This review comes from issue 4 of Vortex, a short-lived magazine dedicated to science fiction fantasy in general, and Michael Moorcock in particular, it would seem...
1976 was the year in which the pound fell by 16% and Aidan Ellis published The Time Of The Hawklords. Fortunately the book was published also in paperback by Star, which means that you can get £3.80 worth for £0.70. But, either way, if you invested those upvalued dollars in this book, you lost out. Certainly not as good an investment as Monopoly money.
The paperback's cover was much more enjoyable than the hardback's, being a very colourful, tending towards psychedelic, and, dare I say it, flimsy production. That having dealt with the good parts of the book, I'll now talk a little about the production team.
Produced and directed by Michael Moorcock, who also stars as the Acid Sorcerer, Moorlock. It might be interesting to speculate whether this book would have actually be published had Moorcock's name not been there on the cover to sell it. Although the cover credits blast 'MOORCOCK & BUTTERWORTH', and it is possible that Moorcock did write two paragraphs where American ZEEs become English ESSs, the writing is the work of Michael Butterworth.
It might also be interesting to speculate on what the director actually did in the production. How much of the concept is his, and how much the writer's? The concept, by the by, is that the musicians of Hawkwind and the Children Of The Sun are under attack from the Death Generator, controlled by Colonel Memphis Mephis. After 90 pages of depression, paranoia and bad trips, the group finally metamorphose into Hawklords, through dynamic dialogue:
"What, you mean we are now ..."
"Yep, that's right."
Pretty good stuff, eh? With the help of Hot Plate, a scientist in the employ of the King of England, they build Delatrons which, for a while, are able to resist the bad vibes of the Death Generator. However the power of the Delatrons (which, in technical scientific lingo, purify and refine Hawkwind's music) cannot match up to the growing power of the Death Generator. So the Hawklords decide that they have to destroy the machine. Hot Plate is set the task of locating the Generator, but before he can reveal its position he is killed and his mind stored in the computer of the sexually repressive Pressmen. The Hawklords get into the Pressmen's Control Centre (Centre Point) by using Stacia to comprise a Reporter. Always knew she'd come in useful somewhere.
Nik Turner (Thunder Rider) sends his mind into the computer and rescues Hot Plate, putting the scientist's mind into the head of Dave Brock, alongside The Baron's own persona. From here on, this character is referred to, alternatively, as Hot Plate, The Baron and The Hydra.
When they have discovered from Hot Plate that the Generator is at The Centre Of The Earth, Bob Calvert arrives, in best Fifth Cavalry tradition, in his Silver Machine. The Hawklords build more Silver Machines and, after dealing with psychic invaders who take over Stacia and Astral Al, (Alan Powell), they set forth to fight The Battle For Earth.
However, there are no melodramatic, corny, drawn out and maybe exciting struggles for victory or death, because as the Hawklords attack Mephis' tower, the Colonel has a crisis of conscience, and in a flood of emotion, he repents and kills himself. (Or so we gather from: "...he placed its snub nozzle to his head, and pulled the trigger.")
So, with the world in ashes and our evil character dead by his own hand (probably couldn't stand this book any longer), the Hawklords return to Parliament Hill, probably awaiting the arrival of the Queens Of Deliria (volume two of this fascinating series). Which I am also doing, hoping that it will be better than this one.
If you can stagger through the bad grammar, the weak vocabulary and the flagging dialogue of this review, you might be able to stand up to The Time Of The Hawklords.
Despite all its technical faults and its ridiculous plots (or, maybe, because of it) this book is fun to read, and a pleasant way to cure insomnia.
The book proves that The Day Of The Amateur is in no way over.
The Time Of The Hawklords. Aidan Ellis, £3.80. Star £0.70.
-John Grubber
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