''Morlock Night'' is a science fiction novel by American writer

K. W. Jeter Kevin Wayne Jeter (born March 26, 1950) is an American science fiction and horror author known for his literary writing style, dark themes, and paranoid, unsympathetic characters. He has written novels set in the ''Star Trek'' and '' Star War ...

. It was published in 1979. In a letter to '' Locus Magazine'' in April 1987, Jeter coined the word "

steampunk Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the Victorian ...

" to describe it and other novels by

James Blaylock James Paul Blaylock (born September 20, 1950) is an American fantasy author. He is noted for a distinctive, humorous style, as well as being one of the pioneers of the steampunk genre of science fiction. Blaylock has cited Jules Verne, H. G. Wel ...

and

Tim Powers Timothy Thomas Powers (born February 29, 1952) is an American science fiction and fantasy author. Powers has won the World Fantasy Award twice for his critically acclaimed novels '' Last Call'' and ''Declare''. His 1987 novel ''On Stranger Tide ...

. ''Morlock Night'' uses the ideas of H. G. Wells in which the

Morlock Morlocks are a fictional species created by H. G. Wells for his 1895 novel,'' The Time Machine'', and are the main antagonists. Since their creation by H. G. Wells, the Morlocks have appeared in many other works such as sequels, films, televi ...

s of Wells' 1895 novella ''

The Time Machine ''The Time Machine'' is a science fiction novella by H. G. Wells, published in 1895. The work is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel by using a vehicle or device to travel purposely and selectively for ...

'' themselves use the device to travel back into the past and menace Victorian

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

King Arthur King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as ...

and

Merlin Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and leg ...

appear as England's saviors.

References

Sources

*''Worlds Enough and Time: Explorations of Time in Science Fiction and Fantasy ''by Gary Westfahl *''King Arthur's Modern Return (Garland Reference Library of the Humanities) ''by Debra Mancoff (on page 8 and page 313) *''Critical Mass: A Primer for Living with the Future'' by Pat McGrew (on page 100) *''Space, Time, and Infinity: Essays on Fantastic Literature'' by Brian Stableford (page 87)

External links

* 1979 science fiction novels Sequel novels Modern Arthurian fiction American science fiction novels The Time Machine Novels about time travel Adaptations of works by H. G. Wells American steampunk novels Novels by K. W. Jeter Novels set in London 1979 American novels {{1970s-sf-novel-stub