The Birthgrave
A Nebula nominee published as a DAW paperback original that proved heroic fantasy could centre a female consciousness; the foremother of the genre's entire dark-heroine lineage.
Book Entry · Fantasy
Elric of Melniboné
by Michael Moorcock · 1972 · The Elric Saga, book 1
What is Elric of Melniboné about?
Elric, 428th emperor of the dreaming island empire that ruled the world for ten thousand cruel years, is an albino sustained by drugs, given to introspection and mercy — failings, by Melnibonéan standards — and challenged for the Ruby Throne by his magnificently vicious cousin Yyrkoon. The duel for the throne and for Cymoril's life leads him to the black runesword Stormbringer, which drinks souls and feeds him their strength: the addiction, dependency and doom of the entire saga in one transaction. Moorcock wrote Elric explicitly as the anti-Conan — weak where Conan is strong, civilised where he is barbaric, and far more dangerous to his friends.
Why it matters
The cornerstone of the saga that remade sword and sorcery for the New Wave generation; Stormbringer is fantasy's definitive cursed blade, and Elric's brooding lineage runs from Geralt of Rivia to half the gothic anti-heroes in print.
Where does it sit in the series?
Moorcock's tales of the albino emperor of Melniboné and his soul-drinking blade Stormbringer — sword and sorcery turned inside out, with the hero as his own apocalypse.
In the Guide from The Elric Saga:
- Elric of Melniboné (1972)
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