Today's fantasy fictions mostly consist
of two sub-genres; High fantasy and Sword and Sorcery. What is the
main difference between these two? High fantasy, such as The Lord
of the Rings, often tell stories about good versus evil. These
are stories about moral absolutes, grounded in a dichotomous
worldview about right and wrong.
Sword and Sorcery on the other hand,
differs from high fantasy by telling stories lacking a clear
definition between good and evil. Instead, Sword and Sorcery yarns
mostly feature grey characters who face personal struggles instead of
fighting in wars about good versus evil. Speaking from my personal observation, I speculate people who are attracted to Sword and
Sorcery, are the kind of people who are
more interested in ambiguity, realism (not to be confused with reality) and the
philosophy of human conditions.
As an avid fantasy reader and a lover of this genre, I prefer
Sword and Sorcery to high fantasy. In fact, if the genre is only
represented by high fantasy, I probably would have disliked fantasy
altogether. One of the most memorable character in Sword and Sorcery
literature, is Michael Moorcock's invention, Elric of Melnibone,
first published in 1962. Almost 50 years after Elric's birth,
publisher Del Rey republished the entire Elric saga in 6
volumes. These books follow the saga's publication dates instead of
the chronological order for Elric's life. This means the story of
Elric actually ended in volume 1, The Stealer of Souls. In
volume 2, titled To Rescue Tanelorn, it collects stories
featuring Elric's earlier life (I know, this is a very strange way to publish a series of books).
In my previous review for The
Stealer of Souls, I briefly shared why I thought The Stealer
of Souls is both a good book and a monumental turning point in the
history of fantasy fictions. This week, I read To Rescue Tanelorn,
and I would like to share my opinions about it in a review.
Synopsis:
Elric of Melnibone, a frail, doomed
warrior king, wanders the earth in exile. Accompanied by his cursed
and vampiric sword, Stormbringer, Elric seek the meaning for his
existence; what is his purpose in the cosmic struggle between law and
chaos? However, the result of his metaphysical quest is as barren as
a fruitless desert tree. There is only one place in multiverse where may offer Elric peace and tranquility... The fabled city of Tanelorn.
My thoughts on this book:
To Rescue Tanelorn collects a
mixture of stories, and some stories are not about Elric at all. In
fact, Elric made appearances in only 4 stories out of 14 stories in
this book. So what are the other 10 non-Elric stories about? These 10
non-Elric stories introduced readers to Michael Moorcock's theme of
“Eternal Champion” and “multiverse”.
What are these?
Ok, let me provide a brief explanation.
Basically, in Michael Moorcock's fictional universe(s), there exists
the multiverse, but a cosmic struggle for balance, between law and
order (AKA stasis and entropy), rages in each and every universe
within the multiverse. An entity known as “Eternal Champion” is
the key, a central intervention to this cosmic struggle and he
incarnates in every universe. This means, Elric is just one of the
incarnations of Eternal Champion in the multiverse, while he and
“other incarnations” from other universes are essentially one and
the same entity (i.e. they are many but one).
Other than Elric, Michael Moorcock
authored about 70 books, featuring other characters who, like Elric,
are incarnations of Eternal Champion (such as Corum, Hawkmoon etc..).
The theme of “Eternal Champion and multiverse” is a bit complex,
but it is very interesting. It is interesting because instead of a
typical “good versus evil” theme, Eternal Champion cycle
feature a cosmos balance between order and chaos.
Having said this, I must say I found
To Rescue Tanelorn less enjoyable than The Stealer of Souls.
Firstly, the stories in this book vary in quality, where some are
better than the others. Secondly, this book presents a collection of stories disjointedly. For example, one story would feature an incarnation of Eternal Champion in ancient Greece, then the next one will suddenly be set in the 20th century. I think this is
a direct result of Del Rey's decision to present these stories in the
order of their publication dates, instead of linking them together in
the chronological order of Elric's life. This means, as a new
comer to Elric Saga,
Del Reys' presentation confused me greatly. Therefore, for those who
are interested in exploring Elric Saga, I recommend starting
from White Wolf Anthology, a 2-volume set published by White
Wolf Publishing. This set presents the saga in the chronological
order of Elric's life (details for these 2 books can be found in my review for The Stealer of Souls).
However, for those who like Elric
saga, To Rescue Tanelorn is still a valuable book to read.
This book paves the way for readers to broaden their understanding of Moorcock's theme about multiverse. If you read this book, it will help you to better appreciate other Elric stories, especially the ones following this book. I can testify to this, because as I am writing this review, I have already finished reading the next book, The Sleeping Sorceress, and I accredit my immense enjoyment of
it to To Rescue Tanelorn, because
this book established my understanding of Moorcock's
overarching theme.
In other words, while I did not like To
Rescue Tanelorn as much as other Elric books, but I think this is
a good “special features” book providing valuable insight into
Moorcock's works. In my next review, I will share my thoughts on the
next installment in Elric saga, titled The Sleeping
Sorceress. Until then, happy reading.
I inherited the love of the barbarian book character The Weird White Wolf from my elder brother who had the whole collection of Elric of Melnibone books with his blood and soul drinking sword storm-bringer, all of Michael Moorcock's books this particular series are really odd and I enjoyed reading the one I read,and yes I knew it represented the sort of Druidic image unfavourable to many however as a child I still enjoyed the whole doom morbidity of the sole lonely warrior who carries with him an anathema that everyone stays away from or avoids.
ReplyDeleteI think the most transfixing and weirdly compelling book of Elric of Melnibone series is the Sailor Of The Seas Of Fate in which Elric encounters two beings a brother and a sister from another world who were spellbound to a green liquid who also fed on the life forces, it was great reading.
ReplyDeleteI inherited the love of the barbarian book character The Weird White Wolf from my elder brother who had the whole collection of Elric of Melnibone books with his blood and soul drinking sword storm-bringer, of all the Michael Moorcock's books this particular series are really odd and I enjoyed reading the one I read,and yes I knew it represented the sort of Druidic image unfavourable to many however as a child I still enjoyed the whole doom morbidity of the sole lonely warrior who carries with him an anathema that everyone stays away from or avoids.
I think the most transfixing and weirdly compelling book of Elric of Melnibone series is the Sailor Of The Seas Of Fate in which Elric encounters two beings a brother and a sister from another world who were spellbound to a green liquid who also fed on the life forces, it was great reading.