1973; 217 pages. Genre : Sci Fi. Laurels : Prix Apollo (1975). New Author? : Yes. Overall Rating : 5*/10.
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At a secret institute, test-lab children are given computer-scrambled instructions and intellect-enhancing drugs to see if they will invent their own language. Deep in the Amazon rainforest, an isolated tribe ingests a powerful local fungus to lapse into a heightened variant of their tongue. In outer space, beings are headed towards earth to barter for our languages. Can Ian Watson tie all of this together into a coherent story and wrap it up in slightly over 200 pages? Hmm.
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What's To Like...
The main theme here is unusual for Sci-Fi - developmental linguistics and its role in both culture and the cosmos. Which is great if you're into such things. Tolkien was, as evidenced by his inventing all sorts of languages for his various creatures.
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The Situational Ethics sub-themes are even more fascinating. Is it okay to pluck babies out of abject poverty and use them as lab rats? Should we swap six still-living brains (that use six different languages) for interplanetary travel technology? Can we build a huge lake in Brazil, if it means destroying the culture and existence of dozens of indigenous tribes? And if so, can we then blow it up for political whims, without asking the Brazilians for permission?
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You even get to meet the aliens, who are neither omnipotent, omniscient, omni-stoic, nor omni-naive. How kewl is that? There's a goodly amount of action, and a decent ending which still allows for a sequel, although I don't believe Ian Watson ever penned one.
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Kewl New Words...
Molecast : another name for a molehill. Scurf : a collection of flakes, scales, or tree needles covering a surface of something. Albedo : the fraction of light (or radiation) reflected back from the earth or other body into space. Epiphytic : of a plant (such as an orchid) that grows on another plant but is not parasitic. Boma : an enclosure for animals; a corral. Nictitating : rapidly blinking the eyes. Trank : slang for to tranquiilize. (I shooda figured that one out). Saturnine : bitter; scornful. Farrago : a hodgepodge of something; a mishmash.
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Excerpts...
He was a small, once muscular man, whose muscles had turned to flab since his days in the army; whose hair had thinned out since then, till it lay plastered stickily over his scalp in short brown fronds - a wet, serrated, dying leaf. The knobby upturned end of his nose stood out from his features, softened with large greasy pores and slightly too large - as though he'd spent a few years with a finger up each nostril stretching them. (pg. 18)
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"Christ, you're not thinking of using nuclear explosives?"
"Nuclear's just a word, Chris - don't get all worked up about a word. They're only one kiloton apiece." (pg. 155)
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"Why can't you people trade-assess properly? If your culture revered the corpse, as the Xorghil dust-whales do, things would be different. These dust-whales are the sentient patterns imposed on the densest dust of a bright nebula, who tow their dying individuals towards a stellar contraction pool where their dead bodies may finally be compacted into a star and reborn as light. They care. But your culture cares nothing for corpses." (pg. 161)
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"They're stoned out of their minds! (...) That's one way to greet the end of the world. (pg. 151)
The Embedding was a bold, new turn in Science Fiction in 1973. Deep concepts were presented and tough questions were asked. I thought it was an interesting read, yet it never reached out and grabbed me. Some of the technical mumbo-jumbo was hard to follow, and is tedious if you're not into theoretical linguistics.
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If you're one of those who learned to speak Klingon, you will probably find this a great book. If you're interested in how sci-fi literature evolved through the years, this is an important milepost. Everybody else may find space alien entymology freaks to be a bit of a stretch. 5 Stars.
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