Short story: 'Babel's Tower', Chapters 10 & 11 (Final two chapters)

Chapter Ten.
WAR IN THE HEAVENS

So it began. Many thousands of Perfect Men crossed over into the higher plane, as did the minds of the Spiritual Men allocated to the task. Intellectual Men were left behind as planned, with the intention of Spiritual Men passing constantly between planes to take orders and pass on information. A planet in the higher plane was chosen as a base, one that was far enough away from the creator’s planet as not to be noticed by the bronze men and not so far away that the journey into battle would take an excessive amount of time.

When the time came the hordes of Perfect Men, accompanied by the disembodied Spiritual Men, took flight towards the said planet. The bronze men they passed along the way looked upon them with surprise and worry and immediately fled back to their home planet. On reaching their destination they found a vast army of the bronze men awaiting them, floating gloriously around the planet with looks of resentment upon their faces; however Perfect Man outnumbered his enemy two to one. It was a representative of the Perfect Men that spoke first, in the language of the beings they were confronting (through a method of telepathy which all could hear) ‘Intelligent beings, men of great worth, we come to you now in both an act of brotherhood and hostility. We, as highly intellectual beings are here to request an audience with the creator whom you serve, the lord of all, the star maker, the man behind the curtain. We hide nothing from you; it is with malice and contempt with which we look upon your God. But know that we hold nothing against you our brothers; we are understanding that you have been tricked or forced into the servitude of this awful being and it is with open arms that we welcome you if you wish to join us. We should be fighting together, not apart. This is our offer, what say you?’. The reply was both courteous yet fully threatening ‘We understand your plight perhaps more than you know friends, yet do not insult us with such an offer. You pretend to know exactly what it is we protect here yet really you know nothing. An audience directly with him you cannot have. He is a being far too great for you to shame with your ignoble plight. I am permitted to speak for him and I tell you now to return from whence you came immediately and we shall not lay claim upon your lifeless corpses. I warn you men, if he knew you were here you would not be presented with such an easy escape’. After discussing among themselves Perfect Man’s representative retorted with ‘Do not ridicule us. If the creator is unaware of even an enemy knocking on his door he is as we thought, not a being as noble and powerful as you say. Enough of this’.
And such a battle as had never been seen before started on the edge of this magnificent planet. Thousands of Perfect Men and bronze men flew at each other in unison against the backdrop of the intense golden light radiating behind them. Perfect Men made excellent use of the powers at their disposal, but were matched with far superior powers. Perfect Men hurtled bronze men into each other with telekinesis, bronze men healed their injuries with regeneration. Perfect Men, through a lack of natural elements to manipulate, used their immense physical strength to tear the bronze men apart limb from limb, bronze men retaliated by conjuring fire out of nothing and propelling it across space as though it did not need oxygen to survive. Perfect Men tried to confuse and confound the bronze men with telepathic manipulation, bronze men paralysed Perfect Men with a mere thought. The Spiritual Men all the while commanding the Perfect Men telepathically and sending other Spiritual Men back and forth into the Earth’s realm to report and receive orders. The battle echoed the biblical war between angels in heaven when Lucifer challenged God for the throne. Such ancient nonsense did not seem so foolish here, to my eyes at least.

Once it reached the point where Perfect Man’s numbers had dwindled too greatly and even the reinforcements had been destroyed, bronze man brought the battle to a halt and looked upon what remained of his vanquished foe. Perfect Man’s number had diminished from the countless thousands strong to a mere two thousand pitifully wounded creatures. A vast sea of bodies, of both species, slowly spread out into space away from the planet; yet bronze man’s number looked the same now as at the start, with a seemingly endless supply of reinforcements being supplied from within the planet. With great fury in his eyes the same bronze man spoke out as before, his words searing painfully the minds of the remaining Perfect and Spiritual Men; ‘You are a treacherous and arrogant race of men, each and every species of you. You shall look now into the eyes of the life giver and know true punishment. You are not the first men to bite the hand that feeds it but know you shall be the last’.

Our minds were immediately filled with a shockingly painful clarity. In each of our mind’s an eye burned brightly before our sight, one which we could not turn away from no matter how hard we tried. With it came a shocking realisation in our hearts at what we had done and how foolish we had been in our endeavours. Not foolish in the way that we believed what we had done was wrong against the creator, but foolish in our believing it was possible to destroy him as we had destroyed our predecessors. Coupled with the sight the continuing voice of the bronze man rang in our ears; ‘Know it is he the life-giver whom you look at now, and hear forth his punishment’.

