(US) • Zine DAW Books • Slogan An earlier version was previously published as THE SLEEPING SORCERESS • Issue No. 245 • Journalist
Michael Moorcock
• Cover art
Michael Whelan
• Published Tue 21 Jun 1977 - ๐ Copy short link
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These are the seven DAW books on Elric:
- Elric of Melnibonรฉ (edited version of The Dreaming City) โ (Oct 1976)
- The Sailor on the Seas of Fate โ โ (Dec 1976)
- The Weird of the White Wolf (partial version of The Stealer Of Souls) โ โ โ (Mar 1977)
- The Vanishing Towerย (earlier version of The Sleeping Sorceress) โ โ โ โ (Jun 1977)
- The Bane of the Black Sword โ โ โ โ โ (Oct 1977)
- Stormbringer โ โ โ โ โ โ (Nov 1977)
- Elric at the End of Time (May 1985)
Addition there are:
The Elric Saga 4. The Vanishing Tower
- Novel: The Vanishing Tower
- Number: The Fourth Novel of Elric of Melniboneฬ
- 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 Archival Press (left) and Ace/Berkley (right)
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- Runed numbering system
Printing | Cat. No | ISBN 10 | Availability | Ads | Other info |
1a | UY1304 | 0-87997-304-8 / 978-0-87997-304-9 | ads | Jun 1977 | |
1b | UY1304 | 0-87997-304-8 / 978-0-87997-304-9 | Publisher: DAW Books / New American Library of Canada | ||
2: ? | |||||
3*๏ปฟ | UW1406 | 0-87997-406-0 / 978-0-87997-406-0 | ads | Sep 1978 Jaffery's Retrospective | |
3 | UE1796 | 0-87997-796-5 / 978-0-87997-796-2 | no ads | New Amer Library | |
4 | UE1553 | 0-87997-553-9 / 978-0-87997-553-1 | no ads | Jun 1977 | |
5 | UE1693 | 0-87997-693-4 / 978-0-87997-693-4 | |||
6*๏ปฟ | UE1796 | 0-87997-796-5 / 978-0-87997-796-2 | |||
$25 | 0-915822-38-5 / 978-0-915822-38-6 | no ads | Jun 1981 Archival Press (not DAW Books) "First United States Hardcover Edition" 1500 copies | ||
$45 | 0-915822-39-3 / 978-0-915822-39-3 | no ads | Jun 1981 Archival Press (not DAW Books) 150 copied | ||
$2.25 | UE1661 No. 454 | 0-87997-661-6 / 978-0-87997-661-3 | Amazon (1) Amazon (2) Amazon (3) | ads | Oct 1981 The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 7 (not Moorcock) |
ย C$2.50 | UE1661 No. 454 | 0-87997-661-6 / 978-0-87997-661-3 | Oct 1981 The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 7 (not Moorcock) |
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
- Elric knew he could not outride the monsters. – p.1
- Book One: The Torment of the Last Lord – p.9
- Pale Prince On A Moonlit Shore – p.11
- White Face Staring Through Snow – p.17
- Feathers Filling A Great Sky – p.25
- Old Castle Standing Alone – p.32
- Doomed Lord Dreaming – p.40
- Jeweled Bird Speaking – p.46
- Black Wizard Laughing – p.51
- A Great Host Screaming – p.59
- Book Two: To Snare The Pale Prince – p.69
- The Beggar Court – p.71
- The Stolen Ring – p.76
- The Cold Ghouls – p.86
- Punishment of the Burning God – p.94
- Things Which Are Not Women – p.106
- The Jesting Demon – p.116
- Book Three: Three Heroes With A Single Aim – p.123
- Tanelorn Eternal – p.125
- Return of A Sorceress – p.130
- The Barrier Broken – p.139
- The Vanishing Tower (renamed) – p.147
- Jhary-a-Conel – p.155
- 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 MELNIBONรย UY1259โ$1.25
THE SAILOR ON THE SEAS OF FATEย UY1270โ$1.25
THE WEIRD OF THE WHITE WOLFย UY1286โ$1.25
THE JEWEL IN THE SKULLย UY1276โ$1.25
The Jewel in the Skull is The History of the Runestaff 1 of 4 books.
Other pictures
Elric confronts the demon in King Urish’s throneroom.
