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A review by jonvarner
Elric of Melniboné by Michael Moorcock
2.0
Moorcock set out to be the anti-Tolkien with his Elric novels. The core concept is essentially imagining if Gandalf took the One Ring for himself. But the ring is a sentient sword. And instead of smoking weed, Elric is on SSRIs. Also he's albino but still kinda hot. He's the prototype for all the brooding goth fantasy antiheroes that followed.
Unfortunately the prose is even worse than Tolkien. At least the plot moves at a breakneck pace, with all the magic ships and magic mirrors and elementals and demons you could hope for in a pulp fantasy. But I find Dark Souls or Elden Ring a more entertaining way to spend the evening and you'd be hard pressed to claim Elric has greater literary value.
Unfortunately the prose is even worse than Tolkien. At least the plot moves at a breakneck pace, with all the magic ships and magic mirrors and elementals and demons you could hope for in a pulp fantasy. But I find Dark Souls or Elden Ring a more entertaining way to spend the evening and you'd be hard pressed to claim Elric has greater literary value.