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“Michael Moorcock’s work as a critic, as an editor and as a writer has made it easier for me and a whole generation of us to roam the ‘moonbeam roads’ of the literary multiverse.”—from the Foreword by Michael Chabon
Has there ever been a hero–or anti-hero–to match Elric of Melniboné, last emperor of an ancient civilization sunk into decadence and inhuman cruelty? Elric the albino, weary of life and enamored of death, bearer of the soul-devouring black sword Stormbringer, cursed to betray all he loves and to save that which he In the unending battle between the forces of Law and Chaos, he is the wildest card of all.
Del Rey proudly presents the fourth in its definitive collection of stories featuring fantasy Grand Master Michael Moorcock’s greatest creation. Here is the full novel The Sailor on the Seas of Fate, the script of the DC comic Duke Elric, the new story “The Flaneur des Arcades de l’Opera,” essays by Moorcock and others, and a selection of classic artwork.
Lavishly illustrated by Justin Sweet, with a Foreword by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon, Duke Elric is essential for all fans of the fantastic.
Has there ever been a hero–or anti-hero–to match Elric of Melniboné, last emperor of an ancient civilization sunk into decadence and inhuman cruelty? Elric the albino, weary of life and enamored of death, bearer of the soul-devouring black sword Stormbringer, cursed to betray all he loves and to save that which he In the unending battle between the forces of Law and Chaos, he is the wildest card of all.
Del Rey proudly presents the fourth in its definitive collection of stories featuring fantasy Grand Master Michael Moorcock’s greatest creation. Here is the full novel The Sailor on the Seas of Fate, the script of the DC comic Duke Elric, the new story “The Flaneur des Arcades de l’Opera,” essays by Moorcock and others, and a selection of classic artwork.
Lavishly illustrated by Justin Sweet, with a Foreword by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon, Duke Elric is essential for all fans of the fantastic.
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
20 people are currently reading
565 people want to read
About the author
Michael Moorcock
1,204 books3,707 followersMichael John Moorcock is an English writer primarily of science fiction and fantasy who has also published a number of literary novels.
Moorcock has mentioned The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Apple Cart by George Bernard Shaw and The Constable of St. Nicholas by Edward Lester Arnold as the first three books which captured his imagination. He became editor of Tarzan Adventures in 1956, at the age of sixteen, and later moved on to edit Sexton Blake Library. As editor of the controversial British science fiction magazine New Worlds, from May 1964 until March 1971 and then again from 1976 to 1996, Moorcock fostered the development of the science fiction "New Wave" in the UK and indirectly in the United States. His serialization of Norman Spinrad's Bug Jack Barron was notorious for causing British MPs to condemn in Parliament the Arts Council's funding of the magazine.
During this time, he occasionally wrote under the pseudonym of "James Colvin," a "house pseudonym" used by other critics on New Worlds. A spoof obituary of Colvin appeared in New Worlds #197 (January 1970), written by "William Barclay" (another Moorcock pseudonym). Moorcock, indeed, makes much use of the initials "JC", and not entirely coincidentally these are also the initials of Jesus Christ, the subject of his 1967 Nebula award-winning novella Behold the Man, which tells the story of Karl Glogauer, a time-traveller who takes on the role of Christ. They are also the initials of various "Eternal Champion" Moorcock characters such as Jerry Cornelius, Jerry Cornell and Jherek Carnelian. In more recent years, Moorcock has taken to using "Warwick Colvin, Jr." as yet another pseudonym, particularly in his Second Ether fiction.
Moorcock has mentioned The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Apple Cart by George Bernard Shaw and The Constable of St. Nicholas by Edward Lester Arnold as the first three books which captured his imagination. He became editor of Tarzan Adventures in 1956, at the age of sixteen, and later moved on to edit Sexton Blake Library. As editor of the controversial British science fiction magazine New Worlds, from May 1964 until March 1971 and then again from 1976 to 1996, Moorcock fostered the development of the science fiction "New Wave" in the UK and indirectly in the United States. His serialization of Norman Spinrad's Bug Jack Barron was notorious for causing British MPs to condemn in Parliament the Arts Council's funding of the magazine.
During this time, he occasionally wrote under the pseudonym of "James Colvin," a "house pseudonym" used by other critics on New Worlds. A spoof obituary of Colvin appeared in New Worlds #197 (January 1970), written by "William Barclay" (another Moorcock pseudonym). Moorcock, indeed, makes much use of the initials "JC", and not entirely coincidentally these are also the initials of Jesus Christ, the subject of his 1967 Nebula award-winning novella Behold the Man, which tells the story of Karl Glogauer, a time-traveller who takes on the role of Christ. They are also the initials of various "Eternal Champion" Moorcock characters such as Jerry Cornelius, Jerry Cornell and Jherek Carnelian. In more recent years, Moorcock has taken to using "Warwick Colvin, Jr." as yet another pseudonym, particularly in his Second Ether fiction.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 25, 2014
More blood and souls for my lord Arioch!
This is the fourth (of six) installment in Del Rey's reissue of the Elric tales in more-or-less order of publication. The first half of this book comprises The Sailor on the Seas of Fate, the second chronologically but last-written volume of the original classic six-volume Elric series that, as mentioned, I first read back in high school. Sailor itself is a bit of a fix-up -- a series of three linked novellas. The first novella is the second of the great Eternal Champion crossovers -- this time it's Elric, Corum, Dorian Hawkmoon and Erekosë, together with a group of lesser incarnations, who find themselves on a mystical ship sent to a ruined city to fight the alien sorcerers Agak and Gagak. (This story was also told from Hawkmoon's point of view in The Quest For Tanelorn.) The second novella has Elric trapped in an alien world, attempting to escape and ensnared by the fate of a distant ancestor. The third novella, The Jade Man's Eyes, is a rewrite of an older story (the original version appearing in one of the earlier Del Rey volumes) -- the biggest change being the replacement of Moonglum (whom Elric has not yet met at this point in his career) with Count Smiorgan Baldhead.
The second half has material that was new to me -- the script for a 12 issue comic book miniseries that puts Elric in our own world during the Crusades, and a story of Zenith the Albino, whose relationship with Elric is undeniable, although never made explicit. In addition there are various reprinted essays, introductions, etc.
Again, I enjoyed the stories. Sailor on the Seas of Fate is classic Elric at his best -- moody, doom-haunted and encountering all manner of demons and wizards and monsters. The second half is much more contemporary Moorcock, so it's a bit of a jarring tonal shift but the quality of the writing itself quite high.
This is the fourth (of six) installment in Del Rey's reissue of the Elric tales in more-or-less order of publication. The first half of this book comprises The Sailor on the Seas of Fate, the second chronologically but last-written volume of the original classic six-volume Elric series that, as mentioned, I first read back in high school. Sailor itself is a bit of a fix-up -- a series of three linked novellas. The first novella is the second of the great Eternal Champion crossovers -- this time it's Elric, Corum, Dorian Hawkmoon and Erekosë, together with a group of lesser incarnations, who find themselves on a mystical ship sent to a ruined city to fight the alien sorcerers Agak and Gagak. (This story was also told from Hawkmoon's point of view in The Quest For Tanelorn.) The second novella has Elric trapped in an alien world, attempting to escape and ensnared by the fate of a distant ancestor. The third novella, The Jade Man's Eyes, is a rewrite of an older story (the original version appearing in one of the earlier Del Rey volumes) -- the biggest change being the replacement of Moonglum (whom Elric has not yet met at this point in his career) with Count Smiorgan Baldhead.
The second half has material that was new to me -- the script for a 12 issue comic book miniseries that puts Elric in our own world during the Crusades, and a story of Zenith the Albino, whose relationship with Elric is undeniable, although never made explicit. In addition there are various reprinted essays, introductions, etc.
Again, I enjoyed the stories. Sailor on the Seas of Fate is classic Elric at his best -- moody, doom-haunted and encountering all manner of demons and wizards and monsters. The second half is much more contemporary Moorcock, so it's a bit of a jarring tonal shift but the quality of the writing itself quite high.
July 27, 2010
Sailor On the Seas of Fate was very compelling for an Elric book. The rest was blah...
July 15, 2017
As Elric compilations go, this one is just as enjoyable as the others... but. And this is a big "but." This is the first Elric volume of the six to include a major quantity of material we've read before (in slightly different form), as "The Jade God's Eyes" recurs here in its incarnation as a volume in "Sailor on the Seas of Fate." Otherwise, another fascinating Multiverse adventure, with the expected mind-expanding cast of characters.
