s his destiny to go find her. Because if it wasn’t Elric would dump her? Silly Moorcock…
So Elric needs to invade the nation where his wife is held and for some reason he doesn’t summon a god to just wipe them all out or use a gizmo of mass destruction as he did before, things that are sooo easy for him to do. He instead gathers all the armies of all the nations he didn’t destroy so far and attacks at once. The enemy is surprisingly that powerful that every nation Elric didn’t destroy so far was now slaughtered for joining him in battle. Furthermore, a warrior-wizard manages to beat Elric in a duel yet doesn’t kill him (oh what a surprise) because the prophesy says it is not him who is destined to kill him. Great way to save your hero Moorcock…
After that Elric escapes the battle and confronts a rebel army who explain that his sword can kill even a god. They also tell him that the prophesy is about him going to a specific place to save his wife. AGAIN WITH THIS PROPHESY PULLING ELRIC BY THE NOSE??? How about some investigation or free will Moorcock?
And hold on a second, if Elric could just go to a light guarded place to save her all alone, what was the point of raising all the armies of the world? You have no idea what you are doing Moorcock…
So he goes there, along with an ally of his who yields the second cursed sword… Hey wait a second, wasn’t this sword thrown to limbo after Yrkoon was killed … again? How the hell do they keep losing and finding it every time Moorcock feels like it? Thanks for the explanation you idiot!
Elric confronts the God who tells him that if he dies, the entire world will be destroyed along with him and reality will change to that of a completely new world. Elric in the meantime is completely deaf because all he wants to do is save his slut. So he slays him and then gets surprised his world is about to be erased despite being warned about it. Oh you horny little devil, you destroyed the world for some pussy…
Anyways, Elric seeks guidance and more people Moorcock uses as means to pull him by the nose with the excuse of the prophesy, appear and tell him what to do. He finds this seer who tells him that it’s his fate to kill all the gods of chaos in order for the world to be remade in a more harmonic way and that it is ok to do so since YOU CAN’T ESCAPE FATE! Elric agrees, even when he knows that this way, he, his slut, and all the other faceless crowds Moorcock has filled this world with will be destroyed and forgotten. So what does he have to gain from all this? Death as means of finding peace? Well he is forcing everyone else to just go along with it even if they disagree. Hell, he decides to kill all his patron deities when up until a few hours ago he was they fanatic supporter since the first book. Oh but I forgot, the only character with a personality in this series is Elric so there is no problem as long as he does his emo stuff.
What is even more facepalming is that the gods were helping him with the excuse to NOT kill them when the time comes. Well excuse me you idiots, when a prophesy is telling you that you will be killed by him then you do not aid him in doing so. You refuse to help him and you let him get killed; thus the prophesy is averted. How hard was that to figure out?
After that he faces the gods and their archbishop, and despite their efforts to tell him to stop with the reward of him becoming a god as well, he attacks them anyway. Normally he is now toast because he can no longer summon gods to aid him, since it’s the same gods he is fighting. But no worries; he learns this new summon that will make a thousand swords like his own to rain down from the sky and they are supposed to be powerful enough to beat even them. Jesus, so he even summon swords??? Then who needs gods in the first place? Moorcock, did you just admitted that Elric never really needed them and that his sword was enough?
Anyways, for reasons not even Moorcock knows, Elric does NOT use the summon. He chooses to go for something smaller first, as if it would make a difference. He summons a few weak monsters to attack the gods and then he chases after the archbishop. He captures him and instead of killing him he starts to chat long enough for the gods to have won and to attack him. And THEN he summons the swords. WHY DID HE DO THAT NOW AND NOT RIGHT AWAY??? What is wrong Moorcock, did you need to waste a few pages so the book will look big?
Anyways, the gods are vanquished and he loses his power, so he is now captured by the archbishop. This wouldn’t have happened if he had killed him right away instead of chatting. The archbishop does NOT kill him (oh what a surprise) and instead he ties him on a flagship to witness the world being conquered by an evil army. As you probably guessed right away, Elric escapes by summoning back his sword.
