Fabulous Harbours
Michael Moorcock
Millennium hbk
reissued as a Gollancz pbk, 228 pgs, £5.99
Review by Mike Don (1995)
Moorcock's new hardback, claimed to be the sequel to Blood. Don't believe everything you read. Linked novellas; and while the linking material relates to the novel, the stories themselves spread their net widely. It's almost as if Moorcock, using his new reinterpretation of the Multiverse as a guide, has opted to go back to his favourite characters. Thus Elric has an episode ('The Black Blade's Summoning'), likewise Jerry Cornelius ('The Enigma Windows') and certain characters whose connection with Moorcock lies in the murky past frequented by rare book dealers; Sexton Blake (aka Sexton Begg), and Hank Janson (aka Hank Begg), in 'The Girl Who Killed Sylvia Blade' -- as authentic a slice of fifties hardboiled hokum as you could wish for. Elric, or a fusion of Elric and Von Bek, recurs in several episodes. At this stage of his career, Moorcock's heroes are mingling more than ever. The Von Bek clan in particular has infiltrated everywhere.
And of course it's not just the Moorcock heroes who infiltrate; in their various ways, all the stories are a wonderful end-of-the-millennium tribute to the pop/pulp culture we've all grown up with, its sleazy music, its even sleazier, lurid fiction. You can if you so desire play games of spot the reference anywhere in this collection, to identify the particular tribute.
What Moorcock has done with Harbours is to create a coherent overview of this turbulent century of ours, a multiple viewpoint overview, using its most authentic and vital fiction, pulp adventure; and since he's been a reliable contributor to that genre, what's more appropriate than to use his own characters, especially those who've provided his fondest memories? There's humour -- especially in 'The White Pirate' -- pathos, biting political satire, action, thrills and spills. Far more accessible than Blood.