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A review by pidgevorg
Elric: The Stealer of Souls by Michael Moorcock
4.0
Five stars for the stories in “Stealer of Souls”, three for the “Stormbringer” novella, because trying to retrofit Elric into the whole Eternal Champion scheme was just too absurd. It's like trying to fit a tentacly, Cthulhu-shaped peg into a square hole. Elric as the leader of the free world and harbinger of a universe of order? Give me a break...
The Elric books have a very special place in my heart--they're the only source of conspiracy theories in my life. Some people cherish conspiracy theories about the Kennedys, some about Princes Di, some about Obama's birth certificate. I never understood those types of people--that is, until I read the Elric stories. Now I totally get the appeal. I have been converted into the conspiracy camp. You don't believe me? Here is a rant to prove it, complete with arguments with my imaginary opponents. (This is really a summary of plot and themes, I swear...)
Yes I know that Elric is supposed to be a tragic antihero, a helpless, doomed victim of his evil sword, a pawn of cruel fate which made him an Eternal Champion, yada yada. Well, I'm not buying any of that. He's clearly the villain of every story he's in, a sociopath and an evil necromancer who destroys people for fun, even whole civilizations when he's especially bored, until he finally causes the destruction of the whole world. Why do I think so? Because of Michael Moorcock--the way he says one thing about Elric (but always with what seems like hidden sarcasm) and then goes on to show him to be something else completely.
Elric is the Eternal Champion destined to stop the Lords of Chaos from taking over the world? Really? Who was it who called these Lords in the first place? It seems that summoning the Princes of Chaos was a lost art, until, that is, clever Elric figured it out and proceeded to summon Arioch to the material plane every time he stubbed a toe. And then mysteriously all these other mortal sorcerers just happen to come into contact with the Princes of Chaos. Coincidence? I think not. Oh, but wait, I hear someone say, Elric only summoned him because he was desperate to save his fiancée. That's why he called Arioch and retrieved that evil sword in the first place. Yes, he supposedly did it to save Cymoril and thwart his evil cousin's attempt to take over the throne... And then he left that same fiancée hanging and handed his cousin the throne, and went off to “explore” the Young Kingdoms, which mostly involved him getting into fights and using that evil sword to suck out people's souls. I say that he left because he was bored and wanted to play with his new evil toy. Oh, but wait, someone says, he only uses that sword because without it he would be physically weak and even die. Really? He was doing just fine without it before. And what is that horrible illness of his anyway? He claims it's albinism. Really? Is there something about poor eyesight and higher risk of skin cancer that would make him drop dead on the spot? It's obviously something else, something he's trying to keep secret... Something like being an undead evil necromancer who must feed on souls to survive, maybe? And when he gets bored with terrorizing the Young Kingdoms, he comes back and destroys his homeland. It's all to save Cymoril, of course, except then he kills her. Oops. But wait, someone says, his sword did it, it has an evil will of its own. Poor Elric, as the Eternal Champion he gets re-absorbed into the sword and is destined to be resurrected over and over to wield it. So Elric is the sword, the sword is Elric. Potato, potahto. Whether the willpower is contained in the sword or the man, they're obviously one entity, and thus he's the one responsible.
That's the beauty of these stories--they present the seemingly straightforward high fantasy theme “guy with magic sword must save world”--but with a wicked twist. It's not the hero's journey you are following along, but really a villain's schemes. You get drawn into it inadvertently, and before you know it, you can't help but sympathize with the villain's point of view, which is something like “I was just minding my own business, manipulating and mocking people, stealing their money, sucking out their souls, summoning evil chaos demons, destroying civilizations, you know, normal everyday stuff, and then for some reason the world just fell out of balance and into chaos. I have no idea how it happened and I certainly had nothing to do with it. It must have been those upstart humans from the Young Kingdoms. The minute me and my evil empire stop torturing and enslaving them, they try to imitate us. I swear, give some guys an inch...” And you know, right from the very beginning, that this Elric guy is pure evil, but you don't care because he's so fascinating, and you just can't wait to see what moral lapse he's going to stumble into next, and what whining excuses he'll make for himself this time.
