The complexity of time24 May 2013tPersonally, I can't remember much about this book except that when I read it I felt that it was a little strange and could not really get into it all that much. Okay, there are probably people out there that will jump down my throat in writing a review of a book I can't remember (as well as reading 20 years agon) but my response to them is – BITE ME.tAnyway, as I said, what I can remember was that this book did not thrill me all that much, but maybe because the setting itself was rather strange, that being the end of time. From what I can remember Moorcock's vision of the end of time was some sort of Victorian (period, not Australian state) far future setting. Also, while there may have been a plot, it was not something that I could remember all that much, though I do believe that it did involve the eternal champion in one of its many incarnations (I suspect it was a woman in this book, though I am not quite sure). However, glancing over the Goodreads comments I do notice the words Eternal Champion and Steampunk make an appearance, so I am probably correct on that part.tWriting stuff at the end of time I find a little be odd, but that is probably because we are caught within time and cannot understand how reality can exist without or outside of time. It is not just that our bodies age and we feel that age, but there are aspects around us constantly that tell us that time is moving. It is not simply the alarm clock, our smart phone, or the schedule that we must keep, but it is also the fact that the Earth rotates giving us night and day as well as changing seasons. All around us, both natural and artificial, are things that remind us that time is forever marching on.tSo, how can we imagine the end of time. In a way it is impossible because if we go right to the point were time is supposed to end and wait one milli-second, we suddenly discover that time in fact has not ended. It is like numbers. If we think of the biggest number than we could possibly imagine and add one, well, we have a bigger number. Moreso with our advanced mathematics we can theoretically go backwards, into the negative, to infinity, and we can halve things to infinity (though if you dig a hole and fill half of it in, you don't have half a hole).tThe bible talks about the end of time, and it is interesting that it suggests that there is no night and that there are no seasons. Look, eternity is one of those funny things that we, who live a limited lifespan with the effects of time wearing us down, find difficult to comprehend. For instance if our perception of time slowed down to a millionth, suddenly it would seem like eternity to us, despite the fact that in the real world only a milli-second has passed. That is what some people see eternal life as, that that last milli-second of our life never actually ends because our perception of time has changed.tTake dreams for instance. The REM period of our sleep apparently lasts a really short time, yet we might have dreams that seem to last hours or even days, though they tend to vanish pretty quickly afterwards. Once again it is the perception that is more important than the reality, because the perceived time in our dreams is quite different to the real time that marches on around us. However, in the end, the whole idea of what happens at the end of time, if time can come to an end, is going to rest purely upon speculation.t
At the moment having recently joined Goodreads I'm basically digging out of my home bookshelves and my brain the books I'd most recommend to anyone. This trilogy is close to the top of my list. It's a book that tells you a lot about me as a person.BUTIt's not a book for everyone.So many people I've recommended it to stop at the first chapter. Something happens there that turns a lot of people off.BUTYou need to keep reading! It's a fabulous, wonderful, hilarious, life-enhancing experience. It ranges from the sublime to the insanely ridiculous. Every form of wit and humour is represented here. It's a wild, wonderful adventure. It's a gorgeous love story. It's the most optimistic story I've ever read.READ THIS TRILOGY! IT'S NOT FIVE STARS, IT'S TEN!!!Afterthought: one thing readers will have to take into consideration with this book, but which I hope doesn't put them off or spoil the reading pleasure, is that this book was written in the 70's and contains various references that won't mean much to people who sprouted after that time! There are references to Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones, and the film maker Sam Peckinpah, that would have been very amusing and contemporary when it was written. Don't let this deter you, I think you can read around those parts! Peckinpah is very relevant to the section that takes place in the Nursery, for example...
Do You like book The Dancers At The End Of Time (2003)?
This is a trilogy collected in a single volume. The first book, An Alien Heat, is worth reading. The other two you can skip without missing much.The premise is very enjoyably silly. Jherek Carnelian, a man living in an amoral, decadent society in the far future, falls in love with Amelia Underwood, a conventional, moralistic Englishwoman from the 19th century who has been transported to his age through an accident in time travel. She returns to her own time and he follows her. He has no understanding of 19th century technology or customs and his behavior is about what you'd expect of a fin de siecle dandy given godlike technological powers; this causes an endless string of predictable but entertaining comedic misunderstandings. It's basically a cross between Oscar Wilde and Doctor Who, and is as much fun as that sounds.Unfortunately, as the trilogy goes on, it suffers from the kind of plot overgrowth that often afflicts serial fiction. The first book is very tightly plotted, with a tense and exciting ending. The latter two books, however, are full of needless complications that don't really do anything but inflate the page count. Most of the potential inherent in the premise has already been used up by early on in the second book. The ending of the series is not a bad ending, but it feels as though it could have happened 300 pages earlier without changing anything.In terms of averaged enjoyment per page, this should be more like two stars, but I'm giving it three because the first book really is worth reading, and because it includes a character named "Sweet Orb Mace." I'm not sure it's possible to dislike a book with a character named "Sweet Orb Mace."
—Rob
This is science fiction with the emphasis on the fiction. Strange, creative work that becomes a bit wordy. At least one third of the book can be cut without being noticeable. Time travel is involved here however more as a vehicle for the novel than as an innate interest. The story plods along with a menagerie of quite diverse, unique characters. Central is the pursuit of love by Jherek for Mrs. Amelia which occupies much of the substance of the novel. I suspect the author has some moral lesson here subtly divulged in one of the many discourses entered into by several of the main characters. The novel becomes somewhat tedious as it is a long read that is repetitive in several ways. I sometimes wondered how the author could go on and on about some trivial detail however, when his long list of works is viewed, you can see he appears to be verbally prolific. This work is not challenging nor gripping. It is more a spin around the block, make that a long block. Some may enjoy the parameters of the author's creative abilities here and they are prodigious; some may not. I am of the latter.
—J.R.
At first, I thought the book was just weird: stupid, bad, didn't make sense.... but then I realized that was the point, and now I laugh at Jherek's naiveté and I care about him and his quest to find Mrs Underwood. The story takes some getting used to, but so far, it's worth it.AHHHHAHAHA! Having finished reading it just today, I am delighted to say that I loved loved LOVED it! I don't know how he did it, but I was so in tune with every single one of the characters, important or not, and laughed aloud at several particularly satirical (?) sentences. At moments I was genuinely afraid that something terrible was going to happen, thus putting me in an anxious and somewhat irritable mood. Even better.... I believe that I have been coming to a point at which I am starting to think (as well as write and speak) in their 19th century language stuffs. Pure greatness.
—Rachel
