Elric of Melnibone by Michael Moorcock

Elric of Melnibone is the 1st book in the Elric Saga. There are different versions but the one I have was published by DAW in 1977. It tells the story of how Elric acquired his sword Stormbringer.
I read this book about 32 or 33 years ago but I honestly did not remember any of the story other than Elric being an albino and an emperor. It was great to sit down and read it again.
Elric is the emperor of Melnibone. His cousin Yyrkoon covets the throne and plots against him. Yyrkoon's sister, Cymoril, is Elric's lover.
Not far into the story, spies are captured in the city of Imyrryr. The spies are taken to Elric's inquisitor, Doctor Jest, and it is discovered that a barbarian fleet is planning to attack the city. With this information in hand, Elric orders Melnibonean ships to sit in waiting in the sea maze leading to the city.
The Melnibonean ships hide in the maze until all of the barbarian ships enter and then attack. During the battle, Elric is wounded and Yyrkoon uses this and the confusion of the battle to dump Elric overboard. As Elric is sinking, he summons Straasha, Lord of the Water Elementals. Straasha saves Elric and takes him back to Imrryr to deal with Yyrkoon (who has now claimed the throne).
Rather than executing Yyrkoon on the spot, Elric decides to imprison him until later. During this time, Yyrkoon is able to escape and kidnap Cymoril using his own sorcerous abilities. The remainder of the book is the story of Elric searching for Yyrkoon and Cymoril.
During the story, we meet Arioch (one of the Dukes of Hell) and find out how Elric acquires Stormbringer. This is such a great story and one that I highly recommend.
Now that I've written a bit about the story itself, let's discuss a few other things. First, the pronunciation of Melnibone. My whole life I think I've only heard it pronounced Mel-ni-bone (with a long o and silent e) but if you look at it on the cover of this book, there is an accent on the e. I started poking around the internet and found two different pronunciations. One is Mel-ni-bo-nay and the other is Mel-nib-o-nay. I have no clue which is correct but I prefer the latter...so that's what I'm going to use.
The second thing I want to discuss is the chronological order of the stories. With some of the reprints, etc. it can be tough to figure out what order the Elric Saga stories/books should be read in. Over at the Multiverse, I found this FAQ post. It was written by a Multiverse member named Whiskers and was really helpful to me. Just in case something ever happens to that site (although I'm sure it will be around forever), here is the post in its entirety (not the exact same formatting - having trouble with that - sorry):

As Mike himself says:

There isn't any particular order you HAVE to read the books in, because I didn't write them in chronological order. They've been published in chronological order most recently, but you wouldn't have read them like that when they were originally appearing. It's best to begin with Elric of Melniboné (or even the [Elric: The Making of a Sorcerer] comic, which predates Elric of Melniboné) and end with Stormbringer, but what you do in between is entirely a matter of taste or circumstance.

That said, there are a number of ways in which the Elric Saga can be 'correctly' read:

The 'Core' Saga*:

1. Elric of Melniboné (1972)
2. The Sailor on the Seas of Fate (1976)
3. The Weird of the White Wolf (1977)
4. The Vanishing Tower (1971) (aka The Sleeping Sorceress)
5. The Bane of the Black Sword (1977)
6. Stormbringer (rev. 1978)

*Presents the stories in the revised sequence published by DAW Books.

The 'Expanded' Saga*:

1. Elric of Melniboné (1972)
2. The Fortress of the Pearl (1989)
3. The Sailor on the Seas of Fate (1976)
4. The Weird of the White Wolf (1977)
5. The Vanishing Tower (1971)
6. The Revenge of the Rose (1991)
7. The Bane of the Black Sword (1977)
8. Stormbringer (rev. 1978)

*Presents the stories in the omnibus sequences published by Orion (Millennium)/White Wolf.

The 'Enhanced Expanded' Saga*:

1. Elric: The Making of a Sorcerer (2007)
2. Elric of Melniboné (1972)
3. The Fortress of the Pearl (1989)
4. The Sailor on the Seas of Fate (1976)
5. The Weird of the White Wolf (1977)
6. The Vanishing Tower (1971)
7. The Revenge of the Rose (1991)
8. The Bane of the Black Sword (1977)
9. Stormbringer (rev. 1978)

*As the 'Expanded' Series above but with the graphic novel Elric: The Making of a Sorcerer added as a 'prologue'.