So, Michael Moorcock, thanks for your insightful essays--the bonus material in this edition--some of which claim that Elric is really a well-meaning guy who just happens to go through bouts of existential angst. Sorry, I don't believe you. I'm sure you were saying it tongue in cheek... These stories are too brilliant, Elric is just too delicious as a villain, and I have spent too many hours cackling with evil glee over his “heroic” exploits. There is no going back now.
The Elric books have a very special place in my heart--they're the only source of conspiracy theories in my life. Some people cherish conspiracy theories about the Kennedys, some about Princes Di, some about Obama's birth certificate. I never understood those types of people--that is, until I read the Elric stories. Now I totally get the appeal. I have been converted into the conspiracy camp. You don't believe me? Here is a rant to prove it, complete with arguments with my imaginary opponents. (This is really a summary of plot and themes, I swear...)
Yes I know that Elric is supposed to be a tragic antihero, a helpless, doomed victim of his evil sword, a pawn of cruel fate which made him an Eternal Champion, yada yada. Well, I'm not buying any of that. He's clearly the villain of every story he's in, a sociopath and an evil necromancer who destroys people for fun, even whole civilizations when he's especially bored, until he finally causes the destruction of the whole world. Why do I think so? Because of Michael Moorcock--the way he says one thing about Elric (but always with what seems like hidden sarcasm) and then goes on to show him to be something else completely.
Elric is the Eternal Champion destined to stop the Lords of Chaos from taking over the world? Really? Who was it who called these Lords in the first place? It seems that summoning the Princes of Chaos was a lost art, until, that is, clever Elric figured it out and proceeded to summon Arioch to the material plane every time he stubbed a toe. And then mysteriously all these other mortal sorcerers just happen to come into contact with the Princes of Chaos. Coincidence? I think not. Oh, but wait, I hear someone say, Elric only summoned him because he was desperate to save his fiancée. That's why he called Arioch and retrieved that evil sword in the first place. Yes, he supposedly did it to save Cymoril and thwart his evil cousin's attempt to take over the throne... And then he left that same fiancée hanging and handed his cousin the throne, and went off to “explore” the Young Kingdoms, which mostly involved him getting into fights and using that evil sword to suck out people's souls. I say that he left because he was bored and wanted to play with his new evil toy. Oh, but wait, someone says, he only uses that sword because without it he would be physically weak and even die. Really? He was doing just fine without it before. And what is that horrible illness of his anyway? He claims it's albinism. Really? Is there something about poor eyesight and higher risk of skin cancer that would make him drop dead on the spot? It's obviously something else, something he's trying to keep secret... Something like being an undead evil necromancer who must feed on souls to survive, maybe? And when he gets bored with terrorizing the Young Kingdoms, he comes back and destroys his homeland. It's all to save Cymoril, of course, except then he kills her. Oops. But wait, someone says, his sword did it, it has an evil will of its own. Poor Elric, as the Eternal Champion he gets re-absorbed into the sword and is destined to be resurrected over and over to wield it. So Elric is the sword, the sword is Elric. Potato, potahto. Whether the willpower is contained in the sword or the man, they're obviously one entity, and thus he's the one responsible.
That's the beauty of these stories--they present the seemingly straightforward high fantasy theme “guy with magic sword must save world”--but with a wicked twist. It's not the hero's journey you are following along, but really a villain's schemes. You get drawn into it inadvertently, and before you know it, you can't help but sympathize with the villain's point of view, which is something like “I was just minding my own business, manipulating and mocking people, stealing their money, sucking out their souls, summoning evil chaos demons, destroying civilizations, you know, normal everyday stuff, and then for some reason the world just fell out of balance and into chaos. I have no idea how it happened and I certainly had nothing to do with it. It must have been those upstart humans from the Young Kingdoms. The minute me and my evil empire stop torturing and enslaving them, they try to imitate us. I swear, give some guys an inch...” And you know, right from the very beginning, that this Elric guy is pure evil, but you don't care because he's so fascinating, and you just can't wait to see what moral lapse he's going to stumble into next, and what whining excuses he'll make for himself this time.
So, Michael Moorcock, thanks for your insightful essays--the bonus material in this edition--some of which claim that Elric is really a well-meaning guy who just happens to go through bouts of existential angst. Sorry, I don't believe you. I'm sure you were saying it tongue in cheek... These stories are too brilliant, Elric is just too delicious as a villain, and I have spent too many hours cackling with evil glee over his “heroic” exploits. There is no going back now.