Such a strange novel is An Alien Heat. I read this offering from Michael Moorcock in a few hours and I find myself at a disadvantage to come up with a correct adjective to describe this most unusual creation. Told with a deft touch, recounted with an insouciance very becoming of the far flung human beings from which an oddity, the greatest of all oddities, one Jherek Carnelian seeks to astound those who know him. The society upon which the novel's central character lives is one where through technology all human beings can indulge their whims. This is a society where über hedonists and party loving sybarites live in ecstasy. All is as should be for Jherek Carnelian until he meets a young woman, Mrs. Amelia Underwood, one he believes to be a time traveller from the nineteenth century, and vows to fall in love with her. A lightly entertain read littered with strange sexual practices, god like powers being used a near reckless abandon, references to past events and historical figures hilariously and very incorrectly recollected, their is a love story. The highlight of this novel is the relationship and inchoate romance that bosoms between this most unlikely of couples. The misunderstandings of those for whom free love and where all manner of sexual practices knows no shame is in sharp contrast to the genteel upbringing and sensibilities of an abducted lady looking for the British Consul at the end of time. This novel will make you smile.






Jherek, having narrowly avoided the hangman's noose in 1896, finds himself bored and listless back in his own time. He still pines for Mrs. Amelia Underwood and simply cannot forget the woman who professed her love for him. Aware of the problems that the Morphail Paradox presents to time travellers, he is bent on securing passage back to the past. As you would assume, he finds a way. Somewhat funnier than the first novel, it is obvious that Moorcock finds some other gear for this novel. Within this novel their is no wrongdoer, no mindless evil to be overturned or vanquished, no riddle to be solved: Jherek needs a reason, a purpose to his life. The one theme that this read brought to my attention is that no matter how well intentioned a person can be, no matter how altruistic their motives, misunderstandings are all too commonplace, and Moorcock's wit in exploiting these occurrences is masterful. Sit back in a comfy chair and relax in this easy going adventure of well meaning immortals, robotic nannies, aliens looking to create a menagerie of their own, the surreal love story of a misguided, though genuine, man from the future both slightly exasperated and ingenuously confused by the moralities of a Victorian housewife.






Stuck back on Earth hundred of millions of years in the past, Jherek and Mrs. Underwood continue from where they left off. Into this light comedy throw in all the characters familiar to you from the previous two novels and whip yourself up into a yawn. A novel heavy on dialogue, surrealism which bores vapidly, fantastic places populated with beings of fantastic powers, a very tenuous plot, and the most anachronous couple of all time. This novel simply fails to sizzle or excite the imagination the way the previous two did. A disappointingly mediocre read.

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