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jameshaus's review against another edition
4.0
My favorite part was this at the end, because I was on a plane feeling melancholy. He really is a great character for when you're feeling doomed and whiny.
"And now, Elric had told three lies. . . . And upon those three lies was Elric's destiny to be built, for it is only about things which concern us most profoundly that we lie clearly and with profound conviction."
"And now, Elric had told three lies. . . . And upon those three lies was Elric's destiny to be built, for it is only about things which concern us most profoundly that we lie clearly and with profound conviction."
luana420's review against another edition
4.0
When we finally catch up with Actual Elric again (about 25ish % into this collection), he is hot on the trail of Theleb Kaarna, a sorcerer he developed a beef with in Sailor on the Seas of Fate. Why? I had forgotten, but throughout the story my memories were vaguely kindled that the dude felt cucked by Elric as they both served the same queen for some dealie-o. Okay sure, whatever, I get the general gist.
The futility of this feud is (perhaps unintentionally?) illustrated by the larger context of the stories presented in this collection: the Eternal Champion exists in many different realities, and has many different preoccupations, many of them slightly more pressing than Kaarna's masculinity.
Indeed, one might be a bit thrown off by the rather large amount of technically-not-quite-Elric stories in this volume: we start off with a novella version of The Eternal Champion, later expanded into a full-blown trilogy. Then we get a... historical fantasy adventure? About... demon-possessed Alexander The Great...??? I think Arimahn, the demon who has the king under his influence is likely this world's version of Arioch, which was the rather tenuous connection to Elric, but I later found out that this story was included in the 70s collection "The Singing Citadel," making it a case of "Well, we threw it under the Elric banner once..."
"The Sleeping Sorceress" (at one point also "The Vanishing Tower") itself is a fine enough Elric adventure book, seemingly cobbled together from three different novellas, not unlike "Sailor." The friendship between Elric and Moonglum is getting to be a rather touching one, and I like how Moorcock gives zero fucks about anthropomorphizing animals, like the well-spoken mechanical bird our heroes use as a flying mount.
The most exciting tease of things to come, however, was "The Flaneur des Arcades de l'Opera," a novelette revealed to be one of Elric's dream couch sessions by the end, a true opening up of the Multiverse beyond other versions of the Champions appearing in the Young Kingdoms (speaking of which, they are getting to be funny, whenever they occur, as they are always a variation on "bro... you're me bro..."). The dieselpunk atmosphere Moorcock conjures here is most pleasing to me, and I can't help but simp for Una as I make the connection that I'd already met her as Oone in "Fortress of the Pearl."
Let us take a nap now and see... what other adventures await...
The futility of this feud is (perhaps unintentionally?) illustrated by the larger context of the stories presented in this collection: the Eternal Champion exists in many different realities, and has many different preoccupations, many of them slightly more pressing than Kaarna's masculinity.
Indeed, one might be a bit thrown off by the rather large amount of technically-not-quite-Elric stories in this volume: we start off with a novella version of The Eternal Champion, later expanded into a full-blown trilogy. Then we get a... historical fantasy adventure? About... demon-possessed Alexander The Great...??? I think Arimahn, the demon who has the king under his influence is likely this world's version of Arioch, which was the rather tenuous connection to Elric, but I later found out that this story was included in the 70s collection "The Singing Citadel," making it a case of "Well, we threw it under the Elric banner once..."
"The Sleeping Sorceress" (at one point also "The Vanishing Tower") itself is a fine enough Elric adventure book, seemingly cobbled together from three different novellas, not unlike "Sailor." The friendship between Elric and Moonglum is getting to be a rather touching one, and I like how Moorcock gives zero fucks about anthropomorphizing animals, like the well-spoken mechanical bird our heroes use as a flying mount.
