Elric, the Magnificent
The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes (St. Martin’s Press, 2007)
Elric (also affectionately referred to as Elric, the Magnificent) in The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes, is quite a man, er, sorcerer, er all powerful one. In the co-penned novel by Jennifer Crusie, Eileen Dreyer, and Anne Stuart, Elric is penned by Anne Stuart and is a tough guy, an Anne Stuart trademark. I see him as mostly Chief, with a touch of Warrior thrown in for good macho measure.
STATS: Physically, Elric is in his late twenties. Mentally, he’s around thirty-five. But chronologically, he’s ninety-three.
THE LOOK:
Elric is quite a package: With “long golden hair, dark eyes, impeccably dressed, with a sliver stud in one ear…there was something ageless about him.”
“[Lizzy] would have thought being outside would have muted him, made him less formidable when she wasn’t trapped in a room with him. She was wrong. Even at the top of a mountain he was a disturbingly powerful presence,” with “dark, fathomless eyes”, a fascinating mouth, and a “cool voice”.
LEADING LADY:
Elizabeth Alicia Fortune, Lizzy for short, is a mess. When she’s flustered or nervous, she turns things into bunnies. That’s right, bunnies. And when she’s turned on, a new pair of shoes materializes. “There had to be at least fifty pairs, of every possible shape and style. He glanced at Lizzie’s feet for the first time, and a slow smile spread across his face. The Road Runner high-tops had disappeared-at some point her shoes had become tropical espadrilles with fake fruit dripping off the straps. Lizzie Fortune had a hidden wild streak, at least when it came to shoes.”
She’s a match for Elric, though, and his true love. While he is sent to stop her from wreaking havoc on the universe with her untamed powers, he ends up teaching her. Will she become Mrs. the Magnificent?
What Makes Elric So Irresistible?
Simply put, it’s in his kiss.
Quite an array of colors, it turns out. “It was the last thing she expected-the touch of his mouth against hers-and he pulled back, looking as startled as she felt. She stood frozen.
“Ah, shit,” he said, and catching her face in his hands, he kissed her again.
It was like nothing she’d ever felt before, and she reached for him, holding on, afraid she might fall. A swirl of color, greens and blues and lavenders, all dancing around in her head as he kissed her, with slow, deliberate thoroughness…
…He stroked the sides of her face until she opened her mouth for him, and he used his tongue, kissing her with a slow, deliberate care that left her shaking, cold and hot. She had no choice, no thought but to kiss him back, pressing her body up against his, the living amethyst between the two of them, between their hearts, and it glowed, burned, sang, as she closed her eyes and let herself sink into the breathless wonder of the kiss.”
Wow. What more is there to say?
BOTTOM LINE:
When Lizzie’s Aunt Xantippe sends her nieces (Lizzie, as well as her two sisters, Mare and Dee) their true loves, Salem’s Fork, and the Fortune sisters will never be the same. Xan cooks up a diabolical plan to destroy her nieces, but those Fortune sisters are cunning. Their adventures make for a fun read, and the three heroes make it even better. Elric has a powerful and inherent authority about him that makes him especially appealing. He’s a protector.
QUESTION OF THE DAY:
With a name like Elric, mysticism is a big part of this hero. How much does a name matter in a hero?
March 11th, 2008
Misa 
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March 11th, 2008 at 8:46 am
It matters just like in real life, in terms of creating a first impression. A guy named “Hubert” or “Humphrey” or “Clyde” is not going to have the same appeal for me as something simple like “Jack” or even quirky like “Zephyr.” Having an odd, old-fashioned name myself, however, I like to think a well-crafted hero can overcome even a stodgy name!
March 11th, 2008 at 9:24 am
You’re hilarious, Virna! Your name IS NOT stodgy! But I agree that a name matters and if Elric had been Hubert, he just wouldn’t have had the same appeal.
March 11th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Given who he got named after, I couldn’t help but be amused by the name.
March 11th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
I had a Great Grandfather called Elic, short for Elexander. Sometimes names can be deceiving. My name, Amanda, is short for Mandaville in the hills of West Virginia, and a boy name. Times change and so do names. What we see as old-fashioned now was once a hot guy name. LOL Although some names stand the test of time, Jack and John and Bob seem like they have been around forever. Of course, Bob sounds like the best friend who likes the girl but she doesn’t notice. hahahaha
March 11th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
Given who he got named after, I couldn’t help but be amused by the name.
Wait, who was he named after, Jennifer?!
March 11th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
Oh my God, Jill, you have some very cool names in la familia!
March 12th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Hey, I’ve got Christopher Columbus, Andrew Jackson, and George Washington too. LOL C.C. Elswick, Andrew Jackson Adkins and George Washington Elswick. ahahahahaha
March 13th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
I could be dead wrong, but Elric was a character in Michael Moorcock’s sword-and-sorcery novels; he was a pale albino with a black sword that would kill his friends as well as his enemies. (He was written as the anti-Conan.) He’s definitely a Lost Soul. I’m a little surprised they’d name someone after him in a romance novel; I doubt a lot of women even know who he is.
He’s actually not an unimportant character in terms of the fantasy genre, but definitely on the mostly-read-by-men side.