Elirc, stealer of Souls

Elric: The Stealer of Souls is a collection of early Elric stories by Michael Moorcock.

This is a hard volume to write about. If you have already read some Elric stories, this is an enjoyable way to see the evolution of the character. The historical material that's collected here is really great, including a fanzine story from early on, some musings by Moorcock that he wrote at the time, and so on. It's a great way to see Moorcock's evolution as a writer -- the early stories are very much more purple than the later ones, Elric soliloquizes more about an unfair fate, the symbolism is more transparent, and so on.

Sadly, those exact things make this a hard book to recommend to non-fans. The unfortunate fact is that the early Elric stories aren't nearly as good as the later ones, and the book only starts to come together in the second half. If you're new to Elric, it may be better to read the novels first, or maybe start with the second volume of this series. Although I've rated this book 4 stars, if you're not already a fan (or aren't interested in the background of the stories), I'd have to say 2 1/2 stars is more correct.