“The Zenith Letter,” from Monsieur Zenith the Albino by Anthony Skene, (1924, new edition by Savoy Books, 2001). Reprinted by permission of New Worlds Magazine.

Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following for permission to reprint previously published material: “Final Judgement” (under a different title) by Alan Forrest first appeared in New Worlds, copyright © 1965 by New Worlds Magazine (February 1965, no. “The Secret Life of Elric of Melnibone” by Michael Moorcock first appeared in Camber, edited by Alan Dodd (June 1964, no. “Elric” by Michael Moorcock first appeared in Niekas, edited by Ed Meskys, (March 1964, no. “Mission to Asno!” by Michael Moorcock first appeared in Tarzan Adventures (September 1957, vol. “Putting a Tag on It” by Michael Moorcock first appeared in Amra, edited by George Scithers (May 1961, vol. PR6063.O59E47 2008 823'.914-dc22 2007033639 Printed in the United States of America 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Book design by Julie SchroederĪll the stories in Michael Moorcock’s The Stealer of Souls and Stormbringer first appeared in Science Fantasy magazine from June 1961 to April 1964. Elric of Melniboné (Fictitious character)-Fiction. Included in this volume: “The Dreaming City,” “While the Gods Laugh,” “The Stealer of Souls,” “Kings of Darkness,” and “The Flamebringers” (formerly collected as The Stealer of Souls) and “Dead God’s Homecoming,” “Black Sword’s Brothers,” “Sad Giant’s Shield,” and “Doomed Lord’s Passing” (formerly collected as Stormbringer). 1) The first of a series of six volumes collecting Michael Moorcock’s Elric stories. (Chronicles of the Last Emperor of Melniboné vol. Elric the stealer of souls / Michael Moorcock. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Moorcock, Michael. The stories contained in this work originally appeared in various science fiction magazines, as noted on the following acknowledgments page. DEL REY is a registered trademark and the Del Rey colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc. Published in the United States by Del Rey Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

A Del Rey Trade Paperback Original Copyright © 2008 by Michael Moorcock and Linda Moorcock Foreword copyright © 2008 by Alan Moore Illustrations copyright © 2008 by John Picacio All rights reserved. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Michael Moorcock ILLUSTRATED BY JOHN PICACIOĮlric The Stealer of Souls is a work of fiction. ELRIC The Stealer of Souls CHRONICLES OF THE LAST EMPEROR OF MELNIBONÉ - volume 1.