The Dreaming City
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Author | Michael Moorcock |
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Language | English |
Genre | Fantasy |
Published | 1961 |
Publication place | England |
The Dreaming City is a novella written by Michael Moorcock, which first appeared in Science Fantasy issue 47, in June 1961.[1] It was the first story to feature the character Elric of Melniboné.[citation needed]
"The Dreaming City" has been reprinted in several collections of Moorcock's Elric stories, including The Stealer of Souls (Spearman, 1963), The Stealer of Souls and Other Stories (Lancer / Mayflower, 1967), The Weird of the White Wolf (DAW, 1977), Elric of Melniboné (Millennium / Orion, 1993), Elric: Song of the Black Sword (White Wolf, 1995), Elric (Gollancz / Orion, 2001), Elric: The Stealer of Souls (Del Rey, 2008), and Elric: Sailor on the Seas of Fate (Gollancz, 2013).[2]
In 1982, Marvel Comics adapted the novella into a graphic novel written by Roy Thomas and illustrated by P. Craig Russell.[3] In 2021, Titan Comics released a serialized comic book adaptation of The Dreaming City written by Julien Blondel with art by Julien Telo.[4]
This novella should not be confused with the 1972 novel Elric of Melniboné, which has occasionally been published under the title The Dreaming City by Lancer Books (1972) and Magnum Books (1975) but is actually a distinct story from the 1961 novella of this name.
Plot
Various warrior leaders await a meeting with Elric of Melniboné, as they plan to raid the powerful city of Imrryr, "The Dreaming City". Following his arrival, he travels alone to Imrryr early, meeting an old friend named Tanglebones who brings him to his lover Cymoril, who has been forcibly put asleep by his treacherous cousin Yyrkoon for some years. Yyrkoon, who illegitimately holds the throne of Melniboné in Elric's place, arrives with soldiers, who Elric defeats with help from an evil god before fleeing.
Soon after, Elric leads the rest of the warriors and their thousand ships towards Imrryr. After the mercenaries lay waste to Melniboné's outer defenses, Elric guides his fleet through a secret maze of caves to reach the civilization within. As the fighting continues, Elric steals away to meet Cymoril at a hidden spot among the city's towers, but finds Tanglebones dying and Cymoril imprisoned by Yyrkoon, who attacks him with a powerful spell. Elric battles his cousin with the soul-devouring, rune-forged sword Stormbringer, Yyrkoon wielding its sister sword Mournblade. Elric fatally wounds Yyrkoon, but he grabs Cymoril and throws her onto Elric's blade before he can react, forcing Elric to kill her before dying himself.
Ruined by grief, Elric flees the smoldering ruins of Melniboné with the remainder of his mercenary fleet, whose strength is depleted by the attack and subsequent looting of the city's riches. The fleet is surprised by the warships of Melniboné and the dragons which had been roused by the attack. Elric calls upon the black magic passed down to him by his ancestors to aid their escape, but the pursuers move swiftly to overtake the mercenaries. Unable to summon enough strength to save all the ships, Elric saves only himself and his crewmen, speeding away on the winds of elemental forces.
When his ship comes within sight of a harbor, Elric tries to break his bond with Stormbringer by hurling it into the ocean. The magic blade hovers above the water, and Elric jumps from the ship to reclaim it, fearing his albino weakness will overcome him without Stormbringer's power. He swims to shore alone, while his crew curses him for being a traitor and coward.
References
- ^ "THE DEEP ONES: "The Dreaming City" by Michael Moorcock | The Weird Tradition | LibraryThing | LibraryThing". www.librarything.com. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
- ^ "Title: The Dreaming City". www.isfdb.org. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
- ^ "Marvel Graphic Novel #2 - Michael Moorcock's Elric The Dreaming City". www.comics.org. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
- ^ "Elric: The Dreaming City @ Titan Comics". titan-comics.com. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
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- The Dreaming City (1961)
- The Fireclown (1965)
- The Jewel in the Skull (1967)
- The Final Programme (1968)
- The Mad God's Amulet (1968)
- The Sword of the Dawn (1968)
- The Runestaff (1969)
- The Black Corridor (1969)
- Behold the Man (1969)
- The Chinese Agent (1970)
- The Eternal Champion (1970)
- Phoenix in Obsidian (1970)
- The Warlord of the Air (1971)
- A Cure for Cancer (1971)
- The English Assassin: A Romance of Entropy (1972)
- Elric of Melniboné (1972)
- Breakfast in the Ruins (1972)
- The Land Leviathan (1974)
- The Adventures of Una Persson and Catherine Cornelius in the 20th Century (1976)
- The Sailor on the Seas of Fate (1976)
- The Condition of Muzak (1977)
- Gloriana (1978)
- Byzantium Endures (1981)
- The War Hound and the World's Pain (1981)
- The Entropy Tango (1981)
- The Steel Tsar (1981)
- The Brothel in Rosenstrasse (1982)
- The Laughter of Carthage (1984)
- The Alchemist's Question (1984)
- The City in the Autumn Stars (1986)
- The Dragon in the Sword (1986)
- Mother London (1988)
- Jerusalem Commands (1992)
- King of the City (2000)
- Firing the Cathedral (2002)
- The Vengeance of Rome (2006)
- The Coming of the Terraphiles (2010)
- The Whispering Swarm (2015)
- The Time Dweller (1969)
- The Lives and Times of Jerry Cornelius (1976)
- The History of the Runestaff (1979)
- The Dancers at the End of Time (1981)
- A Nomad of the Time Streams (1982)
- The Opium General and other stories (1984)
- Elric: Song of the Black Sword (1995)
- The Metatemporal Detective (2007)
- Conan the Barbarian
- Michael Moorcock's Multiverse
- Tom Strong
- Corum Jhaelen Irsei
- Dorian Hawkmoon
- Elric of Melniboné
- Erekosë
- Eternal Champion
- Jerry Cornelius
- Multiverse
- Stormbringer
- Symbol of Chaos
- Ulrich von Bek
- Melniboné
- "Epic Pooh"
- "Kings in Darkness"
- The Land That Time Forgot
- New Worlds
- Airtight Garage
- The Chronicle of the Black Sword
- The Final Programme
- Elric: Battle at the End of Time
- Stormbringer RPG
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