Been a while since I posted. It's been a tough few months at work, and I just got promoted to Engineering Lead at $WORKPLACE. January was great, most of the work on my site was done during then, but software work has slowed right down along with my mood. The world seems extremely large and I still don't know how I fit into it. regardless, though, I'd like to write a few words about the book I just picked up, along with a tale on how I found it.
Anyone who knows me knows I love fantasy - I even have a site dedicated to my modern fantasy setting. Most of my life, the fantasy I've read has been relatively low fantasy, though - I'm not saying they haven't been worlds inhabited by magic, but Alagaësia and the Riordanverse do not weave magic and fantasy into their core stories, and to be honest so doesn't Tolkien, which was my first introduction to the literary genre.
I struggle with writing for my high fantasy settings in this regard, trying to write believable fantasy creatures and systems and structures of power and myth that tie into the core conceit of the story I'm trying to tell. At this point some of you may already be thinking ASOIAF, and indeed I did read AGOT and ACOK as a kid, but never got past it. Admittedly, more "grown-up" prose that required deeper analysis than just reading at my preferred pace never quite appealed to me - looking back, I strongly believe this is, unfortunately, another "gifted kid" thing where I knew I didn't have the natural expertise to properly enjoy these works, and so decryed them as self-aggrandising (same reason I never really read any academic papers).
In line with my awesome journey of introspection and self-improvement (tremble before me), I have begun slowly coming to terms with this, mainly because of the excellent ASOAIAF community on Youtube - Alt Shift X, Quinn the GM, Michael talks about stuff, Glidus, and David Lightbringer all make content deeply analysing and theorising about GRRM's seminal work that makes me really feel something. It amazes me how this world could be constructed out of the minds of not only the author, but of the global hivemind of the fans - the Wiki of Ice and Fire is on par with the best Wikipedia articles I have personally read, and it is often used as a reputable reference in much the same way.
This winding point of mine is coming to a head: I saw Elric of Melnibone mentioned in a Youtube comment on one of these videos, funnily enough as a negative comparison between GRRM's works and it (they wrote something about the Targs being a direct plagiarism of the latter, but I chose to forget it so I wouldn't be spoiled). A quick search later and I found exactly what I was looking for - a proper unabashed high fantasy novel about an albino sorceror emperor of a five thousand year old empire. I obviously got it right away, but ended up putting off reading it until today.
Also, if you're reading this on https://rrv.sh, you can find a quick epub web reader I made at https://rrv.sh/reader which I made because I got annoyed at the various subpar options I've had to deal with since I started reading them 13 (!!!) years ago.
[!WARNING] Spoilers for the first two chapters of Elric of Melnibone follow, though it is mainly my review and thoughts rather than a 1:1 retelling.
The novel starts off with the titular character, a feeble (Moorcock delights in "lassitudinous") young emperor, one year on the throne, with skin and hair as white as bone and scarlet red eyes in a flowing yellow gown and a dark green helm in the shape of a dragon. This is Elric, and unlike his forebears, he is a scholar. Moorcock writes in present tense throughout this scene, set in the throne room before a hundred dancing courtiers - we are meant to feel present in the moment with Elric, as he ruminates on a throne made from one contiguous ruby (wow!).
First person point of view perspectives in books always offer a chance for the author to really let the reader know what's going on. This is used to great effect - not only do we get a hefty show don't telling of what Melnibone and its people are like, but Moorcock also interleaves in the perspective of Dyvim Tvar, a friend of Elric's.
Dyvim knows Elric and knows just how powerful he is, despite his lassitudinous appearance - the sorcery in this setting appears to scale with how learned one is in the arts, and the bookish Elric, said to have consumed every book in his father's library and then some by the age of fifteen, is so powerful that he has begun to adopt a far more laissez-faire attitude toward ruling, purely because he knows that he could trivially solve every problem the empire (and he) faces.
One of these problems is Prince Yyrkoon, a cousin of Elric and brother to his future empress Cymoril (great names B.T.W.). The novel starts with a brief foreword introducing Elric's detractors as wanting to maintain all the old rituals of the Empire to prevent destruction (it also mentions this starting scene between Yyrkoon and Elric being a years-long tragedy that will precipitate the destruction of the world - I hope this very strong assertion is sufficiently backed up). Yyrkoon is portrayed as one of them, but I dunno - I don't think he will be the real driving force here.
The crux of the scene here, where Elric is accosted by Yyrkoon making a bald attempt to depose him in front of Cymoril and his court, is to show not only how different Elric is both physically and mentally from the rest of the Melniboneans. Even his empress-to-be doesn't understand his slight consternation at how her manipulation of the weather may affect the rest of the islands - he states that she is "still a Melnibonéan". His stark white skin and red eyez aren't the only thing that sets him apart - Elric, through his studies, has adopted a much more liberal viewpoint of the world than his predecessors, which puts him at odds with many in the realm.
Foremost amongst them (that we as readers of the second chapter know of) is Prince Yyrkoon, and yet Elric does not argue with him - even when Yyrkoon directly challenges his right to rule to his face doesn't Elric do a thing, instead deftly disarming his cousin with his words and retiring from the court. Yyrkoon blusters and postures, but Dyvim Tvar notes (in his own first person perspective as mentioned above) that Elric only allows the treason as the young emperor knows he could crush the prince with ease - and the only reason Yyrkoon persists is that he instinctively knows it too, and must test the emperor's strength despite himself.
As I said, I don't think this is really going to be the core conceit of the series, and neither is Yyrkoon going to be our BBEG. This dynamic is brutal, though. It sets up a political situation that almost akin to hydrogen bomb vs crying baby: an uncaring insurmountable threat and an actor who can do nothing but make their displeasure known in the face of it.
It's an amazing start to the book, though. The description of how the jewel of Actorios on the young albino emperor's hand intrigued me with how the author said it moved and shifted, and the thought processes and mindsets of these characters are otherworldly enough that one cannot doubt they are reading fantasy.
I'll be aiming to write more this month, as February and March were abject FAILURES in this regard - planning to do one blog post every day on whatever topic crosses my mind like this one. See you tomorrow!