‘Black Sword’s Brothers’

Elric of Melniboné — proud prince of ruins, kinslayer — call him what you will. He remains, together with maybe Jerry Cornelius, Moorcock’s most enduring, if not always most endearing, character…

‘Black Sword’s Brothers’ formed the second instalment in a four-part serialisation (in Science Fantasy [q.v.]) of the novel Stormbringer. It was actually the seventh of nine Elric novellas which originally appeared in Science Fantasy between June 1961 and April 1964.

Stormbringer was first published in book form, abridged and revised, in 1965. The abridgements basically condensed the first two novellas (including ‘Black Sword’s Brothers’ [plus part of the third]) into one long section, ‘The Coming of Chaos’. The novel was later restored to its original length and further revised, in 1977.

First appearance: Science Fantasy Vol. 21 No. 61
London: Nova Publications digest, October 1963;
edited by John Carnell;
price: 3/-;
112 pages;
I.S.S.N.: none;
cover artist: “Cover photograph courtesy Columbia Pictures from ‘Jason and the Argonauts.’”

(Preceded by ‘Dead God’s Homecoming’)

‘Black Sword’s Brothers’: pp. 2–45.

(Followed by ‘Sad Giant’ Shield’)

Subsequently (only) in and as part of Stormbringer…

First edition, Herbert Jenkins, 1965 hardcover, abridged and revised from serial length.
First restored edition, DAW, 1977 paperback, restored to its original length and further revised.

Stormbringer subsequently collected in…

The Elric Saga Part Two, Doubleday, 1984 hardcover (q.v.).
Stormbringer (omnibus), Millennium, 1993 hardcover & paperback (q.v.);
a.k.a. Elric: The Stealer Of Souls, White Wolf, 1998 hardcover (q.v.; contents differ from 2008 edition [below]).
Elric, Gollancz, 2001 paperback (q.v.).
Elric: The Stealer Of Souls, Del Rey, 2008 paperback (q.v.);
contents differ from 1998 edition (above).
Elric: Stormbringer!, Gollancz, 2014 paperback (q.v.).
The Elric Saga Volume Two: Stormbringer, Saga, 2022 hardcover (q.v.).

(Click here for Graphic Adaptations of Stormbringer [novel])

(Click here for Foreign [i.e. non-English language] Editions of Stormbringer [novel])

Other foreign-language appearances of Stormbringer:-

The Elric Saga Part Two as Elric Il Negromante, Italy (1979); Der Bleiche Lord, Germany (2002).

Stormbringer (omnibus)/Elric: The Stealer Of Souls (1998) as Элрик – Похититель Душ, Russia (2008).

Elric: The Stealer Of Souls (2008) as Elric: Ruh Hırsızı, Turkey (2015).

Also in Elric Le Necromancien, France (1969); Elric Von Melniboné: Die Sage Vom Ende Der Zeit, Germany (1984); Город Мечты, Russia (1991); Хроника Черных Клинков, Russia (1992); Повелитель Бурь, Russia (1994); La Saga Di Elric Di Melnibonè (sic), Italy (1997); Приносящий Бурю, Russia (1998); Элрик Из Мелнибонэ, Russia (2005); Le Cycle D’Elric, France (2006); Похититель Душ, Russia (2006); ストームブリンガー, Japan (2006); Elric Intégrale 3, France (2015); Проклятие Черного Меча, Russia (2019); Elric: La Saga, Italy (2019); Elric: Die Illustrierte Gesamtausgabe, Germany (2023).