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The Elric Saga #13
The Citadel of Forgotten Myths
Elric along with his companion Moonglum return, in this prequel set within the early days of Elric’s wanderings, in order to investigate the history of Melniboné and its dragons, known as the Phroon, in this exciting new addition to the Elric Saga from World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award winner Michael Moorcock.
Elric is the estranged emperor of the Melnibonéan empire, struggling with his nature while desperately striving to move forward with his dying empire alongside the constant thirst of his soul-sucking sword, Stormbringer. Elric is on the hunt for the great Citadel of Forgotten Myths while traveling through the remnants of his empire with his tragic best friend Moonglum, as Elric seeks the answers to the nature of the phroon of The Young Kingdoms. Taking place between the first and second book in the Elric Saga, The Citadel of Forgotten Myths is perfect for longtime fans and those new to this epic fantasy series.
Elric is the estranged emperor of the Melnibonéan empire, struggling with his nature while desperately striving to move forward with his dying empire alongside the constant thirst of his soul-sucking sword, Stormbringer. Elric is on the hunt for the great Citadel of Forgotten Myths while traveling through the remnants of his empire with his tragic best friend Moonglum, as Elric seeks the answers to the nature of the phroon of The Young Kingdoms. Taking place between the first and second book in the Elric Saga, The Citadel of Forgotten Myths is perfect for longtime fans and those new to this epic fantasy series.
335 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 6, 2022
142 people are currently reading
5627 people want to read
About the author
Michael Moorcock
1,206 books3,741 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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January 23, 2023
The Citadel of Forgotten Myths is a "mostly new" sword and sorcery novel that features Michael Moorcock's infamous Elric of Melniboné. It consists of three storylines that are contained, complete narratives. The first two are shorter and are revisions of previous Elric stories published in Weird Tales (2008) and Swords and Dark Magic (2011). They relate Elric's search for the occulted origins of the Melnibonéans. The third and longest story seems to be brand new. It focuses on Elric's and Moonglum's discovery of the bee-keeping city of Kirinmoir, a legendary citadel where sorcery doesn't work and where the Balance maintains itself against both Chaos and Law. There is a lot of worldbuilding and psuedo-mythology in this section, so it is often very compressed; a dense paragraph will relate several mythological terms in unrelenting staccato fashion. Like the long lists in Defoe's early novel experiments, the reader has to just let the rain of details wash over their minds. In general, the entire book is written in an older, 1960s "New Wave" fantasy style that is artful and literary and therefore demands a certain amount of intellectual hospitality from the reader. There are some parts, particularly near the end, that read almost like anti-novel or slipstream writing. In terms of character: Elric remains to be an interesting and dynamic (anti-?)(villain-?)hero. Like the rest of his saga, Elric is mostly detached from everything, is poisoned by guilt, and is barely keeping at bay his various assaulting sicknesses (physical and spiritual). And yet, there are some rare and memorable moments where Elric seems to restore himself. If you like the Elric Saga, then this is a must read.
December 12, 2022
"We are the Veterans of a thousand Psychic Wars, you can hear the footsteps falling as the Winds of Limbo roar."
This is possibly the last Elric novel and the thought is bittersweet indeed. With that being said I quite enjoyed this return to the character. The novel is separated it three parts, which is quite common for the Elric saga but their vibe is kinda different.
This story is set during the "The Bane of the Black Sword" which is book five of The Elric Saga, more precisely in between "Kings in Darkness" and "The Flame Bringers" - despite the back of the book claiming otherwise! This is all nice and dandy but it also presents a small problem which I'll get to in a minute.
The first two stories are very much in the style of the original Elric Saga, short, fast paced and to the point. Really good Sword & Sorcery tales and I enjoyed them thoroughly. They were written and published in a Sword & Sorcery anthology years ago but were rewritten and stringed together in this edition to serve the overall story and that is done rather well. The first part was published as „Red Perls“ and part two as „Black Petals“.
The biggest criticism arises from the actual third part of the book, it's just way too long! It's very much in the style of the later Elric novels like "The Revenge of the Rose" and "The Fortress of the Pearl" - written years after the saga concluded and serve as a "prequel sequel" sorta thing so their writing style and vibe are quite different.
I think certain aspects of the third story could have benefited from better and more thorough editing. Things are described in too many words, sometimes they last a couple pages instead of a paragraph or two. There are endless inner monologues that keep returning to the same point again and again. Over the top purple prose, albeit nice, just seems to go for way too long.
Now for the problem I mentioned earlier. Elric and for that matter of fact the entire Moorcock Multiverse is written in a very psychedelic and dreamy way. I love that aspect of his writing. The issue with this book is that it contradicts some of the already established lore, especially the setting of the book. Like I mentioned before the story is set during "The Bane of the Black Sword" but this book makes certain references to things that happen much later. Now I'm thinking, this is either an oversight on Moorcock's part or the editors... or maybe it's a part of the whole psychedelic vibe. I'm not really sure and I'm not exactly certain if I like it or not.
For Elric fans this is an exciting return to the world and the character(s). As per usual, there are plenty of references to other works, which I'm sure other readers, like me, will enjoy greatly.
When it comes to the new readers, I highly recommend you read this one, as well as the other two aforementioned books, after you've finished the main saga. Sure... that might not be in the chronological order, but chronology doesn't matter in the Multiverse that much.
All in all, a very solid and enjoyable Elric tale.
This is possibly the last Elric novel and the thought is bittersweet indeed. With that being said I quite enjoyed this return to the character. The novel is separated it three parts, which is quite common for the Elric saga but their vibe is kinda different.
This story is set during the "The Bane of the Black Sword" which is book five of The Elric Saga, more precisely in between "Kings in Darkness" and "The Flame Bringers" - despite the back of the book claiming otherwise! This is all nice and dandy but it also presents a small problem which I'll get to in a minute.
The first two stories are very much in the style of the original Elric Saga, short, fast paced and to the point. Really good Sword & Sorcery tales and I enjoyed them thoroughly. They were written and published in a Sword & Sorcery anthology years ago but were rewritten and stringed together in this edition to serve the overall story and that is done rather well. The first part was published as „Red Perls“ and part two as „Black Petals“.
The biggest criticism arises from the actual third part of the book, it's just way too long! It's very much in the style of the later Elric novels like "The Revenge of the Rose" and "The Fortress of the Pearl" - written years after the saga concluded and serve as a "prequel sequel" sorta thing so their writing style and vibe are quite different.
I think certain aspects of the third story could have benefited from better and more thorough editing. Things are described in too many words, sometimes they last a couple pages instead of a paragraph or two. There are endless inner monologues that keep returning to the same point again and again. Over the top purple prose, albeit nice, just seems to go for way too long.
Now for the problem I mentioned earlier. Elric and for that matter of fact the entire Moorcock Multiverse is written in a very psychedelic and dreamy way. I love that aspect of his writing. The issue with this book is that it contradicts some of the already established lore, especially the setting of the book. Like I mentioned before the story is set during "The Bane of the Black Sword" but this book makes certain references to things that happen much later. Now I'm thinking, this is either an oversight on Moorcock's part or the editors... or maybe it's a part of the whole psychedelic vibe. I'm not really sure and I'm not exactly certain if I like it or not.
For Elric fans this is an exciting return to the world and the character(s). As per usual, there are plenty of references to other works, which I'm sure other readers, like me, will enjoy greatly.
When it comes to the new readers, I highly recommend you read this one, as well as the other two aforementioned books, after you've finished the main saga. Sure... that might not be in the chronological order, but chronology doesn't matter in the Multiverse that much.
All in all, a very solid and enjoyable Elric tale.
July 18, 2022
Christmas came early this year, when I got my hands on an Advanced Reader's Edition of the upcoming Elric adventure, The Citadel of Forgotten Myths. Beginning with two previously released novellas, now revised to string Moonglum and Elric's escapades in search of the history of Elric's ancestry on the underside of their egg-shaped world to the quest to find their way home once again.
The first two books pull the action and pacing from the original 60's Science Fantasy magazine releases. Fast paced clashes revealing little clues that later blossom into full fledged Elric mythology in the final book. The third book has a bit of a lull as our pale anti-hero is perhaps under the spell of a restorative that may also be as tranquilizing to our hero as it is refreshing. When eventually he, Moonglum and a mysterious ally finally descend into the secrets of the Citadel things pick up and run headlong into an action packed climax.
Moorcock brings home some familiar faces (though rarely in a single form) with Chaos Lords and familial entanglements that sometimes drift into true chaos. We get to see deep into the heart of one of Moorcock's perennial villains as she struggles with her own selfish chaotic nature allowing our heroes a chance to gain the upper hand. Elric as always struggles with his apparent fate, and his quest for the truth of his nature puts everything he loves at risk once again.
For those already familiar with the original White Wolf, this will be a familiar romp with shocking twists and turns keeping things fresh. For those new to Moorcock's Multiverse they'll quickly see why so many writers have cribbed how to tell a fantasy tale from the master himself, Michael Moorcock.
