Although author Michael Moorcock announced that Elric was retiring after 30 years back in 1992, he decided to honor the 60 year anniversary of his most beloved character with one last adventure. Melniboneans can command dragons and tremendous sorcery because their ancestors, the immortal Phroon, were half dragon themselves. As part of his education Elric was sent on dream quests and in some he met his "Aunt", the sister of the first Emperor of Melnibone, who tutored him in sorcery, became his lover, and invited him to visit someday. After destroying his homeland and the tragic death of his cousin caused by Stormbringer, the sorcerer Elric of Melnibone started wandering through the lands known as the Younger Kingdoms. Along the way he was befriended by the jovial adventurer Moonglum who joins Elric on a perilous journey off the edge of the map and onto the flip side of their world (everyone knows the world is flat) to find the mysterious Phroon and his Aunt. Thanks to Moonglum's current girlfriend they have found a merchant ship brave enough to attempt the plunge off the edge of the world in search of exotic goods they can take back to the Younger Kingdoms. Surviving the plunge is only the first of many dangers Elric and Moonglum face as they journey through a strange continent and Elric gets entangled in his Aunt's schemes.

The writing is just like the last three Elric books. In other words, short, explains almost none of the backstory, and has just a tiny amount more description than the earlier works. At least there is a basic explanation of what a dreamquest was and how it worked along with a brief overview of who the Phroon were and how they relate to Melnibone. After that, this is an exotic and adventurous travelogue broken up with fast paced combat as Elric and Stormbringer mow down enemies. Also, people who simply fail to get out of the way. Since this is chronologically a younger Elric, he's downright cheerful compared to where he'll be in a hundred years. Probably because he's still addicted to the rush of strength and energy he gets from Stormbringer and so far he's only lost one person he cares about. Did I mention there are pirates? 

The narrator of the audiobook version is Samuel Roukin who does a Great job with The Sun Eater series.