The Embedding
Formats & Editions
Ian Watson's brilliant debut novel was one of the most significant publications in British SF in the 1970s. Intellectually bracing and grippingly written, it is the story of three experiments in linguistics, and is driven by a searching analysis of the nature of communication.
Deep in the Brazilian jungle, an isolated tribe face eviction from their ancestral lands - and the psychedelic fungus that makes their religious language possible.
In a British laboratory, a brilliant linguist conducts cutting-edge experiments - but does his search for answers come at too high a cost?
And in the ultimate test of linguistics, First Contact presents a challenge unlike any humanity has faced before . . .
Fiercely intelligent, energetic and challenging, The Embedding immediately established Watson as a writer of rare power and vision, and is now recognized as a modern classic of SF.
Praise for The Embedding
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Enthralling . . . It gave one the sense of being led very near to the brink of profundity, even revelation
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Fast, invigorating . . . anthropology, linguistics, despoliation of the environment, consciousness-raising drugs, space travel, alien contact, the CIA, you name it. Watson writes with energy and panache - Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels
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The most impressive first sf novel to appear in the seventies
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Brilliantly attempts to communicate a precarious truth about what we think is actuality. The effect is quite hallucinating - The Times
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The most spectacular thing in science fiction since the astounding Solaris - The Spectator
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Ambitious and compelling - Daily Telegraph
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One of the most thought-provoking shudders of the year - The Times
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