The 'Del Rey' Series*:

1. Elric: The Stealer of Souls
2. Elric: To Rescue Tanelorn...
3. Elric: The Sleeping Sorceress
4. Elric: Duke Elric
5. Elric in the Dream Realms
6. Elric: Swords and Roses

*Presents the Elric stories in 'roughly' order of publication, together with other supplementary material.

The 'Chronological' Sequence:

• 'The Dream of Earl Aubec' aka 'Master of Chaos'
• The Skrayling Tree dreamquest assumed to occur here
• Elric: The Making of a Sorcerer
• Elric's first Dream of a Thousand Years assumed to occur here - see The Metatemporal Detective collection
• The Black Blade of the Barbary Coast dreamquest assumed to take place here
• Elric of Melniboné
• The Fortress of the Pearl
• Elric: The Return to Melniboné assumed to take place here
• 'The Black Blade's Song' aka 'The Black Blade’s Summoning' aka 'The White Wolf's Song'
• The Sailor on the Seas of Fate
• 'Elric at the End of Time'
• 'The Dreaming City'
• 'A Portrait in Ivory'
• 'While the Gods Laugh'
• 'Black Petals'
• 'Red Pearls'
• The Singing Citadel'
• The Sleeping Sorceress aka The Vanishing Tower
• The Revenge of the Rose
• 'The Stealer of Souls'
• 'Kings in Darkness'
• 'The Caravan of Forgotten Dreams' aka The Flame Bringers'
• The Dreamthief's Daughter dreamquest assumed to occur here
• 'The Last Enchantment'
• 'Dead God's Homecoming' - Stormbringer Book One
• 'To Rescue Tanelorn...' - A Rackhir story that takes place concurrently with 'Dead God's Homecoming' occurs here
• 'Black Blade's Brothers' - Stormbringer Book Two - Elric's second Dream of a Thousand Years occurs during this story
• Dreamquests described in Duke Elric, The Skrayling Tree, and The White Wolf's Son assumed to occur here
• 'Sad Giant's Shield' - Stormbringer Book Three
• 'Doomed Lord's Passing' - Stormbringer Book Four

The 'Publication Order' Sequence:

• 'The Dreaming City' (Jun. 1961)
• 'While the Gods Laugh' (Oct. 1961)
• 'The Last Enchantment' (c.1962) aka Jesting with Chaos
• 'The Stealer of Souls' (Feb. 1962)
• 'Kings in Darkness' (Aug 1962)
• 'The Flame Bringers' (Oct 1962) aka The Caravan of Forgotten Dreams
• 'To Rescue Tanelorn...' (Dec 1962)
• 'Dead God's Homecoming' (Jun 1963)
• 'Black Sword’s Brothers' (Oct 1963)
• 'Sad Giant's Shield' (Feb 1964)
• 'Doomed Lord's Passing' (Apr 1964)
• 'Master of Chaos' (May 1964) aka The Dream of Earl Aubec
• 'The Singing Citadel' (1967)
• The Sleeping Sorceress (1971)
• A Sword Called Stormbringer (Mar 1972) in Conan the Barbarian #14
• The Green Empress of Melniboné (May 1972) in Conan the Barbarian #15
• Elric of Melniboné (1972)
• The Jade Man's Eyes (1973)
• Elric: The Return to Melniboné (1973)
• The Sailor on the Seas of Fate (1976)
• 'Dream of a Doomed Lord' (Spring 1980)
• 'Elric at the End of Time' (1981)
• The Fortress of the Pearl (1989)
• The Revenge of the Rose (1991)
• 'The White Wolf's Song' (1994) aka The Black Blade's Summoning aka The Black Blade's Song
• Duke Elric (1999)
• The Dreamthief's Daughter (2001)
• The Skrayling Tree (2003)
• The White Wolf's Son (2005)
• Elric: The Making of a Sorcerer (2007)
• 'The Roaming Forest' (2007)
• 'A Portrait in Ivory' (2007)
• 'Black Petals' (March/April 2008)
• 'Red Pearls' (2010) in Swords and Dark Magic (ed. Lou Anders)
• 'White Steel' (in preparation)

Now if I could only find my Sailor on the Seas of Fate book...

