A review by luana420
Elric of Melniboné and Other Stories by Michael Moorcock
5.0
Big fan!
The complicated publishing history of Elric makes jumping in a bit of a challenge (several recommendations by friends were simply no longer in print), but as a newly-former-noob I can say this ones's a good entry point.
Moorcock's prose is wry and sardonic, often making me laugh out loud as I read this on my morning commute. The absurdities and Big Vistas/Situations pile on so quickly, and the responses by characters are never less than turned to 11, you can't help but think a lot of this is simply a larf.
The incidents that pile on at breakneck speed ("Making of a Sorcerer" features Elric being taken in by the Sea King, learning of a Chaos Lord drinking the oceans with a big hollowed-out tree for a straw (!!!), AND he is keeping the Sea King's mermaid sister hostage in a big clam) almost make this look like The Gothic Hobbit -- but I suppose nobody should tell Moorcock that.
Well, I guess I'm down to see the, uh, downfall of Melniboné! I don't think that sword's up to any good!
The complicated publishing history of Elric makes jumping in a bit of a challenge (several recommendations by friends were simply no longer in print), but as a newly-former-noob I can say this ones's a good entry point.
Moorcock's prose is wry and sardonic, often making me laugh out loud as I read this on my morning commute. The absurdities and Big Vistas/Situations pile on so quickly, and the responses by characters are never less than turned to 11, you can't help but think a lot of this is simply a larf.
The incidents that pile on at breakneck speed ("Making of a Sorcerer" features Elric being taken in by the Sea King, learning of a Chaos Lord drinking the oceans with a big hollowed-out tree for a straw (!!!), AND he is keeping the Sea King's mermaid sister hostage in a big clam) almost make this look like The Gothic Hobbit -- but I suppose nobody should tell Moorcock that.
Well, I guess I'm down to see the, uh, downfall of Melniboné! I don't think that sword's up to any good!