This is possibly the last Elric novel and the thought is bittersweet indeed. With that being said I quite enjoyed this return to the character. The novel is separated it three parts, which is quite common for the Elric saga but their vibe is kinda different. By the point towards the end of the tale, when one of his dragon ancestors speaks to him, the reader’s sympathies are fully engaged on Elric’s behalf. Sentences are often way too long and rambling. Sometimes, once I reached the end of a sentence, I couldn't remember what the sentence was even about. As you might expect from a plot with such a Weird Tales vibe, the book is filled with strange names and strange places, giving that other-worldly feel to the story, although Elric is definitely not the musclebound hero of Howard’s imagination. Should you wish to look at the world of Elric visually, you can do – but only in the Tor (US) edition, for if you compare the US with the UK edition, the Gollancz (UK) edition does not have the glorious map end-papers of the Tor (US) edition (also given in the new Saga Press editions), sadly.

We are the Veterans of a thousand Psychic Wars, you can hear the footsteps falling as the Winds of Limbo roar." This is a truly special edition of The Citadel of Forgotten Myths , unmissable for any fantasy collection. With a green sprayed edge, patterned endpapers, marker ribbon as well as head and tail bands… this limited-run slipcased edition well befits this legendary figure of fantasy literature. Set between Weird of the White Wolf and The Sleeping Sorceress/The Vanishing Tower, this book tells us of Elric's adventures in the World Below, with his erstwhile companion Moonglum, and their quest to learn more of the origins of the Melnibonéan people. Thinking of Elric, he is as dark, brooding, enigmatic, cruel and as alien as ever, and yet still retains that sense of tragedy that so endears him to long-time readers. If anything, in this novel version the sad nature of Elric is ramped up to 11 here to epic levels of melancholia. It seems so.” Elric began to strip off his shirt, moving towards their wide bunk piled with quilts and furs. His wiry muscles and slender form showed a man of action. His entire appearance denoted the mercenary and treasure-hunter he pretended to be. “Perhaps we’d do well to sleep now, before the real noise begins. Too late for you to consider returning to Uyt.”

Table of Contents

Finally, the book seemed to be attempting an omniscient narrative style. But frequently the perspective shifts had no rhyme or reason - it felt unpredictable and discombobulating at times, like random head-hopping. I suppose this could have been a stylistic choice; maybe it won't irritate other readers. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. In essence, the practice is unfair to the writer. The stylistic whiplashing from a story written in the context of Cold War Britain by a 20-year-old to something like the book under consideration, written by an 80-year-old under Late Capital­ism, can be extremely disorienting. In addition to not being fair to the writer, it’s not fair to the material. I received this advanced reader copy for free. All quotes come from the unpublished version of this book.*

Ah.” Moonglum regarded the empty companionway with disappointment. “Elric, my friend, sometimes I wish you would not proffer your knowledge so freely!” Part One of the tale finds the pair in a Dunsaynian landscape of cities and country estates. They meet up with one Lady Forentach, who happens to have a certain connection with the Phoorn, the dragon ancestors of Elric’s race. Soon Elric and Moonglum are enlisted to serve in her campaign of vengeance and justice. This relatively short and self-contained adventure is thrilling, but has less bearing on the future than what comes next.I wanted to like this more than I did. In every possible way, this reads like a classic Elric tale - which is both good and bad. It is a novel of the 21st century, but one that is rooted in the middle of the twentieth. It is sword-and-sorcery to be sure, but it feels at times too ethereal and dreamlike. But Moonglum thinks to himself: "That his wench should take to pouting now was not to be tolerated. A man should discipline a woman who embarrassed him before local royalty!" Um, what? Lady Forentach did not care that the other woman wanted to stay behind, so why did Moonglum react like a lunatic? I guess Elric believes he needs to breed with the insect queen for the purpose of creating a stronger insect species because he thinks this to himself: The first few chapters held promise and were interesting, but unfortunately the book devolves into self-indulgence by halfway through. If I had to describe this book in one word, it would be "pretentious."