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Sailing to Utopia #3
The Distant Suns
A Cornelius novel by Michael Moorcock, co-written with Philp James and illustrated by James Cawthorn, originally serialized, in eighteen instalments, in the Bombay-based The Illustrated Weekly of India between June and November 1969 before being re-published for the English market by Unicorn Books in 1975."Philip James" is a pseudonym for James Cawthorn, who took over the writing of the serial when Moorcock fell ill.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1969
2 people are currently reading
112 people want to read
About the author
Michael Moorcock
1,208 books3,749 followersMichael John Moorcock is an English writer primarily of science fiction and fantasy who has also published a number of literary novels.
Moorcock has mentioned The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Apple Cart by George Bernard Shaw and The Constable of St. Nicholas by Edward Lester Arnold as the first three books which captured his imagination. He became editor of Tarzan Adventures in 1956, at the age of sixteen, and later moved on to edit Sexton Blake Library. As editor of the controversial British science fiction magazine New Worlds, from May 1964 until March 1971 and then again from 1976 to 1996, Moorcock fostered the development of the science fiction "New Wave" in the UK and indirectly in the United States. His serialization of Norman Spinrad's Bug Jack Barron was notorious for causing British MPs to condemn in Parliament the Arts Council's funding of the magazine.
During this time, he occasionally wrote under the pseudonym of "James Colvin," a "house pseudonym" used by other critics on New Worlds. A spoof obituary of Colvin appeared in New Worlds #197 (January 1970), written by "William Barclay" (another Moorcock pseudonym). Moorcock, indeed, makes much use of the initials "JC", and not entirely coincidentally these are also the initials of Jesus Christ, the subject of his 1967 Nebula award-winning novella Behold the Man, which tells the story of Karl Glogauer, a time-traveller who takes on the role of Christ. They are also the initials of various "Eternal Champion" Moorcock characters such as Jerry Cornelius, Jerry Cornell and Jherek Carnelian. In more recent years, Moorcock has taken to using "Warwick Colvin, Jr." as yet another pseudonym, particularly in his Second Ether fiction.
Moorcock has mentioned The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Apple Cart by George Bernard Shaw and The Constable of St. Nicholas by Edward Lester Arnold as the first three books which captured his imagination. He became editor of Tarzan Adventures in 1956, at the age of sixteen, and later moved on to edit Sexton Blake Library. As editor of the controversial British science fiction magazine New Worlds, from May 1964 until March 1971 and then again from 1976 to 1996, Moorcock fostered the development of the science fiction "New Wave" in the UK and indirectly in the United States. His serialization of Norman Spinrad's Bug Jack Barron was notorious for causing British MPs to condemn in Parliament the Arts Council's funding of the magazine.
During this time, he occasionally wrote under the pseudonym of "James Colvin," a "house pseudonym" used by other critics on New Worlds. A spoof obituary of Colvin appeared in New Worlds #197 (January 1970), written by "William Barclay" (another Moorcock pseudonym). Moorcock, indeed, makes much use of the initials "JC", and not entirely coincidentally these are also the initials of Jesus Christ, the subject of his 1967 Nebula award-winning novella Behold the Man, which tells the story of Karl Glogauer, a time-traveller who takes on the role of Christ. They are also the initials of various "Eternal Champion" Moorcock characters such as Jerry Cornelius, Jerry Cornell and Jherek Carnelian. In more recent years, Moorcock has taken to using "Warwick Colvin, Jr." as yet another pseudonym, particularly in his Second Ether fiction.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 14, 2025
The Distant Suns:
I haven’t heard a lot of good things about this novel. Even Moorcock seems to dismiss it as a disappoinment, but I mostly enjoyed it. It captures the essence of what makes space travel so romantic very well.
The history behind the book is interesting in itself. Apparently, the author was asked to write it for an Indian newspaper, in the hope that it would encourage Indians to become more interested in practical science.
A trio of astronauts attempt to reach the nearest star system to our own, Alpha Centuari, by testing a new warp drive. Of course, it doesn’t go according to plan and an adventure on another world ensues.
