The Crystal World

J. G. Ballard's fourth novel, which established his reputation as a writer of extraordinary talent and imaginative powers, tells the story of a physician specializing in the treatment of leprosy who is invited to a small outpost in the interior of Africa. Finding the roadways blocked, he takes to the river, and embarks on a frightening journey through a strange petrified forest whose area expands daily, affecting not only the physical environment but also its inhabitants.

"Something magical and not to be missed."—The Guardian

"Beautifully rendered…Ballard the poet in full ecstatic blast."—Anthony Burgess

"A haunting vision of diseased beauty…Ballard sustains it with extraordinary intensity."—The Observer

"Ballard transports us once more into his own mystical, glittering and poetic universe."—Sunday Telegraph

"The terrifying thing about Ballard is his logic; is this science fiction or history written ahead of its time?"—Len Deighton