The Time Dweller

by Michael Moorcock, Bob Haberfield (Illustrator)

1981 paperback, vg++ In stock shipped from our UK warehouse

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Short Stories, Collections, Anthologies, Science Fiction Fantasy

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Michael John Moorcock is an English writer primarily of science fiction and fantasy who has also published a number of literary novels.

Moorcock has mentioned The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Apple Cart by George Bernard Shaw and The Constable of St. Nicholas by Edward Lester Arnold as the first three books which captured his imagination. He became editor of Tarzan Adventures in 1956, at the age of sixteen, and later moved on to edit Sexton Blake Library. As editor of the controversial British science fiction magazine New Worlds, from May 1964 until March 1971 and then again from 1976 to 1996, Moorcock fostered the development of the science fiction "New Wave" in the UK and indirectly in the United States. His serialization of Norman Spinrad's Bug Jack Barron was notorious for causing British MPs to condemn in Parliament the Arts Council's funding of the magazine.

During this time, he occasionally wrote under the pseudonym of "James Colvin," a "house pseudonym" used by other critics on New Worlds. A spoof obituary of Colvin appeared in New Worlds #197 (January 1970), written by "William Barclay" (another Moorcock pseudonym). Moorcock, indeed, makes much use of the initials "JC", and not entirely coincidentally these are also the initials of Jesus Christ, the subject of his 1967 Nebula award-winning novella Behold the Man, which tells the story of Karl Glogauer, a time-traveller who takes on the role of Christ. They are also the initials of various "Eternal Champion" Moorcock characters such as Jerry Cornelius, Jerry Cornell and Jherek Carnelian. In more recent years, Moorcock has taken to using "Warwick Colvin, Jr." as yet another pseudonym, particularly in his Second Ether fiction.

Reviews

[Nate D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Psychotropic mid-60s sci-fi, heavy on altered consciousness, sociopathic monologue, and hallucinatory description and action. Essentially unfolds in three parts:

1. Two connected stories set towards the end of Earth's long decline into inhospitability to humans, with civilization reduced to a few pockets of isolated waiting. initially reads like weird fantasy, but quickly moves into its real (and much more interesting) subject of the perception of time and how it controls us.

2. "Deep Fix", a novella-length apocalyptic adventure about psychiatry gone terribly wrong and drug-aided scientific work, continuously jumping worlds between two linked plotlines. Entirely entertaining.

3. A series of much shorter pieces, including the aforementioned sociopath studies, a ridiculous noir riff cast with WWII-era world leaders and bad botany, and a spot of mountaineering at the end of the world.

Overall, it's a really solid collection, quite varied while balancing the more pulpy and absurd bits against dark dystopian visions and a continuing interest in consciousness itself. Which is pretty good for book purchased at near random (it's my first Moorcock, found at the excellent Bucket of Blood in Chicago) and read in a single long car ride (Austin to somewhere in Tennessee).

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of short stories from Moorcock, who was always noted for his novel length works and rarely for his short fiction. They're all from the mid-1960's and all but two originally appeared in New Worlds Magazine, which Moorcock edited for a long time. New Worlds was the venue in which the New Wave of the genre was born and proliferated; it was a movement towards character rather than story, soft rather than hard science, and experimental techniques and themes. (And sex & drugs & rock'n'roll !) It caused quite a stir in the field for a decade or so, and succeeded in changing the definition and destination of the field permanently. The stories collected here are very nicely written pieces, for the most part, though occasionally a bit too hallucinatory and fragmentary to function as stories in the traditional sense... which was much of the point, I suppose. The longest, The Deep Fix, is a good example; Moorcock used that name for his band for a while a few years later, and their New Worlds' Fair album would be a good soundtrack for reading the book. It's good stuff, even if I wasn't always sure what he was going for... my favorite was the intriguing The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius.

[Kaiju Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent collection of stories with some extreme variations of intent that may turn off many readers. The first two are shared universe time-related plot-oriented stories that set an unfulfilled expectation for more of the same, when in fact, the type of story diverges dramatically. The Deep Fix is a trippy story, somewhat plot driven, while the next four stories I’d argue aren’t plot driven at all. Additionally, the ‘time’ motif implied by the title and first stories is not maintained. But, jettison your expectations, and you’ll find some truly great stories here. I find most collections, even good ones, to contain a range of middling to poor stories with an occasional winner. This comparatively was outstanding.