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- inside
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- Penguin Classics
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- Original painting: Urishโs Bane (1976)
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- One Foot in Hell (1986)
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- Note: It was later reprinted by publishers such as Panther, Granada, or Graftonโnot by DAW Books.
The cover font Charleston is used on, for example, The Mind Net from DAW Books and Cirith Ungol โ Paradise Lost, but not on the Elric Sagas from DAW Books.
Illustrated Collectors Edition (special hardcover editions) and The Year’s Best Fantasy Stories: 7
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- Original painting: Elric Demonslayer (1980)
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- Live (incomplete) 1980’s
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- Elric 1+4 Illustrated Collectors Edition
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- Elric 1+4 Illustrated Collectors Edition
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- Elric 1+4 Illustrated Collectors Edition
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- Elric 4 Illustrated Collectors Edition
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- Elric 4 Illustrated Collectors Edition on Archival Press (Jun 1981)
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- Elric 4 Illustrated Collectors Edition front endpaper on Archival Press (Jun 1981)
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- The Year’s Best Fantasy Stories: 7 on DAW Books (Oct 1981)
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- Live at the Roxy (25 Apr 2025)
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- Rob & “Rob” with Elric Demonslayers
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 Melnibonรฉ (1977). See more info there. The fourth special hardcover edition Vanishing Tower (06 Oct 1981), was illustrated to Michael Whelanย on Archival Press (Robert Wiener of Donald M. Grantโs original company). See the official Donald M. Grant, isfdb, DAW Books, Moorcographyย 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 1980โs) was released after.
Controversy: in the credits on Live at the Roxy, there isย no mention at all of โMichael Moorcockโ,ย the creator of Elric.
Which of these books could you choose?
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- Which of these books you could choose: The Elric Saga 4: The Vanishing Tower โ Illustrated Collectors Edition (Jun 1981) or The Yearโs Best Fantasy Stories: 7 (Oct 1981) ?
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, โDemonslayerโ is gracing the Live at the Roxy cover. Each studio albumโs cover art is taken from the cover of a DAW Books edition of a book in Michael Moorcockโs Elric of Melnibonรฉ saga; the art is by Michael Whelan. The backstory on the Live at the Roxy art is classic: โAround 1984, Michael was at a fantasy convention in Los Angeles and came up to Ventura for a visit. He brought this illustration โDemonslayerโ to my parentโs 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!โ
 Elric 4 Illustrated Collectors Edition on Archival Press (Jun 1981) | The Elric Saga 4: The Vanishing Tower โ Illustrated Collectors Edition (Jun 1981)✅ cover art with Elric by Michael Whelan Quotes from Robert Garven: |
 The Year’s Best Fantasy Stories: 7 on DAW Books (Oct 1981) | The Yearโs Best Fantasy Stories: 7 (Oct 1981)✅ cover art with Elric by Michael Whelan Quotes from Robert Garven: |
See also Live at the Roxy on the conflicting books. Summarizes all three books:
| Title | The Elric Saga 4: The Vanishing Tower | The Elric Saga 4: The Vanishing Tower (Illustrated Collectors Edition) | The Yearโs Best Fantasy Stories: 7 |
| Cover |  |  |  |
| Artwork Title | ✅ Urishโs Bane | ✅ Elric, Demonslayer | ✅ Elric, Demonslayer |
| Artwork By | ✅ Michael Whelan | ✅ Michael Whelan | ✅ Michael Whelan |
| Author | ✅ Michael Moorcock | ✅ Michael Moorcock | ❌ Edited by Arthur W. Saha (no Moorcock content) |
| Publisher | ✅ DAW Books | ❌ Archival Press | ✅ DAW Books |
See more on record:
- Abe Books
- Amazon
- Barnes & Noble
- CD Universe
- CDandLP
- Discogs
- eBay
- F.Y.E.
- iTunes.com
- Sonic Age Records
- Tradera
- Walmart
- YesAsia
AbeBooksย โข Alibrisย โข Amazonย โข Barnes and Nobleย โข Better World Booksย โข eBayย โข eBooks by Rakuten koboย โข Indieboundย โข play.google These links are auto-generated. If you know of a better place to buy Elric 4. The Vanishing Tower, please leave a comment or post it in the forum.