June 23, 2022
Volume IV of the ongoing Chronicles has some stories featuring Elric in a different context than the early works but starts, comfortingly, with a three-part novel, 'The Sailor on the Seas of Fate', set in his usual milieu.
Wandering among the young kingdoms, Elric is taken for a spy in the land of Pikarayd and flees, ending up horseless and hungry on a forlorn beach. Here he is picked up by a strange ship which has evidently been searching for him. A blind captain sails the ship through a perpetual fog. Clearly Maritime Regulations are not all they should be in Michael Moorcock’s Multiverse but perhaps the banks work better. Hawkmoon, Erekose and Corum are also aboard the ship, for another super-crisis means the Eternal Champion is needed in four manifestations. The blind captain will take them and sixteen other warriors to an island where they must kill Agak and Gagak, two creatures from another universe who threaten our own. Cosmic, man!
In the second part of ‘Sailor’ the blind Captain leaves Elric on a strange island shore to find his way home through the Crimson Gate. He traverses the island and encounters a band of brigands whose dress reveals they come from several different ages and countries. Elric tries to be friendly but when they attack him sucks their souls with Stormbringer. One of their number, Count Smiorgan Baldhead, helps him out. Foes dispatched Elric and Baldy go to sea, argue over a woman with an ancient Melnibonéan noble and eventually get back to their own plane.
In Part Three they are rescued from the sea by Duke Avan and recruited to help get the Jade Man’s Eyes. This is a recycled story which appeared independently in a magazine and was also in Chronicle II so I didn’t bother reading it again. It’s good though.
Duke Elric is the script for part of a graphic novel and puts our hero at the time of Ethelred the Unready. The thin white Duke (Bowie is lined up for the film role) battles his way across Europe and North Africa and ends up in the Terminal Café with a confusing cast of thousands, including Michael Moorcock (writer) and Walt Simonson (artist) of the story. This is Post-modern, or ironic, or something. It is also confusing. As it happens I have the complete graphic novel and the whole thing is confusing unless you are very, very familiar with all Moorcock’s diverse characters and concepts.
‘The Flaneur Des Arcades De L’Opera’ is a short story set in an alternate history about a plot by Hitler and his deposed Nazi elite to conquer Europe by using the Cosmic Balance and the roads between worlds. Sir Seaton Begg aims to foil them. Mrs Una Persson appears to be on their side and Monsieur Zenith, a red-eyed albino aristocrat with a black sword, plays a starring role. Again you need to be familiar with Michael Moorcock’s other works to achieve full comprehension. This may be seen as self-indulgence by the writer but I prefer to think of it as him indulging his loyal fans.
This volume also features two essays, one by Moorcock and one by Adrian Snook, which delve into the psychological aspects of fantasy fiction and Elric. Personally I just prefer tales of swords, sorcery and spaceships to angst ridden suburban stories about how Tom’s love for Margot is fading and I don’t feel any need to justify my tastes. For those who do, however, these essays provide some good Freudian horseshit. Mercifully, they take up few pages of an otherwise interesting book.
Wandering among the young kingdoms, Elric is taken for a spy in the land of Pikarayd and flees, ending up horseless and hungry on a forlorn beach. Here he is picked up by a strange ship which has evidently been searching for him. A blind captain sails the ship through a perpetual fog. Clearly Maritime Regulations are not all they should be in Michael Moorcock’s Multiverse but perhaps the banks work better. Hawkmoon, Erekose and Corum are also aboard the ship, for another super-crisis means the Eternal Champion is needed in four manifestations. The blind captain will take them and sixteen other warriors to an island where they must kill Agak and Gagak, two creatures from another universe who threaten our own. Cosmic, man!
In the second part of ‘Sailor’ the blind Captain leaves Elric on a strange island shore to find his way home through the Crimson Gate. He traverses the island and encounters a band of brigands whose dress reveals they come from several different ages and countries. Elric tries to be friendly but when they attack him sucks their souls with Stormbringer. One of their number, Count Smiorgan Baldhead, helps him out. Foes dispatched Elric and Baldy go to sea, argue over a woman with an ancient Melnibonéan noble and eventually get back to their own plane.
In Part Three they are rescued from the sea by Duke Avan and recruited to help get the Jade Man’s Eyes. This is a recycled story which appeared independently in a magazine and was also in Chronicle II so I didn’t bother reading it again. It’s good though.
Duke Elric is the script for part of a graphic novel and puts our hero at the time of Ethelred the Unready. The thin white Duke (Bowie is lined up for the film role) battles his way across Europe and North Africa and ends up in the Terminal Café with a confusing cast of thousands, including Michael Moorcock (writer) and Walt Simonson (artist) of the story. This is Post-modern, or ironic, or something. It is also confusing. As it happens I have the complete graphic novel and the whole thing is confusing unless you are very, very familiar with all Moorcock’s diverse characters and concepts.
‘The Flaneur Des Arcades De L’Opera’ is a short story set in an alternate history about a plot by Hitler and his deposed Nazi elite to conquer Europe by using the Cosmic Balance and the roads between worlds. Sir Seaton Begg aims to foil them. Mrs Una Persson appears to be on their side and Monsieur Zenith, a red-eyed albino aristocrat with a black sword, plays a starring role. Again you need to be familiar with Michael Moorcock’s other works to achieve full comprehension. This may be seen as self-indulgence by the writer but I prefer to think of it as him indulging his loyal fans.
This volume also features two essays, one by Moorcock and one by Adrian Snook, which delve into the psychological aspects of fantasy fiction and Elric. Personally I just prefer tales of swords, sorcery and spaceships to angst ridden suburban stories about how Tom’s love for Margot is fading and I don’t feel any need to justify my tastes. For those who do, however, these essays provide some good Freudian horseshit. Mercifully, they take up few pages of an otherwise interesting book.
June 10, 2020
The Elric stories of Michael Moorcock are truly something special, and this collection is a really great look at those stories (well, except for volume 2, which is merely a very good look at them). Michael Moorcock is one of the authors of the "Appendix N" of Gary Gygax, and his stories were truly seminal to the development of the genre of fantasy/sword-and-sorcery as we know it today. This volume contained the extended story "Sailors on the Sea of Fate," which contains an expanded version of the earlier story "The Jade Man's Eyes," as well as the "Duke Elric" of the title - the script for a graphic novel adapted to the format of a story, the tale of a version of Elric (Duke Elric Sadricson) departing Anglo-Saxon England on a quest for Tanelorn in the heart of Africa around the year 1000 C.E.
July 16, 2023
Great book. A part of Sailor on the Seas of Fate has been published in an earlier version, the part where he returns to the city of his ancestors. Moonglum is not in this version. Otherwise, it reads exactly the same. Duke Elric was new to me; it was the script for a D.C. Comic. Aspects of Fantasy was an essay. The Flaneur Des Arcades De L'Opera, also was new. This had the most satisfying conclusion of the Elric saga, yet.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 28, 2019
The Del Rey books are a convoluted mess. However, it does contain The Sailor on the Seas of Fate.
Avoid the Del Rey editions like the plague.
To truly enjoy Elric read the Gollancz editions.
Avoid the Del Rey editions like the plague.
To truly enjoy Elric read the Gollancz editions.
June 14, 2016
It was interesting to read a novelized version of a graphic novel; certainly a first for this reader. "Duke Elric", the story for which this collection assumedly takes its name, was originally intended to be a much more visually recounted tale. One whereby Elric existed in the Middle Ages of Europe and, as all crusaders are wont to do, travels the length and breadth of this strange land. Without giving away too much, where this graphic novel to short story translation takes the reader is... not entirely expected. Left field might begin to describe the destination the reader arrives at. Without a doubt, an entertaining tale. Complete with memorable passages, for example: "My people cared more for experience than profit... You humans will always mistake the symbol for the thing itself... Relatives of mine have seen whole universes made of gold. Worth how many dinarae?" Wholly unexpected in its final chapter, however.
In this work, the more established stories pertaining to the last emperor of Melnibone are the collected recountings of "The Sailor on the Seas of Fate." The third chapter of this tale is known by another name, "The Jade Man's Eyes", from the second volume in this series. There are some differences between the third chapter of "Sailor" and "Eyes", but on the whole, that portion of the tale is the same. Taken together, "Sailor" is what any reader could reasonably expect of an Elric tale: fantastic and imaginative. The signature character is given to all his normal moodiness and whimsy while remaining motivated by equal parts nobility and spite. Some quotes to further illustrate:
"...but to his fatigued brain it seemed that the sword murmured, stirred against his hip, pulled back. The albino chuckled. "You exist to live and to take lives. Do I exist, then, to die and bring both those I love and hate the mercy of death?"
Another:
"Death is the promise we're all born with, sir. A good death is better than a poor one. I'll sail on with you."
And:
"Had his ancestors felt this agony of knowledge, this impotence in the face of the understanding that existence had no point, no purpose, no hope?"
Though the stories are good, as always, it was Moorcock's essay regarding his view on Gothic literature that proved most interesting. This quote in particular, taken from a passage discussing the success of horror in Gothic writing, was fascinating: "The feelings of terror and wonder which these descriptions of the "supernatural" inspire in us are created not by the suggestion that there is something "out there" trying to get in, but by the knowledge that there is something "in there" trying to get out." Moorcock makes another on-point observation.
TL;DR: worth it. Contents: the collected "The Sailor on the Seas of Fate"; a very different way to consume a graphic novel; another essay by Moorcock; and a great, tongue-in-cheek story in the form of "The Flaneur Des Arcades Des L'Opera." Book four is a good time.
In this work, the more established stories pertaining to the last emperor of Melnibone are the collected recountings of "The Sailor on the Seas of Fate." The third chapter of this tale is known by another name, "The Jade Man's Eyes", from the second volume in this series. There are some differences between the third chapter of "Sailor" and "Eyes", but on the whole, that portion of the tale is the same. Taken together, "Sailor" is what any reader could reasonably expect of an Elric tale: fantastic and imaginative. The signature character is given to all his normal moodiness and whimsy while remaining motivated by equal parts nobility and spite. Some quotes to further illustrate:
"...but to his fatigued brain it seemed that the sword murmured, stirred against his hip, pulled back. The albino chuckled. "You exist to live and to take lives. Do I exist, then, to die and bring both those I love and hate the mercy of death?"
Another:
"Death is the promise we're all born with, sir. A good death is better than a poor one. I'll sail on with you."
And:
"Had his ancestors felt this agony of knowledge, this impotence in the face of the understanding that existence had no point, no purpose, no hope?"
Though the stories are good, as always, it was Moorcock's essay regarding his view on Gothic literature that proved most interesting. This quote in particular, taken from a passage discussing the success of horror in Gothic writing, was fascinating: "The feelings of terror and wonder which these descriptions of the "supernatural" inspire in us are created not by the suggestion that there is something "out there" trying to get in, but by the knowledge that there is something "in there" trying to get out." Moorcock makes another on-point observation.
TL;DR: worth it. Contents: the collected "The Sailor on the Seas of Fate"; a very different way to consume a graphic novel; another essay by Moorcock; and a great, tongue-in-cheek story in the form of "The Flaneur Des Arcades Des L'Opera." Book four is a good time.
May 3, 2011
The main work of this collection is "Sailor on the Seas of Fate," where Moorcock explicitly ties Elric into his Eternal Champion concept and the multiverse. Nicely done. The section "Jade God's Eyes" is a bit of a letdown in light of Moorcock's later decision to "retcon" out this origin of Melnibone.
September 23, 2015
I thought these Elric books would taper off for some reason, but nope, still going strong. I'm really starting to enjoy Moorcock's multiverse and his concept of the Eternal Champion. The fight in the echo of Tanelorn was just fascinating. I really love surreal fantasy.
Fight for the Balance, but be careful who you call on for aid.
Fight for the Balance, but be careful who you call on for aid.
July 27, 2011
Classic Moorcock, what more can I say.
May 25, 2013
The two core elements of this anthology--The Seas of Fate and Duke Elric--are definitely strong, but everything else is quite a mishmash.
February 21, 2015
Klytus I'm bored.... I love the stories when I love them. But not all of them. The best thing about Sailor on the Sea of Fate is the wonderful Whelan painting from the 70's.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews