I just think he's neat

[Anonymous No.21791857]

Elric of Melniboné is probably one of my most favorite literary heroes (anti hero, arguably the villain, definitely the protagonist). This moody sadboy puts a smile on my face. He's got a cool sword (with no awful side effects or consequences tied to it's use. Don't look at me.) and he goes on whacky adventures (blood and souls blood and soulsbloodandsoulsbl-).

Does anyone else here like these books? None of my friends do and I'm annoying them by taking about them so much.

[Anonymous No.21791860]

>>21791857
Talking* sorry

[Anonymous No.21791862]

>>21791857
>Does anyone else here like these books?
They are all okay. I've read 6-7 of the novels. I would not go beyond okay. The artwork and the idea of Elric is a lot more interesting than the stories themselves.

[Anonymous No.21791872]

>>21791862
I feel like arguably the greater experience has to include getting into adaptations (mainly comics) and derivative works. The books alone left me somewhat underwhelmed, even frustrated at times with the protagonists actions. Perhaps that's the intent though.
Either way, the story and expanded works have been super inspiring to me as a creative. And also Elric is my, as the kids say, problematic fav

[Anonymous No.21791873]

It was ok for the time it was written in, but now it's hopelessly outmoded by BoTNS, The Deep and ASOIAF.

>>21791862
> The artwork and the idea of Elric is a lot more interesting than the stories themselves.

This 100%

[Anonymous No.21791882]

>>21791873
Don't mind me just yoinking more titles for my reading list.

Elric's always tugged some amazing work out of talented artists. Wendy Pini has a book about when she tried to make an animated film adaptation by herself. I'm an animation major so this absolutely terrifies me but honestly, the cajones it takes to try.
The more recent Titan comic adaptation is breathtaking and changes up some key story elements in a way that's slightly less frustrating than the original.

[Anonymous No.21791889]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p1yaNC1mNg

[Anonymous No.21791939]

>>21791857
The comics are better because moorcuck never thought to make the sword his loving wife.

[Anonymous No.21792031]

>>21791939
Holy shit I was just saying this to my brother earlier and he was getting sick of me pacing the floor like a feral cat at the pound while I talked about themes and why this fits so well.
I like you, anon. You're cool and I think you're neat.

[Anonymous No.21792039]

>>21791872
>I feel like arguably the greater experience has to include getting into adaptations (mainly comics) and derivative works.
The best part is Brom's artwork of Elric.

[Anonymous No.21792049]

>>21792039
I almost kept a library copy of a Brom art book without returning it. I don't remember if I returned or or not actually. Welp, it was some of the best fantasy painting I've seen. I think it actually had Elric on the cover.

[Anonymous No.21792063]

>>21791857
>Woke propaganda
No thx

[Anonymous No.21792067]

>>21792063
Elric is woke? That's news to me

[Anonymous No.21792168]

>>21791857
Recently started his books, finished the first so quickly, I inhaled it. It was both refreshing and packed with lore and worldbuilding. I can't believe it's taken me this long to get to them.

Even the giant 3 hardback volumes are comfy.

[Anonymous No.21792221]

>>21792063
>Slave owning, cousin fucking, imperialist
>Woke
You shouldn't use words you don't understand.

[Anonymous No.21793349]

>>21792168
Yessss I'm so glad you liked them! The first one(chronologically anyway) is such a comfort read for me

[Anonymous No.21793457]

>>21791857
>moor
>cock
i get it

[Anonymous No.21793472]

>>21791857
I think Moorcock and his impact on fantasy literature has been disastrous.

[Anonymous No.21793478]

>>21792067
Moorcock is a literal Marxist feminist. He famously attacked LOTR calling it Nazi propaganda and said Tolkien was a terrible writier for "condoning the bourgeois".

[Anonymous No.21793502]

>>21793457
Chicken farmer ancestors apparently.
You know, sir-names were invented by the state so they could better tax them?

[Anonymous No.21793587]

>>21793472
I'm of a different mind on this, but do tell, I'm curious what you mean
>>21793478
Looks like I've got another rabbit hole to follow. Fantasy author beef.

[Anonymous No.21793681]

>>21792168
>packed with lore and worldbuilding
Imagine thinking this is a good thing. This is why fantasy juvenilia will never be taken seriously.

