The Sword and Sorcery genre has been a bit neglected by me (other than a bit of Howard's Conan). Thus, this was my first encounter with either Moorcock or Elric. I must say that I will be coming back! It would seem that because many read Elric in their youth, the books are deemed as being for youths only—something adults should not be reading, or should be embarrassed at reading in public. I suppose we should read Dan Brown instead... I was delighted at how well written Elric of Melnibone was!
This novel made me want to get my hands on the Finnish "Kalevala", which influenced the Elric novels, as it has many other novels. Moorcock has also got me interested in the "Monsieur Zenith" pulp fictions, which he says he drew heavily upon for the creation of Elric. I also will be keeping my eye out for Poul Anderson's "The Broken Sword".
There are quite a few dark themes running here, henceforth Elric as an anti-hero. It will be interesting to see how well he fares, as his conscience has warned him of the Left-Hand path that he is on. I might point out that Arioch is a name with quite a bit of historicity to it in reality.
The imagery and the tale are quite rich and memorable here. I particularly was fond of the Melnibone ships. This is one of those novels that gives you that warm tingle in the gut. Good stuff!
Beware of the horrible power of Elric, who thrown into a leadership role he did not want, has decided to rule like no other!!!
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