The first half is fairly well-written and I was very curious to see where it was all heading. The second half isn't so great. It soon devolves into a weaker rendition of Moorcock’s Kane of Mars, with warring alien tribes and all feels a little routine. Either way, it’s not as bad as some say and I managed to get some fun out of it.
Thus concludes the Sailing to Utopia Trilogy.
Read:
The Jewel in the Skull (Hawkmoon 1)
Warriors of Mars (Michael Kane 1)
The Ice Schooner (Sailing to Utopia 1)
The Black Corridor (Sailing to Utopia 2)
The Distant Suns (Sailing to Utopia 3)
Elric of Melniboné (The Elric Saga 1)
Rituals of Infinity (Roads between the Worlds)
The Eternal Champion (Erekose 1)
I haven’t heard a lot of good things about this novel. Even Moorcock seems to dismiss it as a disappoinment, but I mostly enjoyed it. It captures the essence of what makes space travel so romantic very well.
The history behind the book is interesting in itself. Apparently, the author was asked to write it for an Indian newspaper, in the hope that it would encourage Indians to become more interested in practical science.
A trio of astronauts attempt to reach the nearest star system to our own, Alpha Centuari, by testing a new warp drive. Of course, it doesn’t go according to plan and an adventure on another world ensues.
The first half is fairly well-written and I was very curious to see where it was all heading. The second half isn't so great. It soon devolves into a weaker rendition of Moorcock’s Kane of Mars, with warring alien tribes and all feels a little routine. Either way, it’s not as bad as some say and I managed to get some fun out of it.
Thus concludes the Sailing to Utopia Trilogy.
Read:
The Jewel in the Skull (Hawkmoon 1)
Warriors of Mars (Michael Kane 1)
The Ice Schooner (Sailing to Utopia 1)
The Black Corridor (Sailing to Utopia 2)
The Distant Suns (Sailing to Utopia 3)
Elric of Melniboné (The Elric Saga 1)
Rituals of Infinity (Roads between the Worlds)
The Eternal Champion (Erekose 1)
July 17, 2019
This is Michael Moorcock's take on the type of sci-fi story that could have been written by Heinlein or Asimov during the 50s or 60s. There is far less deconstruction of this type of story than Moorcock did with his work on fantasy in creating the Eternal Champion series, as it reads very much like a story of that type, although there are vintage Moorcock touches. As was a bit of a theme in many of his sci-fi stories, he doesn't paint a rosy picture of future Earth, with overpopulation being seen as a constant problem.
This story features Jerry and Catherine Cornelius, both of whom had featured in Moorcock's Cornelius chronicles, although in those books, Catherine is Jerry's sister, while here she is his wife. This book is also a much easier story to follow - the Cornelius chronicles can get a bit psychedelic at times.
This story features Jerry and Catherine Cornelius, both of whom had featured in Moorcock's Cornelius chronicles, although in those books, Catherine is Jerry's sister, while here she is his wife. This book is also a much easier story to follow - the Cornelius chronicles can get a bit psychedelic at times.
March 29, 2021
Moorcock himself identifies this story as "atypical" of his work. He's not wrong. If you somehow manage to forget that his name is on the cover (alongside Philip James aka James Cawthorn), The Distant Suns might be a passable if somewhat superficial pulp SF romp redolent of the old Flash Gordon serials - short chapters, lantern-jawed heroes, strange planets and fallen technologies... It's all there, but remarkably briefly. Unfortunately even the Kane of Old Mars books offer up better planetary romance than The Distant Suns. Given that Moorcock's stated intent was to offer both science and SF to a readership on the Indian continent, it feels oddly dated and out of shape even for the original publication date of 1969.
June 28, 2016
I am sorry but I didn't enjoy this novel at all. It was by far the worst Moorcock book. Well I have not read that many but I didn't enjoy this one. So we've got a mix between The Black Corridor and Warrior of Mars - but it sucked.
Humanity has come far to destroy our own planet with overpopulation and tension between nations. We've exhausted our own resources so what can humanity do? Send a colonization ship and destroy another planet. Yeah that will work. Stupid premises. Humanity can solve her own problems by escaping them. That's not solving... But it was the sixties so let's go...
We've got Jerry Cornelius and his wife and a fellow scientist were sent to alpha centauri to search for a planet to humanity. They found a planet but it's habitable. After a series of adventures with two factions that lived on that planet - they return home but humanity as already started a war...
