{"id":3596,"date":"2017-11-15T14:30:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-15T14:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/?p=3596"},"modified":"2017-11-15T14:30:00","modified_gmt":"2017-11-15T14:30:00","slug":"vortex-v01n02-february-1977","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/?p=3596","title":{"rendered":"Vortex v01n02, February 1977"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

ISFDB link<\/a><\/p>\n

Editor, Keith Seddon<\/p>\n

Fiction:
\nThe End of All Songs<\/em><\/strong> (Part 2 of 4) \u2022 serial by Michael Moorcock \u2217\u2217\u2217<\/strong>
\nThe Machine at Cheviot House H.Q.<\/em><\/strong> \u2022 novelette by Ravan Christchild \u2217<\/strong>
\nMutant!<\/em><\/strong> \u2022 short story by James Corley \u2217<\/strong><\/p>\n

Non-fiction:
\nCover<\/em><\/strong> \u2022 by Rodney Matthews
\nInterior artwork<\/em><\/strong> \u2022 by James Cawthorn, Jocelyn Almond, Rodney Matthews, Richard Hopkinson
\nEditorial<\/em><\/strong> \u2022 by Keith Seddon
\nLandscapes of the Mind<\/em><\/strong> \u2022 interview of Rodney Matthews by Steve Axtell
\nNext Issue<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The second part of The End of All Songs<\/em><\/strong> by Michael Moorcock picks up pace at the end of this instalment but still meanders somewhat at the start.
\nJherek and Amelia go to a party that the Duke of Queens has organised. After the latter\u2019s visit to the 19th<\/sup> century he has created a strange, huge version of Scotland Yard for this event, where people float around on various platforms in the cavernous interior.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

At the party there are a number of conversations, including an extended (and rather dull) one where Jherek talks to two versions of his mother, the Iron Orchid, who has split into multiple \u2018selves\u2019 for the party. She appears to be jealous of Amelia, and the latter recognises this when she joins them at the end of their chat. After the Iron Orchid leaves Amelia cuts Jherek off just as he begins to propose to her.
\nAt this point it occurred to me that as the denizens of the End of Time adopt more of the attitudes and customs of the nineteenth century, the less happy everyone is, and the less fun the novel is.
\nAfter this Jherek and Amelia discuss\u00a0time-travel with a disgruntled Brannart Morphail (whose hump is now as big as the rest of him, and who has a larger club foot to keep his balance), and then go with the Duke of Queens to see five space travellers held in his menagerie:<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are from Yusharisp\u2019s planet,\u201d explained the Duke of Queens,\u201dbut they are not him. They are five fresh ones! I believe they came to look for him. In the meantime, of course, he has been home and returned here.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cHe is not aware of the presence of his friends on our planet?\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cNot yet.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cYou\u2019ll tell him tonight?\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cI think so. At an appropriate moment.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cCan they communicate?\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cThey refuse to accept translation pills, but they have their own mechanical translators, which are, as you know, rather erratic.\u201d<\/em>
\nJherek pressed his face against the force-bubble. He grinned at the inmates. He smiled. \u201cHello! Welcome to the End of Time!\u201d<\/em>
\nChina-blue eyes glared vacantly back at him.<\/em>
\n\u201cI am Jherek Carnelian. A friend of Yusharisp\u2019s,\u201d he told them agreeably.<\/em>
\n\u201cThe leader, the one in the middle, is known as Chief Public Servant Shashurup,\u201d the Duke of Queens informed him.<\/em>
\nJherek made another effort. He waved his fingers. \u201cGood afternoon, Chief Public Servant Shashurup!\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cWhy-ee (skree) do you continue-oo too-too-to tor(roar)-ment us?\u201d asked the CPS. \u201cAll we (kaaar)sk(skree) is (hiss) that-tat-tat you dooo-oo us(ushush) the cour(kur-kur-kur) tesy-ee of com-comcommunicat(tate-tate)ing our requests to your representat(tattat)ives!\u201d He spoke wearily, without expectation of answer.<\/em>
\n\u201cWe have no \u2018representatives\u2019, save ourselves,\u201d said Jherek. \u201cIs there anything wrong with your environment? I\u2019m sure that the Duke of Queens would be only too pleased to make any adjustments you saw fit\u2026\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cSkree-ee-ee,\u201d said CPS Shashurup desperately. \u201cIt is not(ot-ot) in our nat(tate-tate)ure to (skree) ake(cake-cake) threat(et-et-et)s, but we must warn you (skree) that unless we are re(skree)lea(skree)sed our peo(pee-pee)ple will be forced to take steps to pro(pro-pro)tect us and secure(ure-ure) our release. You are behaving childishly! It is imposs(oss-oss)ible to believe(eve-eve-eve) that a race grown so old can still(ill-ill) skree-skree yowl eek yaaaarrrrk!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Amusing stuff.
\nThey cut short this exchange when Mongrove arrives at the party with news of his space travels. Once everyone assembles he tells them that their energy rings are consuming the universe, but the denizens of the End of Time are not much interested, and become bored.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Jherek and Amelia return home and build a castle for themselves. Bishop Castle visits, and lets them know the Iron Orchid has gone time travelling. Then Inspector Springer, several policemen, and Ameila\u2019s husband Harold arrive at the front door.<\/p>\n

\u201cI \u2019ave, sir,\u201d said Inspector Springer with heavy satisfaction, \u201cbeen invested with Special Powers. The \u2019Ome Secretary \u2019imself \u2019as ordered me to look into this case.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cThe new machine \u2014 my, um, Chronomnibus \u2014 was requisitioned,\u201d said the time-traveller apologetically from the background. \u201cAs a patriot, though strictly speaking not from this universe\u2026\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cUnder conditions of utmost secrecy,\u201d continued the Inspector, \u201cwe embarked upon our Mission\u2026\u201d<\/em>
\nJherek and Mrs. Underwood stood on their threshold and contemplated their visitors.<\/em>
\n\u201cWhich is?\u201d Mrs. Underwood was frowning pensively at her husband.<\/em>
\n\u201cTo place the ringleaders of this plot under arrest and return forthwith to our own century so that they \u2014 that\u2019s you, of course, among \u2019em \u2014 may be questioned as to their motives and intentions.\u201d<\/em>
\nInspector Springer was evidently quoting specifically from his orders. \u201cAnd Mr. Underwood?\u201d Jherek asked politely. \u201cWhy is he here?\u201d <\/em>
\n\u201c\u2019E\u2019s one o\u2019 the few \u2019oo can identify the people we\u2019re after. Anyway, \u2019e volunteered.\u201d<\/em>
\nShe said, bemusedly: \u201cHave you come to take me back, Harold?\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cHa!\u201d said her husband.<\/em><\/p>\n

And so begins a livelier chapter where the inspector and his men search the castle. During this, an energy ray takes off the top of the castle, and Bishop Castle arrives to tell them that the Lat are laying waste to everything. Amelia, Jherek, and Harold leave in the locomotive and escape to one of the ancient cities, where energy weapons will not function as the ancient machines prohibit their use.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

While they are hiding in the city a memory bank starts a philosophical conversation with Harold, and Jherek tells Amelia this is where he was conceived, and then proposes to her. Just at that point Captain Mubbers and the rest of the Lat arrive.
\nThe pacing of the first two parts of this novel is not as steady as that of the first two; there are too many longeurs<\/em>. Hopefully, the next two parts will pick up speed.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Machine at Cheviot House H.Q.<\/em><\/strong> by Ravan Christchild is the second story adapted from his novel The Englishman\u2019s Lady<\/em> (see the quote at the end of this section), and so it uses characters, locations, etc. from last issue\u2019s story. This rather makes it feel like a second serial and, as such, gives this issue a distinct Groundhog Day feel.
\nThe main characters that reappear in this one are Steve Mitchell, Karen Black and Johnny Terrier (although there are others). They feature in a very loose tale that starts with an invasion of an alternate world Britain by German airships (although this happens when the characters are watching Survivors<\/em>1<\/sup> in a Bonanza<\/em>2<\/sup>-themed room):<\/p>\n

They watched in silence as the TV cameras panned over a part of Southern England, showing columns of men marching across the fields, meeting little resistance. Great black and silver airships hovered in the sky above, occasionally releasing a biplane or two after refuelling. More zeppelins lay on the ground amidst billowing clouds of mustard gas, disgorging tanks and soldiers. Briefly, the viewers saw one of the airships explode silently intoflame, before the screen went blank.<\/em>
\n\u201cThis,\u201d said Steve Mitchell seriously, looking at Johnny Terrier, \u201cwill complicate matters somewhat.\u201d<\/em>
\nTerrier nodded, thinking of the red and gold uniform in his suitcase, and the Smith & Wesson .38 in his drawer.<\/em> p. 13<\/p>\n

The rest of the story involves the appearance of a huge metallic structure that destroys the village of Portmeirion (presumably another oblique media reference, this time to The Prisoner<\/em>3<\/sup>). This phenomena leads to discussion of the Multiverse, a Conjunction, and\u00a0the Lords of Chaos.
\nI wouldn\u2019t want all this to give the impression that there is much of a story here because there isn\u2019t; most of the writer\u2019s energies are focused on an arch, contemporary and (although not in the following passage) mildly transgressive delivery:<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. John Lennon, of the \u2018Beatles\u2019 jazz-band, has been found dead at his Kensington home. Mr. Lennon\u2019s apartment on the Bayswater Road was broken in to by police after his friend, the American Negro tap-dancer, Mr. Robert Dylan, became disturbed at not having seen him for several days. Mr. Lennon\u2019s\u00a0<\/em>death is unexplained at the moment; police say that no dangerous drugs were found in the apartment.<\/em>
\n\u201cA letter bomb was delivered to Alastair Burnet, television personality and former editor of the Daily Express, yesterday. He called the police when he saw Indian stamps on the envelope. The letter was sent last week to his address in Glasgow and was forwarded to his Kensington, London, home. Experts defused the package.<\/em>
\n\u201cA raid by police on a council house in Bushey, Hertfordshire, early this morning, resulted in the arrest of a young woman. A police spokesman said later that the raid had not yielded satisfactory results. A quantity of literature was taken away, as well as a large amount of scientific and laboratory equipment.<\/em>
\n\u201cSport, and rain has stopped play at Lords. The West Indies, in their first innings, are 206 for two. In Mexico, the Chinese have beaten Team America by four goals to one.<\/em>
\n\u201cThat\u2019s the news at eleven, we\u2019ll be back at midday with the latest car crash results from Los Angeles. Now, over to Kenneth Everett in the music studio.\u201d<\/em> p. 15<\/p>\n

I liked this one slightly more than the last (the scenes are moderately interesting\u2014they just don\u2019t amount to anything) but maybe I am just becoming acclimatised.
\nThere is an interesting note about Jocelyn Almond\u2019s involvement (the editor Keith Seddon\u2019s future wife) at the end of the piece, which perhaps gave rise to the rumours that Christchild was a pseudonym for Seddon (denied at the time and a few years ago):<\/p>\n

This story is very loosely based on Ravan Christchild\u2019s forthcoming novel, THE ENGLISHMAN\u2019S LADY. Certain themes and plots in this story will be investigated in the next story, THE AGONIES OF TIME. Two characters in this story, Sebastian Dorrell and Electra Vanderpump, were created by Jocelyn Almond. Their original adventures and exploits are related in the novels THE DEATHS AND TIMES OF SEBASTIAN DORRELL, THE SICILIAN DRAGON, and THE RETICENCE OF PEACOCKS.<\/em> p. 24<\/p>\n

Mutant!<\/em><\/strong> by James Corley is either heavily influenced by, or a pastiche of, J. G. Ballard\u2019s work.
\nIn this story the world is subject to a vast increase in solar activity, and there is an increase in number of mutations. Various scenes play out against this backdrop, all centred on a research scientist called Stoddard, who is at a marine research facility in the Indian Ocean.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The story opens with him visiting Pamela, a female colleague who he has been in a relationship with. They argue, and she eventually pulls a knife on him so he leaves. After this Stoddard collapses outside the facility. As he later recovers he talks to one of his Indian colleagues, and we get some background information about what is happening in the world.
\nOnce he is up and about again he goes walking and sees evidence of mutant sea birds. He also sees Penelope sunbathing in the fierce sunlight, oblivious to the radiation:<\/p>\n

Stoddard had been kept awake most of the night thinking of the figure on the beach, pulling at the desperate problem she posed. He had decided against the theory that this was a macabre form of suicide. Her body had flared in to a vivid redness but there was no blistering of the smooth, perfect skin. Obviously\u00a0<\/em>Pamela had been coming here for days. She had not abandoned herself to the sun but had gradually accepted it, exposing herself at first only momentarily while building up tolerance to the rays.<\/em>
\nBut was it insanity? Could she perhaps believe she lay sunbathing on some Mediterranean beach? Was she on holiday somewhere inside her skull? Had she forgotten the world was lurching under the impact of shattered genes? Did her mind pretend to itself that nothing had changed? He could have borne a realisation of her insanity but something told him that the girl was as sane or saner than Stoddard himself.<\/em>
\nHer actions as she turned over were deliberate and calm, they showed none of the emphatic motility of madness. She was dressed modestly now in the fine, pale sand which clung to her sweating body. Once it seemed she looked straight at him but her eyes passed on, unseeing or uncaring that there was a watcher on the cliff-top.<\/em> p. 47<\/p>\n

Years pass and, long after they stop receiving any radio broadcasts, they see a silver sphere\u00a0flying over the island. This is attributed to something that has mutated beyond humankind. The story ends.
\nThe parts of this are well enough done, but (again) they don\u2019t cohere into a whole.<\/p>\n

While I don\u2019t dislike this issue\u2019s Cover<\/em><\/strong> by Rodney Matthews, I\u2019m not sure it is a particular favourite of mine\u2014but it certainly hold the eye. Matthews is also the subject of an interesting interview by Steve Axtell, Landscapes of the Mind<\/em><\/strong>. I am always interested to hear about the jobs writers and artists have in their early life:<\/p>\n

When I left school, the art mistress and everyone were all saying, \u201cYou must become an artist or something.\u201d So I went around to the local print factory, where they offered me a job as a retoucher. Then I thought, \u201cChrist, I can\u2019t sit and do this all day.\u201d So I went on to do some metal working, taking the surface off a thumb, slitting the odd finger here and there, so I thought, \u201cChrist, I can\u2019t do this.\u201d And I ended up at the West of England Art College, which I left prematurely after one and a half years because a job came up. Although I didn\u2019t like it, the period which then followed at the ad agency was important because there I learned the basic disciplines \u2014 creative lettering, layout, presentation, visualizing, typography and something of printing.<\/em>
\nAfter leaving the ad agency, I went to work as a freelancer, in an outfit called PLASTIC DOG GRAPHICS. Here were laid the foundations on which I have built my style and direction. To start with I had to do a lot of mediocre stuff in order to make a living, but every now and then a job (usually a college poster or a record sleeve) would present me with an outlet for my fantasies. My partner and me were currently playing in bands, so it wasn\u2019t surprising that much of our graphic work came from the musical business. Notably United Artists and Sonet of Sweden. Sonet together with its several small subsidiaries, and headed in London by Rod Buckle, produced mainly Jazz, Blues and Folky albums. I was invited to design the covers for many of these. In fact, a lot of my stuff has come about by being rejected by record companies or bands or what have you.<\/em> p. 40<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Interior artwork<\/em><\/strong> this issue is by James Cawthorn, who provides three B&W illustrations, Jocelyn Almond contributes the same for the Christchild story, and Richard Hopkinson provides a B&W illustration for the Corely. I\u2019m not entirely sure that the three colour title illustrations4<\/sup> are produced by the same artists as who do the B&W pages (with the exception of the one for the Christchild story which looks like Almond\u2019s work): all the colour work is uncredited, where the B&W work by Almond and Hopkinson is signed.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A new feature this issue is that the cover art is reproduced without type on the back cover, and the inner front and inner rear cover have a monotone reproduction of one of the works by Rodney Matthews printed along with his the interview.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Editorial <\/em><\/strong>by Keith Seddon is one of those pigeon-holing pieces that discusses the various types of fantasy and SF. This kind of thing has always seemed a bit of a waste of time to me: where does describing Frank Herbert\u2019s Dune<\/em> as \u2018Science Fantasy\u2019 get you?
\nNext Issue<\/em><\/strong> is a new feature and a self-explanatory one:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In conclusion, and given I\u2019ve already mentioned the feeling of d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu above, this issue is like the first: an average effort at best. There are, though, glimmers of improvement.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The Survivors<\/em> was a 1970\u2019s TV series set in a post-apocalypse UK. More at SFE<\/a> and Wikipedia<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  2. Bonanza<\/em> was a long running TV Western. The Wikipedia<\/a> page.<\/li>\n
  3. The Prisoner<\/em> was an excellent SF TV series that ran during 1967. Even though I\u2019m pretty sure that Rover gave me nightmares I have the boxset to watch again one day (Rover was a terrifying creature or machine that looked like a huge bubble of chewing gum, as wide as a man is tall, and which pursued escaped prisoners from the Village. When it caught them it pressed itself over their face till they lost consciousness and, I think, sometimes killed them.) More at SFE<\/a> and Wikipedia<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  4. The title pages for the Moorcock and Corley stories (the Christchild is above):\"\" \"\"<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n\"rss\"<\/a>\"rss\"<\/a><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    ISFDB link Editor, Keith Seddon Fiction: The End of All Songs (Part 2 of 4) \u2022 serial by Michael Moorcock \u2217\u2217\u2217 The Machine at Cheviot House H.Q. \u2022 novelette by Ravan Christchild \u2217 Mutant! \u2022 short story by James Corley \u2217 Non-fiction: Cover \u2022 by Rodney Matthews Interior artwork \u2022 by James Cawthorn, Jocelyn Almond, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vortex"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Pcj7-W0","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3596"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3596\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3625,"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3596\/revisions\/3625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}