Elric of Melnibone is an otherwise mediocre fantasy book saved from complete obscurity only by its unusual darkness and some tantalizing hints at the awe-inspiring power lurking behind Elric's bone-white face. Some of the credit for the story's appeal also belongs to the character of Elric, who was born an albino and who maintains his strength only by a combination of drugs and sorcery. In Elric's childhood his condition forced him to study, both the ancient grimoires of his family as well as more modern books on ethics from "the Young Kingdoms" (i.e., the humans), and as a result when Elric becomes emperor he reigns not only as the most powerful sorceror in the realm but also as one of the most morally tortured ones, forever wondering whether the reckless cruelty and self-serving depravity of even the best of Melniboneans is good.

Unfortunately this moral conflict is rendered simplistically by Moorcock, often with extended series of rhetorical questions along the lines of, "But what is 'good'? And what is 'right'?" Of course, nobody reads a pulp novel like this to engage in subtle philosophical discussions, so rest assured that Moorcock does eventually get to demons, hell, and soul-devouring black swords. (As a sidenote--if you've read Terry Pratchett, then you will find this book unintentionally hilarious. I didn't find Pratchett's own book particularly funny, but when Elric's black sword started to sing, I could only think about the busybody sword in The Colour of Magic.) The sword-and-sorcery part of Elric of Melnibone is fitfully amusing, but never more. While Moorcock has some cool ideas, they never really get played out to their full potential, and a lot of time is spent on very bad dialogue and random characters.

I think Elric would have been much more fun had I been about ten years younger--the idea of an albino sorceror cutting down his enemies with a shrieking black sword is an all-too-obvious appeal to the twisted fantasies of the adolescent mind. But Elric does not age well, and as an older and more experienced reader of fantasy I found the book an interesting diversion--but nothing more.

Copyright © 2002 Steven Wu