This science fiction novel,
first published in 1975, and the author's second novel (he's now
written 20+ besides numerous short stories) could be described as
an Arthur C. Clarke story with interesting characters.
Evidently the renowned JG Ballard once called Ian
Watson 'the most interesting British SF writer of ideas.'
What Ian Watson does is to put the reader straight into the mind
and thought processes of the principal character, a whale - 'Jonah
' geddit?!
 But
this whale ain't no ordinary whale. A mutant, an alien, a bearer
of news, a portent of doom to humans. It and its fellow beings.
Or is it an experiment gone dreadfully wrong? The repercussions
to both man and whale are immense.
But to add to the complicated plot a research project
by a Nobel prize winner shows that what we perceive as the Universe
is no more than the ghost of the real thing.
Signals received indicate it no longer exists. So
are the whales from a parallel universe giving humanity just one
more chance and has the experiment gone far beyond the boundaries
of the known universe?
Read 'The Jonah Kit' and be prepared to get into
some interesting concepts or just read it as a satisfying SF novel.
My favourite Ian Watson novel is 'The Fire Worm' published by Gollancz
in 1988 - but that's another story.
By the way, Ian Watson has also written the screen
story for Spielberg's ‘AI’.
Phil Stoyle
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