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The Roads Between the Worlds #3
The Shores of Death
In the far future, Earth's rotation has been halted by powerful aliens searching for the end of the universe. Happening upon Earth, the aliens took from it what they needed and moved on. The human race is now divided; some living on the cold night side, some the sweltering day side, yet others in the thin twilight between the two regions.
Living a life of pleasure and decadence in the twilight region, Valta Becker impregnates his daughter who dies shortly after giving birth to Clovis, last of the twilight children. Neglected by his father, Clovis leaves home for the more technologically and philosophically sophisticated daylight region, where lifespans stretch to hundreds of years and the marvels of future science still flourish. He makes a name for himself in politics, rising to almost god-like stature. When catastrophe strikes, rendering the daylight people sterile due to an after-effect of the aliens' strange energies used in halting the planet's rotation, Clovis Becker must find an answer or the human race will perish.
Thus begins a taut adventure filled with warring political ideologies, End of the World parties, flower forests and floating carriages, shadowy figures attempting to shape mankind's destiny for their own ends, colorful descriptions worthy of Jack Vance and Mervyn Peake—and a love story for the ages as Clovis and Fastina Cahmin—the last born of the daylight people—seek immortality… but at what cost? Michael Moorcock is one of the most widely read SF authors in the world, and here his fertile imagination is on full display.
Living a life of pleasure and decadence in the twilight region, Valta Becker impregnates his daughter who dies shortly after giving birth to Clovis, last of the twilight children. Neglected by his father, Clovis leaves home for the more technologically and philosophically sophisticated daylight region, where lifespans stretch to hundreds of years and the marvels of future science still flourish. He makes a name for himself in politics, rising to almost god-like stature. When catastrophe strikes, rendering the daylight people sterile due to an after-effect of the aliens' strange energies used in halting the planet's rotation, Clovis Becker must find an answer or the human race will perish.
Thus begins a taut adventure filled with warring political ideologies, End of the World parties, flower forests and floating carriages, shadowy figures attempting to shape mankind's destiny for their own ends, colorful descriptions worthy of Jack Vance and Mervyn Peake—and a love story for the ages as Clovis and Fastina Cahmin—the last born of the daylight people—seek immortality… but at what cost? Michael Moorcock is one of the most widely read SF authors in the world, and here his fertile imagination is on full display.
156 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1966
8 people are currently reading
232 people want to read
About the author
Michael Moorcock
1,209 books3,750 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 - 28 of 28 reviews
October 11, 2025
Michael Moorcock is a very good writer with an outstanding imagination. This book is not a good example of his skills, written not long before I was born and when Moorcock was in his mid-twenties. Most writers get better first, then get published. Moorcock's imagination helped him bludgeon a way into print before he was very good at writing...
The introduction to this book explains it's a rewrite of a tale serialised in a magazine. Moorcock reports that he worked to fix the many science 'issues' that readers had complained of. Sadly it's still stuffed with howlers that make it clear the author lacked even a basic grasp on simple physics. That alone makes it a difficult read.
Add to the pseudo-science nonsense 2D characters, vast and child-like simplifications of social dynamics/politics, heavy lardings of exposition that force down our throats the themes of fear and how we refashion ourselves to accommodate it... and you have a book whose main virtue is that it's very short.
The imagination is on display but it couldn't stop this book being a chore to read.
HOWEVER - Moorcock _is_ a great writer of fantasy and even got better at science fiction. Step past this relic of 1966 and try an Elric novel.
The book will be of interest to Moorcock fans who want to trace his rise to greatness.
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...
The introduction to this book explains it's a rewrite of a tale serialised in a magazine. Moorcock reports that he worked to fix the many science 'issues' that readers had complained of. Sadly it's still stuffed with howlers that make it clear the author lacked even a basic grasp on simple physics. That alone makes it a difficult read.
Add to the pseudo-science nonsense 2D characters, vast and child-like simplifications of social dynamics/politics, heavy lardings of exposition that force down our throats the themes of fear and how we refashion ourselves to accommodate it... and you have a book whose main virtue is that it's very short.
The imagination is on display but it couldn't stop this book being a chore to read.
HOWEVER - Moorcock _is_ a great writer of fantasy and even got better at science fiction. Step past this relic of 1966 and try an Elric novel.
