Moorcock's masterpiece (Dancers at the End of Time - Michael Moorcock)

Member Name: elllie

Product:	Dancers at the End of Time - Michael Moorcock
Date:	12/09/03 (51 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: incredible imagination , an set of very diverse characters , a plot that'll keep you hanging on Moorcock's every word

Disadvantages: There are only three books in this series out there!

Dancers at the end of time is a remarkable trilogy, and in my opinion, a masterpiece.

Moorcock creates a picture of a future society, at the end of time itself: where technology has finally removed the threat of death. The earth?s inhabitants can create sky-scrappers or mountains in seconds, change their appearance to anything that they desire ? and can be anyone or anything that they want. Morals have been long-forgotten and to ?the dancers at the end of time? pleasure is everything.

This hedonistic utopia is all that Jherek Carnelian - the protagonist - has ever known. However, this all changes with an arrival from the past: a Mrs Amelia Underwood. She finds herself unwillingly thrown into this future world: a prim, proper, god-fearing, tight-lipped young lady from 1896. Needless to say, she finds their lifestyle and approach to life impossible to comprehend. She has more than a little difficulty in settling in - thanks to her pure Victorian and Christian values.

When Jherek meets Amelia, he decides to fall in love with her ? for pure entertainment value. A battle of wills commences. The more than reluctant Amelia has nerves of steel and this proves to be a rather immmense challenge to Jherek. She refuses him her love, and instead begins the impossible task of teaching him morality.

But, at the end of time, people ideas about history and morals are hazyand confused, to say the least. And to give you a taste of just how hazy that is, Jherek at one point, refers to the beautiful story of Adolf and Eva! However, despite her horror at Jherek's ignorance, Amelia cannot help but begin to soften towards him? but before this has a chance to develop she is transported once more to her own time.

In his pursuit of love, he turns to time-travel to rescue Amelia and bring her back to the end of time. But Jherek, with his absurd naivety, is ill-equipped to deal with harsh 19th century London. He remains blissfully
unaware of the dangers he encounters when trying to find Mrs Amelia's house in Bromley. Finding himself befriended a nasty charatcer, he lands himself in the worst kind of trouble: threatened with the gallows and death....

Moorcock?s imagination seems to have no limits, and coupled with his very appealing dark humour, makes Dancers at the End of Time simply a cut above the rest in this genre.


If I?ve managed to convince you that you really have to read this trilogy, you?ll find a copy in any decent bookshop in the sci-fi section. In the latest edition they have put all three novels (An Alien Heat, the Hollow Lands and An end of All Songs) into one chunky volume called ?Dancers at the End of time?. And, at just £6.99, you really can?t complain.

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