Lord Samper's Library

I'm not sure what happened yesterday (it's all a bit of a blur...) but I was wiped out by the end of it and didn't read anything last night. I did have a mid-evening nap though which isn't a good thing, I really need to stop doing that and actually sleep when I'm supposed to. Anyway...  I thought I'd see if 'Past Me' had anything that he wouldn't mind me borrowing for the blog and, as it happened... He did and I'm very grateful (gives me a chance to catch my breath a little). There I was, thinking that my 'Elric Re-Read' was done and dusted, there are a few more books to go. I never read 'Destiny's Brother', or 'Son of the Wolf', so will have to dig them out and add them to the TBR Pile. In the meantime, have some thoughts on 'Daughter of Dreams' (my original review can be found Here )... Dark forces are behind the rise of Hitler and imprisoned Count Ulric von Bek must fight to keep his family's black sword...

It has taken far too long (the 'Elric Re-Read' kicked off way back in May 2020...) and that is why I had a bit of a brain snap, the other day, and told myself that I had to finish 'Stormbringer!' before I could read anything else. A deckchair in the sun turned out to be the missing ingredient and once I was there, gently crisping in the heat, the book more or less finished itself. I've still got a few more 'Elric' books that I've never read but the 'Re-Read' part of my 'Elric' reading is done. Well, not quite. I need to tell you all about it ;o) Lets go... The epic tale of Elric moves towards it's inevitable conclusion as the lonely albino discovers the true power of his magical blade, Stormbringer, and must return to the shattered ruins of his homeland before facing his greatest test. The massed ranks of Law and Chaos are coming together for their final battle, and Elric will be faced with a decision only he can make – will he ushe...

I'm feeling pretty proud of myself with this one... :o) The number of times that I've tried to read this book and then crashed and burned... Well, lets just say it was more than a few times and leave it at that. Not this time though, 'Revenge of the Rose' has been well and truly read and not only that, I also did 'The Stealer of Souls', 'Kings in Darkness' and 'The Caravan of Forgotten Dreams' (also known as 'The Flame Bringers') for good measure. Go me :o) I didn't read 'The Last Enchantment' (because I've already reviewed it over Here ) and 'To Rescue Tanelorn' will wait for another day as Elric doesn't make an appearance here. In the meantime, lets take a look at what I did manage to read... Searching the world for a civilisation that will remind him of his lost home, Elric – last emperor of Melnibone, wielder of the black sword Stormbringer – decides that he must return to the ruined place of his birth. T...

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 ...

No, not the whole book; just the short story of the same name. Nothing against ‘Sojan the Swordsman’ (which I may look at another time) or Catharz (just a little bit embarrassed that I didn’t get all the little jokes last time I read it); they’re cool but they’re not Elric. And I’ve already reviewed ‘The Last Enchantment’ ( over Here if you’re interested). Nope, we’re all about Elric’s adventures at the End of Time today albeit in a slightly shorter post than normal, the story is only a very slender fifty three pages long. I’m using the Grafton edition as this was the first ‘Elric’ book that I picked up all those years ago in my first year at high school, which I think makes ‘Elric at the End of Time’ the second ‘Elric’ story that I read after ‘The Last Enchantment’. Wikipedia told me that this story is next, in the reading order, and I’m never one to argue with Wikipedia so here we are. But enough of me leaving these not very subtle notes to myself in the event that my memory goes ...

Welcome once again to the world's slowest 'Elric' re-read! All those other blogs that say they're taking their time over their 'Elric' re-reads...? They're just amateurs... I started reading back in May last year and I've only covered two books and a short story... ;o) Way, way back in the day, I used to be all 'blog first and work second'; I really can't afford to be like that anymore so had to switch the priorities around. At least this way I get paid regularly... Actually, that reading speed is pretty bad though... Luckily, I finished 'The Sailor on the Seas of Fate' the other day so all is not lost yet. As a little aside, I'm finding it easier going reading the single books instead of feeling really guilty that I'm not getting through the longer works with all their collected essays and so on. Where I can, that's how I will be reading the rest of the series but I'm getting ahead of myself again. Lets talk about E...

Welcome back to what must already be the longest 'Elric' re-read on record (started with 'Master of Chaos' back in May last year, progress has been... slow...) Basically, we're on 'Graeme Time' here which always means that work or my daughters (or even just a particular book that's difficult to get into) will invariably throw a spanner in the works, just when I think I have a few free moments for reading... Oh well, I'll keep slowly moving forwards and we'll get there when we get there. So, 'Fortress of the Pearl'... I last read this more than several years ago as part of a read through of the old Orion edition of 'Elric of Melnibone' so once again, I had no idea of what to expect other than the fact that with more stories to follow, it would be a fairly safe bet that Elric made it through in one piece. As we've learned from 'Elric of Melnibone' though, Elric is perhaps a little too naïve and idealistic to be allowe...

Well, it's taken me far longer than I'd originally planned (I'm not going to look at exactly when I said I'd do this particular re-read, I think the answer would depress me...) but I've finally finished reading 'Elric of Melnibone' :o) I felt like I'd never get through it but I looked at the book yesterday and, somehow, I only had about fifty pages to go... Of course I knew what I had to do and it was duly done. And it got me thinking... This is only the second time that I've read this book the whole way through, the first time was almost twenty years ago and I remembered that I'd had trouble with it then as well and hadn't gone back to it since. So, what's all that about then? I absolutely love a bit of 'Sword and Sorcery' but 'Elric of Melnibone' doesn't quite hit the spot, despite being a bit of a classic in this sub-genre. Let's see if I can tell you why... Elric, 428 th Sorcerer-Emperor of the fading empire...

So my 'Elric Re-Read' is going about as well as you'd expect, given all the other stuff that is taking large chunks out of my reading time (no commute, working from home, all the usual bits and pieces). I'm not out of the game yet though so I thought I'd tackle it from a slightly different direction this time. I couldn't tell you what the first Moorcock book that I read was but I do know that 'The Last Enchantment' was the first Elric story that I came across, during a 'Library Lesson' in my first year of high school. I first read it in 'Elric at the End of Time' and am now reading it from the Del Rey collection, 'To Rescue Tanelorn' (which I have signed by the man himself, which is awesome). I'd say that 'The Last Enchantment' was at least partly responsible for my reading now so lets go and take a look at it, shall we? Siletah Slorg is a man on the run, for his life, from the Hungry Whisperers and in a s...

So my 'Elric Re-Read' starts right here, with a story that has precisely no Elric in it whatsoever... Bit of an odd place to start then but once you've read 'Master of Chaos', it becomes pretty clear that this is maybe the only place to start. If it wasn't for the good Earl Aubec, there might be no Elric at all or if there was, he could well be a very different person to the iconic fantasy figure that we all know. Seriously, let me tell you about it... Earl Aubec is on a mission to increase the holdings of the Queen Eloarde, of Klant, by the strength of his sword and not a lot else. That's how we find him; no army, just Aubec and his sword against the mysterious castle of Kaneloon and its occupant. Once the castle is taken, Eloarde's empire will be complete as there is nothing else to rule; the raw stuff of Chaos laps at the World's Edge. Earl Aubec would rather be with Queen Eloarde but there's a job that she needs him to do and he ...