The first two books pull the action and pacing from the original 60's Science Fantasy magazine releases. Fast paced clashes revealing little clues that later blossom into full fledged Elric mythology in the final book. The third book has a bit of a lull as our pale anti-hero is perhaps under the spell of a restorative that may also be as tranquilizing to our hero as it is refreshing. When eventually he, Moonglum and a mysterious ally finally descend into the secrets of the Citadel things pick up and run headlong into an action packed climax.
Moorcock brings home some familiar faces (though rarely in a single form) with Chaos Lords and familial entanglements that sometimes drift into true chaos. We get to see deep into the heart of one of Moorcock's perennial villains as she struggles with her own selfish chaotic nature allowing our heroes a chance to gain the upper hand. Elric as always struggles with his apparent fate, and his quest for the truth of his nature puts everything he loves at risk once again.
For those already familiar with the original White Wolf, this will be a familiar romp with shocking twists and turns keeping things fresh. For those new to Moorcock's Multiverse they'll quickly see why so many writers have cribbed how to tell a fantasy tale from the master himself, Michael Moorcock.
January 19, 2023
So 37 years ago I was 19 and on a bus moving through the European countryside, and I was reading book 6 of Elric.
Flash forward, and more than a thousand books later I thought I’d return to see how the ole albino with the black runesword is doing.
Ho hum, a lot of explaining and little action, “Elric had seen an increasing number of spies in the city. After letting them be trailed to find more of their associates, the albino would have them seized. Under his command the humans were becoming skilled spies and outriders, rarely seen by the invading scouts.”
All telling and no showing.
The ending had a certain old world charm and hey, Moorcock deserves some cash for his singular hero but Elric comes out rather tired.
Flash forward, and more than a thousand books later I thought I’d return to see how the ole albino with the black runesword is doing.
Ho hum, a lot of explaining and little action, “Elric had seen an increasing number of spies in the city. After letting them be trailed to find more of their associates, the albino would have them seized. Under his command the humans were becoming skilled spies and outriders, rarely seen by the invading scouts.”
All telling and no showing.
The ending had a certain old world charm and hey, Moorcock deserves some cash for his singular hero but Elric comes out rather tired.
June 10, 2023
Unlike the first book of the series which I couldn't stop reading, this one made me pause multiple times. It's still very much elric, just very philosophical and heavy making it more focused about the characters inner journey than the actual adventure throughout the first half. It has its highs like the lost city of soom or meeting old characters we were already familiar with, but also has its lows like a full two year time jump which Moorcock tries to bridge by simply letting characters talk about it.. Or that ending which feels like he bit off more than he was able to chew. I refuse to call it bad, just different to the elric endings I’m used to. It still kicks a** and very much recommended to every elric fan! 4.0 out of 5.0 stars
December 5, 2022
This installment of Elric the Eternal Champion is divided into three (3) parts, beginning with two previously published short novellas and a fairly short novel for the second half of the book for a total of just over 300 pages. I must admit the author does much better in short form that when he has the space to draw out the story … so the beginning was a lot more fun than the last part, which was much slower, but still much better than what I encountered in the White Wolf Saga).
As stated in the blurb, these stories are set during Elric’s “early wandering” years, so the style is very much as familiar as I remembered when I started this series several decades past (points for nostalgia). The best part here is, by far, the continued world building as Elric seeks clues from the past in the “World Below” that would help him (and the reader) better understand the rise of the Melniboné Empire and the dragons that made her great. The main story sets up an interesting dichotomy between the Servants of Chaos (Elric and his kin) and the related Servants of Law (distant “ amazonian” — aka all women — cousins in the World Below). There are a few obvious masculine fantasy tropes here that may not play well to all audiences, but I found it amusing enough to roll with it.
The main story was on track for a solid 4; but it falls back at the end into a rather confused morass of over the top pretty prose (taking pages to describe what should have been a paragraph). This might be because the story was actually written earlier in pieces and stitched together in a novel later (and it does show) or it might be the tendency of an author late in his career who becomes enamored with his own voice and tends to repeat himself ... a lot. Regardless, I just can’t quite leave this one at a 4.
Book 1: How Elric Pursued His Weird into the Far World
Book 2: How Elric Discovered an Unpleasant Kinship
Book 3: In Which Our Heroes Discover a Lost Past
I was given this free advance reader copy (ARC) ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
#TheCitadelOfForgottenMyths #NetGalley.
As stated in the blurb, these stories are set during Elric’s “early wandering” years, so the style is very much as familiar as I remembered when I started this series several decades past (points for nostalgia). The best part here is, by far, the continued world building as Elric seeks clues from the past in the “World Below” that would help him (and the reader) better understand the rise of the Melniboné Empire and the dragons that made her great. The main story sets up an interesting dichotomy between the Servants of Chaos (Elric and his kin) and the related Servants of Law (distant “ amazonian” — aka all women — cousins in the World Below). There are a few obvious masculine fantasy tropes here that may not play well to all audiences, but I found it amusing enough to roll with it.
The main story was on track for a solid 4; but it falls back at the end into a rather confused morass of over the top pretty prose (taking pages to describe what should have been a paragraph). This might be because the story was actually written earlier in pieces and stitched together in a novel later (and it does show) or it might be the tendency of an author late in his career who becomes enamored with his own voice and tends to repeat himself ... a lot. Regardless, I just can’t quite leave this one at a 4.
Book 1: How Elric Pursued His Weird into the Far World
Book 2: How Elric Discovered an Unpleasant Kinship
Book 3: In Which Our Heroes Discover a Lost Past
I was given this free advance reader copy (ARC) ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
#TheCitadelOfForgottenMyths #NetGalley.
Read
May 23, 2023DNF. I really want to like Elric/Moorcock, but I just can't do it. I read up until about the end of book one, where he gets ensorcelled by another one of his kind and helps her steal back the dragon eyes from Addric Heed.
Am I a snob? Maybe. I find there are too many longueurs where my brain shuts down after tagging the paragraph as hippyish nonsense, usually when he's talking about Chaos or the metaphysics of the world. It also doesn't help that the action is so often glanced over. A conflict is set up, and then Elric wins it by dint of his superiority, no struggle or striving required.
Am I a snob? Maybe. I find there are too many longueurs where my brain shuts down after tagging the paragraph as hippyish nonsense, usually when he's talking about Chaos or the metaphysics of the world. It also doesn't help that the action is so often glanced over. A conflict is set up, and then Elric wins it by dint of his superiority, no struggle or striving required.
December 18, 2022
Here’s the much-anticipated return of a classic Fantasy character, albeit one that has been here for a while. In 1961 we saw the publication of The Dreaming City in British Science Fantasy magazine, which introduced us to Elric, a very different personality to that of the usual hero of the time.
For despite being such a seminal character now, Elric, 428th Emperor of Melniboné is not a hero with the traditional values of loyalty, honour and valour. He is not, say, an Aragorn or a King Arthur. Instead, he is an albino weakling, a person who has betrayed and been deceived and who has killed out of hate and jealousy. He survives on sorcerous herbs and the strength given to him by his sword Stormbringer, which constantly demands souls as payment to Lord Arioch, a King of Chaos and whom Elric is in thrall to.
This is quite different for the time, although these days not so unusual. And I think because of that, for those who are unaware, it is quite important to realise what an important influence Mike’s stories - and Elric in particular - have been to readers and writers over time. Some of Mike’s key elements – not just an antihero character with a dark past, in an unhealthy relationship with a demon-possessed sword, not just a Fantasy universe but a multiverse, not to mention a long-time ongoing battle between Chaos and Order – were not particularly new even to him in the 1960’s, but have become almost commonplace these days, taken on by others, rewritten and diluted to become almost normal in the 21st century. I’m pretty sure you can think of your own examples here, but to me any reader of a fantasy story with a brooding main character, arcane magic and a genial, garrulous companion may find Elric and Moonglum familiar.
This may also be because there have been comics, games and even music that have used Mike’s ideas and world. Authors such as Alan Moore, Michael Chabon, Neil Gaiman and Tad Williams have all said how important Mike’s writing and his characters have been to the world of sword and sorcery writing, not to mention themselves, as well as others.
Whilst Mike has said for years that he is not interested in going back to revisit his most famous character, we seem to be at a point of renewed interest. This year the previous stories have also been reprinted in three lovely hardback omnibus volumes from Saga Press. And whilst it could be said that at the age of 83 (on the 18th December) Moorcock has no need to return to perhaps his most famous character, here he does.
Elric has a long history, nearly as complex as his publishing history (but that’s a story for another time.) It may not be a surprise then that in Citadel we begin in what appears to be in the middle of an ongoing story. I understand that it has been said in the pre-release material that in chronological terms, Citadel comes after Elric of Melnibone (1972) but before The Sailor on the Seas of Fate (1976), but Moorcock chronicler John Davey has said that in terms of the overall saga’s internal narrative chronology "(Citadel is) between two novellas, ‘Kings In Darkness’ and ‘The Flame Bringers’, which fall just before the final volume, Stormbringer."
Wherever the specific chronological position, briefly what has gone before (for those who don’t know) is that Elric has betrayed his people, the Melnibonéans, caused the destruction of his kingdom of Melniboné and its city Imrryr, killed his cousin Yyrkoon, who attempted to overthrow him but in doing so also murdered his young lover Cymoril.
