THE TRANSFORMATION OF MISS MAVIS MING

Reviewed by Steven H Silver

Michael Moorcock introduced the character of Miss Mavis Ming in the short story "Ancient Shadows" in 1975. At the time, she was part of Doctor Volospion menagerie at the End of Time. In the story, she befriended a young time traveler in an attempt to ingratiate herself with the boy’s mother, who had also travelled to the End of Time. In that story, Ming is presented in terms we would now call a sexual predator.

Two years later, Moorcock gave Ming her own novel, at first called The Transformation of Miss Mavis Ming, but through time and revisions has since been entitled The Messiah at the End of Time and “Constant Fire.” The novel opens with Mavis Ming demonstrating that she may be one of the most vapid denizens of the End of Time, unaware how tedious the natives feel about her. It is unclear why Doctor Volospion not only keeps her in his menagerie, but gives her the freedom to wander about, unless he is hoping that she’ll get lost and never find her way back. She also spends the early pages of the novels trying to entice the other characters into having sex with her, but can’t keep their interest long enough to consummate the act.

Set during the action of Moorcock’s Dancers at the End of Time trilogy, the End of Time finds itself suddenly playing host to a time and space traveler who goes by several names, including Emmanuel Bloom and the Fireclown, which loosely ties the series to Moorcock’s earlier work, The Winds of Limbo.

It is clear that Ming is, at best, tolerated by the other dwellers at the End of Time, although she doesn’t realize how disliked she is. When Bloom shows up, he announces himself as a prophet brining his own form of salvation, something those at the End of Time have heard time and again. As is their policy, they allow him to have his say, with Doctor Volospion wondering how to add him to his own menagerie. His opening comes in the fact that Bloom has determined that he is in love with Ming, who spurns him.

While the characters in the Dancer at the End of Time may not be particularly admirable, they have, for the most part, likeable characteristics. Unfortunately, that aspect is missing from Mavis Ming, Emmanuel Bloom, and Doctor Volospion. Doctor Volospion comes across as a schemer, jealous of the more successful Lord Jagger. Aside from the fact that he keeps individuals in a menagerie, his off handed treatment of Ming, which at best can be seen as a ploy to get her to run away, is terrible. Ming’s complete lack of self-awareness, pettiness, and vapidity makes it hard to root for her, which can only be done because her treatment at the hands of Doctor Volospion and Emmanuel Bloom is so bad. Boom portrays himself as her savior, knowing what is best for her, even if it is clear that she wants no part of him.

under whatever title and whichever form, The Transformation of Miss Mavis Ming hasn't aged well. The original title carried an intimation of sexploitation, which later titles avoided, but even in the most recent version, "Constant Fire," Ming, who starts the novel sexually frustrated, gives into the man who stalks her throughout the novel and claims to see the true her that only he can awaken.

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