Stormbringer RPG

Stormbringer is an RPG that was written by Ken St. Andre and Steve Perrin and published by Chaosium back in the early 80s. It has seen many incarnations since and I've never played it. With all of the Moorcock I've been reading, my interest was piqued and I decided to pick up the rules and check it out.
As a kid and young adult, I played a lot of D&D. Then I took a break from RPGs altogether until a few years back when I picked up Pathfinder to give that a try. I found the system way too complex. I know that a lot of people love it but it just wasn't for me. When I was about to give up on RPGs again, DCC (Dungeon Crawl Classics) was released. I absolutely LOVE that system. It's minimal enough to allow good flow but the rules are also great. I love that magic can be dangerous and magic items should be rare. I also love the plethora of tables in DCC and the random nature of the game. The 0-level funnels have been some of my favorite role-playing experiences. This is especially true on the DM side of things because for some reason I find it hilarious to watch players die.
Much like DCC, Stormbringer has a lot of qualities that I'm falling in love with. Magic can be dangerous because it is typically done by summoning and binding demons. There is some randomness involved here and if things go bad...goodbye character. I like this. Like DCC, magic is something that should be revered. You shouldn't just use it because you can. You have to weigh out the possible consequences.
Character generation in Stormbringer is not as random as in DCC. I like this but it will take a little longer than DCC to get a new party together to begin a campaign. This isn't a problem as it still should take a hell of a lot less time than it does to create a character for games like Pathfinder. However, if your players are accustomed to just showing up to a new campaign and being handed a random set of characters, they could be disappointed. In my own game that I will be running, I may do the random work up front but it will depend on what the players want to do. I could also just roll up a bunch of characters and let them blindly choose, roll a die to choose, etc. I haven't decided yet.
As for adventures, I'm working on this. I wanted to read through the rules first and get a feel for how things worked. Now that I have at least a bit of a handle on game mechanics, I'm starting to plan out what will happen in my game. It will most likely be a mix of my own ideas and some of the printed scenarios that are available. I'm not sure yet if I want to strictly adhere to all of the history and mythology of the Young Kingdoms. I like the thought of being able to come up with my own towns, mythologies, legends, etc. and insert these into the campaign. I suppose I could always have the players discover a portal to another universe if I really want things to be different.
I plan to blog about playing this game as we go although it isn't slated to start for a bit yet so stay tuned.

The Mad God's Amulet by Michael Moorcock

The Mad God's Amulet by Michael Moorcock is the second book in the History of the Runestaff series. It documents Hawkmoon's journey back to the Kamarg.
During the journey, Hawkmoon and Oladahn meet the wraiths that inhabit the city of Soryandum. They appear later in the Chronicles of Count Brass but it was great to read about Hawkmoon's first meeting with them. They are a people with very advanced science that allows them to exist in another dimension. They send Hawkmoon and Oladahn on a short quest to retrieve two machines of theirs that they left in a cave guarded by a giant beast machine (also of their creation). While they do successfully bring back the machines, this quest almost spells the end for Hawkmoon. Once they have the machines, the wraiths are able to take Soryandum into the other dimension with them to hide from the invading Granbretanians. Before doing so, they give the second machine to Hawkmoon.
Hawkmoon and Oladahn later secure passage on The Smiling Girl to get to Crimea. The plan is to go from there to the Kamarg. During the journey, they find and rescue a shipwrecked D'Averc and are then attacked by a boat belonging to the Cult of the Mad God. After a long, hard battle, Hawkmoon, Oladahn and D'Averc steal the Cult's ship. Upon searching through the stolen treasure on the ship, they find a severed hand upon which is Yisselda's ring. This, of course, worries Hawkmoon.
The trio are also able to take one of the Cult pirates hostage during all of this. When they later go to check on him, they find him lucid and wondering what has happened. Apparently, the pirates have all been continually drugged into attacking ships and looting them in order to bring the spoils back to the Mad God. The sailor, now sober, tells Hawkmoon that all women captured were to be brought back to the Mad God alive. Upon hearing this, Hawkmoon decides to find the Mad God and hopefully Yisselda.
I do not want to go into more detail than this or give away any more of the story so will stop here. I don't want to spoil it for anyone that plans to read it.
One of the things I like most about these stories is the moral dilemmas that continually pop up. Hawkmoon often has to make a decision regarding the life of another. There are also characters that flip-flop between helping Hawkmoon and harming him (i.e. D'Averc). It all keeps you on your toes as a reader and I thoroughly enjoy it.
I cannot decide if I will move on to The Sword of the Dawn (the third book in the series) or read Elric of Melnibone next. I may take a break from the Runestaff stories for a book or two but will then come back to them if I do.