We take up the plot in three stories.
In the first story (adapted from the story ‘Red Pearls’, written for the 2010 anthology 'Swords & Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery', edited by Jonathan Strahan and Lou Anders), and now with his new lover Princess Nauha and his stalwart companion Moonglum, Elric has left the Young Kingdoms of the World Above and his betrothed Zarozinia to sail to the World Below, a dangerous journey. There they go to the city of Hizs, where they meet Lady Forentach, who looks like one of Elric’s Melnibonéan race, but who is actually a Phoorn, a race similar to Melnibonéans but who have mated with dragons . Elric finds himself then on a quest for the White Sword in order to get what he needs and finally end his dependence upon Stormbringer, the Black Sword, he must get for Lady Forentach two red pearls – the Eyes of the Skaradin.
We follow this quest to Nassea-Tiki. Elric obtains the Eyes, but also finds that the quest is really nothing more but a family squabble. This is the shortest part of the novel and feels like a traditional Elric adventure story.
The second story is a revision of the short story Black Petals, first published in Weird Tales in 2008. In it Elric and Moonglum with cousin Dyvim Marluc, and Princesses Viricias and Semilee travel up a river to Soom, an ancient deserted city, in search for a rare flower from whose seeds Elric may be able to find a cure for his albinism and thereby reduce his dependence upon Stormbringer. I must admit that on following the journey into the jungle it reminded me a little of The Crystal World (1966) by Moorcock’s friend J. G. Ballard, but other readers may feel that it is all a bit like Conrad’s Heart of Darkness - but with added monsters, carnivorous things, ancient gods and feral cannibal tribes, admittedly.
The quest to gain the flower seeds is unsuccessful, but leads to the third story, the longest part of the book. Continuing their journey two years after the events at Soom, Elric and Moonglum rescue Empress Melaré, another Melnibonéan-like albino, captured by bandits.
Agreeing to help Melaré defend her sacred city of Kirinmoir against rising threats, Elric and Moonglum also hope to find there an ancient map that will lead them to the moonbeam roads and the land on the other side of the world again. They also find that beneath the outwardly peaceful nature of the city there is there held a dark secret, and with Elric’s arrival fulfilling a prophesy, the city becomes part of the ongoing war between Chaos and Order. Without giving too much away, this last part of the stories involves sacred bees, blue honey, ancient gods, dragons, underground mazes and dream-imagery, as well as lots of links to other Elric stories.
So: what to say of this new(ish) novel? First of all, it is lovely to return to Elric’s strange, mercurial world, filled with vivid prose, imaginative imagery and inventive characters that fits right into the mythos of the older writing. Some younger readers may find that Moorcock’s turn of prose takes a little getting used to, but to me it deliberately homages some of Mike’s original inspirations, that of Edgar Rice Burroughs, of Tarzan and John Carter fame, Poul Anderson (The Broken Sword) and even Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard and the florid nature of H P Lovecraft.
As you might expect from a plot with such a Weird Tales vibe, the book is filled with strange names and strange places, giving that other-worldly feel to the story, although Elric is definitely not the musclebound hero of Howard’s imagination. Should you wish to look at the world of Elric visually, you can do – but only in the Tor (US) edition, for if you compare the US with the UK edition, the Gollancz (UK) edition does not have the glorious map end-papers of the Tor (US) edition (also given in the new Saga Press editions), sadly.
Thinking of Elric, he is as dark, brooding, enigmatic, cruel and as alien as ever, and yet still retains that sense of tragedy that so endears him to long-time readers. If anything, in this novel version the sad nature of Elric is ramped up to 11 here to epic levels of melancholia.
Interestingly, one of the elements of this novel that surprised me most was the details of Elric’s companion Moonglum. So often the lighter comedy relief in the older tales, the counterpoint to the White Wolf’s near-eternal sombreness, is given here a much more complex characterisation, in that there is less of the comedy and more emphasis given to his other attributes - his companionship, his loyalty and his swordsmanship that go further to explain the relationship between the two characters. I found this version much better, a fuller, more complex personality than I remembered from before.
Overall, the stories in Citadel may not be essential to the overall story arc, but for anyone who has wanted a new Elric story, they are fine, and in my opinion are worthy of a place in the overall Elric mythos. They colour in the details of Elric’s saga, rather than add bold new outlines to the picture of Elric’s long history. You do not have to have read any previous Elric stories – there’s enough explained as you go along – although you have to follow carefully to see how it all comes together in the end. There’s a lot of references to Moorcock’s other work should long-term fans find it fun to find them.
The Citadel of Forgotten Myths is a glorious return to one of Fantasy’s greatest characters that I stayed up reading much more than I should have, It does not pander, yet enhances what has gone before, adding a technicolor vividness to the complex multiverse of Elric.
If this is Mike’s last return to one of perhaps his most-beloved characters, he goes out in a memorable manner. You have been missed - welcome back, Elric!
For despite being such a seminal character now, Elric, 428th Emperor of Melniboné is not a hero with the traditional values of loyalty, honour and valour. He is not, say, an Aragorn or a King Arthur. Instead, he is an albino weakling, a person who has betrayed and been deceived and who has killed out of hate and jealousy. He survives on sorcerous herbs and the strength given to him by his sword Stormbringer, which constantly demands souls as payment to Lord Arioch, a King of Chaos and whom Elric is in thrall to.
This is quite different for the time, although these days not so unusual. And I think because of that, for those who are unaware, it is quite important to realise what an important influence Mike’s stories - and Elric in particular - have been to readers and writers over time. Some of Mike’s key elements – not just an antihero character with a dark past, in an unhealthy relationship with a demon-possessed sword, not just a Fantasy universe but a multiverse, not to mention a long-time ongoing battle between Chaos and Order – were not particularly new even to him in the 1960’s, but have become almost commonplace these days, taken on by others, rewritten and diluted to become almost normal in the 21st century. I’m pretty sure you can think of your own examples here, but to me any reader of a fantasy story with a brooding main character, arcane magic and a genial, garrulous companion may find Elric and Moonglum familiar.
This may also be because there have been comics, games and even music that have used Mike’s ideas and world. Authors such as Alan Moore, Michael Chabon, Neil Gaiman and Tad Williams have all said how important Mike’s writing and his characters have been to the world of sword and sorcery writing, not to mention themselves, as well as others.
Whilst Mike has said for years that he is not interested in going back to revisit his most famous character, we seem to be at a point of renewed interest. This year the previous stories have also been reprinted in three lovely hardback omnibus volumes from Saga Press. And whilst it could be said that at the age of 83 (on the 18th December) Moorcock has no need to return to perhaps his most famous character, here he does.
Elric has a long history, nearly as complex as his publishing history (but that’s a story for another time.) It may not be a surprise then that in Citadel we begin in what appears to be in the middle of an ongoing story. I understand that it has been said in the pre-release material that in chronological terms, Citadel comes after Elric of Melnibone (1972) but before The Sailor on the Seas of Fate (1976), but Moorcock chronicler John Davey has said that in terms of the overall saga’s internal narrative chronology "(Citadel is) between two novellas, ‘Kings In Darkness’ and ‘The Flame Bringers’, which fall just before the final volume, Stormbringer."
Wherever the specific chronological position, briefly what has gone before (for those who don’t know) is that Elric has betrayed his people, the Melnibonéans, caused the destruction of his kingdom of Melniboné and its city Imrryr, killed his cousin Yyrkoon, who attempted to overthrow him but in doing so also murdered his young lover Cymoril.
We take up the plot in three stories.
In the first story (adapted from the story ‘Red Pearls’, written for the 2010 anthology 'Swords & Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery', edited by Jonathan Strahan and Lou Anders), and now with his new lover Princess Nauha and his stalwart companion Moonglum, Elric has left the Young Kingdoms of the World Above and his betrothed Zarozinia to sail to the World Below, a dangerous journey. There they go to the city of Hizs, where they meet Lady Forentach, who looks like one of Elric’s Melnibonéan race, but who is actually a Phoorn, a race similar to Melnibonéans but who have mated with dragons . Elric finds himself then on a quest for the White Sword in order to get what he needs and finally end his dependence upon Stormbringer, the Black Sword, he must get for Lady Forentach two red pearls – the Eyes of the Skaradin.
We follow this quest to Nassea-Tiki. Elric obtains the Eyes, but also finds that the quest is really nothing more but a family squabble. This is the shortest part of the novel and feels like a traditional Elric adventure story.
The second story is a revision of the short story Black Petals, first published in Weird Tales in 2008. In it Elric and Moonglum with cousin Dyvim Marluc, and Princesses Viricias and Semilee travel up a river to Soom, an ancient deserted city, in search for a rare flower from whose seeds Elric may be able to find a cure for his albinism and thereby reduce his dependence upon Stormbringer. I must admit that on following the journey into the jungle it reminded me a little of The Crystal World (1966) by Moorcock’s friend J. G. Ballard, but other readers may feel that it is all a bit like Conrad’s Heart of Darkness - but with added monsters, carnivorous things, ancient gods and feral cannibal tribes, admittedly.
