Review: The Metatemporal Detective by Michael Moorcock

Michael Moorcock is a legend in the SFF world, mostly as a result of his Elric stories, written in no small way as a (critical) response to the fantasy tropes most often associated with J.R.R. Tolkien. Beyond his stories of Elric and the development of the multiverse, Moorcock has penned well-regarded literary novels, such as Mother London and Byzantium Endures, and is an acclaimed musician. So, it is with some amount of embarrassment that I admit that The Metatemporal Detective is the first work of Moorcock’s that I’ve read.

The Metatemporal Detective collects the stories Sir Seaton Begg as he faces off with his with his counterbalance in the multiverse, Count Zenith the albino. Begg is often joined by his ever faithful partner, Dr. “Taffy” Sinclair as Moorcock pays homage to the crime fiction he loves – not only to the likes of Doyle’s eternal Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, but more directly to his childhood favorite, Sexton Blake.

The crime fiction Moorcock creates in The Metatemporal Detective imagines worlds only possible in the multiverse. At times Moorcock achieves a steampunk-noir quality, where air ships and electric cars dominate a book without the internal combustion engine. The loose mosaic is brought together with the only new story, “The Flaneur des Arcades de l’Opera”, with implications to other events of Moorcock’s multiverse, while being entirely enjoyable for those who, like me, are not familiar with exactly what these implications are.

My immediate impression of Moorcock’s writing was one of awe and appreciation for someone who clearly is a master of language. The writing was an absolute joy to read while never becoming flippant. In mere moments, the mood was set and characters brought to life. This man knows how to write.

Interwoven in the mysteries of such varied settings as England, France, Germany, and an independent Texas are deeper issues. Moorcock’s multiverse is a struggle between Chaos and Order where things must be in balance. Begg seeks to right the wrongs of his nemesis, Zenith, even while respecting and sympathizing with his foe. Internal conflicts arise at times when Begg represents the likes Nazis and even Hitler himself; working for justice for all, even some of the most reprehensible people of any history.

Included at times is pointed political satire, most sharply realized in “The Mystery of the Texas Twister”. Moorcock portrays an independent Texas Republic slipping into an expansionist fascist regime run by a corrupt government headed by the likes of “King” George Putz and “Dicky” Shiner. At times I wanted to laugh and cry with such exaggerated satire while being reminded bit of home (having been raised in Austin), with my only disappointment in Moorcock’s homage to Shiner Bock beer and its attachment to “Dicky” Shiner.

While some are more memorable than others, there isn’t a bad story in the bunch. Moorcock demonstrates his mastery of language, sets the mood, and takes the reader on a trip through the multiverse, guided by the great metatemporal detective, Sir Seaton Begg. The Metatemporal Detective is one of the more enjoyable books that I’ve read in a while – 8.5/10.

Speculative Fiction has “Eyes Wide Open”

Gabriel Morgan has written this interesting column for the New Observer.

…unless you count yourself an admirer of fantasy, science fiction or horror, chances are you've glanced over at the "genre" section of your favorite bookstore and asked yourself, "My oh my -- what's going on over there?"

And I'm here to tell you:

Everything is going on over there…

Describe a subgenre of mimetic fiction, and there are speculative authors doing similar work. Do you prefer fiction that is heavily character-centered? Fiction that explores the human condition, that asks the big questions? Fiction that displays a sense of history, that draws connections between important things? How about fiction that explores what it means to be an American in the 21st century? Speculative authors are writing about all of these things. They, like Pablo Picasso, have every single one of the tools that a "naturalist" (read: mimeticist) has to work with; but they, like Picasso, also have the freedom to abandon the appearance of reality when it suits their vision.

Read the whole column, it’s equally as interesting – and the best part is that more is promised to come.

Via Lou Anders

EDIT: I should have waited another 20 minutes before posting this. Contrast the above with this article by Jonathan McCalmont. I think there are some good points to had, but my initial reaction was to count the number of ways I disagree.

Race in SFF

I’m always interested when a major newspaper or other media outlet talks about SFF because it just doesn’t seem to happen all that often. Today the Boston Globe ran this article by Vanessa E. Jones about race in SFF – mainly concentrating on the scarcity of black authors in the genre. It seems likely this was inspired by the monochrome appearance of the attendees at the recent Readercon.

The article itself is a pretty good one, if being rather predictable. SFF does have too few non-white authors and there are subtle race, gender, sexual orientation, and other stereotypes are too often intentionally and unintentionally perpetuated in SFF works of both the past and present. I’m not really knowledgeable enough to write in any kind of detail about this – and I’m not going to be the one to point to all the good stuff that SFF is producing in this area. Other (likely much more informed and intelligent) responses are popping up around the blogosphere (and here's an interesting entry that's a bit older but well worth reading). But, what really got to me is the focus of this article. You see apparently the race issues are limited to the black minority. There doesn’t seem to be any other racial minority worth talking about, at least the article doesn’t mention any. Anyone else a bit bothered by this bit of tunnel vision?

The Conservative Freaks Get All the Press

The SFF genre seems to be suffering a real image problem right now, and we have the likes of Orson Scott Card and Michael Crichton to thank for it. Is this how the genre is really perceived by the general public? Is this image really out there? Correct me if I’m wrong, but what I would consider the best the genre has to offer to have a ‘liberal’ slant to it if you had to label it.

I’m not trying to have a political discussion, though anyone who has read enough of what I post here or at various message boards likely has a good idea about where I fall on the political spectrum, BUT I find this disturbing. Look at this article in the LA Times, or at the bullshit that Crichton has pulled lately, this essay by Card, and who can forget the objectivist ranting of Terry Goodkind (you’ll have to search that out on your own).

My gut reaction to all this: horrified, saddened, angry, darkly amused, nauseous, speechless.