Chapter Eleven.
THE SCATTERING

I am writing in the first person because I am, of course, one of the Spiritual Men who observed and played a commanding role in that battle. Upon that moment a voice entered my head so clear and commanding that I immediately blocked out all the anguish and the pain in order to focus intently on it. The tone was fierce, the words themselves vanquishers of all hope. It was explained to us that mankind should never have reached this stage in committing such an offence towards his creator, and by committing such atrocity he would be doomed to a slow but eventual extinction. Each single man, woman and child would be taken and placed into his own separate universe, one which was fully devoid of any intelligent life and held no prospect of escape or happiness. He would live out the rest of his days on a habitable planet until every last person had died and mankind had become extinct forever. This was to be our punishment. After his last sentence I do not remember anything.

When I awoke I found myself in a lush jungle with springs and thick vegetation, though one with no animal life except the smallest of insects. It has been thirty years since that day and I have since lived in complete solitude, doing nothing but wandering this world in silent contemplation. Over time I have managed to produce many writings etched on thin bark and it is on such that I write this now. I have been able to give so detailed an account due to my vast knowledge of man’s history and my role played in the war. All of my connections to the higher plane were taken from me; I am now nothing but a ‘normal man’ as it were. This irony of man’s depletion back to his original stage has both taunted and humoured me throughout my days.

Looking in retrospect over these events, I believe this punishment was set upon us to put mankind in his place before his final demise. In being scattered among the cosmos we have each and every one of us been shown just how small and insignificant we are compared to the creator and his multitude of creations and have been forced to experience loneliness on perhaps the grandest scale possible. The number of universes must indeed be infinite if every man was put, like me into his own to become lord of it’s cosmos before he perishes.

I am confident that this will find its way into your hands and it will do you and your kind the greatest service, I am confident because I have a very secure method of preserving this manuscript for many a thousand years at my disposal on this planet, one which my knowledge of science has allowed me to develop. So if the creator does decide to fill this wondrous Universe with intelligent life again after my demise, you will hopefully one day excavate these writings.

In truth I write this story as much for myself as for you and your people. I write it now, long before I expect to die, so that I can organise my thoughts clearly and sanely, for the loneliness I endure will inevitably bring me to the edge of my sanity at some point, probably very soon. Once I have laid this completed document in its secure place I will wander again across the plain to make further exploration of this vast and magnificent planet. I only hope that the men who outlive me in other universes have been given as beautiful a planet as I to live out their last days on. I find it poignant that the very last man will know no more of his significance that if it were to be me right now. Perhaps it is, who can know. Or perhaps time does not flow in these separate universes in the same way one would expect it to. Know though, whoever you are, of what we as a species endured, and also of what we achieved. Learn from our mistakes so that you may not commit such atrocities. I leave you now.

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Short story: 'Babel's Tower', Chapters 8 & 9 (out of 11)

Chapter Eight.
REVELATIONS

For a long time a divide existed between Intellectual Man (with the few remaining Physical Men) and Spiritual Man. Trade ceased between countries, cooperation ceased in all fields of scientific experimentation and communication between the two species was in general non-existent. Each race made locating the creator its primary goal and desperately tried to achieve this goal before the other.

Eventually an agreement was reached, with both races acknowledging the futility in working separately when they were both trying to achieve the same goal. A meeting took place, in which a representative from each of Intellectual and Spiritual Man took to debate amongst a crowd of their peers. Spiritual Man starting by stating that although he had quite despised normal man and his existence on this Earth he did thoroughly not agree with what Intellectual Man had done, yet for the sake of mankind achieving the ultimate goal, he was willing to put aside their differences and fully cooperate with each other again. It was also revealed, to Intellectual Man’s astonishment, that Spiritual Man’s religious beliefs had changed over time to that of the hostile faction, though he would only condone violence towards God: not any other being.

Intellectual Man retorted by saying that although he had been deeply offended by Spiritual Man’s lack of unity at the time of war and in his neutral stance, he was willing, for the sake of brotherhood and for the goal, to accept the proposal. Also, he stated that he was very pleased with Spiritual Man’s change of faction over this time and spoke of how this would bring each race even closer. Intellectual Man was first to reveal his discoveries. It was explained that a long time ago, he had come to the conclusion that since the cause was now a hostile one against the creator they would have to create, like normal man had done before him, a far stronger and more capable man than any that existed at that moment. Intellectual Man admitted that over the time of the dispute he had used the few remaining Physical Men to experiment on in aid of this cause, for he realised that a creature must be made to contain all the abilities and more of the three existing races. Spiritual Man could not be studied of course because of the dispute, and neither could a peace offering be made to solve the problem, so a different measure had to be taken. It was revealed that a handful of Spiritual Men had been contacted and had willingly crossed the border to subject themselves to experimentation for the sake of the ultimate goal. It was explained to Spiritual Man’s representative before he could react angrily that both the Physical Men and Spiritual Men used in the research had given themselves up of their own free will, knowing that death would await them at the end of it, due to the extreme testing of their power’s limits. The representative replied that each Spiritual Man had the right to govern his own. Intellectual Man’s representative then went on to reveal that, coupled with the study of their own race, phenomenal progress had been made, and that they now had the precise blueprint for the ‘Perfect Man’ (as he put it). He said that with Spiritual Man’s consent and cooperation they could begin the process of creation which would result in a great milestone for mankind. The Spiritual representative expressed his doubts on the quality of this idea, asking what would stop this new race eventually reacting precisely as Intellectual Man had done in destroying their creators. The representative replied saying that, because these new beings would have a perfect incorporation of all three races, he would have the sense and clarity in perception of Spiritual Man, who he noted would never act in this way.

Then the turn came for Spiritual Man to share amongst them precisely what he had achieved over the vast amount of time they had spent apart. Their representative started by saying that although Intellectual Man’s achievement over this time had been truly great, what Spiritual Man had achieved was even greater and far more beneficial towards the ultimate goal. He described how Spiritual Man had made a huge breakthrough in locating the creator’s whereabouts. He told of how Spiritual Man took to studying in full the spiritual plane they connected with so easily, in the hope of understanding it fully. It was discovered that this force did indeed exist across the universe that had so far been explored. They realised that the only way they could achieve their goal was by gaining full access to the plane itself. Spiritual Man took to observing the plane as a complete Universe unto itself, one that existed on top of his own but was at the same time completely separate. Up until now, Spiritual Man had been existing half in one Universe, as it were, and half in the other. It became his goal to give a few selected men full access to this other world. Once a method had been attained (one involving much altering of the volunteer’s mental construct) these men were sent into this other Universe with high hopes. This method though, could not send a Spiritual Man through in body but only in mind. This was safer for the men, for if they encountered a hostile alien race in their journey they would at least be physically invisible to them. Each man was assured that he would have full movement in his state on the other side as a disembodied spirit and had only to use his mind to get him where he willed to go.

Only one of the handful sent returned and what he had found was described to the council as the greatest discovery in mankind’s history. Here follows some excerpts from the exact account given (from what I can recall from memory) by the man upon his return, which was shared with the council;

'This other realm, Universe or plane, whatever one wishes to call it; had the precise layout of my own Universe, yet none of its inhabitants or unique characteristics. In this world, Mars, Saturn and all Earth’s nearby planets were exactly where one would expect them to be, yet they looked nothing like one would expect. Here it seemed, a different history had taken place, one with very different results to our own…. ….In my movement about the stratosphere I had come across these beings quite coincidentally. They had the exact form of a man, but with the height and stature of that which would have put even Physical Men to shame; a bronze skin with a metallic quality to it, as though if one were to touch it, it would feel like steel; and a manner in their movements and apparent discussion that suggested a high level of intelligence. What I found most astonishing though was that these beings were able to move through space without any means of transport. They had small dark coloured wings upon their back, but these showed no sign of movement in propelling them along. They simply floated much as I did, though they in physical form, across space without any struggle and seemingly with no need to breathe. What advanced beings these must be to have found a way to achieve such a thing. Luckily they took no heed of me in my observations…. ….There existed one planet, very far from where Earth would be in my own Universe, which was more magnificent than anything I have ever witnessed or could ever describe with justice. This planet, abnormally large in size, seemed to radiate light from itself, in a very different way to which a Sun or a Star would as we know them to, which obscured my vision of the planet’s very surface. This wondrous planet was the only one I came across in my journey that I could not descend upon and observe among its surface. Something seemed to block my movement completely at every try. Many of these strange men went to and fro from this planet (disappearing from my view the second they passed through this light) making me believe that this place could perhaps be the very place we are looking for…. ….It seemed (due to my eventual comprehension of these men’s languages) that my theory was in fact correct. In their conversations when travelling these men talked about how pleased their leader would be with their work, which seems to be the observing of races such as our own. This leads me to believe that these men are able to view our world at will when at a certain point in their Universe and that this is in fact the very disruption we have so long pondered on that gives us such a period of bliss. They discussed how our races and others were progressing, how long each will last before its extinction, and through these conversations I even learnt that there exists a multitude of Universes, all of which are connected to this higher one in the same way as ours. These revelations, I think you’ll agree, are beyond astonishing. Mankind has finally discovered his origins and is very close to meeting his maker.’