The Jewel in the Skull by Michael Moorcock

Believe it or not, I was going to take a break from Moorcock and read another story before I started the History of the Runestaff series. I picked up a few different books and started them but I kept wanting to know what happened before the Chronicles of Count Brass series. Then I picked up The Jewel in the Skull just to look at the table of contents. This is when I saw on the left page:

This book is dedicated to Dave Brock

and it was over. I had to read it.
For those of you that don't know, Dave Brock is a member of the legendary Hawkwind...who happens to be a band that I love. Moorcock was friends with the band and even collaborated with them on some tracks. Their album, The Chronicle of the Black Sword is entirely based on Moorcock's Elric character.
So I'm sorry dear readers (all 2 of you) but it's more Michael Moorcock for now. Get used to it.
This story begins with our old friend Count Brass. While out patrolling the Kamarg (his homeland) he comes across a horrifying creature known as a baragoon. These creatures were once men but were taken as slaves by the previous guardian of the Kamarg and transformed in his laboratories and used to terrorize the people of the Kamarg. Moorcock describes them as "eight feet high and enormously broad, bile-colored and slithering on their bellies through the marshlands; they rose only to leap upon and rend their prey with their steel-hard talons. When they did, on occasion, have the good fortune to find a man alone they would take slow vengeance, delighting in eating a man's limbs before his eyes." Count Brass slays the beast of course but even he finds it difficult to kill.
Being the first book in the History of the Runestaff series, we learn much about the history and lands inhabited by Count Brass, Yisselda, Dorian Hawkmoon, and the rest. It was easy to figure out that Granbretan was a future (and possibly other dimensional) Great Britain. However I don't remember knowing that the Kamarg is part of what was once France and that Köln is located in Germany. Perhaps Köln is Cologne but I'm not sure if the Kamarg would correspond to any place in our world.
I found the imagery in this book to be amazing. The bullfight early on in the book was filled with colorful scenery and even more colorful toreadors. In my imagination, the bullfights rivaled any extravagance shown in the recent Hunger Games movies (no, I have not read the books but I've enjoyed the films). We also meet the King-Emperor Huon, an ancient man who lives within a globe of milky white fluid. I get the feeling that his voice was actually not a voice but was telepathic. However, I don't believe this is stated in the book...just my own feeling on the matter.
There is an amazing array of characters within Granbretan and I want to know more and more about them all. Throughout the story, we are told a bit more about the various orders within Granbretan. The bulls, serpents, wolves, etc. Each order has a leader who is typically either insane, outrageously flamboyant in dress/armor, or both. The inhabitants of Granbretan spare no expense and torture and enslave all they conquer.
This book was a great read and I plan to start The Mad God's Amulet (Book 2) tonight.
As a bonus, here is Michael Moorcock performing with Hawkwind on their song Sonic Attack. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday, William Hope Hodgson!

Today is the 137th birthday of one of my favorite writers, William Hope Hodgson. Although he died in the trenches of World War I, he has been immortalized by his contributions to the genre of Weird Fiction.
To read some of this stories for free online, check out eBooks@Adelaide. For a ton of his stories in a great looking book at an affordable price, check out his volume in the Centipede Press Library of Weird Fiction.
So far on this blog, I've only wrote about The Night Land and The House on the Borderland but plan to write about some of this other stories in the future so stay tuned.

