The Michaelverse
Everyone could use a little Moorcock in their lives.
Background
As some of you may know, I sometimes tend to fall down the proverbial rabbit hole. I tend to notice the domino effect that one single moment can have on my life and the myriad effects that henceforth emerge years later.
You may have read my article on the first Witcher Book. The following all occurred from a single origin point just months before the onset of the Covid-19 Pandemic.
YouTube, is the origin of most rabbit holes I find; I was browsing and found a video discussing the Legacy of Kain / Soul Reaver series. I’d been wondering for years what the plot was, and now I was finally getting the lowdown. But in the middle of all that, they mentioned a character and author I’d never heard of…
Michael Moorcock’s Elric of Melnibone, a doomed hero granted great strength, but at a terrible price. I was immediately intrigued and began a bit of research into the character; eventually leading down two paths, one that led to the reading, watching, and playing of the Witcher Series, and the other, my current fixation.
Michael Moorcock’s Tale of the Eternal Champion
Built over literal decades, Michael Moorcock did first, what many companies and publishers would strive to do (and still attempt to do so) today; he created a Multiverse.
Without getting into specifics (something I Intend to do at a much later date) I will lay out the absolute basics:
There is a multiverse, full of wildly different worlds, some similar to our own, and others demonstrably different. Across this expanse there are two sides in conflict with one another: Law/Order/Stability, and Chaos/Disorder/Change. These two forces take forms that many would see as good and evil at first glance, but sometimes those on the side of Law are doing more harm than good, and other times Change is what is needed to free the world.
The multiverse is always in a state of flux, but in the end, there must be someone to bring balance to these warring forces. Moorcock thus came up with the idea of the “Eternal Champion” a hero that would seek to balance the equation of the multiverse, to bring harmony to the discordant realms. This champion would be manifest at various times, in a variety of forms, in multitudinous worlds.
There are some constants, and more than a few coincidences between the lives of some “Aspects” (Variants) of the Eternal Champion, often a doomed fate, a sidekick, a romantic interest, and some artifact or weapon (that may be the same weapon but at a different point in time, or even a different shape.) Moorcock does not focus on any one genre, and some of these stories take the form of Science Fiction, Dark Fantasy, Picaresque, Romance, Gothic and much more. As such, there are many stories, characters, and books with which to read, and due to the nature of the publishing, many entry points all over.
Moorcock’s suggestion would be the Von Bek Novels (Something I now can agree with) following a family that is integral to understanding the nature of the multiverse. I found myself beginning with arguably the most famous aspect of the Eternal Champion, the Doomed Albino Emperor, Elric of Melnibone.
Elric’s First (Chronologically)
Michael Moorcock was a prolific writer in his younger days, sometimes writing an entire novel a day, or in one case an entire trilogy in a span of a week. But the stories, are not always presented, or written in standard chronological order. Many early works were short stories submitted to various fantasy (and science fiction) magazines. In the case of Elric, his first tale “In the Dreaming City” was the first to be written. At the time Moorcock had not planned to fill in the prior adventures of this character, but some 11 years later, that is precisely what he did. This is the case with many of his characters, but especially so for Elric. For my own sanity’s sake, I decided to try reading in Chronological Order.
Plot
Our story begins with Elric, a bored, frail, and contemplative Emperor of a dying Empire. The Melnibonean empire exists in another world in a distant age, where humanity still finds its footing amongst ancient races. The Melniboneans are cruel, vindictive, indulgent, and violent. They value beauty and power.
Unfortunately for our Protagonist, Elric, he represents all that the Melniboneans disdain. His father had foregone the ancient traditions of sacrificing brides, instead finding a mate with which to spend his days. This ended in tragedy when the birth of Elric caused his mother's death. To further shade his people's opinion, Elric was born an Albino, and in such a weak state that even today he still requires a mixture of herbs and potions to even move his arms.
By heredity, he inherited the throne, so while he is the rightful ruler, he embodies none of the characteristics desired by his subjects. Elric is constantly reminded of this fact by his own cousin Yyrkoon, a true paragon of Melnibonean Culture, whose desire for the throne is rivaled only by his desire for his own sister.
Following a rather typical celebration, Elric joins his cousin, and would-be bride Cymoril for a horse ride, and a little “action” in a cave. Cymoril remarks that it feels like this may be their final moments of peace and freedom. Upon returning home Elric is informed of a spy who provides information that an army intends to invade Imrryr (The Capital of the Empire).
Elric begrudgingly suits up and prepares for battle. Employing a bit of tactical prowess, Elric and his men are able to defeat the invaders after luring them into a trap. At the end of the engagement, Yyrkoon takes this moment to attempt murder upon the Pale Emperor. As Elric’s drugs begin to wear off, Yrkoon pushes him off the edge of the boat. As he descends, Elric recalls some sorcery that summons Straasha, a God of the Seas, saving his life and setting his plans for revenge in motion.
