This was a re-read because I hadn't read it in years. Classic sword and sorcery. Elric is one of the most depressing characters I've ever encountered in Fantasy, but he has a magic sword and a purpose in the grand scheme of things.

What's great about this book and the rest of the series is the writing and the world building. Moorcock shows Fantasy writers how it's done. This particular series in the broader Eternal Champion series has a tendency to leave me feeling melancholy, but it's still worth the read.

They have arrived. It's a good day. No way this smile is going anywhere.

The final picture is a section of tear-away calendar I found in the back of STORMBRINGER. Someone had used it as a bookmark. Notice the date. 

The seller found these in a box in his attic. They are the First DAW printings of the Elric of Melnibone Saga and are the first time the original unaltered text was used. Michael Moorcock was unhappy with the versions Lancer published in 1972, as they were heavily edited without his approval. These are the author's preferred editions. Honestly, I feel as if I stumbled across someone selling buried treasure. 

I loved this series growing up, and they remain some of the only fantasy novels I've enjoyed aside from Tolkien. I lost my copies when my storage shed flooded in 2004. Finding these books in this condition... Man, it doesn't get much better.

Thanks for allowing me to share this with you.

*hugs and high fives*

E.

Look what I just won on Ebay. This is the complete Elric of Melnibone saga. The first complete series anyway, starting at Elric of Melnibone and ending with Stormbringer. This set consists of the DAW reissues from 1977, and they look to be in amazing condition. 

Little background about me and these books: I don't care too much for fantasy literature. Moorcock's Elric books are some of the only sword and sorcery novels I've enjoyed other than Tolkien's works. Something about that tall, gaunt figure with his massive black blade has always struck me as cool as hell. Thanks to one of my aunts and my late grandmother on my mom's side, I had everything Moorcock ever published about Elric, and then, in 2004, Hurricane Ivan flooded the storage shed in which I had them stored. I lost all of them. Every single one. Scoring this set is a dream come true, and I wanted to share it with you. I will take better photos when I actually receive them. The picture above is the photo from the auction's listing.

I only have three more books to buy and I will have completely rebuilt my mother's book collection from before Hurricane Opal, which destroyed just about every hardcover she'd collected from around 1970 to 1995. I started rebuilding the collection in 2001, but in 2004 Hurricane Ivan set me back again, leaving me with only 22 of the first edition hardcovers out of the original 450. Everything I own is now as weather-proof as I can possibly make it. Anything of real value anyway.

In case you're wondering what three books I'm looking for, they are as followed:

This version of Ghost Story, by Peter Straub (First Edition Hardcover)

This version of Twilight Eyes, by Dean R. Koontz (First Illustrated Edition)

And this version of Dune, by Frank Herbert (First Edition with Sandy Mountain artwork and map on rear of dustjacket; this book is worth over $2,000)

Anyway, thanks for letting me share with you.

*hugs and high fives*

E.

This is the first book in The Elric Saga, possibly Michael Moorcock's most classic Fantasy series. It's very much in the sword and sorcery category with magic, magical swords, quests and obstacles and everything that makes for a good adventure.

The one problem I have with the series is that it's so depressing! Things never seem to go well for Elric, who is a pawn of the gods. It is gripping and yet at the same time repelling. I couldn't stop reading the series once I had started, but sometimes I wished to escape it.

One thing I can definitely say for it is that it is good Fantasy writing that has stood the test of time. This one is a Fantasy Classic.

I've actually read the entire Saga and if you like sword-and-sorcery then you should, too. Moorcock is endessly creative and his gritty writing has no mercy on the characters or the reader. Don't expect sweetness and light at the end of this story.