Odd mix of fantasy and WW2 historical fiction- Elric meets Hitler, literally. ( )

Wonderful example of what fantasy can be. Set in an alternative Europe during the 2nd World War, we're treated to a gritty, semi-realistic kind of historical fantasy. The world is almost(but not quite) recognizable as our own interlaced with sorcery and mythical beasts and strange cities and lands that still manage to feel real and with characters that seem alive and real, drawing emotion from the reader and persuading us to care about them.

I picked this up from a charity shop as an accidental find but vaguely remember reading some of the Von Bek novels when I was younger. I've picked up the first Von Bek now in kindle format and hope for good things from it if it's anything like as good as this.

Very enjoyable alternate historical fantasy. Recommended.
( )

I was a huge fan of this author in my youth and I still recall the original Elric saga and the other books I read at the time fondly, but this return to his work after so many years was a disappointment.

I actually enjoyed the first third or so of this story quite a bit. There is no fantastical aspect yet, and it depicts Count Ulric of Bek's view of the rise of Nazism in his beloved Germany. Ulric's ambitious cousin Gaynor has joined up with Hitler, though he sees him only as a stepping stone to something greater. He demands Ulric turn over a family heirloom, the sword Ravenbrand, but Ulric, seeing the Nazis for what they are, refuses, and is thrown into prison and then a concentration camp for his trouble.

It's once Elric shows up and teams with Ulric (initially occupying the same body) that I began to become bored. The main reason is that Elric, last prince of Melniboné, has ties to many patron gods, and can call on them any time he gets into a fix and needs a hand. And so he does. This recurring deus ex machina sucks any drama or tension out of the story. There's also a lot of smaller scale mystical hand-waving stuff that had the same effect. After the first act, I felt no weight to any of the action. Even the ending doesn't require much on Elric's or Ulric's part.

I guess I would have preferred this as a pure historical novel, or at least something a bit more down to earth. ( )

A confusing read - like the multiverse itself I suppose but still too long and too slow at times needs tighter editing. ( )

At first glance may seem to give in to the race toward higher page counts evidenced by the average fantasy book over the last decades compared to the slimmer Elric volumes I originally read (most of them collections of short stories or novellas at that).
And indeed the expanded page space makes for a quite different experience, maybe not an "improvement" but just as good as the better tales in its own way.
Most noticeably, more (and more detailed) insights into characters' essences and motivations, sometime distilled over a few scenes rather than just the one line of dialog, gesture or tantalizing hint. This doesn't feel like bloat though, the pacing is still fairly brisk and mostly spot-on.

Not a good entry point to Elric IMHO, as this reunites characters probably better enjoyed with at least a dim remembrance of their past appearances, such as Gaynor, who might feel a lot flatter for someone who didn't have the opportunity to come across him as an antagonist in the Corum books. ( )