After that he needs to find a magic shield that will negate the powers of chaos. Oh I see, so he does need a super gizmo after all. Why didn’t he go for it in the first place if his sword was not enough and the seer knew about it all along? Looks like fate makes no sense.
During his quest he and his allies are attacked by monsters so they fight them and kill them, the only thing Elric does with anyone he meets. His sword once again flies off on its own and kills the Red Archer and Erlic goes emo again. Moorcock dear, it was tragic the first time and a bit the second. After a dozen times I don’t care anymore. And you also gave him those herbs that make him be able to live without the sword; there isn’t even any black irony at how he needs to kill in order to live anymore. Thus you just killed a character with zero emotional response.
After that he goes to fight another god he missed the other day and finds his slut turned to a monster by him. She doesn’t feel like living as a monster so she jumps on the sword and dies too. Moorcock, what did we say about useless deaths? I DON’T CARE! In fact, I don’t even understand why they kidnapped her in the first place. As bait for Elric to come to them? That is exactly why you were all killed you stupid idiots! Just like Yrkoon in the first book, you dug your own graves; he would never chase after you if you didn’t take his woman. And what’s with the transformation to a monster? Was that supposed to make him lose faith in his quest to kill you all? You just enraged him and now he will kill you ten times more horribly you retarded gods! That goes for you too Moorcock; your characters are all retarded and you are a terrible scriptwriter.
After that he goes to fight the archbishop in the ruins of Melibone and he feels all nostalgic about it. Oh how nice were all the slaves he tortured, all the women he raped, all the nations he destroyed. He really missed those times and it’s a shame some asshole ruined the place… Oh that’s right; IT WAS HIMSELF WHO DID IT! Because he didn’t stay home, didn’t kill his cousin, didn’t summon a god to stop him and instead just KILLED EVERYONE! Yeah, that makes sense; I would feel nostalgic too… Not.
After that, a long line of ontological dialogues take place as he and his remaining allies ponder about the meaning of life. The evil army attacks to take over the world but Elric finds a magic horn that can summon other gods (oh how original) to battle his ex patrons. As usual, no matter how many millions of soldiers an army has, only its deities matter so it’s just a battle about them and all the rest dying fast and miserable. The battle ends and the old gods are now defeated and the world is now remade into something else that I have no idea how different it is than before. So Elric and his few allies are the last creatures of the old world, destined to die soon so he pretty much kills them and then falls on his own cursed blade as means to reunite with al those it absorbed. Oh how romantic. Too bad that place is Limbo and the souls are horribly tormented before fading to nothingness. Not exactly the best place to see old friends.
So only Storm Bringer remains in this world and it too takes a human shape and flies away to space or something, saying it was a million times more evil than Elric. Cocky little bastard.
Ok the final part of the book was exciting for having Armageddon taking place and all the heroes getting philosophical. The ending is otherwise a “kill them all” finale which leaves you a bit hollow inside since all that seem to have been done for nothing. But hey, no matter how good it was it could never make me savour the series, since I found a ton of BS in it.
April 11, 2021
I have to admit that after the first five books of the series, I was worried that there would be no conclusion to the overall story arc. However, this does book contain a climax to the conflict between the forces of Chaos and the forces of Law. There are numerous references back to the events of those early books, which tend to wrap everything up. But I still feel a lot of the meandering in the plots of the earlier books was purposeless. Even in this book, new 'bad guys' continue to be introduced just pages from the end. I guess that's a necessary pitfall of a story world that involves such rapid elimination of characters.
then-again-maybe-not
June 4, 2020· Book 1: Elric of Melnilboné ★★★★★
· Book 2: The Fortress of the Pearl ★★★★★
· Book 3: The Sailor on the Seas of Fate ★★★★★
· Book 4: The Weird of the White Wolf ★★★
· Book 5: The Vanishing Tower (aka “The Sleeping Sorceress”) - to be read.
· Book 6: The Revenge of the Black Rose - to be read.
· Book 7: The Bane of the Black Sword - to be read.
· Book 8: Stormbringer - to be read.
· Book 9: Elric at the End of Time - to be read.