The Time Dweller – Starts off with an excellent mix of well written exposition, character detail, and action. I loved the look and feel of this Earth. The story proper doesn’t truly identify itself until the protagonist Scar-faced Brooder arrives in the city of Barbart, at which point a very non-standard time travel story takes over. I’ve never been a big fan of time travel stories. I feel like the best are either totally whacky Philip K. Dick style reality breakdowns or dressed up historical dramas with an otherwise great non-science-fictional drama embedded. But this story maybe changes that by adding a new third dimension to time travel. 4.5 stars.

Escape from Evening – The needle of exposition Moorcock so perfectly threads in The Time Dweller here gets bunched up and over sown, but not enough to kill the story. Pepin Hunchback is introduced, as is his Moon inhabitation, well enough, but unnecessary details slow the pace a little much for my tastes. It doesn’t help that the payoff and discovery of The Time Dweller is diminished here as well. Still enjoyable, if less so than the first tale. 3 stars.

The Deep Fix – This semi-post-apocalyptic novella has a very strong 1950’s type hero in a weird mashup of Last Man on Earth with Vincent Price (which it predates by a year, though that film is based on I am Legend from 1954) and Delany’s Dhalgren, which it predates by a decade. Fortunately, it doesn’t have the melodramatic facade of seriousness depicted in the former, nor the legitimate wtf level of seriousness depicted in the latter. Instead, it’s just trippy ridiculous fun. How many times have you read a scene in which multiple martinis leads to sex, then a confrontation with the bedded one’s daughter, which naturally requires our hero to go for a walk in the nearby park to clear his head only to be confronted by a somewhat polite vampire. Wait, that might be the actual plot to one of the Twilight Books. 4 stars.

The Golden Barge – Like a chapter from the Odyssey with an orgy scene described very similarly to the one in the film Society (probably no connection, but check it out), this is yet another great story in this so far great collection. I really love a good allegory with strong enough roots to allow the reader to still care. Most allegories fail at that. Take the boy who cried wolf, no one ever actually cares about the boy… he’s just a tool to get the message across. In this one, Moorcock hits both birds with one stone, and a few laughs to boot! 4 stars.

Wolf – On the surface, this is a very simple story without any supernatural or science-fictional elements other than a tangible weirdness. It is very similar in feeling and tone to the Golden Barge. But where Barge’s Jephraim seems able to pull himself together, the titular Wolf surrenders to his id, with both regret and relish. It isn’t wholly ineffective, but some additional narrative would’ve made it much better. 2.5 stars.

Consuming Passions – Like Wolf, this felt almost like a character sketch more than a story, but this one had more pull for me. For one, it is very oddly told, interchanging between first and third person, a choice that maybe makes sense in the final pages, but doesn’t fully pay off. Also like in Wolf, Jordan Mennell fully gives in to an all-consuming madness, but in this instance, without any regret, only relish. And yet… something here commanded my attention… 3.5 stars.

The Ruins – I have some theories about what is going on in this story, and whether I’m wrong or right doesn’t matter, it isn’t good. – 1.5 stars.

The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius – A fun if slightly frivolous tale with some excellent moments; particularly the initial description of Sagittarius’s Garden as an aquarium bowl. The historical elements add to the fun and mildly suggest something deeper at work, but nothing beyond a suggestion that I could find. Nonetheless, a much different and more fun read than Wolf, Consuming Passions, and The Ruins. 3.5 stars.

The Mountain – This final story may not appeal to everyone, but for me, it is was a near masterpiece of post-apocalyptic fiction. What truly changes? What lessons about life are available to those at the end of human existence? Two very different approaches are presented here. Which is more effective? Effective to what end? 4.5 stars.

A highly recommended collection.

[Steven Poore · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmm. A relatively short collection of stories, dominated by The Deep Fix, which isn't really all that deep, and linked tales The Time Dweller and Escape From Evening. Most of the others are the sort of thing that, these days, would be spiked in slush piles quite quickly. Only The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius hints at the metatemporal fun times Moorcock carried into later years.

[Eirik · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first exposure to Moorcock. Not bad at all, but a very mixed bag.

The first story put me off immediately, and almost made me regret deciding to read this book. The setting was interesting, but the prose was so unbearably awkward and stilted, and the story was so full of outdated tropes, that I would've hated a full 170 pages of it. The second story had a lot of the same problems, but thankfully the third story was more bearable.

