The Sundered Worlds

By Michael Moorcock

Publisher: White Wolf Publishing

Published In: Clarkston, GA, USA

Date: 1962

Pgs: 159

Summary:

Beyond the edge of the Universe spins the Shifter occasionally touching this multiversal plane…before shifting away. Pioneers, criminals, and adventurers searching for a new beginning or a different life seek it out. Out there, Count of the Rim Renark von Bek has quit his job. He was a Guide Senser and could with limited information find his way, find things from pennies to stars by thinking about them. This and other abilities earned him the Warden of the Rim Worlds job, which he quit when he learned a disheartening truth from an alien vessel from a neighboring universe came for a visit. This visit and the impending doom it brought knowledge of sent him on his quest to the Shifter, beyond the universe, through the dimensions…and beyond death.

Genre:

Space, sci fi, metaphysics, armageddon

Main Character:

Call it a toss on whether Renark is the main character, Asquiol is, or Adam Roffrey was. All three hold the spotlight for a portion of the story. And the book reads almost as if it is parts woven together.

Favorite Character:

Mary the Maze is probably the most interesting character

Least Favorite Character:

Asquiol, who goes from swashbuckling, musketeerish, ne’er-d-well to omnipresent stiff as a board, the transformation robbed the character of it’s charm.

Favorite Scene:

When playing the psychic war game, Adam Roffrey in his last attack of his second round reaches out to his control panel and shouts, “Cats! Crawl along your spines with their claws gripping your nerves. Tides of mud, oozing. Drown, creatures, drown!”

Which I guess would be terrifying to creatures who had no concept what cats were…or possibly mud for the matter with the way their opponents were described.

Plot Holes/Out of Character:

What happens to Renark when the refugees evacuate is one big hole.

Last Page Sound:

Meh!

Author Assessment:

Still love Moorcock and I am continuing through the omnibus edition of The Eternal Champion that includes The Eternal Champion, The Sundered Worlds, Phoenix in Obsidian, and To Rescue Tanelorn…

Disposition of Book:

Up in the air. After finishing TEC, the thought was that this was a keep and re-read. We’ll see how I feel about it when I’ve finished the last two books in the omnibus. ( )

Read as part of the Eternal Champion Omnibus Edition #1.

Renark von Bek has sacrificed everything on some damned fool idealistic crusade worthy of any Jedi Knight. He has discovered that the universe humanity occupies is collapsing in on itself and in very short order will snuff out all life. His only hope is to discover some means by which humanity can escape into a different universe and hopefully the shifter system (a star system that spans multiple planes within the multiverse) will provide an answer. The answer, of course, is provided - but the cost might be enough to wipe out humanity anyway.

And is the Blood Red Game a strong enough crucible to force mankind to evolve quickly enough to take up its birthright as the dominant sentient species within the multiverse? ( )

Renark von Bek discovers that the universe is contracting at an accelerated rate and ventures into a solar system that travels though different dimensions in search of a way to save the human race. He learns information about the true nature of humanity and the Multiverse. Eventually, humanity is forced to fight for its survival in a strange, psychic game against aliens.

This is basically a pulpish, space opera with a lot of fairly cheesy writing. Moorcock seems to be trying to present some bigger themes about the meaning of life, but they just don't fit too well with this kind of story. There are all kinds of large-scale events going on that are made to seem almost trivial while there is also a lot of detail on some seemingly trivial emotional issues of the characters. The whole thing just does not make a satisfying mix. ( )