The Hollow Lands picks up where An Alien Heat left off: Jherek Carnelian is back in his own distant future time, out on a jaunt with his mother, The Iron Orchid. Here’s a preview of what a reader is in store for with this, the middle volume, of Michael Moorcock’s scintillating trilogy, Dancers at the End of Time:
WHERE HAVE ALL THE PEOPLE GONE?
Although these immortal men and women of the future control the mechanics of nature to the point where they no longer experience suffering or pain, they sense a loss of vitality, of intensity, of zest in their current world. "Once, it was said, the whole city had been sentient, the most intelligent being in the universe, but now it was senile and even its memories were fragmented. Images flickered here and there among the rotting jewel-metal of the buildings; scenes of Shanalorm's glories, of its inhabitants, of its history."
Anybody familiar with, say, Amsterdam or Paris or New York, knows so very much of the vibrancy and pulse of the city comes from the sheer number of people out on the streets. A striking feature of this future world Michael Moorcock has created: there are only a handful of people. So when Jherek and the Iron Orchid picnic in one of the Shanalorm parks, they are completely isolated. How much fun in the city is that?
LOVE & PASSION
Jherek's heart still throbs for Mrs. Amelia Underwood. Mom doesn't fully understand or appreciate what it means to be in love with another person. But she realizes her son must work it out for himself. "It is your drama and you must be faithful to it, of course. I would be the first to question the wisdom of your veering from your original conception. Your taste, your tone, your touch - they are exquisite. I shall argue no further."
"It appears to go beyond taste," said Jherek, picking at a piece of bark and making it thrum gently against the bole of the tree. "It is difficult to explain"
It is ever thus. Love is difficult, even impossible, to explain to another, especially if that other person is a being incapable themselves of such impassioned, hot-blooded feelings. Recall Jherek is the exception here: unlike Iron Orchid and others, he was actually born and thus retains a connection with our all too human emotions.
KOOKY AIR CAR
All the familiar faces from An Alien Heat gather about Jherek and the Iron Orchid, My Lady Clarlotina, Werther de Goethe, Lord Jagged among their number. Then, up in the sky - it's a bird, it's a plane, no, it's the Duke of Queens in his unique air car the shape of a huge hen. "Its wide wings beat mightily at the air, its mechanical head glared this way and that as if in horrible confusion. The beak opened and shut rapidly, producing a strange clashing noise." You see, these suffering-free denizens of this future age do continue one aspect of our current day world - they indulge each other with entertainment and amusements.
CAPTAIN MUBBERS AND HIS CREW
Jherek and company saunter into the forest to partake of a hunt. Tally-ho! Off they go. They come upon a strange band of time-travelers from a distant planet, "Near the crippled machine stood or sat seven humanoi beings who were unmistakably space-travellers - they were small, scarcely half Jherek's size, and burly, with heads akin in shape to that of their ship, with one long eye containing three pupils, which darted about, sometimes converging, sometimes equidistant with large, elephantine ears, with bulbous noses." These small fry hearties are called the Lat and their presence here in the forest and in future scenes, even 1896 London, makes for laugh out loud hilarity.
NURSE AND THE CHILDREN OF THE PAST
Another jocular, playful romp is when Jherek falls down and is trapped among "The Children of the Pit" ruled over by a robot nurse who treats Jherek like one of the children. Jherek being such a silly name, Nurse renames him Jerry Jester to fit in with the other boys and girls. And more: "We'll have to get you out of those silly clothes. Really, some mothers have peculiar ideas of how to dress children. You're quite a big boy, aren't you." Then when Captain Mubbers and his crew also enter the scene, the fun really begins.
1896 LONDON
When Jherek finally reaches 19th century London, he meets and takes a train ride with none other than H.G. Wells. A New Wave SF writer just can't help himself. I recall H.G. Wells also making a cameo appearance in another New Wave SF novel - Christoper Priest's The Space Machine.
HOME OF THE MRS AMELIA UNDERWOOD
Again another sparkling section of the novel is when Jherek enters the home of his love, Mrs. Amelia Underwood. His conversation with the pious Mr. Underwood just returned home after his Bible Meeting makes for one rib-tickling exchange. This section of the novel is, as the saying goes, worth the price of admission.
TRAVEL AND PARADOX
Ultimately, The Hollow Lands makes for a fast-paced adventure back and forth through time. Sure, there's paradox and problems galore, however, no problem is too formidable for the mighty Moorcock.
British author Michael Moorcock, born 1939
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