Much debate then flowed, primarily on the credibility of the account then on what this meant to mankind as a species if it was true. The Intellectual and Spiritual Men left the meeting with renewed vigour in their hearts: this astonishing collaboration of intelligences meant that the goal they and their ancestors before them had strived towards was now very close to being realised.

Chapter Nine.
THE CREATOR FOUND

Thus Perfect Man was born. Intellectual Man designed him to have the ability to pass fully into and out of the ‘higher plane’ as it was being called, both physically and mentally, now that Spiritual Man had completed his research. His intelligence was just above that of Intellectual Man, his physical capabilities twice that of long-gone Physical Man’s; with such powers as no Physical Man could ever have dreamed. Whereas each Physical Man had been reared to have one special ability, Perfect Man had at his disposal every power that had ever been developed in Physical Man and more. This being had the power of flight not only within Earth’s atmosphere but also in space. More beings had been sent into the higher plane to observe these strange men until the method of flight had been discovered. This being could manipulate all of the Earth’s elements at will, could heal itself from major wounds and could even change its appearance to give a near perfect effect of invisibility. It seemed there was nothing these beings could not achieve, making them very intimidating, yet perfectly equipped to achieve man’s ultimate hostile goal. Upon having explained to them their purpose at an appropriate age they seemed to share the hostile reasoning of both races and showed no signs, as Intellectual Man had predicted, of rebellion towards their immediate creators. These beings were bred in huge quantity and in this way Intellectual and Spiritual Man built up a vast army.

Meanwhile, further research was taking place in trying to find out more about this strange planet on which all these men seemed to live. Men had speculated that these beings were perhaps the creator’s own personal race that he used to do his will. Why they had been chosen it was not known, most were in general agreement that the creator had created them himself. It was also generally accepted that the creator lived on the planet; or even, as some speculated, was the planet. Whatever the theory, it was realised that war must be launched upon this world and its men before they realised they were being observed. A ‘final meeting’ was called, which lasted over a period of several days, where Intellectual Man, Spiritual Man and Perfect Man all debated both the ultimate goal itself, whether it was an ideal past its time, and how applicable it was to their modern society. They also discussed battle strategies on the war to come. It was concluded with this strategy; contact would be made with the bronze men, in which a peaceful meeting with the creator would be proposed. If they refused, the planet would be attacked, and upon being breached, they would confront the creator themselves with their questions (whatever he may be): he would then be destroyed. If they accepted, then man would meet with the creator and find out what he wished to know, then continue the attack as planned. Either way a conversation would take place in which certain questions regarding his indifference and existence would be put forth, and then he would be attacked regardless with full strength, and annihilated.

Perfect Man would be man’s infantry, Spiritual Man his leaders and Intellectual Man his tacticians. Spiritual Man would be in the higher plane in mental form only among the fighting Perfect Men, and Intellectual Man would have to stay in his own Universe (for they could not pass through), and would have to give tactical command to the Spiritual Men which passed back and forth. Supreme confidence was heralded all around in Perfect Man and his (hopeful) superiority over the bronze men, and eventually over the creator. It was rationalised that if the creator needed such men to guard him then he must not be so all powerful, and it was thought that if they could defeat the bronze men then defeating the creator would be an easy task.

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Review - 'Kraken' by China Miéville

First off, it should be known that my biggest fear is the sea; specifically its dark depths and the creatures that lurk within. Like with many people I presume, because I fear this so vehemently, I am at the same time incredibly drawn to it and seek it wherever I can in fiction. Take the scene in James Cameron’s The Abyss that sees Ed Harris’ character make his slow descent into an abyssal, pitch black canyon on the floor of the ocean. I can watch the scene with ease, but at the same time it scares me magnificently, and compels me beyond belief.

