On a planet known only for its desolation and razor storms, an obsessed archaeologist is searching for clues as to what cataclysmic event wiped out the Amarantin, a long-extinct alien race. Keys to the answer are predatory moons and a sentient sea. Buy it at BOL which wants to answer the same questions but lacks the rigour and intelligence. The planet Isis is a paradise of blue skies, tall trees and clear rivers. Into this world is thrown teenager Zoe Fisher, who has been surgically modified to increase her chances of surviving the toxic conditions.
Scientific jargon abounds, events are heavily signposted and characterisation is thin.
Timelines clash, unborn children materialise and somehow the memories of an elderly mistress of many great artists of the 1920s become the key to what is happening. Carroll is one of the few novelists who can write horror that relies not on gore or shock but on mental disquiet. A scientist broadcasts the Brandenburg Concertos to the stars while listening to a sentient computer with the voice of his lost love. The most dangerous alien in the universe, a charcoal-chewing telepathic hamster that can kill an elephant, watches as two lovers separate. Alternately chilling and manic, always bizarre, the stories show Sallis at his best.