The book will be of interest to Moorcock fans who want to trace his rise to greatness.
Join my Patreon
Join my 3-emails-a-year newsletter #prizes
...
August 22, 2016
This is a nasty piece of work: highly thought-provoking, shocking and ultimately disparaging of what it means to be a human being. I loved it - for me, this is the best thing Moorcock's ever written.
February 23, 2009
Michael Moorcock's baby was the SF quarterly New Worlds. It published terrific, ground-breaking stories, but never made any money. I read somewhere that it would periodically be faced with the threat of complete bankrupcy. Moorcock would respond by locking himself in his bedroom with a typewriter and a bottle of whiskey, emerging three or four days later with a new pulp novel that he could sell just in time to ward off the current crisis. You can see why the whole British SF community was in awe of him.
I suspect that The Shores of Death may be one of those novels. The story set in the distant future. Women have stopped being able to bear children (as in P.D. James's The Children of Men ), there is a Mad Scientist who may or may not be able to save humanity, and the Moon has for some reason crashed in the Pacific ocean. It's actually not at all bad!
I suspect that The Shores of Death may be one of those novels. The story set in the distant future. Women have stopped being able to bear children (as in P.D. James's The Children of Men ), there is a Mad Scientist who may or may not be able to save humanity, and the Moon has for some reason crashed in the Pacific ocean. It's actually not at all bad!
November 23, 2017
It's been a long time since I read any Moorcock. In fact, I had somehow missed that he was still alive. (although this book was written considerably before I was!) I grew up on Elric and Count Brass, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover this previously unread copy in my bookcase. (I am sure I _must_ have bought it, but sometimes I do suspect the book-fairies pay me little visits and leave gifts).
I really enjoyed this. Easy to read, and has aged ok, if you don't try to think too hard about the physics of the main premise. Oddly, after not very far into the book I somehow convinced myself that I was reading a PKD book. (Possibly because I quite recently read Flow My Tears) Very similar style (imho).
I really enjoyed this. Easy to read, and has aged ok, if you don't try to think too hard about the physics of the main premise. Oddly, after not very far into the book I somehow convinced myself that I was reading a PKD book. (Possibly because I quite recently read Flow My Tears) Very similar style (imho).
May 9, 2020
This is one of Moorcock's more obscure novels. It has also appeared under the title The Shores of Death, and is a fix-up of a short serial that appeared in New Worlds magazine very early in his career. In his introduction he explains that he was trying to examine some causes and forms of fear, mixed with entertaining melodrama; I believe he succeeded fairly well. This is more a "straight" sf novel than most of his work, and doesn't really fit in with his Eternal Champion/multiverse tapestry except peripherally in retcon.
January 23, 2019
Little bit of a telegraphed ending. Not a bad read though. Classic pulp sci-fi.
October 4, 2018
Short, sharp, hard. Moorcock is known as a sci-fi author, but this novel could be classified as a horror novel set in a sci-fi context. It's short, but in this case it only adds to the pace of the narrative; there's no filler, it's all texture that fills out the harsh place the novel inhabits. Understandably not for all tastes, but if you're into very dark-tinged themes you'll find the final 50 pages of this book riveting, as I did.
January 15, 2018
An early Moorcock sci-fi story from 1966, The Shores of Death is just as powerful a piece of fiction today, if not more so. Set on Earth after aliens have conquered, decimated the population, and somehow managed to stop the Earth's rotation, creating a world half permanently in light and half in darkness. The story focuses on one of the few survivors on the dark side of the planet, Clovis Marca, who makes it his life's goal to solve the other problem left by the aliens - humanity is no longer able to reproduce. After traveling to the light side, and discovering an advanced society set on idle pursuit of pleasure since their species is doomed, Clovis leave, to hunt the far corners of the solar system for ways to circumnavigate the reproduction problem.
Upon his return, still with nothing tangible, he discovers that instead of simply partying away the rest of time, a new faction has taken power, with strong-arm fear mongering dictatorial tactics. At first, Clovis ignores them, especially when a mysterious stranger appears, seemingly following him. Eventually, Clovis much stand up to the fascist group which is rapidly taking power, while still trying to find one last desperate salvation for the human race.