I was not pleased how it was handled. Neither Moorcock nor Philip James (a pseudonym) gave this book anything interesting or good. Well - the only good thing was to discover the Immaterium (the Warp) so familiar with the warhammer 40k is probably related to this. They say it is another dimension and people can go crazy in it (which the scientist became).
Overall, the book is readable and with only 180 pages and a few drawings is easible read in an afternoon... but beware of Morpheus embrace... you will feel it.
Humanity has come far to destroy our own planet with overpopulation and tension between nations. We've exhausted our own resources so what can humanity do? Send a colonization ship and destroy another planet. Yeah that will work. Stupid premises. Humanity can solve her own problems by escaping them. That's not solving... But it was the sixties so let's go...
We've got Jerry Cornelius and his wife and a fellow scientist were sent to alpha centauri to search for a planet to humanity. They found a planet but it's habitable. After a series of adventures with two factions that lived on that planet - they return home but humanity as already started a war...
I was not pleased how it was handled. Neither Moorcock nor Philip James (a pseudonym) gave this book anything interesting or good. Well - the only good thing was to discover the Immaterium (the Warp) so familiar with the warhammer 40k is probably related to this. They say it is another dimension and people can go crazy in it (which the scientist became).
Overall, the book is readable and with only 180 pages and a few drawings is easible read in an afternoon... but beware of Morpheus embrace... you will feel it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 1, 2024
It's a long time since I read MM but time on my hands I regressed in old SF from my younger times. The DS is one of the earlier of his books but the story of the Eternal Champion remains constant even driving a spaceship is pretty much the same as a pre industrial wooden boat that many of his iterations would have been familiar with.
You have to be there!
You have to be there!
July 19, 2019
It’s a great premise but the quality seems to rapidly degrade as the book goes on. It starts well but the last few chapters are rushed jumbled of clunky expositional dialogue that gets pretty unbearable. It sort of feels like Michael Moorcock got bored with the story and just wanted it to end.
August 12, 2022
Heavy-handed and decidedly disposable, and Moorcock's introduction to recent editions more or less admits as much. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/201...
July 11, 2016
As I finished the book, I kept looking for evidence that this was actually a hoax of some kind, because the back story about how and why the book was written was appallingly insulting to the literary community of India.
According to the preface, the book was written for the purpose of introducing science fiction to India. That's odd, because it was already there. No, really, this was to introduce scientific science fiction to India, to counteract all that religion and superstition which abounded on the sub-continent. Really? How insulting is that, especially when this book is in the style of 1930s pulp SF, and not a good example of that. The implication is that readers in India weren't ready for anything so "advanced," and should be led by the nose by the same kind of stuff that American and British audiences liked pre-WWII.
The characterizations were especially old-fashioned, but the story structure itself is where this was the most aggravating. Since it was written as a newspaper serial, the chapters should have been self-contained and coherent, but they were not.
Much of the book was actually written by James Cawthorn, under the Philip James pseudonym, and frankly, Cawthorn was a much better artist than a writer. Too many things happen in between the pages, and the ending of the book is just appalling. If the intention was to convince readers in India to trust in science, this book might have made them run screaming away from it instead. Among other things, the very start of the book is how mankind's last hope is to find other inhabitable planets...so at the start of the book they launch an untested interstellar vessel without knowing how it really works. Um, guys? This trip is important, right? What part of "quick test run to check the equipment" doesn't make sense to you?
All the way through, science is portrayed as rather dodgy, and the "pro-science" aliens encountered are just hidebound religionists with a big computer.
Many plot threads were either dropped or left incomplete by the end of the book, possibly because Cawthorn could not complete the parts begun by Moorcock, who was apparently sick when the book was being completed.
There were good bits, but not enough to grant the book more than two stars.
According to the preface, the book was written for the purpose of introducing science fiction to India. That's odd, because it was already there. No, really, this was to introduce scientific science fiction to India, to counteract all that religion and superstition which abounded on the sub-continent. Really? How insulting is that, especially when this book is in the style of 1930s pulp SF, and not a good example of that. The implication is that readers in India weren't ready for anything so "advanced," and should be led by the nose by the same kind of stuff that American and British audiences liked pre-WWII.
