First published 1969
A young Serbian man arrives in an England where reality has dissolved. Years earlier, Middle Eastern conflict escalated into chemical warfare that blanketed Europe with persistent hallucinogenic compounds. The population struggles to maintain sanity as airborne drugs warp perception and thought. The Serb initially resists the ambient toxins, but gradually succumbs to their influence. As his mind fractures, he begins gathering followers and proclaiming a new spiritual order. His movement grows into a full crusade across a continent where language itself has splintered under chemical assault. Words mutate into puns and fragments, conversations spiral into surreal poetry, and meaning shifts like smoke. The protagonist must navigate this linguistic chaos while wrestling with his own dissolving identity and the weight of his followers' desperate faith.
Genres: science-fiction, dystopia, 20th-century, fantasy, 21st-century, alternate-history
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, thought-provoking
Tropes: dissolving-identity, unreliable-narrator
Setting: England, Europe, Middle East
Period: Years Earlier
281 pages · Hardcover · Faber & Faber
Content warnings: drug-use, mental-illness