“Cymoril,” he moaned, his whole body throbbing. “Cymoril – I have slain you.” He looked back at Imrryr and felt a tightness in his throat as he realized that he was truly rootless, now; a renegade and a womanslayer, though involuntary the latter. He had lost the only woman he had loved in his blind lust for revenge. Now it was finished – everything was finished. He could envisage no future, for his future had been bound up with his past and now, effectively, that past was flaming in ruins behind him. Dry sobs eddied in his chest and he gripped the ship’s rail yet more firmly. He had caused to be destroyed the last tangible sign that the grandiose, magnificent Bright Empire had ever existed. He felt that most of himself was gone with it. Elric looked back at Imrryr and suddenly a great sadness overwhelmed him as a tower, as delicate and as beautiful as fine lace, cracked and toppled with flames leaping about it. He had shattered the last great monument to the earlier race – his own race. Men might have learned again, one day, to build strong, slender towers like those of Imrryr, but now the knowledge was dying with the thundering chaos of the fall of the Dreaming City and the fast-diminishing race of Melniboné. Michael Moorcock, The Dreaming City. Which is how Elric, the last Emperor of Melniboné, came to leave the Dragon Isles whose downfall he had wrought and became the White Wolf of the Young Kingdoms, the pale prince of the cursed blood, doomed to kill in order to sate his sword’s thirst for souls in search of a peace that destiny itself refused to deliver…

Step into the mesmerizing world of Elric of Melniboné, Moorcock’s tortured hero… Two years after the tragic death of his former beloved Cymoril, Elric is now leading the life of a mercenary, until he is guided by Queen Yishana’s urgent call for help. The White Wolf must now face his strongest and most cunning opposition yet, having to confront his own bloodlust, his cursed sword’s lust for souls, and the gods of chaos itself… Adapted from Moorcock’s treasured works by Julien Blondel and the award-winning Jean-Luc Cano (Life is Strange), and illustrated by Valentin Sécher (Khaal and The Metabaron Books) this illustrious graphic novel immerses readers in the albino Emperor’s world of swords and sorcery as he struggles to fight his destiny.

‘Cymoril,’ he moaned, his whole body throbbing. ‘Cymoril – I have slain you.’ He looked back at Imrryr and felt a tightness in his throat as he realized that he was truly rootless now; a renegade and a womanslayer, though involuntarily the latter. He had lost the only woman he had loved in his blind lust for revenge. Now it was finished – everything was finished. He could envisage no future, for his future had been bound up with his past and now, effectively that past was flaming in ruins behind him. Dry sobs eddied in his chest and he gripped the ship’s rail yet more firmly. He had caused to be destroyed the last tangible sign that the grandiose, magnificent Bright Empire had ever existed. He felt that most of himself was gone with it. Elric looked back at Imrryr and suddenly a greater sadness overwhelmed him as a tower, as delicate and as beautiful as fine lace, cracked and toppled with flames leaping about it. He had shattered the last great monument to the earlier race – his own race. Men might have learned again, one day, to build strong, slender towers like those of Imrryr, but now the knowledge was dying with the thundering chaos of the fall of the Dreaming City and the fast-diminishing race of Melnibone. Michael Moorcock, The Dreaming City. Which is how Elric, last Emperor of Melnibone, came to leave the Dragon Isles whose downfall he had wrought and became the White Wolf of the Young Kingdoms, the pale prince of the cursed blood, doomed to kill in order to sate his sword’s thirst for souls, in search of a peace that destiny itself refused to deliver… In search of purpose, the White Wolf’s curiosity was aroused when Shaarilla of Myyrrhn proposed they seek a cursed book that grants wishes. But himself cursed, Elric was forced to move on without her, lest she fall prey to his darkness. Instead, Elric headed to Dhakos in the company of a cad named Moonglum, satiating his bloodlust along the way.

"In one of the most well-known and well-loved fantasy epics of the 20th century, Elric is the brooding, albino emperor of the dying Kingdom of Melnibone. With Melnibone's years of grandeur and decadence long since passed, Elric's amoral cousin Yrkoon sets his eyes on the throne. Elric, realizing he is his country's best hope, must face his nefarious cousin in an epic battle for the right to rule. Elric of Melnibone is the first in Michael Moorcock's incredible series, which created fantasy archetypes that have echoed through the genre for generations"--

The Shape of Fantasy is an in-depth look at Heroic Epic Fantasy. It depicts structural and narrative patterns with models stemming from science and philosophy. Although Fantasy Fiction is generally defined by its impossibility, Fantasy Fiction not an illogical form. It is, in fact, governed by a sense of rules and structure, one that reflects our current understanding of space-time and cosmology. These models are an integral part of the structure of Heroic Epic Fantasy itself. Thus, this book introduces new ways of perceiving current productions of the Fantasy genre. In doing so, it also explores how Fantasy Fiction exhibits a conscious awareness of its own form.

First in-depth study of the use of landscape in fantasy literature