Michael Moorcock
Paperback | Pages: 225 pages Rating: 3.94 | 9354 Users | 317 Reviews
Identify Containing Books The Sailor on the Seas of Fate (The Elric Saga #2)
| Title | : | The Sailor on the Seas of Fate (The Elric Saga #2) |
| Author | : | Michael Moorcock |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 225 pages |
| Published | : | April 12th 1989 by Grafton (first published 1976) |
| Categories | : | Fantasy. Fiction. Heroic Fantasy. Sword and Sorcery. Science Fiction Fantasy. Dark Fantasy. Epic Fantasy. High Fantasy |
Relation Supposing Books The Sailor on the Seas of Fate (The Elric Saga #2)
Holy crap! I, Mark Lawrence, have read an entire book in 4 hours!Admittedly I picked it up after discovering that it was only 24,000 words long, or 1/2oth of a George Martin epic.
EDIT: over the long grind of this summer holiday I've been writing a "short" story that I'm being paid to write to inspire an Xbox game. It's nearing the end and has just passed 40,000 words :o
Somebody stop me!
Still, the copy I have is a hardback, 40 years old, and at 169 pages, not an exceptionally slim novel. Admittedly the font is HUGE!
I gave this a 3* from memory and now I'm revising it down to a 2*. It's OK. There are good things in it, and bad things.
The 33 Moorcock books on my fantasy shelf speak to the love I had for his work 30-40 years ago. I've been having trouble recapturing it on recent reads though. I have been avoiding my favourites ... so that might be it.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tMqSP3wcsL4...
Anyway, good and bad.
Most of the good things are an irrepressible imagination and Stormbringer.
The bad things ... are many. It's not much longer than a short story and even so is divided in to THREE books. The whole thing has a dreamy misty feel to it (and is literally described in those terms). It's full of people making vague doom-laden statements and refusing to explain anything "until the time is right". Everything is pre-ordained / fated, and it's basically three short stories with no connection, all of which are really about fights and magic rather than having anything to say.
In the first story four aspects of the eternal champion are brought together, Elric, Corum, Hawkmoon, and Erekose. This proves to be bad idea as it leads you to suspect that the eternal champion is a handy excuse for writing the same character over and over, with the suspicion being that Moorcock is just better at weird fantasy stuff than characters...
My son saw me picking the book up and said something along the lines of
"But that's old, why are you bothering?"
To which I responded with exasperation, "Fantasy doesn't have a sell by date! What ... are the swords going to be old fashioned? Will the enchantments be dated? Will the demons be wearing period dress?"
And he said, "If you pick up any old book you'll find it's rubbish. The writing style has changed. They're too slow. The characters don't feel real."
"Nonsense!" I said wittily, and walked off with my 40 year old book.
But the thing is. He was right, a bit. Every Moorcock book I've tried in the past few years has seemed terribly dated. The characters really don't feel real. The conversations are always overly pompous/grand or just turning the handle on the plot.
The only thing that struck me as quite 'modern' was the level of visceral violence on display. I don't think today's books that are accused of grimdark have any more blood or guts splattering the page than Moorcock did in the 70s.
The other two stories were ... OK but really didn't shine, and over all I was disappointed.
On the flip side, it's not a Moorcock book that I have fond memories of, so perhaps it was only ever OK and my fanboying was all from the individual Elric, Corum, and Hawkmoon tales.
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Point Books In Pursuance Of The Sailor on the Seas of Fate (The Elric Saga #2)
| Original Title: | The Sailor on the Seas of Fate |
| ISBN: | 0586208771 (ISBN13: 9780586208779) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | The Elric Saga #2, Elric Chronological Order #3, The Eternal Champion Sequence #5.3 , more |
| Characters: | Corum Jhaelen Irsei, Elric of Melniboné, Erekosë, Dorian Hawkmoon, Otto Blendker |
| Literary Awards: | World Fantasy Award Nominee for Best Novel (1977) |
Rating Containing Books The Sailor on the Seas of Fate (The Elric Saga #2)
Ratings: 3.94 From 9354 Users | 317 ReviewsJudgment Containing Books The Sailor on the Seas of Fate (The Elric Saga #2)
I'm now a little clearer why I class Moorcock as a guilty pleasure... On several occasions I've ranted about ridiculously elongated and unpronounceable N'ames (yes and with apostrophes) in SF books (planets, people, procedure... paah!), and in this tale, it is particularly bad. It irritates the crap out of me to be honest, but for some reason I am able to forgive Moorcock of this.Having said that, this is the third Elric book in a row and which was preceded by four Corums. I have another two... and leaving his cousin Yirkoon sitting as Regent upon the Ruby Throne of Melnibone, leaving his cousing Cymoril weeping for him and despairing of his ever returning, Elric sailed from Imrryr, the Dreaming city, and went to seek an unknown goal in the worlds of the Young Kingdoms where Melniboneans were, at best, disliked. Elric has it all: a rich island kingdom to rule, a beautiful woman's love, friends and enemies to make life interesting, plus a huge library to peruse. Yet he is
Inconsistencies and Moorcock overextending his writing skills got me thinking about dismissing this cycle. Luckily, the book was rescued in the last third when it became obvious why this cycle had such an impact on the fantasy genre.Inconsistencies: Elric just escaped from prison. Without any explanation, he's still in the possession of Stormbringer, his armor and his needed drugs. While I can accept the various improbable encounters with ships as a sign of a higher fate, I have difficulties
I haven't been able to settle on a book recently. While I usually have two or three on the go at any one time, I've been at six or seven the last few weeks. So, in exasperation, I decided to try "one from the vaults", and landed on Elric!It's been thirty-odd years since I last read this one, and I'm pleased to say that it didn't disappoint. I'd initially given it a provisional three-star rating, which I've happily upped to four stars. So...A collection of three episodic adventures for the
Too few fantasy authors ask what 'magic' means, which is a problem, since, with a few notable exceptions, magic is what makes fantasy fantastical. When reading Moorcock, it becomes clear you have found an author who is very interested in exploring what 'magic' is, and who has made very deliberate decisions about what his magic means.Magic is a conceptual space. It was created, inadvertently, as a representation of the inner reality of human thought, as opposed to the external reality of the
This series was recommended to me by a friend. After this second book I can honestly say I'm not becoming a diehard fan of Moorcock. He jumps around too much for my tastes. I'd rather he stick to one of his subplots, which have great potential, and really develop that instead of constantly offshoot. I'll read book three because I feel like I'm vested now. Summer Fantasy Fest read #13
Elric of Melnibone goes on an acid trip adventure into the past, the future and different versions of the present on the back of an ancient, magical ship. With his evil sword Stormbringer guiding the way, Elric explores the young kingdoms and past kingdoms in hopes of finding what the old kingdoms lack, specifically the fallen kingdom of Melnibone. The answer is humanity, something that could both restore the old kingdoms to their former glory or even destroy them entirely if handled unwisely.
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