I've read a fair amount of Michael Moorcock's work. I remember reading Elric of Melnibone and The Sailor on the Seas of Fate, as well as Count Brass and The Knight of Swords in high school. I re-read Elric of Melnibone not too long ago, and then I found the Dreamthief's Daughter.

I'm not completely conversant with the Eternal Champion cycle that Mr. Moorcock has created. I have a vague knowledge of it, but nothing more than that. I believe the Dreamthief's Daughter ties into that, but if you, like me, don't know much about it, fear not. While it may have something to do with the concept of the Eternal Champion, the ideas you need are imbedded in this book.

From the outset, I could tell this was something different. While the cover proclaims this as "a Tale of the Albino", and the blurb speaks of Elric of Melnibone, he is a vision, a mere phantasm throughout the opening. Instead, our protagonist is Ulric of Bek, a nobleman in prewar Nazi Germany. He is an albino, like Elric, and wields a black sword, reputed to have magical properties, called the Ravenbrand. Trouble starts when Ulric's cousin, Gaynor, who has joined the Nazis, indicates the government's interest in the sword. Ulric hates the Nazis--he is well-read and cultured, everything the Nazis despise--and refuses. He goes so far as to contact the White Rose, the German underground that opposes the Nazis.

And here's where the fun begins. Ulric finds himself fleeing from the Nazis. Occasionally, a spectre haunts him--an albino in baroque armour--and this spectre helps Ulric survive. The members of the White Rose lead Ulric into what he considers the Mittelmarch, the Elfland, realm of the Fairies. He is helped by Oona, an albino woman he has some unconscious ties to. Gaynor and his Nazi henchman follow Ulric into this Elfland, and pose a threat to the peace of that realm.

This is not a tale of Melnibone so much as of the 'multiverse' Mr. Moorcock has created. It is a much stronger work than his early Elric works, though he retains the passionate flair with which he writes. His descriptions of the Mittelmarch are dreamlike and stirring. Ulric seems an excellent voice for him--cultured, cynical yet still romantic--and the character of Ulric is, to me, a more sympathetic one than the original Elric.

Fans of the Elric books will certainly want to read this, but be warned, this is not sword and sorcery adventure, per se, but is very and truly fantastic, in all the definitions of that word. I often read this late at night, lying in bed, and the words, the images invoked seemed truly dream-like. I was transported from my room into the Mittelmarch with Ulric as my travelling companion. It is a rare book which has that kind of power, but Mr. Moorcock is a rare writer.

One of the great strengths of the book is that it encompasses many of the sub-genres of fantasy fiction. It begins like a story of magic realism, moves into dark fantasy, touches on high fantasy and sword and sorcery, all within one book. Let us simply say if defies genre as a whole, but delivers, instead a solid, accessible and beautiful story. What more can one ask?