The Quest for Tanelorn by Michael Moorcock

The Quest for Tanelorn is the 3rd and last book in the Chronicles of Count Brass series by Michael Moorcock. As I stated in my post on Count Brass, this series is a continuation of The History of the Runestaff series also by Moorcock.
This story begins where The Champion of Garathorm left off. Dorian Hawkmoon is reunited with his wife Yisselda but still does not have their two children. Hawkmoon and Yisselda yearn for their children and begin to look for them. The remainder of the book concerns this adventure.
I loved the voyage to Tanelorn and everything that happened along the way but I particularly enjoyed the story once the travellers reached their destination. The city of Tanelorn itself is described as a beautiful, psychedelic city. Even the battle leading up to the actual discovery of the city is something out of an LSD trip.
In researching more about Moorcock and the Multiverse mythology, I discovered multiverse.org. This is a site I'm sure I will be perusing often in the coming months.
I cannot yet decide if I want to read the Elric series or The History of the Runestaff series next but I can't wait to read more of these stories.

The Champion of Garathorm by Michael Moorcock

Michael Moorcock is steadily becoming one of my favorite Sword & Sorcery writers. His stories are not only full of awesome characters but he also spends lots of time building a world that is fascinating and full of imaginative creatures. If you enjoy this genre, you will most certainly love his books.
The Champion of Garathorm begins where Count Brass left off. Dorian Hawkmoon is having an extremely hard time coping with the death of his wife Yisselda. He has descended into madness, playing out in miniature the battle that caused her demise. He plays the battle out over and over with different actions to see if he could have prevented her death.
Dorian believes that she is alive in another time or dimension. He feels her presence. He becomes convinced that he can find her and bring her back to his world. This is where things get interesting.
Dorian is visited by Katinka van Bak, a badass woman with sword fighting skill to rival kings. He convinces her to help him find Yisselda and the two leave on a quest that will change Dorian forever.
The rest of the book is filled with deception, intrigue and brutal battles. Much of the book takes place on the island continent of Garathorm. It is a beautiful place full of trees and buildings made of ebony, ivory, and hardwoods (some now extinct). I found this continent fascinating and want to know more, more, more...
This story also contained something that is rare in Sword & Sorcery fiction...women warriors. These were not your typical storied women that let the men do the fighting while they cower in a stable or end up getting overpowered by the males and have to be saved. These women were champions. These women were every bit as powerful as the men. It was refreshing.
Here is one of my favorite excerpts regarding some of these women:

     Though she now bled from a dozen minor cuts and grazes, Ilian was tireless. She unhorsed one rider with a blow of her buckler and in the same movement swept her sword round to take a green-furred dwarf through the roof of his gaping mouth so that the point ran deep into his brain. As the dwarf fell, Ilian twisted the sword from his corpse in time to parry an axe which had been thrown at her by a warrior in purple armour whose pointed steel teeth clashed as he tried to draw back his arm to thrust at her with the lance he held in his other hand. Ilian leaned out in her saddle and sliced the hand from the wrist so that fist and spear dropped to the ground. The stump, spouting blood, continued the motion of casting the spear and only then did the warrior with the steel teeth realise what had happened to him and he moaned. But Ilian was riding past him, to where one of her girl warriors stood over the corpse of her dead vayna desperately trying to ward off the blows of three men with reptilian skins (but who were otherwise dressed dissimilarly) who were determined to slay her. Ilian clove the skull of one reptile man, smashed another unconscious so that he fell backward across his horse's rump, and pierced the heart of the last, clearing a way for the girl who darted her a quick smile of gratitude before picking up her flame-lance and running for an open doorway.
     And then Ilian was in the square with a score of her warriors at her back and she called out jubilantly:
     'We are through!'
     Men on foot came running from every house then, those who had not taken part in the cavalry charge, and soon Ilian was surrounded again.
     And soon Ilian was laughing again, as life after life was extinguished by her sparkling sword.

As this is the second book in the Chronicles of Castle Brass series, you'll want to read the first story, Count Brass, before starting this one. You really should though...it's an amazing story.