'The Weird of the White Wolf' – Michael Moorcock (Grafton)

Reading the, much slimmer, Grafton editions has actually really helped me power along a little bit with my long running re-read of the 'Elric' series. While I do like how the 'new' (they're not that new now but, you know what I mean...) Gollancz look on my shelves, they're also just chunky enough to make me think, 'I'm only after a quick read, maybe I'll choose something else...' Nope, I'll stick with the Grafton editions for now ;o)

So, on to 'The Weird of the White Wolf' and a book that had me a little puzzled to begin with...

Imrryr, the dreaming city; Yrkoon, the hated usurper; Cymoril, the beloved – all had fallen to the fury and unearthly power of the albino prince and his terrible sword. And Elric faced at last the fate that was to be his in this haunted era: that he must go forth, sword and man as one, and havoc and horror would be forever at his forefront until he found the Purpose that was yet obscured to him...

There is a little bit, here and there, in Elric's tale that never quite sits right for me; almost like the story itself had to be wrenched into place so that Moorcock's examination of 'the Hero as Eternal Champion' could continue uninterupted. Like the whole thing with Elric and Yrkoon for instance. Lets just say that if I'd be been Yrkoon, Elric would not have made it out of the throne room alive and the next few books would have looked very different indeed ;o) That's just me though, Elric has to make that journey himself so that he can be the warrior needed for the events of 'Stormbringer' (which is way down the road at the speed I'm going...) We get another one of those moments here, at the beginning of 'The Dreaming City', where all of a sudden, Elric is in full 'I'm going to bring down my entire civilisation' mode. The question I have to ask is, well... why now? Yrkoon hasn't got more evil since he took the throne and Elric was fine to leave Yrkoon in charge until now. What changed? If there's a short story, or entire book (knowing me), that I've missed, please can someone let me know? It's bugging me...

In the absence of anything more concrete, it feels like Elric's initial adventures were almost like some kind of training montage before he gets to go out and do the real thing. Before he can do that though, Melnibone is really holding his character back isn't it? It's clear that Moorcock's ambitions for Elric lie far beyond reconciling humankind with Melnibonean so it's almost like Yrkoon's pantomime evil is conveniently there to tip Elric over the edge at just the right time. The sacking of the Dreaming City is great reading (although it's funny how little of it you actually see) but what it's really about is wiping the board clean so that Elric can be left free to get on with the business at hand, discovering his purpose and whether he is up for following it through. It's not a good time to be Cymoril then and I do feel a little sorry for her as she's mostly asleep and only wakes up for a little bit before ticking off a box on the 'Tragic Hero Checklist'. I'm not being entirely fair, it's a very powerful scene and you've got to feel a little sorry for Elric at the same time. He is just starting to realise that he has little (or no) control over his own fate at all. It's a powerful story actually with loads of sweeping events carrying us along with Elric. It is certainly very easy to turn the pages and fall straight into the stories leading on from 'The Dreaming City'.

'While the Gods Laugh' is a much quieter affair with a much broader scope as Elric moons about for a year (I think) after the events of Imrryr and is then given the chance to find out what the point of it all really is with a quest to find the answers in the Dead God's Book. I won't go into this too much other than to say that it's a great example of a 'shaggy dog story' and that it wasn't just the Gods who were laughing at the conclusion. It's worth reading just for that and also for the introduction of Moonglum, the man who keeps Elric grounded (which is sorely needed, I don't know about you but I'm not sure that I could read a whole book just about Elric).

And is there a hint of cosmic comedy connecting 'While the Gods Laugh' to 'The Singing Citadel'? Maybe... What I saw though was a more run-of-the-mill 'storm the citadel' story that is probably what was needed after the more introspective tone of the preceding tales. It's certainly more lightweight but a lot of fun at the same time. Elric has a little touch of the hero about him now with his rescuing of Queen Yishana and those subtle hints are starting to foreshadow what is to come. 'The Singing Citadel' ends up being a nice way of rounding the book off, on a slightly upbeat note, and if it wasn't for the fact that I read 'The Vanishing Tower' fairly recently, I'd jump straight into it and keep going. I'm not sure what comes after 'The Vanishing Tower' actually, I need to go and find a more comprehensive reading list...