Elric: Song of the Black Sword (Eternal Champion Series, Vol. 5)

Rating:
Summary: An Experiance with the Anti-Hero
Review: Being my first adventure with Elric, an incarnation of the Eternal Champion, I was quite perplexed by Moorcocks approach to dark fantasy.

This book, Song of the Black Sword, contains three full length original Elric novels with the addition of three short stories that would most definetly become a burden to collect. Just having so much out of print or hard to find literature in one novel is well worth the price alone.

The most interesting aspect of these books for myself was not the massive genocide Elric commits with Stormbringer or the bizarre adventures he physically and metaphysically sets foot on , but the strong development of Elric himself.
He has changed the way that I view fantasy with such a dark hero.

Rating:
Summary: Essential Moorcock, a must-read
Review: I first became aware of Moorcock's work through the songs he had written with Hawkwind and Blue Oyster Cult, although I was not a sci-fi fan of any great proportion (and still am not, even as of this late date). But when I first spotted this omnibus edition in Borders, and having been familiar with the tale from Hawkwind's album "The Chronicle of the Black Sword," I knew I needed to familiarize myself with the stories themselves.

And I don't regret having done so. Elric is one of Moorcock's best-known, and best-drawn, characters; and although these stories utilize the unhappy ending, that is a much more realistic approach than "they all lived happily ever after." Moorcock's universe doesn't work that way.

Furthermore, none of these tales goes on too long. You want Elric to succeed, even though there's no payoff for him, as he is doomed to continue searching for Tanelorn, and to be more slave than master to Stormbringer. These tales made me want to read more of Moorcock's work--to date, I have read one third of the Eternal Champion series, and I intend to read the rest. You should do so as well. It's worth the time spent, as well as the money.

Rating:
Summary: The Quintessential Dark Fantasy Saga
Review: Lovers of dark fantasy, look no further than Michael Moorcock's Elric. He is a hero for the modern age, constantly wrestling with his own morality and resigned to his fate at the hands of forces beyond his control. Elric is by no means an anti-hero, on the contrary he is a realisticly tragic hero. His actions are governed by a complex ethical code that may, at times, lead him to acts of revenge, deception and treachery, but he is also capable of risking all for a worthy cause. Real life is rarely black and white and Elric's decisions reflect the complexity created by this terrible truth.

Throughout the book the irresistable temptation of the power that Elric wields drives him to commit terrible atrocities, sometimes for good, sometimes for ill. However, what makes Elric a hero is the fact that he never stops searching for the unattainable goal of a truly peaceful exsistence.

For a time he even manages to achieve that pipe dream, but the moment is fleeting and h! e is called, once again, by the forces of destiny to assume the mantle of the world destroyer.

Anti-hero? No. Tragic hero? Defintely.

Rating:
Summary: As good as LotR, if not better
Review: My favourite story in the Song of the Black Sword was the first one, Elric of Melnibone. It was so interesting. There was always something new that the author adds to keep on saturating your mind.

For all fantasy fans, read this book along with the rest of the Eternal Champion series.

Rating:
Summary: Still the greatest!
Review: There is nothing much I could say that has not already been said by previous reviewers. I simply am taking this oppurtunity to say that as this is the fourth Eternal Champion novel I've read, it is by far the best in a fantastic ongoing saga. A must read for any dark fantasy fan.

Rating:
Summary: A amazing piece of work
Review: This is one of the best dark fantasy books that I have ever read. It has love, death, demons, and magic. It kept me intuged the entire time. And very few books have done that. This book suceeds in taking the reader not only to a different time and place once but in fact it does several times. It will take the reader and the hero through diffrent dimenions. The storyline is very intersting. The book is also gory and pretty precise in its voilence and gore. The demon callings where also very intresting. And how it captures the way the characters look in the book is very nice. There is onl yone problem I had with this. Is that you have to buy another book to cotitnue with Elric's story. It really just leaves you there saying, "now what?" I have yet to read or even find this book. But all in all this book was a fantastic adventure.

Rating:
Summary: The genesis of Dark Fantasy...
Review: What can I say about this pioneering work in the Field of Fantasy, except that Micheal Moorcock deserved to win(and did) the British Fantasy award for all five books when they came out. And now you have the chance to buy these books in one collectors edition, this is not something that you should miss out on...nor should you forget that this is still part of a larger textured world known as the Eternal Champion Series, each volume as devastatingly brilliant as the one who brought them to their well deserved recognition.

Rating:
Summary: Still the best
Review: What can I say except that I was a bit disappointed by this part of the legendary Elric saga. In the UK and the rest of Europe this omnibus is available under the name "Elric of Melnibone" and contains the same stories Americans read in this "Song of the Black Sword". I've read my share of books, predominantly fantays and history. This is my first review here. Interesting to see how my views differ from a previous reviewer Mr. Battaglia. I'll go by step by step.

Elric of Melnibone: Good and interesting intro to the saga. Not overly impressive though 7,5 out of 10.

Fortress of the Pearl: Reasonable story of Elric as a fellow dreamthief. The Lady Oone was what made this story bearable, it was otherwise pretty poor. 6,5 out of 10.

Sailer on the Seas of Fate: Easily the worst tale in this omnibus. It was too vague and the magic didn't impress me at all, no not even the short appearance of Corum Jhaelen Irsei, who will be known to Moorcock fans from his other trilogy. 5 out of 10. The enemy was a poorly written one and the internal struggle was not clear.

Dreaming City: Catastrophical chapter for Melnibone. Terrible ending, the only moment in this entire book when I was touced by what happened. 7,5 out of 10

While the God's laugh: Quality goes down yet again. The struggle within Elric is yet again poorly written. Many superlatives but little actual info. The quest was mediocre. 6 out of 10

The singing citadel: Much better. Appearance of the supreme Chaos Lord Arioch. That always does a lot for the story. I also liked the intro with the queen and her sex enslaved pet wizard Theleb Ka'arna. 7 out of 10.

All in all, certainly not a bad book but I'd expected much more from this often recommended series. Doesn't come close to Lord of the Rings, or Martin's Song of Ice and Fire if you must compare it to something.

However, there are some strong points. Although the internal struggle Elric is supposed to go through is extremely weak in my humble opinion, there's the interesting matter of him being the last in a great and powerful line of sorcerer emperors. There's Elric being such a remarkable character with his long white hair, crimson eyes and his length. There's the intro to his incredible black Runeblade Stormbringer and there's sometimes the appearance, just a hint of the power of the Lords of Chaos in the form of Arioch (great name by the way). And some romances are well done. But like Zelazny's Amber series , there's so much more Moorcock could have done with magic and his characters. Especially the magic is too vague and unless the power of the Chaos Lord is shown, it lacks grandeur. It has it's little inconsistencies, for instance regarding his Red ring of emperor's , the Actorios, which then he does, and then he doesn't need in order for him to be able to use magic.

Note however that the second omnibus, available here under the name "Stormbringer", is about better this one. It contains two stories that are arguably the best Elric tales ever, Stealer of Souls , Stormbringer and Revenge of the Rose. But you need an intro before you can read that one, and that would be "Song of the Black sword".

Rating:
Summary: The first half of the Elric saga
Review: What to say, what to say... the Elric saga is one of the most excellent fantasy series ever written. This is the first part, composed of the first three books, excluding Fortress of the Pearl, which was written after the six-book saga was completed. Nevertheless, it fits smoothly.

Elric of Melnibone - The flawless beginning of the saga. Elric of Melnibone introduces its namesake, his best friend Dyvim Tvar, his lover Cymoril, and his competent cousin Yyrkoon. This is, obviously, the first true advancement into the story; but as I mentioned before, it is flawless.

The Fortress of the Pearl - A sidestory, taking place between Elric of Melnibone and the Sailor on the Seas of Fate. Not as good as the other installments in the series, but a gem nonetheless.

The Sailor on the Seas of Fate - Split into three seperate, overall unrelated stories. Of course, all three fit into the current storyline, but each can be considered a seperate adventure. The first introduces Hawkmoon, Erekose, and Corum, three of the other incarnations of the Eternal Champion. The next two tell of Elric's adventures with Smiorgan and Duke Avan.

The Dreaming City - The conclusion to the plot that was set up through the entire first book (Elric of Melnibone). To say any more would spoil and excellent plot twist. Also, to mention, this is the first part of Weird of the White Wolf, the third book in the Elric Saga.

While the Gods Laugh - The second part of Weird. Here Elric meets Shaarilla, the wingless woman of Myrrh. Also, in this story, Elric meets Moonglum, his most faithful companion, and the one who stayed with the albino warrior the longest. An excellent story, simply put.

The Singing Citadel - Elric's first meeting with his long-lasting enemy (from this point on), the sorcerer and servant to Chaos, Theleb K'aarna. Here Elric also meets Yishana, who appears once more in the future Elric stories. The third installment in Weird.

My final word: Read it, read it, read it!