The quest to gain the flower seeds is unsuccessful, but leads to the third story, the longest part of the book. Continuing their journey two years after the events at Soom, Elric and Moonglum rescue Empress Melaré, another Melnibonéan-like albino, captured by bandits.
Agreeing to help Melaré defend her sacred city of Kirinmoir against rising threats, Elric and Moonglum also hope to find there an ancient map that will lead them to the moonbeam roads and the land on the other side of the world again. They also find that beneath the outwardly peaceful nature of the city there is there held a dark secret, and with Elric’s arrival fulfilling a prophesy, the city becomes part of the ongoing war between Chaos and Order. Without giving too much away, this last part of the stories involves sacred bees, blue honey, ancient gods, dragons, underground mazes and dream-imagery, as well as lots of links to other Elric stories.
So: what to say of this new(ish) novel? First of all, it is lovely to return to Elric’s strange, mercurial world, filled with vivid prose, imaginative imagery and inventive characters that fits right into the mythos of the older writing. Some younger readers may find that Moorcock’s turn of prose takes a little getting used to, but to me it deliberately homages some of Mike’s original inspirations, that of Edgar Rice Burroughs, of Tarzan and John Carter fame, Poul Anderson (The Broken Sword) and even Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard and the florid nature of H P Lovecraft.
As you might expect from a plot with such a Weird Tales vibe, the book is filled with strange names and strange places, giving that other-worldly feel to the story, although Elric is definitely not the musclebound hero of Howard’s imagination. Should you wish to look at the world of Elric visually, you can do – but only in the Tor (US) edition, for if you compare the US with the UK edition, the Gollancz (UK) edition does not have the glorious map end-papers of the Tor (US) edition (also given in the new Saga Press editions), sadly.
Thinking of Elric, he is as dark, brooding, enigmatic, cruel and as alien as ever, and yet still retains that sense of tragedy that so endears him to long-time readers. If anything, in this novel version the sad nature of Elric is ramped up to 11 here to epic levels of melancholia.
Interestingly, one of the elements of this novel that surprised me most was the details of Elric’s companion Moonglum. So often the lighter comedy relief in the older tales, the counterpoint to the White Wolf’s near-eternal sombreness, is given here a much more complex characterisation, in that there is less of the comedy and more emphasis given to his other attributes - his companionship, his loyalty and his swordsmanship that go further to explain the relationship between the two characters. I found this version much better, a fuller, more complex personality than I remembered from before.
Overall, the stories in Citadel may not be essential to the overall story arc, but for anyone who has wanted a new Elric story, they are fine, and in my opinion are worthy of a place in the overall Elric mythos. They colour in the details of Elric’s saga, rather than add bold new outlines to the picture of Elric’s long history. You do not have to have read any previous Elric stories – there’s enough explained as you go along – although you have to follow carefully to see how it all comes together in the end. There’s a lot of references to Moorcock’s other work should long-term fans find it fun to find them.
The Citadel of Forgotten Myths is a glorious return to one of Fantasy’s greatest characters that I stayed up reading much more than I should have, It does not pander, yet enhances what has gone before, adding a technicolor vividness to the complex multiverse of Elric.
If this is Mike’s last return to one of perhaps his most-beloved characters, he goes out in a memorable manner. You have been missed - welcome back, Elric!
February 21, 2024
I felt the same way reading this as I did reading Clive Barker's The Scarlet Gospels: that the author started the book off and then handed it to a ghost writer to finish because he was sick of his own characters. Maybe I am wrong in both cases, but it sure reads that way. The first two stories in this book are pretty good, and the third, longer story starts out okay but eventually turns into a a rambling, repetitive, incoherent mess that (as with Gospels) I had to skim. Was Mike pressured into writing a new Elric story to promote the new omnibus collections? I wish I'd passed on this one as it left a bad taste.
January 23, 2023
*was planning to read before the holidays* *ends up reading an entire month later* but hey, it was a book worth waiting for. Moorcock has a talent for writing mythic, adventurous fantasies, harking back to adventures like LOTR or other classic fantasies. This isn't a long read by any means, but there's still an abundance of world-building and travels across an epic fantasy landscape. Perfect for a quick but thorough read, and I'm floored that I actually hadn't heard of this fantasy author until very recently (it's readable even without the context of Elric, but it doesn't hurt to read Moorcock's previous works either)
March 2, 2023
*I received this advanced reader copy for free. All quotes come from the unpublished version of this book.*
The first few chapters held promise and were interesting, but unfortunately the book devolves into self-indulgence by halfway through. If I had to describe this book in one word, it would be "pretentious."
What I liked
At its best, the plot is fun. I wish the worldbuilding had been pruned a little because certain elements were interesting. The descriptions of exotic locations were lush and compelling when they weren't littered with exclamation points or overly long.
What I was ambivalent about
writing style
The writing style tries to be evocative. At times, it succeeds, but as the book progresses, it comes across as childish or unpolished. For example, there are way too many exclamation points in this book. Here is a particularly corny example from page 244: "Elric looked up! A light blow struck him suddenly across the face. He cried out at this!"
Sentences are often way too long and rambling. Sometimes, once I reached the end of a sentence, I couldn't remember what the sentence was even about.
Finally, the book seemed to be attempting an omniscient narrative style. But frequently the perspective shifts had no rhyme or reason - it felt unpredictable and discombobulating at times, like random head-hopping. I suppose this could have been a stylistic choice; maybe it won't irritate other readers.
What I did NOT like
section summaries
Each section is prefaced with a weird and pointless summary. They come across as self-indulgent. But they also serve as spoilers for what will happen. Your mileage may vary on this because I am strongly biased against prologues: stories should start where they need to and readers don't need to be bogged down with irrelevant information.
worldbuilding
I love worldbuilding, but the adage "too much of a good thing" definitely applies to this book. Authors become very attached to their worldbuilding. But in my opinion, worldbuilding should serve the plot - not the other way around. Infodumps abound in this book. We get excruciating details on things that do not ever become relevant. This combined with the extremely long sentences makes certain passages incomprehensible. Long rambling worldbuilding feels self-indulgent. I ended up skimming, especially towards the end.
dialogue
As I've written in other reviews, dialogue is one of my favorite things in novels. When it is well-written, it propels the plot and conveys character details in a way that nothing else can. The dialogue in this book is not very well written. Instead of conversation, we often get multi-paragraph monologues. For example, a young child described as being "of indeterminate gender" (pg 64) and referred to as "it" makes this bizarre remark:
"The furi caught him and ate him," it said. "They nibble the genitals. It is quite pleasant at first. Until they start to bite." It licked a slimy lip. "And almost every one of his mercenary army was thus killed. Or, in gratitude, were captured."
Does that sound like a child speaking? Can you imagine a child ever referring to someone's genitals? I can't. (This apparently sexless child is referred to as a boy on page 67, so who knows what's going on!)
This piece of dialogue also serves as an example of the worldbuilding in this book: the "furi" are never explained or described, so I don't know what they are or what they do (besides eat genitals, I guess).
characters
Part of why I struggled to get through this book was the lack of interesting or sympathetic characters. They were all annoying and/or bizarre. For example, on page 26, Elric and his friend Moonglum are invited to stay with a noblelady named Lady Forentach. The woman that Moonglum had been sleeping with at this point said that she wanted to stay on the ship rather than leave with them to stay with Lady Forentach. That seems within the bounds of normality to me - preferring to stay behind after a long voyage rather than travel to yet another location.
But Moonglum thinks to himself: "That his wench should take to pouting now was not to be tolerated. A man should discipline a woman who embarrassed him before local royalty!" Um, what? Lady Forentach did not care that the other woman wanted to stay behind, so why did Moonglum react like a lunatic?
Elric
Elric is not a good main character. He's an angsty edgelord who doesn't take responsibility for some of his more annoying actions. For example, The "pangs" he does feel for his actions he keeps at bay by sleeping around with any female who would have him. He seems to think that any woman would want to have sex with him. Early in the book there are lots of awkward scenes between him and various female characters.
Additionally, Elric's craving for souls verges on psychopathic. More on that (and the stupid sword) in a moment.
themes and symbolism
Elric carries a demon-cursed sword. It is described in a manner that suggests it might be sentient. Additionally, it basically consumes blood and souls. On page 108, before Elric engages enemies in battle, we get this absolutely bonkers description of the sword:
He stroked the hilt, and the blade almost warmed to stroke him back. A thrill of ecstasy that others might feel in love-making
🤨
To me, the sword is a clear representation of Elric's dark impulses, uncontrolled sexuality, and womanizing. Whether this symbolism was intentional, I have no clue, but I see evidence of it sprinkled throughout the text.
I suppose this theme makes sense because his betrothed Zarozinia is said to have "freed him to move across the world until he was satisfied she was what he wanted in a woman." She gave him her blessing to sleep around, while he promised not to declare his love for anyone else while he was gone (pg 184).
The theme of sexuality pops up again and again. For example, in chapter 22, Elric and two others must go down into an underground cavern-like structure to confront an insect queen. On page 246, the queen is described as a disgusting "wingless, stingless, bloated, mindless egg-producing reproductive system, mother of millions, without intelligence or purpose. Or, if she had purpose whatsoever, it was to lie pulsing at the centre of her hive, perhaps her empire of hives, endlessly producing larvae." Bear that description in mind as I move on to page 248, where we get this passage:
This absolutely cursed passage continues the theme of sexuality run amok.
There's also references to incest (his cousin Cymoril is described as "his most profound love" on page 248). And finally, on page 267, the besieged city Kirinmoir is described like this: "Kirinmoir rose proudly amidst her rapists like a martyr preparing for the stake."
Thankfully, there is not one sex scene in this book. Instead, we get passages like the above.
Conclusion
Although it wasn't terrible, this will be my first and last foray into the Elric books. I don't enjoy being critical of books, but sometimes it is necessary.
The first few chapters held promise and were interesting, but unfortunately the book devolves into self-indulgence by halfway through. If I had to describe this book in one word, it would be "pretentious."
What I liked
At its best, the plot is fun. I wish the worldbuilding had been pruned a little because certain elements were interesting. The descriptions of exotic locations were lush and compelling when they weren't littered with exclamation points or overly long.
What I was ambivalent about
writing style
The writing style tries to be evocative. At times, it succeeds, but as the book progresses, it comes across as childish or unpolished. For example, there are way too many exclamation points in this book. Here is a particularly corny example from page 244: "Elric looked up! A light blow struck him suddenly across the face. He cried out at this!"
Sentences are often way too long and rambling. Sometimes, once I reached the end of a sentence, I couldn't remember what the sentence was even about.
Finally, the book seemed to be attempting an omniscient narrative style. But frequently the perspective shifts had no rhyme or reason - it felt unpredictable and discombobulating at times, like random head-hopping. I suppose this could have been a stylistic choice; maybe it won't irritate other readers.
What I did NOT like
section summaries
Each section is prefaced with a weird and pointless summary. They come across as self-indulgent. But they also serve as spoilers for what will happen. Your mileage may vary on this because I am strongly biased against prologues: stories should start where they need to and readers don't need to be bogged down with irrelevant information.
worldbuilding
I love worldbuilding, but the adage "too much of a good thing" definitely applies to this book. Authors become very attached to their worldbuilding. But in my opinion, worldbuilding should serve the plot - not the other way around. Infodumps abound in this book. We get excruciating details on things that do not ever become relevant. This combined with the extremely long sentences makes certain passages incomprehensible. Long rambling worldbuilding feels self-indulgent. I ended up skimming, especially towards the end.
dialogue
As I've written in other reviews, dialogue is one of my favorite things in novels. When it is well-written, it propels the plot and conveys character details in a way that nothing else can. The dialogue in this book is not very well written. Instead of conversation, we often get multi-paragraph monologues. For example, a young child described as being "of indeterminate gender" (pg 64) and referred to as "it" makes this bizarre remark:
"The furi caught him and ate him," it said. "They nibble the genitals. It is quite pleasant at first. Until they start to bite." It licked a slimy lip. "And almost every one of his mercenary army was thus killed. Or, in gratitude, were captured."
Does that sound like a child speaking? Can you imagine a child ever referring to someone's genitals? I can't. (This apparently sexless child is referred to as a boy on page 67, so who knows what's going on!)
This piece of dialogue also serves as an example of the worldbuilding in this book: the "furi" are never explained or described, so I don't know what they are or what they do (besides eat genitals, I guess).
characters
Part of why I struggled to get through this book was the lack of interesting or sympathetic characters. They were all annoying and/or bizarre. For example, on page 26, Elric and his friend Moonglum are invited to stay with a noblelady named Lady Forentach. The woman that Moonglum had been sleeping with at this point said that she wanted to stay on the ship rather than leave with them to stay with Lady Forentach. That seems within the bounds of normality to me - preferring to stay behind after a long voyage rather than travel to yet another location.
But Moonglum thinks to himself: "That his wench should take to pouting now was not to be tolerated. A man should discipline a woman who embarrassed him before local royalty!" Um, what? Lady Forentach did not care that the other woman wanted to stay behind, so why did Moonglum react like a lunatic?
Elric
Elric is not a good main character. He's an angsty edgelord who doesn't take responsibility for some of his more annoying actions. For example, The "pangs" he does feel for his actions he keeps at bay by sleeping around with any female who would have him. He seems to think that any woman would want to have sex with him. Early in the book there are lots of awkward scenes between him and various female characters.
Additionally, Elric's craving for souls verges on psychopathic. More on that (and the stupid sword) in a moment.
themes and symbolism
Elric carries a demon-cursed sword. It is described in a manner that suggests it might be sentient. Additionally, it basically consumes blood and souls. On page 108, before Elric engages enemies in battle, we get this absolutely bonkers description of the sword:
He stroked the hilt, and the blade almost warmed to stroke him back. A thrill of ecstasy that others might feel in love-making
🤨
To me, the sword is a clear representation of Elric's dark impulses, uncontrolled sexuality, and womanizing. Whether this symbolism was intentional, I have no clue, but I see evidence of it sprinkled throughout the text.
I suppose this theme makes sense because his betrothed Zarozinia is said to have "freed him to move across the world until he was satisfied she was what he wanted in a woman." She gave him her blessing to sleep around, while he promised not to declare his love for anyone else while he was gone (pg 184).
The theme of sexuality pops up again and again. For example, in chapter 22, Elric and two others must go down into an underground cavern-like structure to confront an insect queen. On page 246, the queen is described as a disgusting "wingless, stingless, bloated, mindless egg-producing reproductive system, mother of millions, without intelligence or purpose. Or, if she had purpose whatsoever, it was to lie pulsing at the centre of her hive, perhaps her empire of hives, endlessly producing larvae." Bear that description in mind as I move on to page 248, where we get this passage:
This absolutely cursed passage continues the theme of sexuality run amok.
There's also references to incest (his cousin Cymoril is described as "his most profound love" on page 248). And finally, on page 267, the besieged city Kirinmoir is described like this: "Kirinmoir rose proudly amidst her rapists like a martyr preparing for the stake."
Thankfully, there is not one sex scene in this book. Instead, we get passages like the above.
Conclusion
Although it wasn't terrible, this will be my first and last foray into the Elric books. I don't enjoy being critical of books, but sometimes it is necessary.
December 13, 2022
Two previously published novellas and a new novel make up this 13th volume of the Elric Saga. Moorcock reworked his two novellas and the first 2 parts of Citadel returns the hero to his 60s/70s roots with their drug-infused storylines. The 3rd part tells a more modern story with Lords of Law and Choas being non-binary and switching genders at will. Exciting and rousing, full of the eloquent prose Moorcock is known for, it culminates in a horrifying scenario that made me look at the whole saga in a different light.
But, in the end, it is Moorcock's greatest asset that prevents it from being a completely engrossing read. He so gets caught up in his prose and internal dialogues the reader has to backtrack to find the transition between a subject or event change. However, after a slow first half of the 3rd part, it rushes headlong to a shocking, but satisfying finale.
Finally, it should be noted that Moorcock frequently revises his work. I first read the 6-book Elric Saga (when it WAS only 6 books) in middle school. I came back to it 20 years later with White Wolf's 15-volume Eternal Champion series (1994-2000). Three more Elric novels had been written in the meantime (which I had read). But it didn't have the same feel this time around in tone and structure. But I think that series was Moorcock's first attempt to put his stories into an organized format: characters had been changed from the original novels, stories that were not part of the EC cycle were now. Then there are stand-alone novels outside of the EC cycle that he changed (and in the case of Gloriana, or The Unfulfill'd Queen, ruined). Currently, he has a new collection of the 12 Elric novels out in hardcover to coincide with the release of Citadel. I don't plan to return to Elric until I'm certain that his stories are in their final forms--read into that what you will.
For those who are not new to the Elric Saga, this book is a treat. If you haven't read any Elric stories, start at the beginning. Past events are mentioned that go unexplained and
future events are hinted at (to make things even more confusing for newcomers, Melniboneans go on dreamquests that can last 100; 1,000; even 10.000 years into the past and future--all in the space of an instant in the "real" world).
But, in the end, it is Moorcock's greatest asset that prevents it from being a completely engrossing read. He so gets caught up in his prose and internal dialogues the reader has to backtrack to find the transition between a subject or event change. However, after a slow first half of the 3rd part, it rushes headlong to a shocking, but satisfying finale.
Finally, it should be noted that Moorcock frequently revises his work. I first read the 6-book Elric Saga (when it WAS only 6 books) in middle school. I came back to it 20 years later with White Wolf's 15-volume Eternal Champion series (1994-2000). Three more Elric novels had been written in the meantime (which I had read). But it didn't have the same feel this time around in tone and structure. But I think that series was Moorcock's first attempt to put his stories into an organized format: characters had been changed from the original novels, stories that were not part of the EC cycle were now. Then there are stand-alone novels outside of the EC cycle that he changed (and in the case of Gloriana, or The Unfulfill'd Queen, ruined). Currently, he has a new collection of the 12 Elric novels out in hardcover to coincide with the release of Citadel. I don't plan to return to Elric until I'm certain that his stories are in their final forms--read into that what you will.
