A Book Review: Elric: In the Dream Realms by Michael Moorcock (Elric of Melnibone #5)

I noticed most iconic, fictional characters share a common trait; a scarred, tragic past.

For examples, Bruce Wayne/Batman's life is shadowed by the tragedy of his parent's death. Harry Potter's destiny is bound to his parents' murder in the hands of an evil sorcerer. Peter Parker carries a sense of guilt for his uncle's death.. so on and so forth. So I have a theory. I think there are two reasons why people like heroes with troubled pasts. Firstly, a troubled past builds a hero's character. Secondly, perhaps the reason why we prefer “heroes with troubled pasts” over "nice guys”, is because being human, we are all dealing with some personal issues, so we resonate better with troubled characters. As I have said, this is just my theory, and perhaps my speculation is not entirely correct. However, it is true that some of the most famous, beloved characters in fictions have tragic pasts. Out of all heroes belonging to this category, Elric Melnibone's past (as well as his future) is perhaps the most tragic and the darkest of all.

British novelist Michael Moorcock created Elric of Melnibone in 1960s as an antithesis to J.R.R Tolkien The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Since then, this character shaped the modern fantasy genre as we know today. I began reading Elric saga, a series of 6 books republished by Del Rey, because I am a fan of the fantasy genre, and I have an interest in the history behind the development of this genre. After reading the first 4 books, I agree Elric of Melnibone is one of the most intriguing, and memorable characters to embrace fantasy fictions. I enjoyed Elric stories immensely. Today, I will like to bring you a review for the 5^th book in Elric saga. It is titled, Elric In The Dream Realms.

Synopsis:

A pale stranger lies on the sandy dirt admist the barren, desert wasteland. This pale stranger nears his death as vitality fled his body. The stranger is Elric of Melnibone, the doomed, self-exiled king of Bright Empire, whose kingdom lives on the edge of extinction. As Elric was about to draw his final breath, his weakening hand clutched Stormbringer, a dreadful, cursed blade upon which would decide the fate of multiverse.

However, Elric of Melnibone would not die this day. A wandering urchin discovered Elric in the desert, and bore his weakened body to the city of Quarzhasaat for resuscitation. The urchin accidentally betrayed Elric's presence to the Lord Gho, an ambitious politician in Quarzhasaat. Gho poisoned Elric, demanding Elric to bring a fabled pearl of legend to exchange the remedy to the poison. Elric has 3 weeks to discover this fabled pearl, or his life is forfeit.

My thoughts on this book:

Elric in the Dream Realms collects 4 Elric stories. Firstly comes a full length novel titled The Fortress of the Pearl. This novel consists of 3 parts/novellas linked by an overarching plot. Chronologically speaking, this story took place in Elric's early life and constitutes to a turning point in Elric mythos. The Fortress of the Pearl explores Elric's psyche before his idealism was crushed. In this story, Elric visited strange and bizarre realms in his dream, each realm is unique and occupied by peculiar residents. The structuring in this novel reminds me of The Divine Comedy. However, while this novel is interesting, but I thought the pacing in The Fortress of the Pearl is very uneven. The narratives in the first part of the story were gripping, but the middle part of the story suffered from a slow paced storytelling. The conclusion in The Fortress of the Pearl however, was very satisfying. Overall, while The Fortress of the Pearl is a good Elric yarn, but the story's uneven pace prevented it from being listed among my favorite Elric stories such as The Sailor on the Seas of Fate, or Elric of Melnibone.

The second story collected in this volume is titled, Elric: The Making of a Sorcerer. This is a script for a graphic novel. Personally, I found Elric: The Making of a Sorcerer is the most enjoyable story in this collection. The story is set in a time before Elric became king and ruled Melnibone from the Ruby Throne. It is a time when Elric was a prince who underwent a series of training sessions to become a sorcerer. This story features Elric's romantic relationship with Cymoril, who was Elric's betrothed. Meanwhile, the story also told Elric's rivalry with his cousin Yrkoon. This story acts nicely as a prequel to Elric mythos, hinting at the darker things yet to come into Elric's life.

Surprisingly, the third story collected in this volume does not feature Elric at all. The title for this story is One Life Finished in Early Moorcock, written by author Neil Gaiman, who is best known for his award winning novels such as American Gods, Stardust, and The Sandman. This is an interesting and creative short story about an estranged school boy who found a sense of belonging and refuge in Elric stories. One Life Finished in Early Moorcock is a moving tale about this boy's love for fantasy fictions and what it meant for him in those years. As with most of Gaiman's writings, he invites his readers to think about the story and the message behind it. My own interpretation for One Life Finished in Early Moorcock, is that we never grow out of the things we love in our youth, and that is where the magic lies eternally.

A Portrait in Ivory is the 4^th story collected in this volume. This is an ethereal, gloomy story that flashes out Elric's inner character. In this story, Elric meets a mysterious lady who wished to carve his likeness into a statue. When the lady finally finished her work, Elric looked into the eyes of the vivid statue of himself, and reflected on how his past has impacted not only himself, but also those around him. A Portrait in Ivory is a very short story, spanning no more than 10 pages. Yet, I think this is one of the most interesting stories in Elric mythos.

I had an interesting reaction when I closed the final page in Elric: In the Dream Realms. You see, the main body in this collection is The Fortress of the Pearl, but I did not enjoy it as much as I did the other three, shorter stories collected in this volume. Overall, I did have a good time reading this book. Most importantly, the stories collected in this book made up vital constituents in Elric mythos. So if you like Elric stories, then make sure to check out this book.