Wrapped up The Elric Saga, which I’ll admit felt more like a chore around the point when only 300 or so pages remained. There definitely exists an inverse relationship between length and enjoyment when it comes to Moorcock’s writing; the longer each book became the more bored I was. The first three or four books rocketed along, being short and dense with the result being a high level of enjoyment. By the middle of the fourth book things began to stretch out and the plot felt muddled, character motivations were untidy and muddy and I found myself checking to see how many pages I had left like some obsessive clock watcher. I hate reading when it becomes a task to chewing through pages.
Beyond the length of the work there were some character inconsistencies about Elric that often drove me to distraction. The saga opens with Elric’s motivation centering around his cousin and true-love, Cymoril, and like all good epics she provides a solid one dimensional cornerstone for our hero to go out and do battle with evil. Her death at Elric’s hands provides the motivation for his wanderings and his stoic existence, however, temptation proves to great as he quick falls into bed with another woman, Shaarilla. Following that indiscretion are several other woman, sometimes treated as temptresses, like Queen Yishana, others like awkward, quasi-pedophiliac prizes–Zarozinia. Why was Elric so quick to toss away his love for Cymoril? I’m not sure. I might have understood it better had Moorcock maintained the monk-like lifestyle and introduced Zarozinia as Cymoril reincarnate.
The books antagonists were often recycled being cast from the same mold only getting blurrier with each reintroduction. It was clear what the struggle was between Yyrkoon and Elric: power, love, and jealousy. However, Theleb K’aarna appeared to be no more than just a fool and I was left wondering why Elric would expend so much energy hating him. Really, just let him have Yishana. Jagreen Lern, sure he is supposed to be the earthly representation of the opposite balance, Elric is Law while he is Chaos, however all the fury stems from some petty insults. I’m just not feeling the motivation.
However, complaints aside, I recommend The Elric Saga to anyone looking to while away sometime and who isn’t afraid of a protagonist who ought to be in medicated therapy, sword play, and sorcery. Regardless of the the series lengthening towards its conclusion and my apparent fidgetiness it was still a highly entertaining read and worth nearly every page it was printed on.