To highlight the extent of this fear: to be bluntly honest, Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future on the Dreamcast – exploring the endless deep, shooting through pitch black tunnels, fighting giant sea monsters – scares me so much that I’ve never got past the third level in the 10 or so years that I’ve owned it. But this doesn’t stop me playing it often and loving every minute, all for the intense fear that it evokes.

So the point to be taken is: I love sea monsters. Miéville’s The Scar – an infinitely better book than this one – concerns in large part a gigantic sea monster from another universe called an Avanc; the inclusion and dealing of which I loved (one excellent aspect is Miéville’s choice to never describe the creature in any detail; allowing my imagination to run wild with it – making the fear potential increase enormously). So when I saw that Miéville’s latest work was to be titled Kraken, I immediately built up high hopes.

All in all though, I’m sad to say that I was let down. I love Miéville (and I haven’t even read Perdido Street Station or The City & The City yet), but his latest effort falls considerably short of his abilities in my opinion. New Weird in style Miéville certainly is, but this all too weird for my tastes. From animal servants picketing for their rights to an omniscient invisible flying cartoon pig, this grasps completely in the wrong direction for an altogether ludicrous kind of strange. Add to this a plot full of questions to which we are given all too easy and entirely unsatisfying answers and it doesn’t amount to much.

Unused is the full potential of dealing with a sea monster as utterly terrifying and infamous as the giant squid. I’m sure it isn’t Miéville’s intent to scare here, but I figured I would succumb anyway, due to my phobia, but nothing succeeded in scaring me to any degree, save perhaps the idea of living out Billy’s Kraken dreams.

The whole thing just comes off as one big bad joke; or rather a continual and unrelenting series of bad jokes, punctuated with pointless oddness and unnecessary absurdity. The fact that it could be seen as humour does not excuse the strangeness in my opinion.

There is by no means nothing to salvage. There are points, mostly when Miéville is describing the Gods that exist and the cult religions that follow them, that he hits on some gorgeously Lovecraftian ideas and musings, like with an extract of a ‘holy’ text that Billy (the protagonist) reads:

We cannot see the universe. We are in the darkness of a trench, a deep cut, dark water heavier than earth, presences lit by our own blood, little biolumes, heroic and pathetic Promethei too afraid or weak to steal fire but still able to glow. Gods are among us and they care nothing and are nothing like us.
This is how we are brave: we worship them anyway.

The huge potential of passages like this is never developed further, and all my dreams of being crippled and engulfed by fear are lost with this failing. Kraken is by no means a disaster; it’s just not up to Miéville’s usual high standard, nor as good an execution as I feel the subject matter deserved.

5/10

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Short story: 'Babel's Tower', Chapters 6 & 7 (out of 11)

Chapter Six.
LIFE FOUND

After many centuries of this peaceful observation and personal development a breakthrough regarding the ultimate goal was achieved. Through man’s gradually expanding exploration of the universe a planet was found which it was obvious had quite recently contained intelligent life. Intellectual man, along with normal man, had taken complete control of space exploration (with the other two races merely acting as observers) and it was through their ever increasing ingenuity in methods of space travel that such far reaches of space had been reached. The planet that had been discovered was similar to that of Earth except for the fact that it seemed to be experiencing an Ice Age that had recently come into full effect and was increasing exponentially year by year. Upon this planet lay many ruins of what had been impressive architecture as well as the remains of a species long dead. It was revealed through analysis that this species had looked something like a cross between man and some form of wingless bird species. It was found that they had been covered on most parts of their body by a thick quilt of feathers and seemed to have entertained some type of beak in place of a mouth. It was assumed that their intellect had been advanced, but not past that of ancient man in the first millennia. They seemed to have attained an agricultural level of development and had left very few written manuscripts. Upon further excavation, something more astonishing was found. Not far beneath the surface of their planet existed the remains of what once had been tall industrial buildings, much like those that had existed on Earth in the 22nd Century. Further study showed that these buildings had been destroyed by explosions of a nuclear origin. It was pieced together then, that this race had faced a global war, on a scale that Earth had itself once narrowly avoided, which completely destroyed and ruined this amazing civilisation. The survivors, it seemed, had many years later started to rebuild civilisation, but this time modestly, and had abandoned many things which they could easily have made if they had wished to. In the presumed amount of time this new civilisation resided on the planet after the war they could have built a world up to the standard of their predecessors and more, yet it seemed that they had chosen to live humble and modest lives, in the manner of old man, purely being concerned with agriculture and minor trade, and without excessive technology and weapons.