· Book 10: Daughter of Dreams - to be read.
· Book 11: Destiny’s Brother - to be read.
· Book 12: Son of the Wolf - to be read.
(Following the Tor reading order)
· Book 2: The Fortress of the Pearl ★★★★★
· Book 3: The Sailor on the Seas of Fate ★★★★★
· Book 4: The Weird of the White Wolf ★★★
· Book 5: The Vanishing Tower (aka “The Sleeping Sorceress”) - to be read.
· Book 6: The Revenge of the Black Rose - to be read.
· Book 7: The Bane of the Black Sword - to be read.
· Book 8: Stormbringer - to be read.
· Book 9: Elric at the End of Time - to be read.
· Book 10: Daughter of Dreams - to be read.
· Book 11: Destiny’s Brother - to be read.
· Book 12: Son of the Wolf - to be read.
(Following the Tor reading order)
October 6, 2014
I love Elric and while he exemplifies melancholy and tragidy the story telling is always first rate. I reviewed these in the omnibus edition before, but read the paperback many years ago.
March 11, 2016
Stormbringer has the most epic ending thinkable. The five previous volumes have prepared for an unsurprising resolution. It's no real spoiler that Elric destroys the world. The ultimate climax, no further escalation possible.
En route, he has to encounter various boss monsters consecutively, each one a step up in difficulty. They are summoned to earth by Pan Tang's own evil mage Jagreen Lern in his quest to rule the world, factually being only a tool of the chaos lords and gods to shift the fragile balance between chaos and order to their side once and for all.
The first part is still mostly a battle between human armies which is lost by Elric and his allies. At least, Elric manages to destroy Darnzihaan, the dead god. In the second part the war shifts to the seas, again the good ones get the short end of the stick. This time, Stormbringer is essential in ostracizing the dukes of chaos from earth forever. In the third adventure, ships from the realm of the dead led by Lord Pyaray have reinforced Jagreen's fleet. Of course, the octopus-like Lord Pyaray has to die. To manage this, another deus ex machina, the chaos shield is instrumentalized. On a side quest, the sad giant is slain to acquire it. Collateral damage: Zarozinia, Elric's wife. Finally, the remaining forces of chaos and the gods of order face off to decide on earth's future. Dragons and the horn from the classic epic The Song of Roland play crucial roles.
If there's a morale to the last volume of the cycle, it's the dominance of fate. Nobody's able to escape from it. It's not a coincidence that the most sympathetic figures are the Lords of Nihrain, servants of fate. Elric's fate was Stormbringer, the force leading him until the very end. Fatalism, buddhism, or just plain simple fantasy?
En route, he has to encounter various boss monsters consecutively, each one a step up in difficulty. They are summoned to earth by Pan Tang's own evil mage Jagreen Lern in his quest to rule the world, factually being only a tool of the chaos lords and gods to shift the fragile balance between chaos and order to their side once and for all.
The first part is still mostly a battle between human armies which is lost by Elric and his allies. At least, Elric manages to destroy Darnzihaan, the dead god. In the second part the war shifts to the seas, again the good ones get the short end of the stick. This time, Stormbringer is essential in ostracizing the dukes of chaos from earth forever. In the third adventure, ships from the realm of the dead led by Lord Pyaray have reinforced Jagreen's fleet. Of course, the octopus-like Lord Pyaray has to die. To manage this, another deus ex machina, the chaos shield is instrumentalized. On a side quest, the sad giant is slain to acquire it. Collateral damage: Zarozinia, Elric's wife. Finally, the remaining forces of chaos and the gods of order face off to decide on earth's future. Dragons and the horn from the classic epic The Song of Roland play crucial roles.
If there's a morale to the last volume of the cycle, it's the dominance of fate. Nobody's able to escape from it. It's not a coincidence that the most sympathetic figures are the Lords of Nihrain, servants of fate. Elric's fate was Stormbringer, the force leading him until the very end. Fatalism, buddhism, or just plain simple fantasy?
September 23, 2010
If you look at the order of publication (see the website of Moorcock's Miscallany for details), this is the second collection of Elric stories, preceded in the U.S. by The Stealer of Souls, and this is the first one to tell a cohesive, novel-length story. Taking these two as the essential body, you have something different than the flabby construction adorning several large collected volumes today.
The situation has shifted from the first set of stories. They had smaller scope and focused on the personal relationship between the deficient Elric and the viciously evil Stormbringer, and on redemption through love and self-worth. Stormbringer is an apocalyptic tale, telling of the passing of the world through an Armageddon and out the other side. The battle of Law and Chaos, mentioned only in passing previously, is here the center of the story, as Law attempts to gain or regain a foothold in a world invaded and ruined by elemental Chaos.
The writing and imagery is stark, of a world consumed by madness and where nature itself is warped and cast down. There's some powerful ideas about a set of entities or vehicles which corrupt everything that approaches, and of the horrific monstrosities that are the Chaos Lords.
There is notably no mention of such things as the "Eternal Champion" or the "multiverse", although the cosmology has expanded to include the ideas of alternate planes of existence and creatures that may straddle the realms. At times the language feels more like metaphysics than mythology. I would be curious to see how the notion of Eternal Champion spread over Moorcock's writing once introduced.
The situation has shifted from the first set of stories. They had smaller scope and focused on the personal relationship between the deficient Elric and the viciously evil Stormbringer, and on redemption through love and self-worth. Stormbringer is an apocalyptic tale, telling of the passing of the world through an Armageddon and out the other side. The battle of Law and Chaos, mentioned only in passing previously, is here the center of the story, as Law attempts to gain or regain a foothold in a world invaded and ruined by elemental Chaos.
The writing and imagery is stark, of a world consumed by madness and where nature itself is warped and cast down. There's some powerful ideas about a set of entities or vehicles which corrupt everything that approaches, and of the horrific monstrosities that are the Chaos Lords.
There is notably no mention of such things as the "Eternal Champion" or the "multiverse", although the cosmology has expanded to include the ideas of alternate planes of existence and creatures that may straddle the realms. At times the language feels more like metaphysics than mythology. I would be curious to see how the notion of Eternal Champion spread over Moorcock's writing once introduced.
July 14, 2021
4/5
Considero que Tormentosa es el final más indicado para esta saga. Una conclusión acorde al tono imperante en todos los libros y a la naturaleza de las decisiones tomadas por Elric. El Caos arrambla a su paso y el Emperador Albino sólo puede detenerlo con una medicina similar, por lo que las fatales consecuencias son inevitables. El ritmo de toda la historia es abrumador: los hechos se suceden de forma vertiginosa, pero a la vez la narración resulta muy fácil de seguir. La breve aventura que enfrenta a Elric con el gigante por el control de un escudo es uno de los episodios más interesantes del libro.
Las páginas finales se me quedaron grabadas en la memoria tras la primera lectura hará probablemente un lustro, si no más. La relectura las ha convertido en inolvidables. Como digo, es la resolución perfecta para un anárquico periplo de uno de los personajes más carismáticos que ha parido la fantasía. No es lo mejor que he leído, pero sí es, sin lugar a dudas, de lo más original que leeré nunca dentro de este género.
Considero que Tormentosa es el final más indicado para esta saga. Una conclusión acorde al tono imperante en todos los libros y a la naturaleza de las decisiones tomadas por Elric. El Caos arrambla a su paso y el Emperador Albino sólo puede detenerlo con una medicina similar, por lo que las fatales consecuencias son inevitables. El ritmo de toda la historia es abrumador: los hechos se suceden de forma vertiginosa, pero a la vez la narración resulta muy fácil de seguir. La breve aventura que enfrenta a Elric con el gigante por el control de un escudo es uno de los episodios más interesantes del libro.
Las páginas finales se me quedaron grabadas en la memoria tras la primera lectura hará probablemente un lustro, si no más. La relectura las ha convertido en inolvidables. Como digo, es la resolución perfecta para un anárquico periplo de uno de los personajes más carismáticos que ha parido la fantasía. No es lo mejor que he leído, pero sí es, sin lugar a dudas, de lo más original que leeré nunca dentro de este género.
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