Elric of Melnibone: $18!

I have spent the last 10 years buying brand new editions of every book I wanted. I would be damned if I would buy a used book, something someone else's grubby hands were all over. Until recently.

Having discovered the liberating Old School Renaissance (OSR) has changed me, for the better. Suddenly, instead of feeling the need to rush out and buy supplement X for the newest edition of Awesome New RPG Y, I was content skimming through old PDF's and the wealth of knowledge available within the OSR blogging community. I found my imagination stirred by old Frazetta art and retro fantasy novel covers. And now I am living joyously in the past.

As a young gamer, I was never exposed to OD&D. It was around well before my time. My dad and his buddies were playing AD&D when I was a kid, and I was always completely fascinated by what they were talking about - wizards, swords, giants, dragons! But alas, too young to play, my dad told me.

So I ended up discovering D&D for the first time with 3rd edition. I never quite felt at home, but I would never have considered playing an older, "outdated" version. Now, 10 odd years later, I have finally discovered the freedom that is old school gaming. I have been eagerly drinking in every retro and old school source of inspiration I can find. Which, after a long introduction, brings me to the subject of this post. Books!

A few weeks ago I ventured out to a used book store for the first time ever (I am deeply shamed). I couldn't believe how cheap everything was. I picked up a copy of Conan the Warrior, and a little seed of wonder bloomed up inside me. I had heard a lot about Michael Moorcock and Elric of Melnibone, and having always been a fan of the weirder side of fantasy, I scoured the shelf for any sign of his work - alas, there was none.


Today, I stopped back in on a whim and went back to the fantasy & sci-fi shelf. What's this? A book by Michael Moorcock, though not part of the Elric series. Cool, I told myself. Then I looked over and my eyes settled upon a towering mound of Moorcock books. I quickly opened the first Elric one I found, figured out which books were in the series, and promptly grabbed the whole set. Despite my efforts, I couldn't find the second and third books in the same silver edition as the others. Oh, well. The whole series came to a mere $18!


I am really looking forward to delving into this world I've heard so much about. As a curious side note, my cat has a strange fixation with the books. He keeps knocking them off of the shelf and vigorously pawing at them. Needless to say, I've put them into hiding for now, until I finish Conan the Warrior!