While written over 50 years ago, the themes about fascism and resistance have a powerful resonance today, in a Trump presidency. The story is also an interesting change from most Moorcock works, as it has very little action and combat, with most of the focus being on philosphy and political science, as well as exploring desperate corners of actual science to deal with the very real threat of extinction. Ultimately, not being able to reproduce isn't a threat one can defeat with weapons, swordplay, or valiant fighting, and only with the depths of strength and will inherent in the human spirit and drive to survive.
Upon his return, still with nothing tangible, he discovers that instead of simply partying away the rest of time, a new faction has taken power, with strong-arm fear mongering dictatorial tactics. At first, Clovis ignores them, especially when a mysterious stranger appears, seemingly following him. Eventually, Clovis much stand up to the fascist group which is rapidly taking power, while still trying to find one last desperate salvation for the human race.
While written over 50 years ago, the themes about fascism and resistance have a powerful resonance today, in a Trump presidency. The story is also an interesting change from most Moorcock works, as it has very little action and combat, with most of the focus being on philosphy and political science, as well as exploring desperate corners of actual science to deal with the very real threat of extinction. Ultimately, not being able to reproduce isn't a threat one can defeat with weapons, swordplay, or valiant fighting, and only with the depths of strength and will inherent in the human spirit and drive to survive.
April 4, 2012
Nice little book! Fun to read. Altough, as with other early Moorcock titles, the back-text doesn't really discribes the books plot, exept for a small part maybe.
This book is definetely a good read for fans of 'Dancers at the End of Time'. The book must be, in my opinion, an inspiration for 'Dancers'. The end-of-the-earth theme, decadent party's, weird costumes and mechanical bird-like transports. Of course is nog nearly as extreme and complex as 'Dancers' but the simalarities are certainly there.
Who the big red guy on the cover is remains a mystery, probably one of the Space Faring Aliens, but this is never explained.
This book is definetely a good read for fans of 'Dancers at the End of Time'. The book must be, in my opinion, an inspiration for 'Dancers'. The end-of-the-earth theme, decadent party's, weird costumes and mechanical bird-like transports. Of course is nog nearly as extreme and complex as 'Dancers' but the simalarities are certainly there.
Who the big red guy on the cover is remains a mystery, probably one of the Space Faring Aliens, but this is never explained.
February 9, 2015
My first Michael Moorcock, and I am sure a bad choice to start with this author. The story is pretty boring and pointless. My recommendation: start reading in what the author calls the second book (it's not really a book, it's a section within the book) with chapter four. It gets more exiting from there on and you will still get the story.
December 24, 2023
There is a good story here, that has been badly written. The story touches on a lot of dark and probing themes. Post read, when I thought back on the overall story there was a lot to chew on.
Not all of it was particularly deep, the questions of human reaction to crisis and cycles of politics were not groundbreaking, even if they had their heart in the right place. More interesting were the examinations of what drives us. Clovis is a strange character. From the start you feel you know how his story will end, but he never confirms to your expectations, even during his downfall. Yet it never seems out of character and our expectations come from our projected prejudices, given his background in the Twilight part of the planet.
The setting itself was interesting, and I enjoyed the gonzo sci-fi of it. The Earth no longer spins, the human race can no longer propagate, the moon has crashed to Earth(!), and humanity cannot travel into space without being driven to 'Space Madness'! You do need to ignore a lot of modern (and not so modern) science and understanding to suspend your disbelief at this, but I can forgive it. I don't read Orson Welles and then complain that Mars isn't a Jungle planet. But some clearly do get put off by this (their loss!).
Less endurable is the writing. It's an early attempt (having been published serially in a magazine) and it shows. So much so that a foreword has been included to provide a mea culpa. For a short novel it DRAGS. It wasn't a riveting read and I'm sure future books read better. I'm at least keen to see what Moorcock’s imagination can create when conveyed with more writing experience.
Not all of it was particularly deep, the questions of human reaction to crisis and cycles of politics were not groundbreaking, even if they had their heart in the right place. More interesting were the examinations of what drives us. Clovis is a strange character. From the start you feel you know how his story will end, but he never confirms to your expectations, even during his downfall. Yet it never seems out of character and our expectations come from our projected prejudices, given his background in the Twilight part of the planet.