The most exciting tease of things to come, however, was "The Flaneur des Arcades de l'Opera," a novelette revealed to be one of Elric's dream couch sessions by the end, a true opening up of the Multiverse beyond other versions of the Champions appearing in the Young Kingdoms (speaking of which, they are getting to be funny, whenever they occur, as they are always a variation on "bro... you're me bro..."). The dieselpunk atmosphere Moorcock conjures here is most pleasing to me, and I can't help but simp for Una as I make the connection that I'd already met her as Oone in "Fortress of the Pearl."
Let us take a nap now and see... what other adventures await...
charlottemelusine's review against another edition
5.0
Really liked all three essays at the end of the book, illustrations are gorgeous, the sleeping Sorceress story was great.
internpepper's review
4.0
Favorite one in the series so far. Dives deeper into stories from the first book, and makes up for the bad second one.
sexton_blake's review
3.0
As much as I adore Mike Moorcock's work, I found this anthology to be rather a hit and miss affair. The main story, The Sleeping Sorceress, is one of the weaker Elric tales, and the stories chosen to accompany it seemed out of place. Mike is always a delight to read, but this one is eclipsed but the other volumes in the Gollancz collection.
smcleish's review
3.0
Originally published on my blog here in March 2003.
Much of Moorcock's output consists of series, some written close together (the Runestaff, for example) others very stretched out (the John Daker / Erekose novels). The Elric series, his longest, are in both categories, most novels appearing in the early sixties, this novel in 1971 and The Revenge of the Rose twenty years later. The unusual aspect of the Elric chronology is that the internal order is sometimes different, with the two final novels coming at the beginning of this omnibus (the second of two Elric collections in the current set of Eternal Champion editions).
The Sleeping Sorceress is really a series in itself, consisting of a trilogy of novellas in which Elric seeks revenge on the sorcerer Theleb K'aarna, chasing him across the world on which his dead kingdom of Melniboné lies. The sleeping sorceress of the title, a victim of Theleb K'aarna's enchantments, plays quite a small part in the plot; her significance is mainly due to the feelings she arouses in Elric through her resemblance to his long dead lover.
Elric has probably always been the best known of the various incarnations of the Eternal Champion, and the only Moorcock character who rivals his popularity is Jerry Cornelius (who has rather ambiguous connections with the concept). However, the reasons for this are not really apparent in The Sleeping Sorceress, which is one of Moorcock's less individual novels. (Even the relationship between Elric and his companion Moonglum reminds me of that between Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, the central characters in [a:Fritz Leiber|23001|Fritz Leiber|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1233439233p2/23001.jpg]'s Swords of Lankhmar series.
Much of Moorcock's output consists of series, some written close together (the Runestaff, for example) others very stretched out (the John Daker / Erekose novels). The Elric series, his longest, are in both categories, most novels appearing in the early sixties, this novel in 1971 and The Revenge of the Rose twenty years later. The unusual aspect of the Elric chronology is that the internal order is sometimes different, with the two final novels coming at the beginning of this omnibus (the second of two Elric collections in the current set of Eternal Champion editions).
The Sleeping Sorceress is really a series in itself, consisting of a trilogy of novellas in which Elric seeks revenge on the sorcerer Theleb K'aarna, chasing him across the world on which his dead kingdom of Melniboné lies. The sleeping sorceress of the title, a victim of Theleb K'aarna's enchantments, plays quite a small part in the plot; her significance is mainly due to the feelings she arouses in Elric through her resemblance to his long dead lover.
Elric has probably always been the best known of the various incarnations of the Eternal Champion, and the only Moorcock character who rivals his popularity is Jerry Cornelius (who has rather ambiguous connections with the concept). However, the reasons for this are not really apparent in The Sleeping Sorceress, which is one of Moorcock's less individual novels. (Even the relationship between Elric and his companion Moonglum reminds me of that between Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, the central characters in [a:Fritz Leiber|23001|Fritz Leiber|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1233439233p2/23001.jpg]'s Swords of Lankhmar series.
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