Elric Swords and Roses - Michael Moorcock [181]
Of all my generic creations, Elric remains my own favourite. In my literary novels, Mrs. Cornelius (The Cornelius Quartet) and Joseph Kiss (Mother London) are probably closest to my heart, but I love Elric most of all my “eternal champions.” He was not exactly my first-born – the Eternal Champion was conceived in a story I wrote when I was seventeen—but he was the first hero who truly came to life for me and has remained my favourite ever since.
Since I began to write his adventures, Elric has appeared in many graphic-novel versions, and versions of the albino himself have appeared in a number of UK and US comics, including his most recent manifestations in the Michael Moorcock’s Multiverse series from DC and as a pirate chief in a Tom Strong adventure I wrote at Alan Moore’s suggestion. His early escapades are featured in a very good French edition, Elric: The Making of a Sorcerer, published here by Éditions Soleil. At time of writing, the Weitz brothers are developing Elric for Universal studios in Hollywood. There are also audiobooks, figurines, posters and all the usual modern variations of his image, as well as websites, a Hawkwind rock album (and stage show) and role-playing games. There was even an Elric jigsaw puzzle.
Given this sort of exposure, I am surprised that Elric has for me continued to maintain his integrity and with the publication of the last Elric book in the US, The White Wolf’s Son, I resolved to write no more fantasy novels, convinced that I did not want to risk “thinning him out” as I have seen happen to too many of my favourite series heroes. I have laid not only Elric to rest, but also the Eternal Champion. It might be that in future I will write the occasional short story should one occur to me or even produce an idea for another graphic tale. In all the ramifications of my multiverse, of course, the cycle will never end. But as far as novels are concerned, I have written the last one. This omnibus seems as good a place as any to say goodbye to him and to thank old readers for their patronage while hoping new readers will find my moody, ruby-eyed and ivory-skinned creation at the very least entertaining enough to give them a few hours’ enjoyable escape.
ELRIC: A NEW READER’S GUIDE
ELRIC: A NEW READER’S GUIDE
(2009)
by John Davey
ELRIC OF MELNIBONÉ—proud prince of ruins, Kinslayer—call him what you will. He remains, together with maybe Jerry Cornelius, Michael Moorcock’s most enduring, if not always most endearing, character.
The first version of this guide to the many and various Elric publications was adapted from Michael Moorcock: A Reader’s Guide (1991/92), and attempted to provide a title-by-title breakdown of the books together with the omnibuses in which each appeared. While that is still the case this time, there has been such an explosion in Elric collections over the last sixteen years—of which these Del Rey editions are the most recent (and quite possibly the best)—that this version of the guide has had to be rather substantially revamped. It retains its chronological format, but deals with each omnibus as an individual title, rather than including them within the main books’ descriptions.
Elric began life in response to a request from John Carnell, editor of Science Fantasy magazine, for a series akin to Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian stories. What Carnell received, while steeped in sword-and-sorcery images, was something quite different. All in all, nine Elric novellas appeared in Science Fantasy between June 1961 and April 1964. During that time, the first five were collected as The Stealer of Souls (1963). These were later split up and re-collected in, or absorbed into, The Weird of the White Wolf and The Bane of the Black Sword (both 1977) and were also, as a result of this