DEATHHUNTER

Corgi paperback, 1982. Cover painting by Peter Jones.

"HE BUILT A TRAP FOR DEATH - AND FOUND HIMSELF IN A NIGHTMARE WORLD OF THE IMAGINATION... 

Todhunter was one of the world's elite - a guide in the House of Death - preparing the retiring for their coming departure... 

Then he was given a violent man, a murderer, to shepherd into death, and Weinberger convinced him that those about to die emit a chemical signal which attracts a strange predator - a creature which is Death itself. Together they built a cage to trap Death - and then followed the Being into the strange alien world of the Afterlife..."

MIRACLE VISITORS

Granada / Panther SF paperback, 1980. Cover illustration by
Tony Roberts.

"Did Michael Peacocke really see a flying saucer on the Yorkshire Moors? Was he really invited inside the spaceship and seduced by a beautiful, alien blonde? True or not, this curious occurrence is destined to change the lives of Peacocke and all around him."

THE VERY SLOW TIME MACHINE

Granada / Panther SF paperback, 1981. Cover illustration by
Trevor Webb.

"The Very Slow Time Machine arrives on earth in 1985. Its sole inhabitant is old and mad. Soon it becomes apparent that for him, time is going slowly backward. With every day, he is getting younger and saner. The world, and its whole concept of time, science and philosophy, must wait for him to speak. But while the world waits, it changes..."

THE EMBEDDING

Quartet paperback, 1975. Cover artist uncredited.

"With undue smugness, civilized man continues his attempts to master inner and outer space. Psycholinguistic and space-travel projects extend, in different directions, the limits of our knowledge and understanding. But there are already others in touch with realities which scientists can barely comprehend: a tribe of Amazonian indians has evolved, under drugs, ways of seeing and expressing which shatter conventional ideas of the real world, and beings from a planet 1103 light years away arrive to offer the secrets of inter-stellar space travel - at a price. Can we face these challenges, offered by simple savages an ultra-sophisticated aliens? Or are these enormous strides forward too much for us to grasp? In a brilliant novel of staggering invention but powerful scientific authenticity Ian Watson portrays the dilemma of a civilization blinkered by its own outlook and recoiling from its own progress."

ALIEN EMBASSY

Panther SF paperback, 1979. Cover artist uncredited.
Possibly Tony Roberts?

"A WORLD AT PEACE WITH ITSELF, AND WITH ITS NEIGHBOURS- 

The 22nd century world of Lila Makindi, a young African girl, is a world of simplicity and peace, where the greatest honour any citizen can hope for is to be chosen by Bardo (the Space Communications Administration) as a candidate for Starflight. 

Lila is chosen. She begins to practise the tantric yoga exercises that will take her to the stars where she will communicate and exchange knowledge with their alien inhabitants. 

But Lila soon discovers that galactic intercourse is not the sole purpose of Starflight. Bardo's purpose is much more urgent, for the galaxy is threatened by an immense, malignant energy force - the Starbeast. And the efforts of the Starflyers is the only way of containing the Starbeast. At least, that's Bardo's story..."

THE MARTIAN INCA

Panther SF paperback, 1978. Cover illustration by Peter Gudynas.

"BRAIN-BLAST ON MARS 

When a Russian spacecraft carrying soil samples from Mars crashes on a remote Bolivian village, the Indians who salvage it fall into a mysterious comatose condition. Only two recover, and on re-awakening, they are conscious of a strange new awareness of themselves and the world outside. Julio, indeed, believes himself to be the Inca - the divine imperial ruler - reborn. 

Meanwhile, up in space a manned American vessel is on its way to Mars. After the 240 million mile voyage, tension on the ship is high and when at last Mars is reached, the deadly soil adds an extra dimension to an already explosive situation... 

What constituent of the Martian soil is causing its literally mind-blowing effects? The answer may be the missing clue to a vital discovery about Man's evolutionary potential..."