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The Michael Moorcock Library: Elric #2

Elric Vol. 2: The Sailor on the Seas of Fate

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Following his self-exile from Melnibone, Elric is faced with his biggest challenge ever!

As he lies dying on the shores of an unknown land, he is taken aboard a mysterious ship where time and logic hold no meaning. Several other incarnations of the Eternal Champions are there, but why? What could allow the laws of time and space to be broken for these warriors to meet? Could Elric learn anything from that which he used to be or that which he shall become? So begins an epic adventure across the black seas and into alternate worlds where the lines between dream and reality blur and otherworldly foes must be defeated in order to save the very fabric of the universe and fulfil the albino emperor’s destiny.

Collecting the second volume of the classic comic adaptation of Michael Moorcock’s bestselling fantasy saga!

210 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 1987

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137 people want to read

About the author

Roy Thomas

4,514 books273 followers
Roy Thomas was the FIRST Editor-in-Chief at Marvel--After Stan Lee stepped down from the position. Roy is a longtime comic book writer and editor. Thomas has written comics for Archie, Charlton, DC, Heroic Publishing, Marvel, and Topps over the years. Thomas currently edits the fanzine Alter Ego for Twomorrow's Publishing. He was Editor for Marvel comics from 1972-1974. He wrote for several titles at Marvel, such as Avengers, Thor, Invaders, Fantastic Four, X-Men, and notably Conan the Barbarian. Thomas is also known for his championing of Golden Age comic-book heroes — particularly the 1940s superhero team the Justice Society of America — and for lengthy writing stints on Marvel's X-Men and Avengers, and DC Comics' All-Star Squadron, among other titles.

Also a legendary creator. Creations include Wolverine, Carol Danvers, Ghost Rider, Vision, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Valkyrie, Morbius, Doc Samson, and Ultron. Roy has also worked for Archie, Charlton, and DC among others over the years.

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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
Profile Image for Drew Canole.
3,199 reviews44 followers
September 24, 2024
Adapts the Elric novel Sailor on the Seas of Fate.

Really good artwork, although at times it feels a bit rushed and unfinished, the layouts are still quite unique and inspired.

Sailing to the Future
Elric teams up with his other instances (immortal warriors that have the same soul? as Elric) and take on two sorcerers who are buildings. Weird, but fun.

Sailing to the Present
Elric teams up with Count Smiorgan and fights an ancient Melnibonean wizard hellbent on abducting a young woman.

Sailing to the Past
Elric journeys to the ancient, and first, Melnibonean city.
Profile Image for Little Timmy.
7,422 reviews61 followers
October 20, 2022
Very good adaptation of the book. The art and writing seem to fit the story nicely. Good read, Recommended
Profile Image for Dan.
3,219 reviews10.8k followers
May 27, 2022
Elric: Sailor on the Seas of Fate collects Elric: Sailor on the Seas of Fate #1-7 published by First Comics, which adapts Elric: Sailor on the Seas of Fate by Michael Moorcock.

Roy Thomas teams up with Michael T. Gilbert and George Freeman to adapt the second Michael Moorcock Elric novel here. Officially, I prefer P. Craig Russell but this is excellent.

House-Roy adapts Moorcock's work well in his, using a lot of Moorcock's prose but largely letting the artwork speak for itself. Gilbert and Freeman keep the characters looking consistent with the previous volume, although looks a little more alien in this. His coloring isn't consistent, though.

The new characters introduced pretty much look how I'd expect. I pictured Hawkmoon's armor being green for some reason but Corum, Erekose, and Smiorgan Baldhead look like they do in my mind. The Olab look a little less avian and more reptilian but they still ring pretty true to what I pictured.

I don't like this quite as much as the first volume or the last volume in the series but it's still a solid book. 4 out of 5 stars.
Profile Image for Craig.
6,465 reviews182 followers
July 10, 2020
This is a very good graphic adaptation of the second book in the Elric series. Roy Thomas does a good job of adapting the story, not getting too wordy but not missing any of the important bits. The art is pretty good, too. It had a nice old-fashioned Hal Foster flair from time to time and reminded me of why I liked comics (pardon me, is that supposed to be sequential art stories, now?) that were drawn on paper so much more than the ones spawned on computer. I thought some of the large monsters looked a bit weak (I thought I saw one or two of them in the original Ghostbusters), but other than that it was fine. The coloring was interestingly pastel, and I even noticed the lettering by L. Lois Buhalis helped tell the story, a facet that's usually overlooked. Altogether a good book.
I noticed one of the characters was named Nnuuurrrr'c'c and one of the locations was R'linK'renA'a. I wonder why none of the Hawkwind songs featured them? Not as easy to rhyme with as Betty Lou from Waterloo, eh?
Profile Image for OmniBen.
1,396 reviews47 followers
August 5, 2023
(Zero spoiler review) 3.25/5
Still a flawed series finding it feet, but I enjoyed it more than the first one, despite completely lacking my favourite character from the first book. As competent a job as Roy Thomas does with any of his projects (the man is a consummate professional), I can't help but think that something may be lacking in the translations into the comics. Either that or maybe the source material isn't quite as good as some of the other luminaries and masterpieces of the genre. That and the art really could have done with some restoration. Don't get me wrong, I would take this somewhat antiquated style of pencils and colour over any modern digital dogshittery, but it really is showing its age with this current printing, although the thick stock paper is wonderful, making a Marvel reprint look like used tissue paper by comparison. If the second arc was as good as the first, this might have crept closer to a 4, although for now, it's 3 stars. But it has invigorated me to continue with this series more so than after finishing volume one. 3.25/5


OmniBen.
Profile Image for Shannon Appelcline.
Author 30 books167 followers
August 9, 2016
This is one of my favorite Elric volumes. The Champion meet-up in Sailing to the Future is great, and the ghost story of Sailing to the Past is spooky and weird. It's adapted very well by Roy Thomas and features some beautiful artwork that constantly breaks the frame of traditional comic layout. My only complaint with this superb volume is the coloring, which too often goes light and pastely.
Profile Image for Mhorg.
Author 11 books12 followers
April 6, 2020
Beautiful art and a melancholy story

Gilbert, who i knew from doc stearn, Mr. Monster does an absolutely great job of bringing the albino to life. Each panel is just beautiful. Roy Thomas does a great job of scripting.
Profile Image for Darnell.
1,460 reviews
October 14, 2017
Old school sword and sorcery starring the anti-Conan, with everything that suggests. I'm glad to have read it, but I feel no compulsion to read any more.
Profile Image for David B..
20 reviews
April 1, 2022
More than subverting its time's Sword and Sorcery tropes, it successfully creates a fantastical world with a healthy dose of cosmic horror, Mysticism, and musings on Fate and the condition of Man; expertly presented in comic book form with brilliant visuals which, whilst making justice to Moorcock's prose, more than stand up to the test of time.
310 reviews32 followers
March 16, 2024
Beter dan het originele boek.
Mooie illustraties en mooi kleurgebruik. Zeker voor de jaren 80.
Profile Image for Don H.M.
93 reviews7 followers
December 2, 2018
Michael Moorcock has stated that he was not on any psychedelic drugs when writing the book. But the same can't be said for the Comic artists. Mistborn basically ripped off the first half of this book for the mistborn finale but nowhere near as trippy. Most of you can't hang with this comic but for those who want to know what a mushroom trip feels like this one gets pretty close(trust me on this, I've done some 'experments').
Profile Image for Anibal.
302 reviews1 follower
May 12, 2024
In the eighties the Comics industry was varied and there were many genres including obviously the fantasy one. But, with some exceptions, fantasy was dominated by Conan comics. They were great, but left many facets of fantasy unexplored, especially because some of the most brilliant masterpieces of the genre were already written…such as the saga of Elric of Melnibone.

Roy Thomas and Michael Gilbert created an extraordinary adaptation of “the Sailor on the Seas of Fate”. I don’t recall in the eighties comics with a much better standard in the illustration and art, with vigorous and extremely well balanced panels, with intense emotion hidden behind tentatively nonchalant expressions. It is really a treat.

As an adaptation it is very good and it includes the joining of the eternal champion to fight the sorcerer siblings Agak e Gagak, the first encounter with Count Smiorgan and their battle with the mighty and ancient Saxif D’Aaan (questing for his beloved reincarnation); you will also follow the reluctant Elric to the an ancient city and the search for dangerous knowledge.

Titan comics released a new printing of this work in September 2015.
Profile Image for Gonzalo Oyanedel.
Author 23 books78 followers
May 3, 2025
Reunir varios aspectos del llamado "Campeón Eterno" durante algunas páginas resulta un señuelo llamativo, pero insuficiente. Ni el guion ni el dibujo concitan interés más allá de la anécdota, si bien puede argumentarse que la novela base tampoco es la más lograda dentro del ciclo (quizás la más baja). Un paréntesis extenso y algo flojo.
Profile Image for The_J.
2,747 reviews8 followers
July 17, 2023
This actually reaches back through time to resurrect the First Comics adaptations - saved from the wreckage of Pacific Comics amazing. Strong work from Roy Thomas in adaptation managing to capture the strength of the novel and blend it with the power of the graphic novel.
Profile Image for Ted Brockwood.
51 reviews4 followers
August 18, 2017
More a collection of short stories, than a full and coherent novel.
Profile Image for Juho Pohjalainen.
Author 5 books349 followers
May 23, 2019
Whenever I feel overly proud of myself for writing a novel in a month, I think of Moorcock weaving so much better tales - such as this one - over the course of like two days.
Profile Image for Pete.
210 reviews3 followers
February 22, 2023
Epic stuff. And I really loved the artwork and colours.
Profile Image for David Austin.
363 reviews
January 3, 2026
Definitely not as cohesive or as pretty as the first (First) adaptation, but still enjoyable.
Profile Image for Martin.
1,196 reviews24 followers
December 31, 2015
Not as good as volume 1 for two reasons. First, the P. Craig Russell-like art just isn't nearly as good as that by PCR in volume 1. Second, this is the weakest of the first 5 Elric books. The story of 4 Eternal Champions combining into a 4-faced giant to fight an evil giant is especially poor.

This volume is beautifully packaged.

The letterist or colorist on one issue breaks many rules for making text legible. I hope over the 30+ years since publication they've gotten better.

That said, it is amazing that Moorcock wrote this over a weekend when he was 21.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews

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