The Elric Saga, consisting of six books, is the most enchanting and fascinating tale I have ever read.

The story is about the albino king of Melnibone. Because of his albinism, he is very weak unless he takes medicine to keep his strength up. During a raid on Melnibone, he is thrown overboard by his evil cousin Yrkoon, who plans to usurp the throne. As Elric sinks to the bottom, he wants to die, but unconsciously he mutters a spell to summon the Water Elemental King who saves him. When Elric returns to his throne room, Yrkoon is not very happy to see him.

Thus begins the chain of events that would form Elric's destiny, and perhaps the history of the world. Elric's bride, Cimmoril, is kidnapped by Yrkoon, who would do anything to kill Elric. Yrkoon leads Elric into the realm of the black swords, forged by the magic of his ancestors 10,000 years before. He finds the sword and realizes that when he kills someone, the sword drinks the victim's soul and feeds the power of the soul to Elric, making him one of the most powerful beings in the world.

This series is unbelievably well written. Michael Moorcock takes the reader into a realm of fantasy that no reader could ever imagine. In the first book of the series, Elric of Melnibone, Moorcock sets up the format for what could be the best piece of fantasy literature to exist.

I would highly recommend this series to anyone with a grasp of the unusual and strange. It can be easily obtained through the Science Fiction Book Club as two hardcover books (with three books in each). Look at recent issues of Omni magazine to obtain this series.

Officially, the series ends at the sixth book (The Saga of Elric of Melnibone), but there are two sequels: Elric at the End of Time and The Fortress of the Pearl. All in all, they make a fulfilling series. n