For those who are not new to the Elric Saga, this book is a treat. If you haven't read any Elric stories, start at the beginning. Past events are mentioned that go unexplained and
future events are hinted at (to make things even more confusing for newcomers, Melniboneans go on dreamquests that can last 100; 1,000; even 10.000 years into the past and future--all in the space of an instant in the "real" world).
October 27, 2022
I won a copy of this one in a Goodreads giveaway. I was excited about this because it's been, quite literally, decades since I picked up a Moorcock book. Now part of the problem may be that this is listed as book 13, and I never got very far in the series because it was whatever was available at the library back in the day, but part of it may also be that the time for this series is long past for me. It just didn't appeal the way it used to. Which is just fine and dandy - not all books or series, or characters, stay with us as we grow up, and it looks like Moorcock will be confined to the murky history of past reads for me.
December 24, 2022
The first new(-ish - some parts of this had appeared before, in various forms) Elric novel in many years, Moorcock's work is as amazing as always. Elric seeking the lost origins of his own people and of their dragon allies, the Phoorn (and people ought to know that the Melniboneans and their dragons are a very, VERY clear inspiration for G.R.R. Martin's Valyrians and their dragons). Anyway, great stuff, and it slots very neatly into the greater narrative of Elric's saga in some "lost years" before the great confrontation between Law and Chaos.
October 30, 2022
Michael Moorcock’s White Wolf and the world he inhabits, explores, and sometimes destroys was one of my earliest fantasy obsessions. I came across The Elric Saga as many young folks must have — as part of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Club of the early 80’s. As a precocious 10 year old, I was diving into deep tomes of genre writing. I was drawn to Elric and Moorcock’s writing as it subverted much of what I recognized as tropes, even at that young age. It had been decades since I have read any stories of Elric, so was thrilled to get an advanced copy for review.
There are three stories in The Citadel of Forgotten Myths that follow Elric and his bff Moonglum as they journey to and around The World Below in search of answers about Elric’s ancestry. Each story could stand alone, and as I understand it, the first two were reworked from previously released stories, but serve in building toward Book 3, which makes up the bulk of the book. I found myself pretty quickly beguiled by Moorcock’s writing and Elric’s struggle to find a way out from under the servitude to Stormbringer’s violent thirst and the largely absent hand of his master, the God of Chaos.
The first two stories are a bit like swashbuckling adventures, while the scope of the third is a vast and somewhat dense dive into mythos. Moorcock’s history and breadth of a writer come to bear as Elric and Moonglum discover a peaceful valley protected by a race of women related to Elric. The women cultivate a powerful elixir that becomes the backdrop for an epic battle of men, insect, dragons, and Gods.
Overall, The Citadel of Forgotten Myths was a bit uneven, but was a thoroughly entertaining trip back into the world of Elric of Melniboné, featuring long stretches of fascinating prose that made it impossible to put down.
There are three stories in The Citadel of Forgotten Myths that follow Elric and his bff Moonglum as they journey to and around The World Below in search of answers about Elric’s ancestry. Each story could stand alone, and as I understand it, the first two were reworked from previously released stories, but serve in building toward Book 3, which makes up the bulk of the book. I found myself pretty quickly beguiled by Moorcock’s writing and Elric’s struggle to find a way out from under the servitude to Stormbringer’s violent thirst and the largely absent hand of his master, the God of Chaos.
The first two stories are a bit like swashbuckling adventures, while the scope of the third is a vast and somewhat dense dive into mythos. Moorcock’s history and breadth of a writer come to bear as Elric and Moonglum discover a peaceful valley protected by a race of women related to Elric. The women cultivate a powerful elixir that becomes the backdrop for an epic battle of men, insect, dragons, and Gods.
Overall, The Citadel of Forgotten Myths was a bit uneven, but was a thoroughly entertaining trip back into the world of Elric of Melniboné, featuring long stretches of fascinating prose that made it impossible to put down.
January 11, 2023
I wanted to like this more than I did. In every possible way, this reads like a classic Elric tale - which is both good and bad. It is a novel of the 21st century, but one that is rooted in the middle of the twentieth. It is sword-and-sorcery to be sure, but it feels at times too ethereal and dreamlike.
Moorcock treats us to some great monsters and villains, but much like Elric - who gets bogged down and diverted trying to determine his roots and his history - it becomes too enamored with its own worldbuilding and with the canon than Moorcock has built up over the years. There are references to other aspects of the Eternal Champion, but the weirdness has a certain familiarity to it, and never quite rises to the greatness of other parts of the Elric Saga.
As a (perhaps) final farewell to the character from a grandmaster, I felt oddly unfulfilled by this story, when even the motivations of the villains seemed pat and one-dimensional. None of them approached the villainy of Yrkoon or even Jagreen Lern.
If this was your first exposure to the White Wolf, I recommend you pick up the volumes collecting the earlier tales.
Moorcock treats us to some great monsters and villains, but much like Elric - who gets bogged down and diverted trying to determine his roots and his history - it becomes too enamored with its own worldbuilding and with the canon than Moorcock has built up over the years. There are references to other aspects of the Eternal Champion, but the weirdness has a certain familiarity to it, and never quite rises to the greatness of other parts of the Elric Saga.
As a (perhaps) final farewell to the character from a grandmaster, I felt oddly unfulfilled by this story, when even the motivations of the villains seemed pat and one-dimensional. None of them approached the villainy of Yrkoon or even Jagreen Lern.
If this was your first exposure to the White Wolf, I recommend you pick up the volumes collecting the earlier tales.
October 29, 2022
** I read an advance reader copy of this book that I won through a Goodreads giveaway. **
It's been a very long time since I read any Elric books but this one definitely stands as one of the best. I really enjoyed re-entering Moorcock's world and remembering all of the characters!
It's been a very long time since I read any Elric books but this one definitely stands as one of the best. I really enjoyed re-entering Moorcock's world and remembering all of the characters!
July 22, 2024
This was a great fun read, although a little disappointing, while the three stories are great and show some interesting parts of Elric’s world, I feel like Elric never completed his quest. But the book truly shines when it goes into full eldricht horror, which it beautifully does. Now I must return to upper world, and finish the rest of Elric’s journey.
January 16, 2023
Though entertaining, some of the prequel Elric stories (as in prequel to the unmaking and remaking of the multiverse) seem inconsequential in the overall scope of the Elric saga. The Citadel of Forgotten myths, however, is suitably epic and disturbing enough to carry weight in the saga.
November 11, 2023
My rating : 4.5 of 5 stars
I've been a fan of Michael Moorcock's work, and Elric in particular, since I was about ten years old. So when I found out there was a new novel in the Elric Saga coming out, of course I was going to buy it.
Set between Weird of the White Wolf and The Sleeping Sorceress/The Vanishing Tower, this book tells us of Elric's adventures in the World Below, with his erstwhile companion Moonglum, and their quest to learn more of the origins of the Melnibonéan people.
As with many of Moorcock's novels The Citadel of Forgotten Myths is a fix up of two previously published novellas (Black Petals and Red Pearls), and a third unpublished work, though a note at the start of the book tells us the two earlier pieces have been extensively revised for the novel. The thing is, there is something of a stylistic divide between the two earlier works and the third part of the novel.
The first two portions of the novel are typical early Moorcock. Punchy prose with little in the way of obfuscation and plenty of action to keep the pace going. While there are the usual episodes of introspective ennui from our silver-skinned anti-hero, they are kept brief and to the point, and help push the narrative forward. In a lot of ways, it took me back to the first time read those very early novels, almost like coming home after a long absence.
The third part of the story, however, is a very different kind of beast. This one, which takes up roughly half of the narrative, is much more like Moorcock's later works, with long stretches of introspection and musings on the metaphysical. Switching points of view almost chaotically, the narrative all but twists around on itself, repeating key concepts and going over previously broken ground time and again as the story slowly unfolds. This is quite literally a book of two halves, and personally, I found it all the better for that.
As well as expanding on the lore of Elric himself, this novel also includes a veritable treasure trove of Easter eggs. Sly little references to Moorcock's other worlds and works abound, with Orlando Funk (aka Fank) popping in from the Hawkmoon tales, ties to the Runestaff itself, a couple of passing mentions of the War Amongst the Angels, a blink-and-you'll-miss-it call out to Gloriana, the name-dropping of a number of other Champions Eternal, and probably even a few connections I missed on this first read-through. As a long-time fan and reader, I have to admit I genuinely appreciated these little touches.
So overall, a good book on its own, but just that little bit better if you've made even a half-decent foray into the worlds of Moorcock's ever-expanding multiverse. If you've not read any Moorcock before, this is as good a place as any to start, though you may not get as much out of it as a veteran of the moonbeam roads.
I've been a fan of Michael Moorcock's work, and Elric in particular, since I was about ten years old. So when I found out there was a new novel in the Elric Saga coming out, of course I was going to buy it.
Set between Weird of the White Wolf and The Sleeping Sorceress/The Vanishing Tower, this book tells us of Elric's adventures in the World Below, with his erstwhile companion Moonglum, and their quest to learn more of the origins of the Melnibonéan people.
