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5.0 out of 5 stars Transcendent otherness, April 11 2004

By	Doug Mackey (Fairfield, IA USA) - See all my reviews

Ian Watson's first novel, published in 1973, was one of his best, and an acknowledged classic of science fiction. Its theme is not a traditional sf topic, but a very intellectually challenging one: language as the means to bridge the gap between human consciousness and the otherness of the objective world. In Watson's fictional "embededed" language of the Xemahoas, a Brazilian Indian tribe, "This-Reality" is converted into the transcendent pattern of "Other-Reality," which is the world of pure being. The Sp'thra (who represent the essential otherness of the objective world, everything about it that we do not understand) bargain for the brains of speakers of this language, which they desire to learn. At the end, the main character experiences a breakdown of reality and a cognizance of a new state of being, reminiscent of such occurrences in the work of Philip K. Dick.

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2.0 out of 5 stars A slow read, confusing at times., Oct 16 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Embedding (Paperback)

This book tells three stories about: an experiment involving children, to find out if they can develop their own language with the aid of computer altered English; a secluded Brazilian tribe of people who speak two languages, one which is a drug enhanced version of the other; aliens who are discovered orbiting Earth in a ship while taking an extraordinary interest in the English language. Throw in some politics, and you have a story with much potential. Unfortunately, I found some of the ideas and details a bit hard to follow at times. The overall pace was mostly slow. These factors made it difficult for me to maintain any interest in the ultimate connection of the stories, and I'm certain the author's intended effect escaped me. Interesting at times, though finishing the book was an exercise of discipline. I hoped it would pay off. It didn't.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Thought provoking with original SETI implications., Jun 28 1999

By	wawright@ozemail.com.au (Melbourne Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Embedding (Paperback)

Contrary to the other reader review of this book I found it to be one of the most thought provoking SF novels ever (this from a thirty year afficianado of Clarke, Asimov, Bradbury et al). Watson weaves an engrossing tale with tanatlising sub plots and questions the very fundementals of language and communication with massive implications for SETI planners and participants. I heartily reccomend this novel to any reader capable of discerning original SF thought from Star Wars 9. It is dissappointingly currently out of print so get down to your library or nag the publisher!

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