Why do people read sci-fi/fantasy
novels, or watch sci-fi/fantasy movies? Why do we read these stories
or watch this type of movies despite knowing they are not real? Many explanations attempt to answer this question. The most common
explanation says, sci-fi/fantasy provides us a way to escape from the
real life, into an unlimited world where anything is possible and a
story that fulfills our notion of “what things ought to be”.
Personally, I do not think “escapism”
can fully explain why people like sci-fi/fantasy. In fact, equating
sci-fi/fantasy with escapism seems to be a gross simplification failing to encompass the full complexity of the human experience. The
truth is, people like sci-fi/fantasy for many different reasons, and
escapism is only one of these many reasons.
Storytelling is an integral part of
humanity. Since the dawn of time, our ancestors have been telling
stories to help them understand themselves and the world, and most of
these stories have fantastic elements. For examples, ancient,
classical stories such as The Iliad, The Epic of Gilgamesh,
Beowulf, The Norse sagas, The Arthurian legend
(I would also say parts of the Bible, but I don't want a
religious argument here) etc..., all have fantastic elements that
under today's definition could be categorized as “fantasy”. In
fact, modern fantasy authors draw inspirations from these ancient
classics to tell new stories. This means the blanket description,
“fantasy is escapist entertainment”, will also render these
ancient stories as escapist entertainment, an assessment that many
people, including myself, will strongly disagree with.
Take The Iliad for example. In
Homer's epic, the story of Achilles is a tragic tale about vanity. A
vanity that was symbolized by Achilles' fantastic, supernatural
strength. In other words, in the arts of storytelling, using
fantastic, unreal story elements is a highly effective way at
communicating powerful reflections on the realism for the human
condition. I believe this applies to modern fantasy stories as well
(the quality ones at least). This is one of the reasons why I love
fantasy fictions, because I find a good fantasy story moves me deeper
than a non-fantasy story. For me, fantasy fictions is not just
escapist entertainment. While fantasy fictions is entertaining, but I
value it as a creative way to exploring life from different
perspectives, as well as a mirror reflecting what it means to be human.
I am not a novelist or an artist, and
certainly not an expert in this field. I am just a fan of fantasy
fictions who took some time to ponder on this question and offering
my humble opinion in a piece of writing. I only hope my
little rant here can spark people's interest in this topic, or promote further discussions,
even if a reader disagrees with my assessment (which I am perfectly happy with).
Does my rant above have anything to do
with the book I will be reviewing? Yes, certainly. Today, I will like
to review a book called Swords and Roses. This is the 6th,
and the final installment in Del Rey's republication for Elric of
Melnibone saga, authored by Michael Moorcock. The character of
Elric of Melnibone first appeared in 1960s as an antithesis to
Tokienian novels and its derivatives. Today, Elric mythos is deemed
one of the most influential works in modern fantasy. Without further
delay, allow me to share my thoughts about Swords and Roses.
Synopsis:
Stormbringer, a cursed, sentient sword, glows with black radiance as it cuts through the air. Its sharp edge sings a song of death, cleaving its enemy from the
shoulder to the breast, draining the soul from the body, then feeding
the stolen energy to its wielder, an albino warrior named Elric of
Melnibone.
Powered by the stolen vitality, a
battle lust seizes Elric and he treads the battleground as a hungry
wolf hunting among easy preys. In Elric's hand, Stormbringer rose and
fell, carving a crimson path decorated with the mortal remains of
Elric's enemies, on their deathly pale faces froze streaks of angry
tears mixed with horror and grief. Tears shed by Elric's enemies at
the moment of their passing, as their souls were being devoured by Elric's vampiric sword.
This is the life for Elric of
Melnibone, champion eternal, and the bane of the black sword. His
life is trapped inside Stormbringer, a blade of horror, despair and
destruction untold. The forces of Law guides him, and the wills of
Chaos molds him, to be a decisive intervention in a game of
mulitverse where law and chaos strive for a cosmic balance.
Will Elric ever find deliverance from
his weird?
My thoughts on this book:
Swords and Roses is the 6th,
and the final book in Del Rey's republication for Elric saga.
This book collects 3 Elric stories. The first story is a full length
novel titled “The Revenge of the Rose”, which consists of
3 novellas/parts connected by an overarching plot. In this story,
Elric reunited with the apparition of his dead father, who sent Elric
on a mission to retrieve a rosewood box containing his soul. Elric's
mission took him on a journey across multiverse, where Elric met a
cast of intriguing characters whose own ambitions aligned with
Elric's own. The Revenge of the Rose differs radically from
other Elric stories in the settings. In turn, the writings signal a
hint at humor. This story brings refreshment to Elric mythos.
However, I found the story's pace too slow. As a result, I could not
maintain an interest in this story and struggled to finish reading
it. In fact, I felt a sense of relief when I finished reading The
Revenge of the Rose, and this is not a good sign.
The second story collected in this
book, is a screenplay called Stormbringer.
This is a screenplay for a proposed Elric movie. This story is very
similar to a novella called Eternal Champion, which appeared
in To Rescue Tanelorn, the 2nd book in the series.
I think a movie based on this screenplay would have been a good
introduction to Moorcock's fictional universe of Eternal Champion.
Having said this, while the plot in this screenplay does hit readers
with an interesting twist, but in comparison to other classic Elric
stories, this screenplay doesn't stand out as a particularly good
Elric yarn but ranks somewhere in the lower to the middle range.
Finally, the third story to appear in
this book is a novella titled “Black Petals”. I absolutely
loved this novella! Black Petals is, in my opinion, the best
story in this book, and certainly one of the best stories in Elric
mythos. In Black Petals, Elric, together with his friend
Moonglum, journeyed to a strange land in search for a legendary
flower called “Black Anenome”, whose medicinal property was
supposed to cure Elric's natural deficiency. Elric thought if his
natural weakness could be cured, then he can finally cease to rely on
his cursed and vampiric sword, Stormbringer. Black Petals
features one of the most vivid depictions for Elric's character,
where his inner struggles were portrayed hauntingly and powerfully.
Apart from a successful characterization, Black Petals is also
a fast-paced story, achieving a perfect mixture between action,
suspense, horror and mystery. This story gripped me from the
beginning right to the end, and I was sorry to see it finish when I
reached the final page.
Overall, while the first two stories
collected in Sword and Roses left much to be desired, but
Black Petals, the third novella in this book, is a ripping
yarn (in fact, I feel like re-reading Black Petals again). I
would say the excellence of Black Petals alone made this
entire book worth a read, and this story certainly ended Del Rey's
republication for Elric mythos with a huge bang. After reading all 6
books in this series, the gloomy, haunting saga of Elric of
Melnibone left a deep impression on my living memory. I really
enjoyed reading this saga. As I mentioned in my review for The Stealer of Souls, the dark and tragic nature of Elric saga may
not suit everyone's taste. However, if you are a serious fan of
fantasy fictions and don't mind dark stories, then I whole heartily recommend Elric of Melnibone to you.
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