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| The Vanishing Tower, Archival Press 1981, Michael Whelan (Elric in the Sighing Desert) |
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| NEL hc 1971, James Cawthorn |
Empress of the Dawn, Dark Lady of Kaneloon
Since Moorcock couldn't actually end this tale with a victorious Elric standing over the bloodied remains of his arch-nemesis (Theleb K'aarna is still very much at large at the beginning of the in-story sequel The Stealer of Souls), the dramatic arc of The Sleeping Sorceress is passed on to Lady Myshella, the Law sorceress of the volume's title. In just the previous year Moorcock's Eternal Champion anthology The Singing Citadel (1970) had reprinted Myshella's first appearance (in "Master of Chaos", 1964), as well as Rackir the Red Archer's debut (in "To Rescue Tanelorn...", 1962). Freshly inked in novel form, these two "satellite characters" were now in a good position to serve as narrative pillars for The Sleeping Sorceress.
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| Fantastic, Feb 1972, Michael W. Kaluta |
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| NEL pb 1972, Jan Parker |
One of the many interesting things found here is a clearer delineation between the major supernatural forces present in Elric's world: Law, Chaos and Melnibonéan sorcery. Melnibonéans are tied to Chaos, but their sorcery also encompasses a form of "Earth magic" apparently borne through events occurring prior even to their Chaos pact with Duke Arioch. Elric's sorcerous powers are here defined as chiefly being command over the elementals of air, fire, earth, water and "ether", as well as a relationship with entities who have "affinities with flora and fauna of the Earth" (some of the historical origins of these elemental pacts will be portrayed decades later in the 2004 comic series Elric: The Making of A Sorcerer, illustrated by Walter Simonson).
Of course, Elric also frequently turns to Stormbringer and Arioch for aid as well...if he can. The 2nd act includes an unexpected scenario where Stormbringer is actually over-sated in soul-taking. Of course, it may be that Stormbringer was just being "insouciant" that day...
On the other hand, Myshella's Law-based sorcery depends on less "natural" methods. Her main mode of transport is an animated metal bird, which seems less abstracted in personality that the insect, lizard, cat and bird creatures that Elric calls upon. She is able to use mental projection to reach Elric at long distances, and in the end of the first act uses some kind of yeast-like "Noose of Flesh" against her enemies. These two expressions of sorcery could in some ways be equivalent to technology we understand as holographic transmission and chemical warfare (just as her bird is in some ways an intelligent automaton). In the last act Myshella sets Elric on a path to where he obtains advanced "force field" shields and quartz spears. So on the surface at least, the power of Law seems to be inclined towards more "sterile" scientific methods (as should be appropriate to a manifestation of Law). Ironically, the final arc also sees Theleb K'aarna increasingly leaning towards Law-flavored science-fiction methods, such as in his use of globe-shaped dimensional teleportals and his alliance with the extraterrestrial lizard aliens of Pio. Who knows, perhaps Theleb K'aarna himself was starting to give up on his own patronage of Chaos by that point.
Based on what readers may have seen in Corum's Swords Trilogy, Chaos seems to lean towards the surreal and absurd. This aspect is a bit toned down in this book, as Arioch essentially snubs his "sweetest slave". This inconstant patronage ultimately leads Elric to spend some quality time with a Law sorceress, and then to later reside in Tanelorn, a neutral, Chaos-defiant outpost. All of these touches help flesh out Elric's path towards becoming a direct opponent of Chaos in the final book, Stormbringer (in the second act, Elric is also directly healed by Lord Donblas the Justice Maker, a Law Lord).
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| DAW 1977, Michael Whelan (Elric confronts the demon in King Urish's throneroom) |
Perhaps because this volume was written very close to the writing of Corum's Swords Trilogy, the Chaos army Theleb K'aarna conscripts into his plan, Prince Umbda and his Kelmain Host, may remind some readers of Prince Gaynor the Damned and the Chaos Pack featured in The Queen of the Swords. These are clearly different characters, but it's fun to wonder if Gaynor and Umbda are alternate incarnations of each other. When speaking of connections to Corum's Swords Trilogy, the biggest one is of course the adventure at the Vanishing Tower of Voilodion Ghagnasdiak. Corum's climactic volume, The King of the Swords saw the Vadhagh Prince Corum summoning the Eternal Champions Elric and Erekosë to help him rescue his friend Jhary-a-Conel, Corum's Companion figure (just as Moonglum is for Elric). In the climactic arc of The Sleeping Sorceress, the same narrative occurs, but this time retold from Elric's viewpoint. This is a pretty interesting literary device which was used to pretty good effect in the stories of Christ in New Testament Bible (and then reimagined again by Moorcock himself in Behold the Man). A famous cinematic example of this device is the Kurosawa film Rashomon. This kind of prismatic multi-narrative would occur once again several years later in The Sailor On the Seas of Fate and The Quest For Tanelorn.
Rackhir the Red Archer has also been cited as an Eternal Champion in some texts, but in this book he acts only as a supporting character in the 2nd and 3rd Acts. Rackhir and Elric had first appeared in print together in 1965's Stormbringer, but this episode of course takes place much earlier in their in-story histories. The next Elric volume to be published, Elric of Melniboné (1972), would go backwards in time yet another step to relate the tale of their very first meeting.
Artists Renditions
Elric's saga has frequently been blessed with some legendary fantasy artists in both magazine and book form (not to mention comic and graphic novel editions). With The Sleeping Sorceress having many scenes rich in imagery, it has also been a great opportunity for visual artists as can be seen in the covers above. Below is a further sampling of artistic renditions of this book from over the years (with obviously varying degrees of fidelity to the interior text).
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| Der verzauberte turm, Heyne 1980, James Cawthorn (Theleb K'aarna Commands the Kelmain Host of Prince Umbda) |
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| Lancer 1972 (unauthorized edit), Charles Moll (Nice design, but that mustache is...no.) |
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| Futura-Quartet 1977, Patrick Woodroffe (Elric Atop Myshella's Mechanical Bird) |
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| Wizardry and Wild Romance 1978 Calendar, Rodney Matthews (1976) (Elric and Moonglum facing the Oonai at World's Edge) |
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| The Vanishing Tower, Archival Press 1981, Michael Whelan (Elric slays the demon of Ashaneloon Castle) |
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| Berkeley 1983/Ace 1987, Robert Gould (Elric holds the dismembered head of an Elenoin.) |
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| Mayflower / Granada 1983, Melvyn Grant (an Oonai?) |
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| Hayakawa Shobo 1985, Yoshitaka Amano (The Sleeping Sorceress Myshella?) |
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| Del Rey 2008, John Picacio |
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| Del Rey 2008 (interior), Steve Ellis (The Three-Who-Are-One - Elric, Corum and Erekosë - Fight the Scythe-Wielding Winged Tigers of the Vanishing Tower) |
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| Centipede Press 2020, Tyler Jacobson (Elric Atop Myshella's Mechanical Bird) |