Upon making his return to the court of Melnibone, Elric finds Yrkoon sitting comfortably on the Ruby Throne. He hat usurped the power base and immediately began to make changes, which made Elric’s stomach churn. The Albino Emperor asserts his claim to the throne having Yrkoon thrown in a cell, and his turncoat captain sentenced to be cooked and served to his traitorous cousin.
Unfortunately, this was but a momentary victory as much of the Melnibonean Army still held loyalty to Yrkoon and soon the Traitor absconds with his sister to a distant land.
Elric is left in despair with no choice but to call upon his sorcerous powers to try and find his fleeing cousin. Thus he engages in a dark ritual to summon aid from the ancient Gods of Chaos that once served the lords of Melnibone in the past. After nearly killing himself from exertion Chaos Lord Arioch is summoned before Elric. Taking the form of a young and beautiful man of light, Arioch agrees to help our hero if he pledges to serve him dutifully.
He is told to call upon Straasha for the boat that travels on sea and land as it will be the only way to reach the land now held by Yyrkoon.
Yrkoon has taken over land with a giant magic mirror on top of its castle. This is how he has evaded detection for such a long time. It pulls in the memories of all who would see it, leaving them as husks.
Elric devises a plan to attack Yyrkoon’s fortress, he will have his army cover their eyes and advance on the enemy. This is successful and eventually as the army invades, Yrkoon resorts to shattering the mirror in an attempt to drive all the men insane. In the end, only handful of Elric’s men remain alive.
As he enters the Tower Elric finds Cymoril in a sorcerous slumber, cursed to sleep, with no way of waking unless undone by Yrkoon, the caster. Elric convenes with Arioch and learns that his cousin has gone to another plane to find the ancient Melnibonean blades… Stormbringer and Mournblade. Elric opens the Shade Gate to then find one of these weapons and fight his crazed cousin.
Making his way through demented and strange lands he meets an archer in crimson clothing… the aptly named Rackhir the Red Archer, a man that once served the chaos gods as a warrior priest, and was banished to this plane. He intends to quest for the mythical paradise city of Tanelorn. He and Elric fight off a creature named frank, and eventually find their way to the fleshy maw that holds the two cursed blades. Yrkoon wields Mournblade, and Elric gains his legendary blade Stormbringer. While his cousin falls prey to the spirit within his weapon, Elric proves far stronger and can maintain his composure. The blade provides him much needed strength that would otherwise only come from his drugs.
The two engage in an epic swordfight that ends with Yrkoon surrendering. The two men return home with Rackhir in tow, and Cymoril is revived. When contemplating all the events that he has experienced, Elric feels the need to see more of the world in an attempt to gain greater perspective. He relents that Yrkoon would be a better leader, and though Cymoril is his love, he takes his leave, intending to return in time. Rackhir joins and the pair sail away toward the Young Kingdoms.
Review
The book I read (pictured above) is the latest collected version of the Elric Novels. A further downside to such a prolific career and relative obscurity, is an irregular publishing history. It can be VERY difficult to track down the stories, and as stated above, the reading order is rather… nebulous. If you plan to start with Elric, the most recent (and comprehensive) publishing of the Elric stories is available from Saga Press. Presented in 4 Volumes, each contains a “mostly” chronological reading order. If you start with Volume 1, you get the “First” story, followed by the “sequel” written twenty years later. The further volumes collect every story to date including the brand new stories penned by Moorcock just this past year.
I very much enjoyed reading this story. I did not expect Elric to be portrayed as he was, being very contrary to his people. He ponders the morality of things in his world, and doesn't agree with many things that his people do. Of course when it comes to revenge on Yrkoon he goes very savage, as one would expect for someone of his society.
There are many cool aspects introduced, such as the “Lords of Chaos” and worldbuilding about magic and dream-couches etc. The concept of a weapon that provides power but thirsts for blood is very interesting, even making me recall an old DND campaign from college featuring a cursed sword. Things did not end well for my Tiefling sorcerer in that situation.
Yrkoon is clearly pure evil and is quite hateable, and Cymoril is… fine, but it is still strange to ship cousins as a romantic interest, even moreso considering Yrkoon intentions. Other characters such as Arioch have less time to shine, however Arioch is one not bound just to this story or Elric. Dyvim Tvar is the keeper of the Dragons, and he is one of the few allies that Elric has, though he worries about Elric relying too much on the power of Chaos. Elric proves himself to be a competent anti-hero, and the premise for his character is very compelling. He now begins a journey that will change him in many ways. I’ve finished the first third of Elric’s second adventure that takes a far different tone than the first story, this being the result of decades of growth and changes to Moorcock’s writing style.
For the Multiverse outside of just Elric, I’ve already gone and read the First Corum novel (The Knight of Swords), which is an excellent revenge story, and I’ve also finished the first Von Bek story a very Milton-esque tale. If you’re interested in this VAST series, or even just the author himself, Either This first Elric Novel, or The Von Bek Novels would absolutely be great places to start. There are stories in such a wide variety of genres, that you’ll be very likely to find at least one that piques your interest.