by Ian Watson
First published 1975
Humanity pursues dual frontiers through psycholinguistic research and space exploration programs. Scientists work to expand knowledge in both directions, pushing boundaries of consciousness and cosmic travel. Meanwhile, an Amazonian tribe has developed drug-enhanced perception methods that reveal realities beyond conventional understanding. Their altered states of consciousness shatter accepted views of what exists. Simultaneously, extraterrestrial beings arrive from a world 1103 light years distant. These aliens propose sharing interstellar travel technology, but their offer comes with conditions. The convergence creates a crisis for human civilization. Advanced alien knowledge and indigenous wisdom both challenge scientific orthodoxy. Researchers must decide whether to embrace these radical departures from established thinking. The collision between tribal insights, alien contact, and human ambition forces a reckoning with the limits of conventional perception and progress.
Genres: science-fiction, literary-fiction, fantasy, speculative-fiction
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: collision-of-cultures, first-contact
Setting: Amazon, Earth
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
185 pages · Paperback · Quartet Books