[Anonymous No.21793764]

>>21793472
You can't blame him for inspiring shit. He set a high bar. Deep fantasy world with broken characters all maintaining the pulp style to ensure any of the books could be read without starting at the beginning.

Terry Pratchett's the only other to achieve this I think.

[Anonymous No.21793775]

>>21793681
>Imagining anybody cares what you think.

[Anonymous No.21793824]

>>21793775
Don't shoot the messenger

[Anonymous No.21793831]

>>21792067
>>21792221
It is full of humanism, feminism and egalitarianism propaganda.
The blond nigger wants to destroy his Reich becausehe thinks it is to evil... yes it is 100% woke propaganda.

[Anonymous No.21793836]

>>21793831
>becausehe thinks it is to evil
Why are proponents of superior races never superior?

[Anonymous No.21793859]

>>21793831
Lolk

[Anonymous No.21793870]

>>21793831
Wow he's just like me!

[Anonymous No.21794392]

>>21793836
I am a 100-iq-Übermensch, what is your problem?

[Anonymous No.21794481]

>>21793831
SOLD. I gotta read this now.

>>21793836
Because it's an impossibility and stupid hubris. Clearly evil.

[Anonymous No.21794702]

>>21793831
I mean, if you read it I'd say Melnibone does some pretty evil junk. I think it's meant to be a critique of the British Empire more than the Nazis or the third reich, but you can probably read those into it too

[Anonymous No.21795118]

>>21793764
It's surreal to me how far the elric sagas reach is without it really breaching thr mainstream (cough cough like the witcher cough)

[Anonymous No.21795731]

[Anonymous No.21795734]

>>21795731

[Anonymous No.21796663]

>>21791857
Have you checked out David Gemmell novels?

[Anonymous No.21797115]

>>21791857
Massively inferior to Howard’s Conan by nearly every metric and especially in prose. The only cool things moorcock ever did was pioneering the albino edgelord aesthetic and inspiring a few good rock albums.

[Anonymous No.21797142]

>>21795734
Yeah iunno this was kind of a retard move

[Anonymous No.21797143]

>>21795734
And then Yyrkoon was vengeful and fucked everything up. Who could have seen it coming!

[Anonymous No.21797167]

>>21791857
Yes. I like them.

[Anonymous No.21797190]

>>21791857
There's a lot of cool shit going on in the Elric series

[Anonymous No.21797351]

>>21794702
>I think it's meant to be a critique of the British Empire
Woke propaganda, as i said

[Anonymous No.21797355]

>>21797351
>edgy imperialist
kys, dumb tory bitch

[Anonymous No.21797367]

>>21797115
Elric is a more coherent world and history. Conan just appears in different places and time with no real explanation other than needing a cool setting.

Love Howard, but Moorcock's clearly a disciple. We can enjoy both.

[Anonymous No.21797685]

>>21796663
I haven't, but thanks for the rec!
>>21797115
That's cool haha
>>21797142
It was and it haunts me. The titan comics kinda make it happen differently, like they imply that Elric's deal with Arioch entailed doing it, which sucks slightly less and doesn't feel like as much of a plot hole.
>>21797167
>>21797190
Yessssssss
>>21797351
Love how it's gotta be propaganda instead of simply not being your taste. That's cool tough.
>>21797367
I feel like Conan and Elric are almost too different to really compare, probably by design since that's supposedly what Moorcock was going for. I love em both though.

[Anonymous No.21797707]

>>21797685
Though* not tough oop

[Anonymous No.21798399]

The new comics making stormbringer a hot yandere monstergirl instead of this goblin is probably the most galaxy brained artistic choice in there so far

[Anonymous No.21799833]

>>21791857
He IS neat but for me, Dorian Hawkmoon will always be my MVP.

[Anonymous No.21799923]

>>21799833
I seriously to get more into hawkmoon. Moorcock ia helping me get back into reading as an adult haha

[Anonymous No.21799964]

>>21792063
There's a shill damage control campaign which depends on deliberately misusing words. It yields a secondary attack, where the lying tranny shill then quotes himself as an example of how "4chan" is wrong.

[Anonymous No.21800092]

>>21799833
Corum of the Silver Hand is a great homage to the celtic stories.

[Anonymous No.21800334]

>>21798399
Why not both? Same way Arioch can be an extremely beautiful man and also a giant fly.

[Anonymous No.21800394]

>>21800092
Oh, like Nuada Airgetlam! :D
>>21800334
Fair point. I'm just partial to cool looking monster girls. I had been imagining such a side to Stormbringer for a while, so when I saw someone else had too, I got pretty excited. I feel like the concept of Stormbringer as a feminine force adds layers to Elric's whole "every woman I love dies" thing specifically by adding "anD MY TOXIC, YANDERE SWORD GF KEEPS KILLING THEM".
Although yes, both is good.

[Anonymous No.21800399]

>>21795118
Off the top of my head:

>Albino protagonist
>Protagonist fits the physical description of Elric identically
>Suffers from a curse that is simultaneously the source of his power.
>On a cosmetic level: ‘Elric of Melniboné’ —> 'Geralt of Rivia’
>Both characters are colloquially named 'The White Wolf’.
>Both characters rely on their herbalism to remain alive, due to the degenerative effect of their respective curses.
>Both characters are a melding of a Warrior and a Sorceror. Often mingling magic with swordplay. It’s worth mentioning that Michael Moorcock’s Elric was arguably the very first to fit this archetype.
>Even the plots of the various stories - with their emphasis on political intrigue, their moral relativism and de-emphasis of 'Evil vs. Good’ - are tonally informed by Moorcock’s Elric series. With many of the messages, and even dialogue often mirroring many of the sentiments of characters in the former.
>Lamentably, I’m not as familiar with Elric as I should be. But I’m already noting some staggering instances of outright plagiaristic excess echoed within The Witcher twenty years later… and I’m only in the first pages of the very first novel.

At any rate, I can’t, in good conscience, acknowledge the legitimacy of this video game series, given its suspect origins. Fun games can be made from stolen material, just like anything else. It doesn’t mollify the despicable nature of the act.

Particularly when one considers Andrzej Sapkowski’s refusal to even acknowledge the similarities publicly. It bespeaks a guilty conscience, and essentially betrays the truth of the matter.

[Anonymous No.21800621]

>>21792031
damn I wish I had a brother who paced around talking about books

[Anonymous No.21800638]

>>21792221
If you think media can't be edgy and woke at the same time you're a retard. That's one of the simplest tricks in the book.

[Anonymous No.21800650]

>>21797115
>>21797367
>>21797685
Moorcock wrote Elric as a response to Conan because he was offended by Howard's stories' masculinity and wanted to do a hero who was his opposite, a weak feminine coward.

[Anonymous No.21800795]

>>21791857
Honestly if your name is moorcock just fucking legally change it:

[Anonymous No.21801333]

>>21791857
I'm glad you recommend it. How similar is it to the Eternal Champion? It's the only one I've read btw

[Anonymous No.21801348]

>>21800621
Awe :D
My brother is usually fine with me infodumping and is super patient, but he was really tired this last time so I thought
I may as well make a thread.
>>21800399
It's uncanny, isn't it? There's this one YouTube video by someone called Proper Bird who did a pretty in depth breakdown of the plagiarism.
I have a best friend of many years who is bonkers for the Witcher and I honestly felt bad the first time I brought up the plagiarism thing as a trivia bit because she built Witcher up as one of her"things". I feel similarly to you about the Witcher but I generally don't see the harm in not sucking joy out of it for diehard fans. Or in my case, just one fan.
>>21800650
Thank God he did. This shit's neat.

[Anonymous No.21801789]

>>21800650
>offended
Not true, he was an avid howard's reader, The first stories he wrote were conan pastiches (sojan The swordman), he came with the anti-conan idea from a place of curiosity, not from a place of hate.

[Anonymous No.21802268]

>>21792063
In the 70s it was called counter culture. >>21792221
Melnibone is a clear satire of postwar Britain. An island kingdom that was once the seat of a globe spanning empire, now reduced to a bunch of decadent, drugged out weirdos.
>>21793587
>Looks like I've got another rabbit hole to follow. Fantasy author beef.
google 'epic pooh'. It's a fun essay, although I disagree with it.
>>21797115
It's a stellar homage to Conan.

[Anonymous No.21802308]

>>21793502
Can you elaborate on this statement?

