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A review by ashleylm
Elric: The Stealer of Souls by Michael Moorcock
2.0
I only got about halfway, before it was due back (interlibrary loan), and I can't say I was too broken-up about it. I'll seek out whichever is supposedly the best volume, and give it a read in the future, but this collection of stories didn't impress too much.
A) Elric is supposedly this wonderfully atypical protagonist, who is forced to kill against his will by his sentient sword (or so I was given to understand). Instead, he's pretty ruthless, apparently destroying what was left of his entire nation (men murdered, women enslaved, buildings destroyed) because he was mad at his cousin. He continues in a mostly amoral fashion throughout.
B) He's (again, my understanding of him) apparently weak, and hooked on either his sword's power or drugs to give him strength. Well, sure, but since he always has his sword and/or drugs, he's basically no different from anyone else.
C) The writing is flowerly, the characterization is slim-to-none, and the plots no advance over 1930s pulp. My comparison, I'm reading the complete Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser series, and they feel fresh as the day, enjoyable, lively, with wonderful evocative place settings and nifty plot turns, I'm loving them, and poor Elric pales in comparison.
I gather these are early works, which is why I'm willing to find the best, and give it a whirl.
Oh, and I was particularly excited for this edition because it's illustrated ... but the illustrator seems to have no eye for fantasy whatsoever. He mostly likes drawing people's faces. It's dispiriting to see the Rachel haircut from friends, or an apparently hideous creature (Elric's sidekick, Moonglum) look like a normal teenager. When I think of the great fantasy illustrators of the past, Sidney Sime, Arthur Rackham, or more current artists like Thomas Canty, or Ashe Samuels, and what they could have done with this, it's disspiriting.
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve!
A) Elric is supposedly this wonderfully atypical protagonist, who is forced to kill against his will by his sentient sword (or so I was given to understand). Instead, he's pretty ruthless, apparently destroying what was left of his entire nation (men murdered, women enslaved, buildings destroyed) because he was mad at his cousin. He continues in a mostly amoral fashion throughout.
B) He's (again, my understanding of him) apparently weak, and hooked on either his sword's power or drugs to give him strength. Well, sure, but since he always has his sword and/or drugs, he's basically no different from anyone else.
C) The writing is flowerly, the characterization is slim-to-none, and the plots no advance over 1930s pulp. My comparison, I'm reading the complete Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser series, and they feel fresh as the day, enjoyable, lively, with wonderful evocative place settings and nifty plot turns, I'm loving them, and poor Elric pales in comparison.
I gather these are early works, which is why I'm willing to find the best, and give it a whirl.
Oh, and I was particularly excited for this edition because it's illustrated ... but the illustrator seems to have no eye for fantasy whatsoever. He mostly likes drawing people's faces. It's dispiriting to see the Rachel haircut from friends, or an apparently hideous creature (Elric's sidekick, Moonglum) look like a normal teenager. When I think of the great fantasy illustrators of the past, Sidney Sime, Arthur Rackham, or more current artists like Thomas Canty, or Ashe Samuels, and what they could have done with this, it's disspiriting.
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve!