OFF: E.Bloom and the plot of _Winds of Limbo_

[cjohnson]

>_Mavis Ming_ was '77, which is earlier than the first known collaboration
>between Bloom and Moorcock ('79), but who knows when they first met?
>_The Fireclown_ (aka _The Winds of Limbo_ [1963 or so]) is one of
>the few MM books I don't have, but I'm pretty certain the name
>Bloom does not appear in it.
>
>- Andy

       Beg to differ, but I have just finished reading _WoL_ for the first
       time and it gives the (human) history of the Fireclown.

       Emmanual Bloom was a famous Earth spaceman who had an affair with
       the daughter of an important political figure.  When his daughter
       became pregnant, the father (I forget his name) sent Bloom on some
       "rigged" mission in space that resulted in his apparent death.  A
       son was born, not knowing the name of his father.  The mother died
       while the child was quite young.  The grandfather raised the child,
       who is the lead character in the story _WoL_.

       Bloom actually survived the space mishap (something involving his
       spaceship crashing into a star, I think?), but was changed mentally
       and psychologically (and physically?).  He took on the name and
       persona of the Fireclown, an anonymous figure in clown dress and
       makeup with an uncanny ability to control flame.  Somewhere along
       the line he also acquired a special spaceship with abilities unlike
       other spaceships.

       Eventually the Fireclown returns and attempts to destroy the Earth,
       but is saved by his long-lost son, who discovers his true parentage
       and saves both the Fireclown and the Earth from each other.

       The end.

       <..we apologize for this brief interruption..>   :-)

       Captain Cloud
       cjohnson at sur1a.hpsc.hisd.harris.com