[Anonymous No.21802475]

>>21802308
It is true that surnames, or last names, were historically used by governments as a means of identification and taxation. In many cultures, people did not have surnames until relatively recently in history. For example, in some parts of Europe, surnames were not widely used until the Middle Ages, when they became necessary for record-keeping purposes.

The use of surnames was initially tied to the concept of inheritance, as surnames were often passed down from father to son. Over time, however, surnames also became associated with social class, as some surnames were associated with aristocracy or nobility.

It is also true that governments have used surnames as a means of taxation. For example, in some places, people with certain surnames were taxed differently than those with other surnames, depending on their social status or occupation. However, it is worth noting that the use of surnames for taxation purposes was only one of many reasons why surnames became widespread, and the exact origins of surnames vary depending on the culture and time period in question.

[Anonymous No.21802483]

>>21802475
Thanks ChatGPT

[Anonymous No.21802489]

>>21802483

[Anonymous No.21802772]

>>21802489
I expected it to say something along the lines of "It is offensive to use the term 'ebonics' to refer to African American Vernacular English"

[Anonymous No.21803276]

>>21799833
Literally started the Hawkmoon collection I have today. Figured it would be a reliable one since I've been in a bit of a slump and Elric was always easy to pick up and work through at an inconsistent pace

[Anonymous No.21803289]

>>21791857
They are generally hit or miss. Which of the author's books do I read if I liked Fortress of the Pearl and Revenge of the Rose the most?

[Anonymous No.21803306]

Three kings in darkness lie
Guntherin of Org and I
The third is beneath the hill...

[Anonymous No.21803362]

>>21803289
The Dreamthief's Daughter may be up your alley, but you might have already read that one. I've mostly just read Elric stuff, but I'll demerit be checking out his other works too

[Anonymous No.21803704]

>>21803289
The Rose plays a major role in Blood: A Southern Fantasy but it's really psychedelic and conceptual so it you might/not like it depending on if that's your thing.

[Anonymous No.21803797]

>>21803362
That's one I do plan on getting to, but I think there was some non-elric story I was supposed to read first. Probably doesn't matter to be honest
>>21803704
Ooh, this one looks interesting, and I just found one online which matches the paperback collections I've been buying, which is fairly important to me

[Anonymous No.21803803]

Has anyone read the new elric book?

[Anonymous No.21803807]

>>21803289
Definitely The Warhound and the World's Pain, imo one of his best works, it's absolutely standalone but The City in the Autumn Stars is set in the same world, not as good as Warhound but still worth reading.
Dancers at the End of Time
A Nomad of the Time Streams
The Second Ether sequence (Blood: A Southern Fantasy, Fabulous Harbours, The War Amongst The Angels)

[Anonymous No.21803830]

>>21803797
>but I think there was some non-elric story I was supposed to read first
The Dream-thief trilogy is one huge crosssover between almost every eternal champion related story, from the top of my head, characters from elric, von bek, Jerry Cornelius, Hawkmoon, Erekose, Oswald bastable books appear through the trilogy. i think the gay jesus from behold the man shows up at some point too. it's also the "secret ending" to the eternal champion cycle as a whole since the events of the books happens before and simultaneously with Stormbringer and A Quest for Tanelorn.
Moorcock likes convoluted timelines.

[Anonymous No.21803866]

>>21803830
God this author is a schizo. I love it.

[Anonymous No.21803943]

>>21803866
He's written 100 novels over 20 genres so expecting any kind of consistency over his whole life's work is hardly fair.

[Anonymous No.21803958]

>>21791857
I read elric, sailors on the seas of fate and the weird of the white wolf and the making of a sorcerer (the prequel comic). I thought they were great but I quit reading them because it seemed like I needed to follow a reading order to get the most out of the series. Now I'm reading through fafhrd and the gray mouser. I'll get back around to finishing it some day.

[Anonymous No.21804075]

>>21803943
*schizo (affectionate)

[Anonymous No.21804302]

>>21791857
>He's got a cool sword (with no awful side effects or consequences tied to it's use. Don't look at me.)


except it keeps killing his friends.

[Anonymous No.21804361]

>>21804302
Whaaaaaaat? Nonono, Stormbringer is a very friendly, sweet sword who keeps HUGGING his friends.