Imperturbable, it cannot be changed; only the banks change and the things on the banks. It is the life source of the cities and towns and villages which throng the banks - and it brings death. It brings hope and it destroys dreams. On it sail Tallow and a golden barge. We see it from above, see all its countless misty miles. We float over it and see only Tallow's boat; even we cannnot see the barge at this moment.

This was the first novel that Moorcock completed, but wasn't published until 20 years later. It is the story of Jephraim Tallow's obsession with a mysterious golden barge, which he follows down-river, in the belief that when he catches up and boards it, it will contain the answers to everything that he doesn't understand about his life, such as the disappearance of his navel. ( )