As with many of Moorcock's novels The Citadel of Forgotten Myths is a fix up of two previously published novellas (Black Petals and Red Pearls), and a third unpublished work, though a note at the start of the book tells us the two earlier pieces have been extensively revised for the novel. The thing is, there is something of a stylistic divide between the two earlier works and the third part of the novel.
The first two portions of the novel are typical early Moorcock. Punchy prose with little in the way of obfuscation and plenty of action to keep the pace going. While there are the usual episodes of introspective ennui from our silver-skinned anti-hero, they are kept brief and to the point, and help push the narrative forward. In a lot of ways, it took me back to the first time read those very early novels, almost like coming home after a long absence.
The third part of the story, however, is a very different kind of beast. This one, which takes up roughly half of the narrative, is much more like Moorcock's later works, with long stretches of introspection and musings on the metaphysical. Switching points of view almost chaotically, the narrative all but twists around on itself, repeating key concepts and going over previously broken ground time and again as the story slowly unfolds. This is quite literally a book of two halves, and personally, I found it all the better for that.
As well as expanding on the lore of Elric himself, this novel also includes a veritable treasure trove of Easter eggs. Sly little references to Moorcock's other worlds and works abound, with Orlando Funk (aka Fank) popping in from the Hawkmoon tales, ties to the Runestaff itself, a couple of passing mentions of the War Amongst the Angels, a blink-and-you'll-miss-it call out to Gloriana, the name-dropping of a number of other Champions Eternal, and probably even a few connections I missed on this first read-through. As a long-time fan and reader, I have to admit I genuinely appreciated these little touches.
So overall, a good book on its own, but just that little bit better if you've made even a half-decent foray into the worlds of Moorcock's ever-expanding multiverse. If you've not read any Moorcock before, this is as good a place as any to start, though you may not get as much out of it as a veteran of the moonbeam roads.
December 20, 2022
I first read the Elric stories as a 12 year old in the early 1970s and loved them. Even at age 12 it was clear they weren't great literature but they were great fun and I read them avidly. But over the years Moorcock seemed to get more interested in dubious philosophy than storytelling and I gradually lost interest.
Friends had told me this new book was like the early stories so I was eager to read it, and ... they were half right.
The book is a fixup of two novellas and a short novel, and the novellas are indeed reminiscent of the early stories and I enjoyed them. However the novel is not. The novel contains too many long passages devoted to introspection by the characters and the aforementioned dubious philosophy and this slows it to a crawl.
Overall I'm pleased I read the book, but the novel that makes the second half is a bit of a trudge. I can only recommend it to the determined Elric fans - like me!
Friends had told me this new book was like the early stories so I was eager to read it, and ... they were half right.
The book is a fixup of two novellas and a short novel, and the novellas are indeed reminiscent of the early stories and I enjoyed them. However the novel is not. The novel contains too many long passages devoted to introspection by the characters and the aforementioned dubious philosophy and this slows it to a crawl.
Overall I'm pleased I read the book, but the novel that makes the second half is a bit of a trudge. I can only recommend it to the determined Elric fans - like me!
December 15, 2022
I went into this being so stoked. A brand new Elric novel in 2022! But sadly, it’s a bit of a disappointment. Made up of three interconnected stories that find Elric and his pal Moonglum on the bottom end of his world, the centralized premise is aimed at providing more background for Elric’s people and their connections to the dragons (or Phoorn) that they ride and share ancestry with.
That’s all well and good, but how are the stories? The first is just okay, but short enough to not occupy too much time. Honestly, I read it a few weeks ago, and the details are already a bit hazy. The second story is my favorite of the trio, and reminds me the most of classic Elric with a terrific adventure narrative, good supporting cast and a memorable monster to top things off. But the bulk of the book is made up of the third tale, which is a dreary slog and probably needed a tighter editing pass. Critical details are so drowned in overwrought (and repetitive) prose that I found myself not 100% sure I understood what was going on at times.
Maybe when I sit down to really hammer through the Moorcock oeuvre, I’ll revisit this and some of its deeper references to his corpus will land better at least.
That’s all well and good, but how are the stories? The first is just okay, but short enough to not occupy too much time. Honestly, I read it a few weeks ago, and the details are already a bit hazy. The second story is my favorite of the trio, and reminds me the most of classic Elric with a terrific adventure narrative, good supporting cast and a memorable monster to top things off. But the bulk of the book is made up of the third tale, which is a dreary slog and probably needed a tighter editing pass. Critical details are so drowned in overwrought (and repetitive) prose that I found myself not 100% sure I understood what was going on at times.
Maybe when I sit down to really hammer through the Moorcock oeuvre, I’ll revisit this and some of its deeper references to his corpus will land better at least.
January 9, 2023
If I could give this a 3.5, I would. It's a fun return to Elric, his world, and supporting characters. Unlike some "interquels" which seek to fill the gap in a timeline that doesn't need to be plugged, this story slots nicely into the preestablished progression of Elric's journey without feeling forced. In many ways, this feels like classic Elric, both for good and for ill; the episodic nature of the narrative certainly scratches that sword and sorcery itch. Moorcock's penchant for repeating Elric's tragic origins and describing his sword and appearance every few chapters as if the reader were picking up an Elric book for the first time and beginning to read a hundred pages in is both occasionally jarring and extremely on-brand with the classic tales. Apart from a saggy, inconsistent third act that confusingly indulges in about 15 pages of stream-of-consciousness, it is tightly written and a lot of fun.
If this is your first foray into Elric, go back--this is not a place for you.
If you are a longtime fan, then welcome back! The world is just as you left it, and that is a rare treat.
If this is your first foray into Elric, go back--this is not a place for you.
If you are a longtime fan, then welcome back! The world is just as you left it, and that is a rare treat.
February 18, 2023
Always a pleasure to have a new Elric novel. This however was not the best of his adventures. Too many characters were far too introspective for my liking. An enjoyable romp.
July 27, 2023
Overwritten, confusing, and in dire need of a strong editorial hand.
The epitome of when an author thinks they're beyond edits
The epitome of when an author thinks they're beyond edits
January 14, 2023
Después de leer los relatos Black Petals y Red Pearls, mis expectativas acerca del último trabajo de Moorcock eran muy altas. Y por desgracia se han convertido en una profunda decepción. Lo que me he encontrado es lo que uno podría haber esperado después de La venganza de la Rosa; decadencia. Pero vayamos por partes.
Las dos primeras partes de la novela son los mencionados relatos Black Petals y Red Pearls cambiados de orden, comenzando con Red Pearls, y modificados para que esta injustificada alteración tenga sentido. Pero no lo logra, queda extraña y coja, especialmente, como en mi caso, cuando se han leído las versiones originales.
Aun así, y a pesar de haber sido estropeadas sin ningún motivo claro, son lo mejor del libro: dos cuentos largos evocadores, interesantes, llenos de buenas ideas y magníficamente escritos. Recomiendo a quien esté leyendo esto que vaya a las versiones originales y las lea en el orden correcto: Black Petals, publicada en Weird Tales en 2007 y más adelante en la compilación Swords and Roses, y Red Pearls, publicada en el recopilatorio Swords & Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery en 2010.
Si no es posible acceder a los originales, quizás lo mejor sea leer la primera y segunda parte de The Citadel of Forgotten Myths y devolver después el libro a la estantería.
Porque, si La Venganza de la Rosa me pareció pesada y empalagosa, a pesar de sus aspectos brillantes, la tercera parte de esta novela, que ocupa dos tercios del libro, da un paso más allá. Y es triste. Porque Moorcock nunca ha escrito mejor, su lenguaje nunca ha sido más exquisito, las imágenes que crea más vívidas y sugerentes. Y la historia sigue estando, como siempre, repleta de ideas fantásticas. Pero todo el sentido del ritmo, la tensión, la aventura y el dinamismo que mostraba en su juventud ha sucumbido con el tiempo.
Es triste por lo que podría haber sido y no es. El comienzo es el más soporífero que he leído en años, quizás en décadas, y para avanzar en sus apenas 200 páginas me he sentido remando cuesta arriba. La tercera parte de The Citadel of Forgotten Myths es una sucesión de monólogos interiores, una corriente de introspección salpicada de vez en cuando de sucesos que hacen avanzar la trama. No penséis de mí que soy un ávido lector de bestsellers de aeropuerto, nada más lejos. No es lo que hace, sino cómo lo hace. Moorcock, al meterse en estos terrenos, genera divagaciones redundantes, que vuelven cíclicamente sobre los mismos temas, que en ocasiones son incoherentes con lo presentado dentro del mismo relato y que demasiado a menudo ni aportan nada nuevo ni generan interés.
Redundante, pelmaza, mal administrada, así es la prosa que se gasta Moorcock en esta tercera parte. Desbarra. Y genera mucha pena y frustración, porque hay pasajes preciosos, hay momentos tremendos, hay ideas que siguen desatando mi imaginación como siempre. Y hay evolución narrativa: Moorcock se esfuerza en ponerse en la piel de otros personajes como Moonglum, ¡o la diosa Xiombarg! Muchos detalles del mundo de Elric: los melniboneses, los dragones, el Conflicto Eterno, se desarrollan y explican. Una verdadera lástima.