The best stories here were very interesting and enjoyable, but the worst ones were honestly pretty rubbish; trope-ridden and embarrassingly dated. The closest thing to a coherent theme in this short story collection is the emphasis on the human psyche and how we experience reality. That is, in my opinion, a very interesting topic, and Moorcock has some great takes on it. Unfortunately, they're interspersed with classic 60s sci-fi sexism and nerdy hero fantasies.

The prose is very varied, thank God. From the horrific faux-medieval style of the first story to dreadful noir, from edgy internal monologs to detached, scientific main character explaining things. The variety is honestly a bit impressive, but the quality is extremely hit or miss.

I didn't end up regretting this read, as I was fearing at the start of the book, but I definitely won't be rereading it anytime soon. If you enjoy 60s sci-fi, with all its many faults, it's a good read, but it absolutely feels dated. There are interesting topics and settings, but with drawbacks.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short story collection by Moorcock collects a variety of stories by him that appeared in New Worlds and other British magazine in the 1960s. A very uneven collection at best, nad sometimes I wonder if 3 stars is being way too generous.

"Time Dweller" and "Escape from Evening" open the collection; these two inter-related stories are set in a dystopian/post-apocalyptic future. While there are some big ideas philosophically expressed in these two stories, they seem to really go nowhere. "The Deep fix" has touches of THE PRISONER and DANGER MAN (aka SECRET AGENT MAN). The story opens a bit slow and clunky, but it redeems itself after a few early sections. "The Golden Barge" is a short quest story, but I found the quest, the overall plot and its resolution dissatisfying. Intense and engaging, "Wolf" is a satisfying story, but with its underlying current of sexual violence, it may not be for everyone. "Consuming Passion" is another intense and somewhat horrifying story. The Metatemporal Detective makes an appearance in "The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius". More horror than science fiction or fantasy, "The Mountain" is a serviceable story.

[Andrew Lasher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short story collections are always hit or miss. In this case, I feel that it might have been slightly more miss than hit, but a few of the stories in this collection are jaw droppers, so I would recommend it to any Moorcock fan.

The first two stories, A Time Dweller and Escape From Evening are classic Moorcock sci-fi. They deal with people reaching the end of the universe and the consequences of this, which is always a favorite topic of mine. From there, however, the stories seem to fall a bit flat. There are a few decent ones, but all in all I didn't feel mesmerized by them. That being said, I did finish this book in one sitting, so maybe three stars is a bit of a low review.

There was actually another standout story in here, and it was The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius, which is an excellent short read. So out of the entire book, I would highly recommend three of the stories. Since I have bought books on far less merit than that, I would say that if you are a fan of Moorcock, pick this up.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Time Dweller is something of a departure for Michael Moorcock, most closely associated with novels and novellas, in that it's a collection of 1960's-era short stories. The collection is strong for the most part and I believe standouts include "The Deep Fix," which is also the name of Moorcock's music side project, and "Wolf," which is the first of his pieces I'd describe as Horror. I wouldn't use The Time Dweller as a starting point for Moorcock but it's certainly a must-read for his fans.

[Alex Johnston · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first couple of stories are pretty neat although more in terms of the world they build than anything that happens in them - the rest is middling to poor although there are some good images and vibes in places.

[Marth · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Time Dweller - 3.5/5

Tis is a collection ah short stories be Michael Moorcock. Me favourites wir the furst tae, 'The Time Dweller' n 'Escape from Evening' alangside 'The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius' bit ah'll wir itleast interestin in a historical context.

The Time Dweller
The title storie is n interestin wan aboot the major character, Scar-Faced Brooder (sums up maist Moorcock protagonists tae be fair), leavin unwelcom hame tae leern aboot the wurld of a deeing Earth nae langer meant fir us humes. He gaes tae a toon n learns sumhing of the nature ah time. N interstin tale n the source ah the bangin cover art fir ma edition it his sum commentarie on how traditons kin be stupid n tim is a construct.

Escape From Evening
Set in the same wurld is 'The Time Dweller' tis carreed on the thems aboot tim n hoo yeah cannae gae back r firwurd, only liv noo. Deals wae a phenominon tha is so prevalent, the idealised past. Guid read.

The Deep Fix
A manny taks a buggerloada sum hird drug n gaes on a vision quest tae solve mental health firever! Intersting deek ah the inner mindscape wae sum twists waein twists fir the reader tae uncover. The 'science' behind is affy dodgy tha, am nae sure thas who mental heelth wurks but oonywae.

The Golden Barge
As fir as ah noes tis is n extract frim the furst beuk Moorcock ever scribbled back in the mid-50s n it reads lik it. Tis extract doesny really staund alone n ah doobt the hole hing is oony beeter; I don't hing I'll be pickin the full storie up if a see it in the wild.

Wolf
An awright wee storie. Nuffin much tae sae aboot it really tha doesn't spoil it so ah will. Ah crazy bloke kills a wuman hingin shes sumwan else, mae much mair tae say.
Ah fine short read, nuffin much else.

Consuming Passion
Again, nuffing much tae say, an awright wae tae spent a few minutes of burning fun.

The Ruins
Mair intresting tha the previous twa. Ah, man wanders sum desolate ruins, leuks fir the wae tae git free it last. Where is he? Kin he git oot? Tas a spoiler innit so give it a read if yer wantin tae no fir yersel. Is awright tho.

The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius
Me favourite storie ah the collection an alternate-reality, historical murder mystery mashup wae depreesd Hitler n ah corset wearin Bismark. Ah fun storie wae sum later connections tae the rest ah Moorcock's Multiverse.

The Mountain

Fine. Ah twa men leuk fir the last wuman aroond, bit wans gettin mair and mair disconnected n jest wants tae bask in tha beauty've the wurld fore the end. Again, fine, nuffin tae writ hame aboot really.

O'erall, ah fine read've 60s new wave sci-fi weirdness. If yah find it cheap someplace then yah might weel gae it a leuk o'er, if jest fir the cover art.

[Bart Hill · Rating 2 out of 5]

This collection of stories starts off well, but by the time I got through the third tale, the book barely kept my interest. I read the greatest part of the book in an airport and on a plane. There wasn't much else to do, I suppose.

[Simon · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first pair of stories were great, but it kind of fell off the cliff after that into kind of gross and psychotic character studies. The last story, The Mountain, was decent.

[Steventhesteve · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting if disparate collection of short stories from Mr Moorcock. Some of them quite fun, but not his finest collection

[Mortimer Roxbrough · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very curious collection of short stories not all of which actually go anywhere. Only recommended if you are already a fan of the novelist.

[Derek · Rating 2 out of 5]

Of these stories, only "The Time Dweller" and "Escape from Evening" make the sort of sense you'd expect after putting down the Hawkmoon or Elric series. The rest are rich with experimentation: "The Deep Fix" appears to be an attempt at something Philip K Dick; "The Golden Barge", "The Wolf", "The Mountain", and "Consuming Passions" are very internal to the main character, who acts under logic and motivations never really shared with the reader; "The Ruins" is even more so, plus there is the question of either unreliable narration or a compromised mental state; and "The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius" is outright gonzo.

They are all intense and dreamlike and sort of impressionistic.

[Isabel (kittiwake) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Time Dweller
Escape from Evening
The Deep Fix
The Golden Barge
Wolf
Consuming Passion
The Ruins
The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius
The Mountain

A book of nine short stories dating from 1963 to 1966. I own the novel "The Golden Barge", but I haven’t read the short story before, or any of the others in this book. My favourites were "The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius" and "The Deep Fix".

I like the cover picture, which shows a man from the far-future Earth of the first two stories, riding a seal-beast and being menaced by a giant leech!

[goldengoblin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short stories that starts with two that are somewhat connected in the vein of Bradbury's Martian Chronicles but diverges afterwards. Deep Fix which has a scientist taking a highly addictive drug to undo the brainwashing of machines he has created stands out as a highlight alongside the macabre tale of The Golden Barge, which is a trimmed down version of one of Moorcock's novels.

[Neil Harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

more a book for the hardened Moorcock fan. I like it because it is Moorcock but only shows brief flashes of genius, more potential than realisation. I read this years ago and returned to it recently and will return to it in another 4-5 years and reread but not a classic.

[Wolfgang · Rating 2 out of 5]

A collection of short alternate reality stories that started off very strong but slowly dissipated into the cliche and boring. After the first two chapters I expected much more.

[Chris Pollard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful surreal SF-fantasy short stories, a real gem of a book.

[AndrewP · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short story collection.

[William Middleton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my cup of tea. 1 story was 4 star, the rest only 1 star

[Darren · Rating 4 out of 5]

First time I have read this one for about 20 years. Still a very good read