The setting itself was interesting, and I enjoyed the gonzo sci-fi of it. The Earth no longer spins, the human race can no longer propagate, the moon has crashed to Earth(!), and humanity cannot travel into space without being driven to 'Space Madness'! You do need to ignore a lot of modern (and not so modern) science and understanding to suspend your disbelief at this, but I can forgive it. I don't read Orson Welles and then complain that Mars isn't a Jungle planet. But some clearly do get put off by this (their loss!).
Less endurable is the writing. It's an early attempt (having been published serially in a magazine) and it shows. So much so that a foreword has been included to provide a mea culpa. For a short novel it DRAGS. It wasn't a riveting read and I'm sure future books read better. I'm at least keen to see what Moorcock’s imagination can create when conveyed with more writing experience.
July 1, 2024
Nobody writes books like this anymore but contemporary people might still get something from it. I mean people read books from hundreds of years ago that are considered classics even if they are reading about people who lived very differently. Then again reading old books also makes us realise how similar we are to our human ancestors. Classics from Ancient Greece, China, wherever, we still relate. This book is generic science fiction from the mid sixties. It is written in a rather throwaway but dynamic style. In fact it's style is what struck me when I started reading it. It would make a great comic. I loved it and I think a big reason for this is its' exoticism. It's' themes of a human race of a far future threatened with extinction are very cool as well. That generic frozen moment of this book I found enjoyable and exciting. Also escapist because these are humans in a bizarre future earth that don't go round no more.
The addition of Cawthorn's inky illustrations is really nice too.
The addition of Cawthorn's inky illustrations is really nice too.
December 10, 2020
Yeah, I actually read a book with THIS fucking cover art. After reading the impressive "Behold the Man:," I tried to pick out the science fiction in Moorcock's (LOL) body of work, which consists mainly in fantasy. And this book is more like "science-fantasy" instead of science fiction, which is PROBLEMATIC for me because I can't fucking stand fantasy (or those who love it). At least there are no unicorns or elves or dragons, and it is entertaining, easy to read (for when I'm feeling stupid), and has a great, grim, dismal ending.
April 5, 2025
Michael Moorcock is the type of writer who, as trite as it might sound, is truly able to transcend genre and The Shores of Death is a prime example. On the suface, this brief, almost novella-like tale is pretty basic pulp Sci Fi - a dystopian world in which an earnest hero squares off against an evil emperor-type and rescues the fair maiden in the process. But within its 155 pages Moorcock muses on evil, fear and free will in an eerily prescient way. I wouldn't recommend if you're curious about Moorcock's work but The Shores of Death is a must-read for his legions of fans.
February 28, 2024
A story that is timely today. A supposedly "advanced" culture collapsing under the weight of violence, ignorance, and derision. Society's final hope is the man behind the curtain, who resides in his warren of laboratories in the center of the moon. But are his gifts a blessing or a curse?
A quick read. I bought it for the great cover art which of course has nothing to do with thye content of the book.
A quick read. I bought it for the great cover art which of course has nothing to do with thye content of the book.
August 6, 2021
The Prologue was a five star short story.
The main story was weird and interesting but the end and the epilogue was just depressing.
The main story was weird and interesting but the end and the epilogue was just depressing.
August 10, 2022
Decent early Moorcock effort. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/201...
November 14, 2022
A dying earth story of political cults taking hold over a frightened populace, from a time when some of those things were still considered science fiction.
June 26, 2024
Loved this book so much, moorcock is slowly becoming one of my favourite authors, ending left me a little mythed but hey I can deal with that. Can’t wait for more moorcock
October 19, 2012
Originally published on my blog here
Like The Blood Red Game (which I bought in the same second hand bookshop as The Twilight Man in May), this is a reworking of an earlier piece of writing, in this case a serial which was written to fill space in New Worlds during the earliest months of Moorcock's editorship of that later famous science fiction magazine.
