Just finished reading another fantasy classic. Elric of Melnibone is a noble from a dying race, a feeble albino prince that carries the dark sword Stormbringer. It would be just another regular fantasy book if you didn't take in account that it's a book from 1961, that helped define a genre. But why read it? Why is the book special?
Elric is not a nice guy... he's the definition of THE anti-hero. The book is a collection of short stories, and the first is about how he betrays his own kingdom and leads a band of marauders to pillage it. He ends up killing both his evil cousin and the woman he loved (not on purpose... Stormbringer has a will of its own). He becomes an exile, travelling the world, finding no rest.
Stormbringer plays an important role on the character: the sword gives him strength, BUT it demands souls to feed on, condemning whoever it kills to eternal damnation. The problem is the sword must feed, either from the enemies souls or from the souls of Elric's friends. So Elric travels the world with a wicked sword that causes him a lot of sorrow, but without which he could not survive. It adds a lot of flavour to the story.
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