dozens reviewed Michael Moorcock's Elric by Edward E. Kramer
The Dreamthief's Daughter: A Tale of the Albino
4 stars
Why I picked it up
I've long heard that Michael Moorcock does really good sword & sorcery fantasy. So I grabbed this one because it was available and I'm an opportunist.
What surprised me
Okay, I thought I was going to be getting wizards and dragons and stuff, so I was flabbergasted when the story started out in early Nazi Germany. That's on me for not even bothering to read the jacket or the synopsis. I was disoriented, but the writing around the insidious, creeping rise of fascism was good enough to stick with it, even though there were not wizards or dragons.
What I liked about it
Most good fantasy stories are all allegory, right? This one beats you over the head with it: in the fantasy realm the hero of chaos must fight the corrupt, senile, and insane Lord of Law. An obvious stand-in for fascism. While in …
Why I picked it up
I've long heard that Michael Moorcock does really good sword & sorcery fantasy. So I grabbed this one because it was available and I'm an opportunist.
What surprised me
Okay, I thought I was going to be getting wizards and dragons and stuff, so I was flabbergasted when the story started out in early Nazi Germany. That's on me for not even bothering to read the jacket or the synopsis. I was disoriented, but the writing around the insidious, creeping rise of fascism was good enough to stick with it, even though there were not wizards or dragons.
What I liked about it
Most good fantasy stories are all allegory, right? This one beats you over the head with it: in the fantasy realm the hero of chaos must fight the corrupt, senile, and insane Lord of Law. An obvious stand-in for fascism. While in our world, Europe cowers before the threat of Nazism, itself a corruption of law and authority.
The allegory might be a little on the nose, but it was done well enough. And the rise in fascism in the US and elsewhere made it all the more poignant, and all the more satisfying and cathartic when the dragons actually dogfight the Nazi bombers and literally dragonbreath them to pieces.
What I didn't like about it
Otherwise a kind of cliche heroic fantasy. Which, don't get me wrong, is what I wanted. But Elric is basically godlike and at no point did it feel like there was ever any danger he couldn't punch or magic away.
And, while I don't honestly know how I would explain two doppelgängers who sometimes inhabit the same body while they bounce back and forth between Fantasy World and Nazi Germany, the amount and variety and speed of the dimension hopping was dizzying.
What I want to remember
As a fantasy and a D&D nerd, I feel like I'm coming to Moorcock late in the game. Apparently his whole Chaos vs. Law shtick is the origin of that part of D&D's iconic "Good/Evil + Law/Chaos" alignment chart.
Also he also created the eight pointed symbol of chaos that is used in occult media everywhere.
Who I'd recommend it to
Anybody who likes pulp action fantasy where the heroes are untouchable. Who likes a dash of time travel and multiversal shenanigans. And anybody who wants to see Nazis get hacked with swords and flamed by dragons.