Clovis Marca is a former leader of Earth's government, leading a humanity which is now doomed to extinction after an alien visitation has left everyone infertile. As the book begins, Marca returns from a year in space, his way of dealing with the catastrophe. The desperate decadence of the society he finds on his return is a clear precursor of my favourite Moorcock series, The Dancers at the End of Time. The Twilight Man is a staging post between it and the Arthur C. Clarke novel, The City and the Stars, which appears to have influenced Moorcock greatly, though I do not actually know that he read this particular novel. Doomed decadence is one of Moorcock's recurring themes, as well - part of what he wants to say to his readers through his writing.
While much more Moorcockian (so to speak) than The Blood Red Game, The Twilight Man is still not fully individual in its style: clearly still the work of a writer finding his way, even five years after the publication of the first Elric novel, The Stealer of Souls. Perhaps because it is more like the author's later work, The Twilight Man is less interesting to read than The Blood Red Game: it is slightly too much like the fan's guess as to what early Moorcock would be like to engage.
Like The Blood Red Game (which I bought in the same second hand bookshop as The Twilight Man in May), this is a reworking of an earlier piece of writing, in this case a serial which was written to fill space in New Worlds during the earliest months of Moorcock's editorship of that later famous science fiction magazine.
Clovis Marca is a former leader of Earth's government, leading a humanity which is now doomed to extinction after an alien visitation has left everyone infertile. As the book begins, Marca returns from a year in space, his way of dealing with the catastrophe. The desperate decadence of the society he finds on his return is a clear precursor of my favourite Moorcock series, The Dancers at the End of Time. The Twilight Man is a staging post between it and the Arthur C. Clarke novel, The City and the Stars, which appears to have influenced Moorcock greatly, though I do not actually know that he read this particular novel. Doomed decadence is one of Moorcock's recurring themes, as well - part of what he wants to say to his readers through his writing.
While much more Moorcockian (so to speak) than The Blood Red Game, The Twilight Man is still not fully individual in its style: clearly still the work of a writer finding his way, even five years after the publication of the first Elric novel, The Stealer of Souls. Perhaps because it is more like the author's later work, The Twilight Man is less interesting to read than The Blood Red Game: it is slightly too much like the fan's guess as to what early Moorcock would be like to engage.
November 29, 2025
If given the chance I might rate this book 3.5 stars instead of 3. The writing is excellent. The characters are interesting, though they could have been better developed - Moorcock seems more focused on other things. But I did not enjoy reading this book. It was one of the more unique science fiction books I've read, but it was not enjoyable to read, and I'm not sure exactly why. Maybe because there was little to no suspense, and maybe because it was terribly depressing. Given how many other sci fi authors I've found whose books I have loved to read, I don't think I will seek out other Moorcock books.
October 19, 2016
The Shores of Death is my first Michael Moorcock book. Found this baby in the trash and thought what the heck?
The first chapter is probably as bad as the cover art. Trying to read past all the incest, I found myself strangely drawn into the highly imaginative plot. The story is straight forward and easy to understand.
I do have to say I held my breath the whole last chapter. I didn't want to finish the book, but I also knew what was coming and didn't like it.
The first chapter is probably as bad as the cover art. Trying to read past all the incest, I found myself strangely drawn into the highly imaginative plot. The story is straight forward and easy to understand.
I do have to say I held my breath the whole last chapter. I didn't want to finish the book, but I also knew what was coming and didn't like it.
January 13, 2014
This book is generally inventive, with its non-turning Earth that lies part in light, part in darkness. Its biggest flaw is that the protagonist spends the vast majority of the book in stasis -- not doing anything as the world crumbles around him. One suspects that's one of the points of the book, but it also robs it of both action and tension.
October 9, 2015
More a piece of literary history than a great read, this novel still has some interesting ideas and moral arguments about self-sacrifice. Not a great read by any means, and apparently this man became a fairly big name in science fiction/fantasy in his later writings! A good example of sixties science fiction, worth reading for historical relevance!
September 16, 2011
There's nothing memorable about this Moorcock science fiction novel.
August 16, 2022
Наглядный пример того, что будет, если связаться с гигантской стрекозой.
+ мрачный мир заката человечества
- главный герой-альфа, вокруг которого вращается мир (впрочем, он получит по заслугам)
+ мрачный мир заката человечества
- главный герой-альфа, вокруг которого вращается мир (впрочем, он получит по заслугам)
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August 23, 2008isbn,original
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews