[llreader]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

I love how we can all disagree and still be friendly as we talk about all this - certainly not negative, in my opinion.

So, with that said, I'll have to disagree with you about Moorcock (although, to be honest, I haven't read him in a long time).

You should go back and take a look and see what you think. I have known the story of Elric since I was a teenager (from D&D's "Demons and Demigods" no less!), and I thought the idea was brilliant, it has everything for a great story, an ancient, decadent race, an anti-hero (although Elric was a bit on the soft side, compared to the anti-heroes of today, but grim is in, you know), an inbred, genetically warped albino who maintains his heroic status through the use of drugs and magic, always balancing his power and weakness, who slowly becomes dependent on and enslaved to a horrific entity from beyond time (Stormbringer). Man, that is drama you can spread with a knife.

I was home sick last year for a couple of months, and got copies of the books, it was going to be great!

So disappointing. It was dull as toast. I remember getting to this passage in about the third (?) book, and just giving up.

Duke Avan was a man of about forty, with a square, handsome face. He was dressed in a gilded silver breastplate, over which was arranged a white cloak. His britches, tucked into black knee-length boots, were of cream-colored doeskin. On a small sea-table at his elbow rested his helmet, crested with scarlet feathers.
"I am honored, sir, to have you as my guest," said Duke Avan. "I know you to be Elric of Melnibonè. I have been seeking you for several
months, ever since news came to me that you had left your homeland (and your power) behind and were wandering, as it were, incognito in the Young Kingdoms."
"You know much, sir."
"I, too, am a traveler by choice. I almost caught up with you in Pikarayd, but I gather there was some sort of trouble there. You left quickly and then I lost your trail altogether. I was about to give up looking for your aid when, by the greatest of good fortune, I found you floating in the water!" Duke Avan laughed.
"You have the advantage of me," said Elric, smiling. "You raise many questions."
"He's Avan Astran of Old Hrolmar," grunted Count Smiorgan from the other side of a huge ham bone. "He's well known as an adventurer-explorer-trader. His reputation's the best. We can trust him, Elric."
"I recall the name now," Elric told the duke. "But why should you seek my aid?"
The smell of the food from the table had at last impinged and Elric got up. "Would you mind if I ate something while you explained,
Duke Avan?"
"Eat your fill, Prince Elric. I am honored to have you as a guest."
"You have saved my life, sir. I have never had it saved so courteously!"
Duke Avan smiled. "I have never before had the pleasure of, let us say, catching so courteous a fish. If I were a superstitious man, Prince Elric, I should guess that some other force threw us together in this way."
"I prefer to think of it as coincidence," said the albino, beginning to eat. "Now, sir, tell me how I can aid you."
"I shall not hold you to any bargain, merely because I have been lucky enough to save your life," said Duke Avan Astran; "please bear that in mind."
"I shall, sir."

And that passage was unremarkable. Just, no zip at all. "adventurer-explorer-trader"? What kind of dialog is that? As I wrote at the time, "It is enough to make Marlin Brando squeeze a damp towlette over his bald head and rub a finger across his gums every few minutes."

That said, Moorcock had lots of great ideas in there. My impression of his books is similar to what they said about The Velvet Underground's first show - only a few people were there, but they all went on to form great bands. I imagine he was an inspiration to a lot of people at a certain age, and would have been to me (who am I to judge, I was reading Andre Norton and Rob White back when). But it certainly isn't riveting prose.