The Black Corridor is a science fiction novel by Michael Moorcock, first published in 1969 by Mayflower Books.

It tells of a man fleeing through interstellar space from Earth, where civilisation is collapsing into anarchy and wars. The author uses techniques ranging from straight narrative to entries in the spaceship's log, dream sequences and sixties-style computer printouts.

Ryan is a tough-minded British businessman appalled by the breakdown of society at the end of the 20th century. He feels that he is one of the few sane men in a world of paranoiacs.

With a small group of family and friends, he has stolen a spaceship and set out for Munich 15040 (Barnard's Star), a planet believed to be suitable for colonisation. Now he keeps watch alone, with his 13 companions sealed in cabinets designed to keep them in suspended animation for the many years of the journey. He makes a daily report on each one: it is always 'Condition Steady'.

Ryan is tormented by nightmares and memories of the violence on Earth; he starts to fear he is losing his grip on reality. The shipboard computer urges him to take a drug that eliminates all delusions and hallucinations; but he is strangely reluctant to use this drug.

Gradually the truth is revealed to the reader, but not to Ryan. The people in the hibernation cabinets are all corpses, mostly killed by his own hand. Soon after takeoff their own paranoia surfaced and quarrels began. Ryan, as the alpha-male, was the last one standing.

The crisis passes and Ryan continues his futile flight through darkness. The computer asks for a report on his own condition: 'Condition Steady', he types.

Alternative interpretation of the ending.

The Black Corridor is essentially a novel about the decay of society and deep personal and social isolation this has caused.

Another interpretation of the ending was that there never was a spaceship. Ryan's friends and family, too terrified to leave the apartment have been sucked into Ryan's fantasy of escaping to another world. Eventually, they've turned on one another until ultimately Ryan killed them and stashed their bodies. This is supported by both the first and last chapters as well as subtle pointers throughout.

1969 novels | science fiction novels | Michael Moorcock books