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The Eternal Champion Sequence #5.4
The Dreaming City
**Note: This was an unauthorized re-titled version of Elric of Melniboné. It is not the original novella from 1961.
Elric of the Darkness. He was all in black: the massive breast-plate, the padded jerkin, the long greaves, the mail gauntlets. At his side was a five-foot broadsword that was said to have belonged to the human hero. Aubec. Resting on the deck was the great round war-board, his shield, bearing the sign of the swooping dragon. A black helm crowned him, with a dragon's head on the peak and dragon's wings flaring backward, a dragon't tail curling down. All about him was black, but for a white shadow within the helm, from which glared two crimson orbs. Wisps of milk-white hair strayed from beneath the helm, and in the scant light the fine, handsome features of the albino emperor suddenly stood out. He listened for the first sound of the approaching battle....
Elric of the Darkness. He was all in black: the massive breast-plate, the padded jerkin, the long greaves, the mail gauntlets. At his side was a five-foot broadsword that was said to have belonged to the human hero. Aubec. Resting on the deck was the great round war-board, his shield, bearing the sign of the swooping dragon. A black helm crowned him, with a dragon's head on the peak and dragon's wings flaring backward, a dragon't tail curling down. All about him was black, but for a white shadow within the helm, from which glared two crimson orbs. Wisps of milk-white hair strayed from beneath the helm, and in the scant light the fine, handsome features of the albino emperor suddenly stood out. He listened for the first sound of the approaching battle....
189 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published January 1, 1975
About the author
Michael Moorcock
1,243 books3,890 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 - 21 of 21 reviews
July 12, 2026
This is an unusual edition of the first Elric story. It's a forty-two page, 4 3/4" square booklet that was included in a two-CD Hawkwind set, Live Chronicles, their live recording of their Chronicle of the Black Sword album from 1985, which was based on Moorcock's Elric. The story was first published in the June 1961 issue of John Carnell's Science Fantasy magazine, and I'll bet that neither Carnell nor Moorcock ever dreamed that Elric would become one of the most well-known sword & sorcery heroes of all time, perhaps second only to Conan. It's been anthologized many times, and was of course included in various Moorcock Elric volumes, but I can't help being particularly fond of this unusual version. I know we're just here to discuss literature, but both versions of the album make for great soundtracks to the Eternal Champion reading experience! And this live double has several tracks not included on the studio version, such as Moonglum (with one of the greatest guitar parts on any Hawkwind song), which is a terrific portrait of this overlooked character. The cover on the booklet is a James Cawthorn Elric cover illustration from Science Fantasy, too.
September 9, 2020
This is the very first story about Elric of Melniboné, published as a novella in Science Fantasy magazine back in 1961. It's was written to appeal to lovers of sword-and-sorcery stories, such as Conan, but Moorcock decided to make an anti-hero instead: an amoral albino king whose sword hungers for souls.
I can see why this story is so famous. The writing is vivid, gory, and packed full of action, and the plot was devastatingly tragic, surprising me with its darkness at every turn. It's one of those stories that's more about atmosphere and texture than plot. The prose is rather purple, but Moorcock absolutely pulls it off.
I can see why this story is so famous. The writing is vivid, gory, and packed full of action, and the plot was devastatingly tragic, surprising me with its darkness at every turn. It's one of those stories that's more about atmosphere and texture than plot. The prose is rather purple, but Moorcock absolutely pulls it off.
November 29, 2021
Always hard to evaluate a work when you've already seen everything it influenced. The Witcher draws some obvious inspiration from Elric, and this seems to share a lot of concepts with Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber which started a few years prior. I found Elric pretty hard to take as a protagonist, but I'm curious to see how he develops in the full length novels. The prose is good but fantasy prose has definitely changed a lot in 50 years.
October 3, 2023
This is a really odd piece of work. I had no idea how much of the content I enjoy had been influenced by Moorcock until I read this.
September 30, 2022
Vreemd genoeg het allereerste kortverhaal waar Elric in voorkwam. Ik kan me inbeelden voor een eerste kortverhaal dat het een mooie introductie en teaser is naar de achtergrond van Elric. Maar als je al redelijk wat Elric verhalen hebt gelezen, dan is het moeilijk om nog geteased te worden.
Ik zou het wel aanraden om dit te lezen als introductie tot de wereld van Elric.
Ik zou het wel aanraden om dit te lezen als introductie tot de wereld van Elric.
May 19, 2025
Fun and VERY old school. While reading I fell into a rabbit hole called "is this drizzt?"
September 27, 2020
Compared to most of the other books I've read recently, Moorcock exhibits an excellent understanding of pace. A lot happens in this short novel, and you never feel like you're forcing yourself to read on.
Moreover, Moorcock has an impressive imagination. I recognize many of the fantastical ideas in this novel from later books, games, and movies that clearly drew inspiration from this universe. Unfortunately, an indirect consequence of this cultural influence is that the ideas feel stale, already well-worn in the fifty years after the book's publication; so, I couldn't enjoy the novel nearly as much as I might have if I had read it in the 70s.
Moreover, Moorcock has an impressive imagination. I recognize many of the fantastical ideas in this novel from later books, games, and movies that clearly drew inspiration from this universe. Unfortunately, an indirect consequence of this cultural influence is that the ideas feel stale, already well-worn in the fifty years after the book's publication; so, I couldn't enjoy the novel nearly as much as I might have if I had read it in the 70s.
December 12, 2009
The very hard to find original novella that tells the early days of Elric of Melnibone. I am lucky to own it!
February 12, 2025
Not as good as the other stories in the elric saga
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December 15, 2025I actually finished reading this during the summer but had intended to log the book I was reading as a single collection, however I can't find it for the life of me. This raises my only real issue with the Elric series, HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO READ THIS!? It's been printed, reprinted, renamed, remixed, recalibrated so many different times that every single reading list I've seen has said something different, to my understanding I've read the ten published novellas but if they've been rewritten I have no idea.
Anyway, great book very angsty sets up the existentialist qualaties of Elric as a protagonist well without over-burdening a rather swashbuckling fantasy tale with too much philosophising. Need this emo boy bad!
Anyway, great book very angsty sets up the existentialist qualaties of Elric as a protagonist well without over-burdening a rather swashbuckling fantasy tale with too much philosophising. Need this emo boy bad!
August 12, 2026
An odd tale. Very hard to judge it, because I only read it after starting Moorcock’s subsequent saga around Elric.
Interesting though for sure in terms of seeing how a writer evolves; in this short story, there are many details but little by the way of psychology, motivation, purpose, or stakes. It is wordy and ornate but flat in terms of direction or causes. Years later, Moorcock’s tone would be more laconic yet wildly more motivational and dream-like, with multiple intriguing stories drawing you in.
It’s definitely a good story, but I can’t see what appeal it would have to someone who didn’t already like Moorcock.
Interesting though for sure in terms of seeing how a writer evolves; in this short story, there are many details but little by the way of psychology, motivation, purpose, or stakes. It is wordy and ornate but flat in terms of direction or causes. Years later, Moorcock’s tone would be more laconic yet wildly more motivational and dream-like, with multiple intriguing stories drawing you in.
It’s definitely a good story, but I can’t see what appeal it would have to someone who didn’t already like Moorcock.
March 4, 2020
Enjoyed it a lot. This is the first of the Elric books that I have read; the reading order for these things is very confusing! Apparently this book was also published as "Elric of Melnibone" in 1972?
The only other Moorcock books I have read are the Castle Brass trilogy, and while I enjoyed the worldbuilding in those they felt like a bit of a slog to actually get through. This book was much more reader-friendly and the story clipped along nicely.
The only other Moorcock books I have read are the Castle Brass trilogy, and while I enjoyed the worldbuilding in those they felt like a bit of a slog to actually get through. This book was much more reader-friendly and the story clipped along nicely.
June 30, 2026
This is not what I read, I read the 1961 novella which I can't seem to find on this godsforsaken site so I'll just review it here.
I found the Dreaming City to be a short but dense glimpse into the Elric Canon, which left me interested to dive deeper at a later date.
I found the Dreaming City to be a short but dense glimpse into the Elric Canon, which left me interested to dive deeper at a later date.
March 26, 2022
I love Elric, this guy and Conan the Barbarian paved the way for fantasy swordsman to come.
March 5, 2025
Wierd and rushed compared to Moorcocks other works on Elric. Not my favorite of the bunch.
December 1, 2013
The first time I read this was about thirty years ago. I didn't even remember I had read it until the climactic final confrontation in the novel.
Didn't make much of an impression then; didn't make much of one this time either.
Didn't make much of an impression then; didn't make much of one this time either.
February 9, 2024
Had some things that surprised me, but didn't grip me.
November 20, 2024
"Let us give this age cause to hate us" oh and I sure do, Elric
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September 6, 2007that questioning your morality for existence is o.k.
November 26, 2013
Forgot what a pleasure this is to read. Thus begins the tale of Elric, last emperor of Melnibone.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews