OSR Review & Commentary On Michael Moorcock's Elric Vol. 1: The Ruby Throne Hardcover by Julien Blondel (Author), Didier Poli (Illustrator), & Robin Recht (Illustrator)

 One of the startling conclusions that has come my way over the last ten years is the fact that many gamers don't read. Oh all of the excuses come down the pike, 'I don't have enough time'., 'My wife or husband won't let me', or my personal favorite, 'Sorry but reading isn't as exciting as 'insert latest video game title here'. So when Michael Moorcock's Elric Vol. 1: The Ruby Throne Hardcover came my way via a friend who was moving out of Connecticut. I jumped on the chance to own the whole series of books. These books came out in 2014 by  Julien Blondel  (Author), Didier Poli (Illustrator), & Robin Recht (Illustrator). Note that this is only one half of the Elric saga by Michael Moorcock here!   

Michael Moorcock's Elric Vol. 1: The Ruby Throne Hardcover is gorgeous! The artwork is on point & all of the favorite characters are here. Elric isn't the bad ass demon sword wielding mercenary here.. yet. This is events & lead ins with all of the events surrounding the pallid prince. And its captured so well. Everything is here the inhumanity of the people of the ruby throne. The weirdness of the saga is captured nicely. And this is a an excellent entry point for the new comer to the saga. 

The scale of the saga is evident here & its rendered very well. For dungeon masters who want to show the stark Sword & Sorcery world of Elric this is the saga that you can easily use. The scale, scope, grandeurs & romance  is all here. 

And make no mistake that this is an Elric that lives up to the write up in Kuntz & Ward's Deities & Demigods!  Michael Moorcock's Elric Vol. 1: The Ruby Throne Hardcover brings home the evil & alieness of the  Melniboné very well. Even without the demon blade Elric is within his Sword & Sorcery element. He has all of trappings of life within confines of the ruby throne that make the events that happen all that more tragic. 

Jeff Dee artwork from Deities & Demigods. 

For DM's that actually want to run Elric & co. through their own campaigns as adventure elements & NPC's. The Michael Moorcock's Elric Vol. 1: The Ruby Throne Hardcover is a choice morsel to add to their libraries. Even though its only the first half of the saga. Michael Moorcock's Elric Vol. 1: The Ruby Throne Hardcover is an excellent beginning with some truly jaw dropping artwork, excellent pacing, solid character studies, & a piece of Sword & Sorcery history not to be missed. 

Michael Moorcock's Elric Vol. 1: The Ruby Throne
Hardcover is available right here.