Cuando lo leía tenía una fantasía recurrente: ser el editor todopoderoso de Michael Moorcock y empezar a borrar párrafos, dejando la tercera parte de The Citadel en dos tercios de su extensión, y convirtiéndola en una pieza maravillosa, como las dos anteriores.
Las dos primeras partes de la novela son los mencionados relatos Black Petals y Red Pearls cambiados de orden, comenzando con Red Pearls, y modificados para que esta injustificada alteración tenga sentido. Pero no lo logra, queda extraña y coja, especialmente, como en mi caso, cuando se han leído las versiones originales.
Aun así, y a pesar de haber sido estropeadas sin ningún motivo claro, son lo mejor del libro: dos cuentos largos evocadores, interesantes, llenos de buenas ideas y magníficamente escritos. Recomiendo a quien esté leyendo esto que vaya a las versiones originales y las lea en el orden correcto: Black Petals, publicada en Weird Tales en 2007 y más adelante en la compilación Swords and Roses, y Red Pearls, publicada en el recopilatorio Swords & Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery en 2010.
Si no es posible acceder a los originales, quizás lo mejor sea leer la primera y segunda parte de The Citadel of Forgotten Myths y devolver después el libro a la estantería.
Porque, si La Venganza de la Rosa me pareció pesada y empalagosa, a pesar de sus aspectos brillantes, la tercera parte de esta novela, que ocupa dos tercios del libro, da un paso más allá. Y es triste. Porque Moorcock nunca ha escrito mejor, su lenguaje nunca ha sido más exquisito, las imágenes que crea más vívidas y sugerentes. Y la historia sigue estando, como siempre, repleta de ideas fantásticas. Pero todo el sentido del ritmo, la tensión, la aventura y el dinamismo que mostraba en su juventud ha sucumbido con el tiempo.
Es triste por lo que podría haber sido y no es. El comienzo es el más soporífero que he leído en años, quizás en décadas, y para avanzar en sus apenas 200 páginas me he sentido remando cuesta arriba. La tercera parte de The Citadel of Forgotten Myths es una sucesión de monólogos interiores, una corriente de introspección salpicada de vez en cuando de sucesos que hacen avanzar la trama. No penséis de mí que soy un ávido lector de bestsellers de aeropuerto, nada más lejos. No es lo que hace, sino cómo lo hace. Moorcock, al meterse en estos terrenos, genera divagaciones redundantes, que vuelven cíclicamente sobre los mismos temas, que en ocasiones son incoherentes con lo presentado dentro del mismo relato y que demasiado a menudo ni aportan nada nuevo ni generan interés.
Redundante, pelmaza, mal administrada, así es la prosa que se gasta Moorcock en esta tercera parte. Desbarra. Y genera mucha pena y frustración, porque hay pasajes preciosos, hay momentos tremendos, hay ideas que siguen desatando mi imaginación como siempre. Y hay evolución narrativa: Moorcock se esfuerza en ponerse en la piel de otros personajes como Moonglum, ¡o la diosa Xiombarg! Muchos detalles del mundo de Elric: los melniboneses, los dragones, el Conflicto Eterno, se desarrollan y explican. Una verdadera lástima.
Cuando lo leía tenía una fantasía recurrente: ser el editor todopoderoso de Michael Moorcock y empezar a borrar párrafos, dejando la tercera parte de The Citadel en dos tercios de su extensión, y convirtiéndola en una pieza maravillosa, como las dos anteriores.
December 13, 2022
Elric of Melniboné, that whiniest most tortured iteration of the Eternal Champion, returns in an all-new (sort of) prequel (sort of). If you are a big Elric fan, run out and buy this. It’s pretty much of a piece with all the previous entries in the continuously reworked, reshuffled, and re-released Elric canon.
If you aren’t already acquainted with the character, this is not a very good place to start. Important events and characters are recapped (some ad nauseum), so you wouldn’t be completely lost, but you’re a lot better off getting to know this classic doomed antihero by reading in chronological order (more below on where this fits in chronologically).
The stories woven together to create this book previously appeared in slightly different form in two or three magazines, but I think that this is their first time in book form. Their biggest value is that they add quite a bit of new lore to Elric’s world. This includes interesting insights into the origin of the Melnibonéan civilization and exploring a completely new setting on the other side of Elric’s ovoid world. Unfortunately, the book also showcases some of the worst of Michael Moorcock’s tendencies when writing Elric: so much self-pitying whining, highly repetitive phrases and situations, pontificating social commentary, and new pieces of information seemingly pulled out of thin air to make the plot work.
As far as where this fits in the Elric saga chronology, the publicity blurbs claim it is a prequel that fits between the first and second volumes of the saga. I have two different versions of the saga, and this is true in neither of them. It actually fits in about 2/3 of the way through the second volume in both cases. It belongs after the section called Kings in Darkness and before the section called either The Flame Bringer (Stormbringer: The Elric Saga Part 2 – Kindle edition 2022 – p. 519) or The Caravan of Forgotten Dreams (Elric: The Stealer of Souls, Paperback by White Wolf 1998 – p.400). Maybe there’s a version of the saga where this fits between volumes 1 and 2, but it’s certainly not the case for the edition currently available on Amazon.
Overall, this is worth reading if you are an Elric completionist, but it is far from the best entry in the series.
If you aren’t already acquainted with the character, this is not a very good place to start. Important events and characters are recapped (some ad nauseum), so you wouldn’t be completely lost, but you’re a lot better off getting to know this classic doomed antihero by reading in chronological order (more below on where this fits in chronologically).
The stories woven together to create this book previously appeared in slightly different form in two or three magazines, but I think that this is their first time in book form. Their biggest value is that they add quite a bit of new lore to Elric’s world. This includes interesting insights into the origin of the Melnibonéan civilization and exploring a completely new setting on the other side of Elric’s ovoid world. Unfortunately, the book also showcases some of the worst of Michael Moorcock’s tendencies when writing Elric: so much self-pitying whining, highly repetitive phrases and situations, pontificating social commentary, and new pieces of information seemingly pulled out of thin air to make the plot work.
As far as where this fits in the Elric saga chronology, the publicity blurbs claim it is a prequel that fits between the first and second volumes of the saga. I have two different versions of the saga, and this is true in neither of them. It actually fits in about 2/3 of the way through the second volume in both cases. It belongs after the section called Kings in Darkness and before the section called either The Flame Bringer (Stormbringer: The Elric Saga Part 2 – Kindle edition 2022 – p. 519) or The Caravan of Forgotten Dreams (Elric: The Stealer of Souls, Paperback by White Wolf 1998 – p.400). Maybe there’s a version of the saga where this fits between volumes 1 and 2, but it’s certainly not the case for the edition currently available on Amazon.
Overall, this is worth reading if you are an Elric completionist, but it is far from the best entry in the series.
January 18, 2023
This Elric of Melniboné book is in three parts, with the first two self-contained short stories which feature a good amount of action and get to the point quickly, the third a large novella set in the city of Kirinmoir with a society based on magical honey, of all things. This last part plodded for me, with much manufactured conflict expressed in long sections of dialogue making it feel like the weakest part of the book. The setup was adequate, with the priestesses of Kirinmoir guarding the secret of the bees as they produce their honey with one magical additional component, with gods and goddesses fighting over the territory for reasons I thought hard to fathom, and with Elric coming back from a low point until he can pull things together and start wielding his cursed blade. He's not exactly a one-trick pony, but that runeblade does account for an oversized portion of his character compared to other Moorcock heroes. The trouble with the novella was the execution, and if it were the only story in the book I might have rated it at just two stars. Despite its shortcomings, the ornate and slightly overwrought prose used to convey the fantastic settings and characters is worth experiencing as a contrast to other swords and sorcery tales which focus their energies in other directions. It was not quite as hard to get through as the Conan book I read three years ago (The Bloody Crown of Conan) but I did have to work at it harder than I would have preferred.
I received an advance reader's copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for sharing this review.
I received an advance reader's copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for sharing this review.
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January 22, 2023Moorcock returns to Elric again, as he's done throughout his career. Elric is somewhere between the destruction of his kingdom and his final confrontation with Stormbringer. It's also been more that sixty years since the first Elric story was published, giving the trio of stories here a strange, detemporalized feeling. On one hand, Moorcock is playful and his style evokes ERB and other pulp adventures. At the same time, he makes it clear that he was there first with doomed albino swordsmen and sentient dragons. Beyond that, there is an elegiac feel to Elric's adventure with his Melnibonean kin in this mysterious, parallel world. It isn't the end of the Elric saga--that was written decades ago. Instead, it's an interlude that carries a weight that goes beyond the dramatic trappings of a final scene.
April 26, 2025
It's full of startling imagery and the inevitable graphic novel adaptation will be fantastic, but I struggled to finish this. Felt like it needed a sterner editor, even straying into Fanthorpe territory at times, but if it had landed on my desk, would I have cut it down and given readers less new Elric rather than more? Probably not.
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