Elric 4. The Vanishing Tower

These are the seven DAW books on Elric:

1. Elric of Melniboné (edited version of The Dreaming City) ★ (Oct 1976)
2. The Sailor on the Seas of Fate ★★ (Dec 1976)
3. The Weird of the White Wolf (partial version of The Stealer Of Souls) ★★★ (Mar 1977)
4. The Vanishing Tower (earlier version of The Sleeping Sorceress) ★★★★ (Jun 1977)
5. The Bane of the Black Sword ★★★★★ (Oct 1977)
6. Stormbringer ★★★★★★ (Nov 1977)
7. Elric at the End of Time (May 1985)

Addition there are:

• Conan and Elric
• Michael Moorcock
• Michael Whelan
• Urish’s Hoard – The Guide To Elric Collectibles

The Elric Saga 4. The Vanishing Tower

• Novel: The Vanishing Tower
• Number: The Fourth Novel of Elric of Melniboné
• Previously published: An earlier version was previously published as
  THE SLEEPING SORCERESS
• Author by Michael Moorcock
• Cover painting by Michael Whelan
• Map and illustration by John Collier and Walter Romanski
• Frontispiece by James Cawthorn
• No. 245
• Pages: 175
• Tue 21 Jun 1977
• Ideogram from Ace/Berkley
• Runed numbering system
• Cover font: Charleston

Author’s note

A version of this novel, re-edited without reference to the author, was published under the title of The Sleeping Sorceress by Lancer Books in 1972. The text of this edition follows that of the English edition, published by New English Library in 1970. [nb! NEL is from 1971]

Contents

1. Elric knew he could not outride the monsters. – p.1
2. Book One: The Torment of the Last Lord – p.9
   1. Pale Prince On A Moonlit Shore – p.11
   2. White Face Staring Through Snow – p.17
   3. Feathers Filling A Great Sky – p.25
   4. Old Castle Standing Alone – p.32
   5. Doomed Lord Dreaming – p.40
   6. Jeweled Bird Speaking – p.46
   7. Black Wizard Laughing – p.51
   8. A Great Host Screaming – p.59
3. Book Two: To Snare The Pale Prince – p.69
   1. The Beggar Court – p.71
   2. The Stolen Ring – p.76
   3. The Cold Ghouls – p.86
   4. Punishment of the Burning God – p.94
   5. Things Which Are Not Women – p.106
   6. The Jesting Demon – p.116
4. Book Three: Three Heroes With A Single Aim – p.123
   1. Tanelorn Eternal – p.125
   2. Return of A Sorceress – p.130
   3. The Barrier Broken – p.139
   4. The Vanishing Tower (renamed) – p.147
   5. Jhary-a-Conel – p.155
   6. Pale Lord Shouting In Sunlight – p.168

Back side

Elric of Melnibone, proud prince of ruins, last
lord of a dying race, wanders the lands of the Young
Kingdoms in search of the evil sorcerer Theleb K’aarna.
His object is revenge. But to achieve this, he must
first brave such horrors as…

the Creatures of Chaos,
the freezing wilderness of World’s Edge,
the gold-skinned Kelmain hordes,
King Urish the Seven-fingered,
the Burning God,
the Sighing Desert, and
the terrible stone-age men of Pio.

Although Elric holds within him a destiny greater
than he could ever know, and controls the hellsword
Stormbringer, stealer of souls, his task looks
hopeless – until he encounters Myshella, Empress of
the Dawn, the sleeping sorceress….

THE VANISHING TOWER is the authorized, revised
and final novel of the fourth book of Elric.

FROM DAW
by Michael Moorcock
ELRIC OF MELNIBONÉ  UY1259―$1.25
THE SAILOR ON THE SEAS OF FATE  UY1270―$1.25
THE WEIRD OF THE WHITE WOLF  UY1286―$1.25
THE JEWEL IN THE SKULL  UY1276―$1.25

Other pictures

Elric confronts the demon in King Urish’s throneroom.

Illustrated Collectors Edition (special hardcover editions) and The Year’s Best Fantasy Stories: 7

Originally done for the frontispiece of a special hardcover edition of THE VANISHING TOWER by Michael Moorcock. Hardcover book is from 1981.

Demonslayer (incorrectly is Dragonslayer). The full cover can be seen at the official Michael Whelan website and here. Also read the collector editions and Elric Demonslayer.

The first Elric was special hardcover edition Elric of Melniboné (1977). See more info there. The fourth special hardcover edition Vanishing Tower (06 Oct 1981), was illustrated to Michael Whelan on Archival Press (Robert Wiener of Donald M. Grant’s original company). See the isfdb, DAW Books, Moorcography and Amazon.

The Year’s Best Fantasy Stories: 7 book features cover art of Elric by Michael Whelan but contains no Elric-related content, and neither the authors nor editors have any connection to Elric or Michael Moorcock. See the ISFDB, Wiki, Amazon 1, Amazon 2, Amazon 3 and Amazon (list).

Not related on CU, but see The Year’s Best Fantasy Stories: 2, on DAW Books from Aug 1976 and the compilation album cover of DragonSlayer/Slayer (2008, re-released from 1980’s) was released after.

Is Live at the Roxy released after Elric 4: The Vanishing Tower – Illustrated Collector’s Edition or The Year’s Best Fantasy Stories: 7?

What does Cirith Ungol mean regarding author Michael Moorcock and the connection to DAW Books? The official said this:

Cirith Ungol are thrilled that another Michael Whelan masterpiece, “Demonslayer” is gracing the Live at the Roxy cover. Each studio album’s cover art is taken from the cover of a DAW Books edition of a book in Michael Moorcock‘s Elric of Melniboné saga; the art is by Michael Whelan. The backstory on the Live at the Roxy art is classic: “Around 1984, Michael was at a fantasy convention in Los Angeles and came up to Ventura for a visit. He brought this illustration ‘Demonslayer’ to my parent’s house, the location of our original band room, and we left it on the staircase, and went out to dinner, not knowing that someday it would grace another one of our album covers!”

In other words, quotes from Robert Garven for Live at the Roxy:

• “Each studio album’s cover art is taken from the cover of a DAW Books edition”
  • edit: it looks like The Year’s Best Fantasy Stories: 7
• “of a book in Michael Moorcock‘s Elric of Melniboné saga”
  • edit: it looks like Elric 4: The Vanishing Tower – Illustrated Collectors Edition

See more on record:

One Foot In Hell

Live at the Roxy

Categories:

---

0 0 votes

Article Rating

Subscribe

Login

Notify of

new follow-up commentsnew replies to my comments

Label

{} [+]

Name*

Email*

Website

Label

{} [+]

Name*

Email*

Website

0 Comments

Newest

Oldest Most Voted

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments