Metatemporal Detective

By Michael Moorcock

Seaton Begg and his constant companion, pathologist Dr "Taffy" Sinclair, both head the secret British Home Office section of the Metatemporal Investigation Department -- an organization whose function is understood only by the most high-ranking government people around the world -- and a number of powerful criminals. Begg's cases cover a multitude of crimes in dozens of alternate worlds, generally where transport is run by electricity, where the internal combustion engine is unknown, and where giant airships are the chief form of international carrier. He investigates the murder of English Prime Minister "Lady Ratchet," the kidnaping of the king of a country taken over by a totalitarian regime, and the death of Geli Raubel, Adolf Hitler's mistress. Other adventures take him to a wild west where "the Masked Buckaroo" is tracking down a mysterious red-eyed Apache known as the White Wolf; to 1960s' Chicago where a girl has been killed in a sordid disco; and to an independent state of Texas controlled by neocon Christians with oily (and bloody) hands. He visits Paris, where he links up with his French colleagues of the S ret du Temps Perdu. In several cases the fanatical Adolf Hitler is his opponent, but his arch-enemy is the mysterious black sword wielding aristocrat known as Zenith the Albino, a drug-dependent, charismatic exile from a distant realm he once ruled. In each story the Metatemporal Detectives' cases take them to worlds at once like and unlike our own, sometimes at odds with and sometimes in league with the beautiful adventuresses Mrs. Una Persson or Lady Rosie von Bek. At last Begg and Sinclair come face to face with their nemesis on the moonbeam roads which cross between the universes, where the great Eternal Balance itself is threatened with destruction and from which only the luckiest and most daring of metatemporal adventurers will return. These fast-paced mysteries pay homage to Moorcock's many literary enthusiasms for authors as diverse as Clarence E. Mulford, Dashiell Hammett, Georges Simenon, and his boyhood hero, Sexton Blake.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1591025966
• ISBN13: 9781591025962
• Release Date: October 2007
• Publisher: Pyr
• Length: 370 Pages
• Weight: 1.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.4" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Super Reader

A collection compiling all of the tales, whether modified old, or newly constructed, of Sir Seaton Begg versus his nemesis the albino Monsieur Zenith. Or, the Metatemporal Detective vs The Eternal Champion as Elric in one of his other incarnations in worlds a little more similar to our own than those which contain Melnibone or Tanelorn. So, something here for whacky alternate history fans, Sexton Blake buffs, as well as Eternal Champion afficionados, or even those who don't mind a little along the lines of Sherlock Holmes pastiche. Metatemporal Detective : 01 The Affair of the Seven Virgins - Michael Moorcock Metatemporal Detective : 02 Crimson Eyes - Michael Moorcock Metatemporal Detective : 03 The Ghost Warriors - Michael Moorcock Metatemporal Detective : 04 The Girl Who Killed Sylvia Blade - Michael Moorcock Metatemporal Detective : 05 The Case of the Ratzi Canary - Michael Moorcock Metatemporal Detective : 06 Sir Milk-and-Blood - Michael Moorcock Metatemporal Detective : 07 The Mystery of the Texas Twister - Michael Moorcock Metatemporal Detective : 08 London Flesh - Michael Moorcock Metatemporal Detective : 09 The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius - Michael Moorcock Metatemporal Detective : 10 The Affair of the Bassin des Hivers - Michael Moorcock Metatemporal Detective : 11 The Flaneur des Arcades de l'Opera - Michael Moorcock The consulting detective, Seaton Begg, has an albino visitor, and things get complicated. 3.5 out of 5 Seaton Begg, in the course of investigating some murders, runs into Count von Bek and his black blade. 3.5 out of 5 A bit of a teamup with The Masked Buckaroo, and an Apache leader to find, named Pale Wolf. 3.5 out of 5 A shooting, and Klosterheim's kinky club. 3 out of 5 Begg is called in to assist when Hitler's girlfriend is killed, but there are Von Beks and albinos around. 3 out of 5 A pair of IRA bombers don't realise that their 'release from active duty' involves The Black Sword. 3.5 out of 5 Seaton Begg becomes enmeshed in a Texas political plot, wherein Zenith has sold his aeronautircal engineering expertise. It is Rose to the rescue. 3.5 out of 5 A blood sacrifice, and an outlaw and Christmas interruptus for Begg and Sinclair. 3.5 out of 5 Sam Begg is a metatemporal investigator in Europe. He comes across Klosterheim and Eva Braun. 3 out of 5

His travels take him to strange universes, challenging settings, and mind-boggling crime puzzles

Each story in the Metatemporal Detective carries with it a powerful blend of detective cases which mirror worlds like our own and a blend of fantasy and science fiction challenging one's deductive abilities. Seaton Begg and his companion pathologist Dr. 'Taffy' Sinclair head the secret British Home Office section of the Metatemporal Investigation Department, and covers crimes in dozens of alternate worlds. His travels take him to strange universes, challenging settings, and mind-boggling crime puzzles in a collection recommended not just for science fiction collections, but for libraries patronized by mystery and detective fans as well. Diane C. Donovan California Bookwatch

The epitome of fabulonity

New fiction from Michael Moorcock is always a treat and no less so for this latest, chronicling the encounters of the intrepid metatemporal detective Seaton Begg of the von Bek/Aubec/Begg family and Zenith the Albino (also known as Elric of Melnibone and also of the same family). The multiverse is a-swirl through these roughly interconnected stories, culminating in a (perhaps --- one is never quite sure with Moorcock) major and forever shift in the organization of everything. Moorcock's characters have never been more appealing in all their antiheroism and futziness. Stylistically, narrative power and descriptive aplomb are at peak and keep the pages turning. If you are a fan already, this is essential reading and yet further development of long-established Moorcockian themes. If you aren't familiar with the multiverse and its quirky fun, this is not a bad place to jump in and on (although again with Moorcock, one can never be just quite certain, even in this sort of recommendation) this scary, exhilarating ride through everything.

for the Moorcock mob

The eleven tales that make up this fascinating (for fans of the Moorcock multiverse) short story collection are predominately written in the last fifteen years with two of them from 1966 They all obviously involve adventures of The Metatemporal Detective on worlds similar yet dissimilar to ours. Although the hero's name slightly varies but for the most part he is British Home Office Metatemporal Investigation Department agent Seaton Begg; his prime adversary is Count Zenith the Albino (Elric by any other name?) although Hitler is an opponent/client in "The Case of the Nazi Canary". His sidekick is MID pathologist Dr. Taffy Sinclair The satirical entries are fun especially as the skins of politicians better be thick with characters like George Putz, Dicky Shiner and Wolfy Paulowitz (see "The Mystery of the Texas Twister"). However, they are also often difficult to follow with obscure references in a pseudo historical setting on an alternate world. Mr. Moorcock also pays tribute to pulp fiction magazine detective Sexton Blake (never read) and the 1966 tales seem to have served as a prototype for Elric. This is definitely for the Moorcock mob, but not a good entry point for newcomers. Harriet Klausner

A Grand Master in Top Form

I have read and reread virtually every word of fiction Michael Moorcock has written over the course of his long career, and my favorite stories of all of them are to be found in this book. A member of the extended Von Bek/Beck/Begg family which has featured in so much of Moorcock's output the last few decades, Sir Seaton Begg is a metatemporal detective, and from his rooms at Sporting Club Square he ranges all over the multiverse solving crimes. His frequent nemesis and bête noire (and distant relation) is Monsieur Zodiac, himself a variant not only of the Count Ulric von Bek of the Dreamthief's Daughter trilogy, but also of Elric of Melnibone himself, and his sidekick is Taffy Sinclair, who may or may not be British novelist Iain Sinclair. Some of the stories are somewhat steampunk in flavoring, complete with airships naturally, and most are technically alternate histories, but taken as a whole cover they too large a range to be confined by a single subgenre. They are simply "fantasy," and leave it at that. The Metatemporal Detective collects stories that originally appeared in venues as far afield as the Michael Chabon-edited McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales, New Statesman, and Tales of the Shadowmen (and variations on some of the stories were central to the comic book miniseries Michael Moorcock's Multiverse, as well). This is the only place to get them all together, though, and the only place to read the original "The Flaneur des Arcades de l'Opera," for that matter. This collection represent nothing more or less than a grand master of fantasy working in top form, writing the kinds of stories it amuses him to write. Highly recommended.