The characterizations were especially old-fashioned, but the story structure itself is where this was the most aggravating. Since it was written as a newspaper serial, the chapters should have been self-contained and coherent, but they were not.
Much of the book was actually written by James Cawthorn, under the Philip James pseudonym, and frankly, Cawthorn was a much better artist than a writer. Too many things happen in between the pages, and the ending of the book is just appalling. If the intention was to convince readers in India to trust in science, this book might have made them run screaming away from it instead. Among other things, the very start of the book is how mankind's last hope is to find other inhabitable planets...so at the start of the book they launch an untested interstellar vessel without knowing how it really works. Um, guys? This trip is important, right? What part of "quick test run to check the equipment" doesn't make sense to you?
All the way through, science is portrayed as rather dodgy, and the "pro-science" aliens encountered are just hidebound religionists with a big computer.
Many plot threads were either dropped or left incomplete by the end of the book, possibly because Cawthorn could not complete the parts begun by Moorcock, who was apparently sick when the book was being completed.
There were good bits, but not enough to grant the book more than two stars.
January 14, 2013
Originally published on my blog here in January 2002.
The Distant Suns is a strong contender for the title of Moorcock's worst novel. Almost totally different in style from his other writing, it is an unimaginative story about a space mission to Alpha Centauri, outdated in style and bearing a marked resemblance to American pulp fiction of twenty or more years earlier. It is so different that it is impossible to read it without wondering just how much input Moorcock had to the collaboration, even though it appears now in an omnibus of his novels and is copyrighted to him exclusively.
The only connection between The Distant Suns and the rest of Moorcock's output are the names of the main characters. The crew of the spaceship The Last Hope are Jerry Cornelius, his wife Cathy and scientist Frank Marek; even so, they are no more than washed out two dimensional versions of their usual selves. (This is not just the fault of the writing; major sources of tension are removed when the three of them are not siblings.) Jerry is the protagonist, but is just a Flash Gordon style action hero. While Moorcock allowed others to write Jerry Cornelius adventures, most of the writers who did so stuck to the style and stylishness which were such important parts of the original stories.
The Distant Suns is a strong contender for the title of Moorcock's worst novel. Almost totally different in style from his other writing, it is an unimaginative story about a space mission to Alpha Centauri, outdated in style and bearing a marked resemblance to American pulp fiction of twenty or more years earlier. It is so different that it is impossible to read it without wondering just how much input Moorcock had to the collaboration, even though it appears now in an omnibus of his novels and is copyrighted to him exclusively.
The only connection between The Distant Suns and the rest of Moorcock's output are the names of the main characters. The crew of the spaceship The Last Hope are Jerry Cornelius, his wife Cathy and scientist Frank Marek; even so, they are no more than washed out two dimensional versions of their usual selves. (This is not just the fault of the writing; major sources of tension are removed when the three of them are not siblings.) Jerry is the protagonist, but is just a Flash Gordon style action hero. While Moorcock allowed others to write Jerry Cornelius adventures, most of the writers who did so stuck to the style and stylishness which were such important parts of the original stories.
April 7, 2014
The first half of the book has a nice science-fiction focus, and even though it's shinier and more pulpy than Moorcock's norm, it's still enjoyable. Unfortunately, the latter half of the book descends into planetary romance that's just not very interesting, as a confusingly named array of confusingly named people rush hither and yon. It feels out of tune with the first part of the book and not that good either. Cawthorn tries to save the story with some touchbacks to what's going on on Earth, but it's not enough.
April 8, 2015
I have read other Michael Moorcock scifi before and found this one as enjoyable. If you appreciate the more subtle and lighter classic scifi from the earlier days than you might enjoy this book. It is a quick read, and the illustrations are interesting and predictable of the period. I would recommend the book to anyone who enjoys classic scifi.
February 14, 2015
1940's space opera written in the 1960's. It is many years since I read any Michael Moorcock. This did not disappoint. Quirky, odd, and sometimes a bit hard to believe, but a good page turner. The images add some character to the whole experience, and even made me smile in a nostalgic manner.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews