Miracle Visitors (Sf Collector's) [Paperback]

Ian Watson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2003 | Series: Sf Collector's

"One of the most intellectually exciting of all Ian Watson's books."--The Times

"An science fiction writer of powerful intellect-the natural successor to H. G. Wells."--The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction

"A marvelous and moving piece of speculation on the nature of UFOs. A supremely skillful narrative...A tremendous sense of conviction."--Spectator

An unusually brilliant and mind-stretching metaphysical quest from one of the most exciting talents in science fiction.
John Deacon uses hypnosis to help his patients reach altered states of consciousness. One of his subjects, Michael Peacocke, is unusually susceptible and in their first session together, Michael recalls a "close encounter"--in both senses of the term--with an alien. Deacon, skeptical of the story, dismisses it as an adolescent sexual fantasy. But then strange things begin to happen and Deacon is forced to reconsider. Could UFOs be symbols projected from the collective unconscious? Are they messages from the biomatrix? Does the mind have the ability to project objects and people that are physically real...yet somehow illusory?
A wonderfully fascinating, mind-bending voyage.

Ian Watson is author of Martian Inca, The Embedding, and The Jonah Kit.

Editorial Reviews

Review

""A marvelous and moving piece of speculation on the nature of UFOs. A supremely skillful narrative...A tremendous sense of conviction."

About the Author

Ian Watson was born in 1943. He lectured in Tanzania and Tokyo and taught Future Studies at Birmingham Polytechnic. He began publishing sf with 'Roof Garden Under Saturn' for New Worlds in 1969 but it was with the publication of The Embedding in 1973 that he really established himself as a writer of rare power and vision.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Gollancz (October 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0575075031
• ISBN-13: 978-0575075030
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,511,084 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Getting to know UFOs, February 23, 2010

By 

E. Von Ray "adventurer" (United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Miracle Visitors (Paperback)

This is the first novel I have read by Watson and likely not the last because Miracle Visitors does what the best sf does, which is make the reader think. That might be an understatement, considering what Watson is taking on, which begins with the mysteries of UFOs and alien abductions, MIBs, etc and takes a startling turn I wont spoil here. The story goes from England to Egypt to the Moon (in two very interesting scenes) and finally to the US.

Suffice to say, I thought it worked brilliantly.

5.0 out of 5 stars A true mind-bender, April 16, 2004

By 

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

This review is from: Miracle visitors (Paperback)

This, along Watson's first novel THE EMBEDDING, was listed on the top 100 SF books of all time by Interzone editor David Pringle. Here, Watson represents obsession with UFOs as a legitimate religious impulse leading to a "UFO state" of consciousness. Overt allusions to William Blake and Carl Jung help put this work in context as an attempt to mythologize (through science-fictional motifs) the eternal quest for unity of awareness. The aliens in this book, however, do not, as they do so often in conventional SF, represent the most expanded potential of higher knowledge. This responsibility is placed on the human mind and imagination.

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Mysticism of the 1970's, February 16, 2006

By 

David Adams (Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Miracle Visitors (Sf Collector's) (Paperback)

Some spoilers ahead . . .
Watson's novel starts out in a rather grounded reality with a scientist (Deacon) doing research into altered states of consciousness. He suggests the possibility of of unique method of getting at the truth of a subject's U.F.O. experience. The next thing we know, the patient is off on a flying saucer to the dark side of the moon. The reader has to decide whether this is part of the on-going research or whether it is actually happening. The scientist too is taken on mysterious trips of his own to visit a Sufi master, then finally falls into the mad world of his patient. At least, this is the way I read it. (My reading may actually help you understand what is going on here!) There is a lot of unexplained mysticism in this book about a Biomatrix, The Green Man, tulpas, demons, well, you name it. It is as though everyone took L.S.D. and went tripping, which would have been alright if Watson had gotten a grip on his story. In the end we are left with a handful of mystics spouting a brand of New Age wisdom, while science is left in the dust on the dark side of the moon. I'm selling my copy of the Miracle Visitors cheap. It's too bad because it could have been a good novel had the author kept tighter reins on his craft.