This discovery had huge repercussions back on Earth. Man had now confirmed the creator’s lack of care for his creations. An intelligent race upon another planet had been totally annihilated, even after achieving complete rehabilitation and a lack of arrogance, and yet God had not intervened in the slightest to save his race; he merely let them die without a care. This confirmed that if ever mankind were to face extinction, God would take the same approach in doing nothing to stop it. Many men, normal, intellectual, physical and spiritual, united gloriously in the righteousness of their beliefs and wept bitterly upon the true realisation that they were not cared for. This was considered a time of huge victory for the hateful faction, and their number increased dramatically. The hearts and minds of many were changed; all of normal men now belonged to this hateful faction, as well as two thirds of Physical Man and even one quarter of Spiritual Man. Mankind as a race was now becoming increasingly hateful towards God and it seemed that upon completion of the ultimate goal, the result was far more likely to become a hostile one than a peaceful one.

Chapter Seven.
THE RETURN OF WAR

All through the new men’s existence normal man was forced to take a backseat to all that was happening, and had long resented it. Some claimed that it was a mistake to have created such beings and yet others claimed that it was necessary and the only way to achieve the ultimate goal. Whichever view they took, all were united in their fear for their own existence and in their resolve to survive. Intelligent Man had long since cut off all communication and involvement with normal man, deeming it futile, and it was well known that his despite for him had reached a new height.

Three and a half thousand years after the finding of alien life, all of normal man, Intellectual Man and Physical Man now belonged to the hateful faction. Only Spiritual Man held out in its majority with members of the alternate faction. The general despite of God among the newer races was now a source of great danger for normal man. The final part of the ultimate goal was now fully conceived. Once God had been found he would be met by mankind with fierce hostility and after everything man wanted to know had been found out, God would be destroyed with the same complete lack of empathy he had showed man. This led to the train of thought that before they defeated the ultimate creator they must defeat their immediate one; normal man. Although they had initially been treated by them with great empathy and love, these relations had long since faded and the situation, in the view of Intellectual and Physical man was beyond repair. Coupled with their uselessness and constant plundering of the Earth’s precious resources, it was decided that they had to be destroyed. In terms of population at this time normal man took up around 40% of the world, Intellectual Man 15%, Physical Man 30% and Spiritual Man 15%. War was promptly declared by Intellectual and Physical Man against normal man. Spiritual Man did not try to intervene. This was mostly due to his fear of the complete control Intellectual Man seemed to have over Physical Man; but he bravely refused Intellectual Man’s request for allegiance (which greatly angered him) and stood completely neutral throughout the war.
Normal man did not last long. The war was fought almost completely in the old fashion style, with army pitted against army. Both sides agreed not to ruin the planet with the extreme explosives man had crafted over the years. Intellectual Man had Physical Man under complete control; only Physical Men were used in their armies, so that Intellectual Man was not put directly in harms way. After a decade and a half the war was finally coming to a close. Normal man’s weapons had inflicted some damage but proved ultimately ineffective against Physical Man’s highly developed powers, coupled with the machines that Intellectual Man had devised to aid him. Telekinesis, advanced strength, self-regeneration, manipulation of the elements and more were all used to bring about normal man’s downfall.

With the complete destruction of their creators, and taking courage in Physical Man’s mass depletion, Spiritual Men finally united in strong defiance of the other two races and the atrocities they had committed.

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Review - 'Behold the Man' by Michael Moorcock

I am slowly working my way through all of Gollancz’s SF Masterworks series, in no particular order (much as the books are numbered and were published in no particular order, I was told by the Gollancz team). I picked Behold the Man up earlier than many of the other masterworks due to its short length, because it was about time travel and because it looked like it had a very interesting take on both time travel and on religion. This is the first Moorcock book that I have ever read (there’s another in the SF Masterworks series and another in the Fantasy Masterworks series that I’m yet to tackle) and I’ve come away considerably impressed.

Behold the Man uses what has since become a well known and perhaps clichéd time-travel plot of a man going back in time to witness a particular event and then it ending up that he plays a major role in bringing about that event through his actions in the past; a self-fulfilling paradox. Here, this is exercised to the fullest, with the novel’s protagonist Karl Glogauer going back to 29AD in order to witness Jesus and his crucifixion and the narrative working out so that he eventually becomes the Jesus that Christianity reveres (which the book’s blurb makes no attempt to hide, so I do not feel like I am spoiling anything here).

What I was expecting, then, was a neatly constructed time-travel narrative, of the kind we are now used to, but Moorcock delivers so much more. The book is both a psychological portrait of a broken and troubled man, and it also delves into what lies at the core of religion and comes out with some interesting things to say. Glogauer is both a compelling character who we can sympathise with and yet at the same time incredibly unlikable – a difficult trick to pull off. The flashbacks of his life before time travel are full of instances of homosexuality, strange lusts intertwined with religion, and many occasions of him driving women away due to his self-diagnosed neurosis and self-loathing.

The frequent debates about the nature of religion that occur between him and one woman, Monica, are stimulating, and as the novel nears its end some interesting conclusions are drawn by Glogauer. It debunks religion in general, in a way, and shows often how it is simply the product of people hearing what they want to hear and seeing what they want to see.

Throughout the text are scattered extracts from the bible which serve to highlight the exact role that Glogauer knows he must play. Knowing that Glogauer is Jesus, the placement and choice of these extracts also cleverly forces us to look at them in a new and different way; in light of Glogauer’s knowledge of the future and his strong will to fulfil Jesus’s role, the often riddle-like phrases Jesus speaks in the bible seem to make so much more sense here.

One aim of the SF Masterworks series is to bring people’s attention to certain science fiction masterpieces that have been forgotten over time by many and subsequently overlooked. This text is certainly one of those; when you think of Michael Moorcock, most think of certain of his other works and are completely unaware of this book. This is the best book about time-travel that I have read so far, and one from a very talented writer. I realise that this is a book unlike typical Moorcock, but it has made me look forward to reading more of his work nonetheless.

8/10

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Short story: 'Babel's Tower', Chapters 4 & 5 (out of 11)

Chapter Four.
DISPERSION

All these three beings were conceived at the same time by different groups of scientists across the world in order to compare the development between them. Breeding was encouraged amongst them but strictly controlled. Within thirty years of creation their overall number had increased from the initial 90 to 146, and their number grew exponentially from then on. They were each fully aware of each other but were kept strictly apart until adulthood had been reached. After much deliberation, it was decided by normal man that each race should be given its own land to live on, and would be ruled over in no way by normal man except in his laws. They would be allowed to appoint their own leaders among themselves (which in truth they had already done) and live as they pleased, with some normal men living among them constantly so as to study them and maintain a solid relationship. With respect to their own wishes Spiritual Men were given several Northern continents to occupy, Physical Men several continents about the equator (in that their athletic nature demanded a hot climate) and Intellectual Men several in the South, all separated sufficiently by their creators so as not to cause strife between the races.

Chapter Five.
RELATIONS BETWEEN THE NEW SPECIES

The relations that existed between these new races were few and far between due to extreme diversities. Intellectual Men and Spiritual Men looked upon each other primarily with respect, for they were able to see in each other an advanced species of a different kind they could converse with, at least to an extent. Secondly they looked upon each other with contempt, for both thought themselves superior to the other; and thirdly with a jealous eye, for although each thought their area of advancement the better one that would bring them closer to the ultimate goal, each looked upon the other’s with wonder. Spiritual Men wished to be able to achieve such a high level of intellect as to not rely on Intellectual Man’s experiments, and Intellectual Men wished they had the capability to connect fully with the wondrous plane which could give them clarity in their thinking and thus their work, which could possibly be the link they needed to the creator.

If the Intellectual Men and Spiritual Men looked down upon each other then they both did doubly so upon Physical Man. He were handled with care, for all the other men knew well enough how dangerous he was, but he was generally excluded from meetings among the races, especially regarding intellectual pursuits and the ultimate goal. Physical men despised the way they were looked upon as lesser beings. They desired to achieve the ultimate goal as much as any of the races, but did not care for the means, purely the result. All that concerned these men were the more simple pleasures of life, relaxing and enjoying what they were given. Among them existed the notion of romantic love, as well as monogamy. Adultery was greatly frowned upon in their community. What they were interested in most though of course, was personal advancement in all physical aspects. Fierce, highly regular athletic games existed, as well as showcases of many different individual ‘powers’ (as physical man named them) for entertainment’s sake, such as magnificent displays of telekinetic ability and amazing displays of super strength. All individuals were encouraged and aided in developing their power to its maximum potential, and through this astonishing things were achieved.

Regarding the factions that existed among man, each new race took on the train of thought they found most plausible and joined the respective faction. Intellectual Man took to the side of the believers, but to the faction that viewed the creator as an enemy who had perpetrated a great sin upon man kind in his carelessness that should be punished.

Physical Man on the other hand, due to his low level of intelligence, initially took the view that there was an all caring and loving God watching over him, and with whom he could share a mutual appreciation; but upon revealing this to the other races he was greeted with shock and anger that such a barbaric and ancient view could have re-formed in this day and age. He was shown the ‘error’ of his ways and taught to appreciate all three of the existing factions first, then told to choose which one suited him best. This led to Physical Men each choosing different factions to one another, causing (beneficially) their nation to become a very diverse one in terms of belief.

Spiritual Men were unified in their beliefs like Intellectual Man, yet did not share the same opinion. They believed that the plane they were able to connect with was not the creator himself but something definitely deeply linked to him. It was debated continuously as to its true nature and purpose but most believed it was the creator’s method of travel and of observing his experiments. There were times in this state, perhaps once every two decades or so, that a huge disruption occurred causing Spiritual Men to become mentally inept for however long the period of time lasted, resigning themselves to their homes, not being able to communicate or do anything accept sit in solitary meditation in awe of this wondrous increase in their perception and state of mind. It was said by many to be the presence of the creator when he came to make his observations on mankind. Within this time of resignation Spiritual Man claimed there was nothing but goodness and bliss in the world he perceived, which logically meant the creator was not an evil being. They all therefore took to the faction that believed in a God but held no hatred for him, believing him to be an essentially good if neglecting being, and looked upon him with the same indifference with which he looked upon mankind. Atheism then, was completely non-existent among the new races; it only remained with normal man. When this was realised by normal man, the atheists reasoned that if these higher beings they had created all believed in God then logically God had to exist and what they were doing was folly. From that day of realisation onwards, Atheism was forever dead among mankind.

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The Charlie Jade rewatch: Episode 2, 'Sand'

“Back then, I could tell he was even more lost than I was” - Reena

The second episode of Charlie Jade is predominantly a character introduction piece, as well as the set-up of the protagonist’s main goal that will drive him throughout the show; to get home to his universe and to be with Jasmine again.

The episode starts with a heavy focus on the small blue stones that the little girl collects, the importance laid on these stones would of course become something that the show never got a chance to explain, due to its cancellation (and that Sawyer won’t even reveal the meaning of now, since he is hopeful that the show will return at some point).

Odd, askew (often diagonal) camera angels are here even more prominently used; I believe as a symbol (and subconscious effect) that everything in the Betaverse is not quite right for Charlie, and as he expected it to be (him of course expecting the Alphaverse and not knowing there was anything but). Again we have various hues of blue, importantly clearly distinguishing the Betaverse from the other universes by simple colour separation.

Several main players to the show are introduced here properly; 01 Boxer is shown to not only be a rapist, but also (possibly) a killer, Reena a complete innocent thrown into what she perceives as hell (reinforced by the flashback of her dead friend reading a biblical-like passage about these alternate universes), Essa and her hate filled relationship with 01 (Essa: “You’re a self indulgent sociopath who should be imprisoned”), Galt and his willingness to let 01 treat him in demeaning ways (often sexually playful; to add further degradation?), Lubinsky as the kind and unappreciated helping hand and guide to Charlie’s struggle.

Here, Charlie is shown to have a more vulnerable side to him than we saw in the pilot; at the loss of Jasmine, when he finds their empty and changed apartment, he breaks down on the spot and cries out for her. He is a little too persistent and un-accepting in the way he probes and asks questions of people – the man at what was Papa Louie’s house, the other Jasmine (Paula) at the bar – but then, just when would you drop all inhibitions about believing something ‘crazy’ and accept that you must be in a parallel universe, only marginally different from your own? Surely many would think it a Truman Show-esque trick that everyone around them was playing on him before they would believe the former?

By the end of the episode we have Charlie standing, panting (after having had Reena outrun him), with the effects of what he has seen and lost in this place alien to him showing vividly on his face.



A very different episode to the pilot, in that it focused far more on character development than action and cool set pieces. The ever beautiful soundtrack playing in the background (surely beginning to become addictive to fresh viewers and ears at about this point?) adds to the elegance of it all. An important and well-established character episode.

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