The Martian Inca

by Ian Watson

The Mars Probe has crashed. A triumph of Soviet technology, the first two-way interplanetary probe performed brilliantly until the final stage of its return. Then something went wrong: rather than following its programmed course to a soft landing in its country of origin, the probe crashed in the Peruvian Andes. Now a weird infection beyond the understanding of medical science has wiped out an entire village - except for one man, who, alone and undiscovered by medics, survives. He has awakened to find himself become his own ancestor, and a god. Suddenly the flames of an Indian revolution are spreading South America; he is the Martian Inca.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

299 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Reviews

[Pippa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this, and Watson's prose read so well after all the American books I'd been reading before him. Lovely (UK English!) style. (Just what my internal rhythms tune to).

[Stephen Rowland · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the only Ian Watson novel I didn't really "get." Yes, it appears I'm too stupid for a book called "The Martian Inca."

[Kevin Phyland · Rating 3 out of 5]

An unmanned Russian sample-return mission to Mars crashes on re-entry in the Altiplano of the Andes in Bolivia. Local farmers are drawn to the site and grab the mysterious red soil which has spilled, and the parachute silk. Then they start to die. Brain fevers and body stiffness, like meningitis and tetanus, grip the victims and no medical intervention helps. Only two locals who evaded the ministrations of doctors survive. They are both now imbued with a strange knowledge of themselves which they say makes them New Incas, and they start a revolution of mine workers, but with this increased understanding comes a megalomania which threatens their sanity and veracity. This incident understandably worries NASA who has a manned Mars mission almost at the red planet and when the two astronauts land and get infected with the red dirt an almost hallucinogenic revelation begins. Ian Watson’s tale begins strongly but it sort of wanders into metaphysics and cultism until by the end you are not sure just what is real and what is not. A quick read and entertaining enough.

[Juro Bakoš · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mars and Venus as symbols for capitalist and communist approach towards universe. Still valid and fresh after all those years:

"...Venus is inwards towards the Sun mentally. Towards the source of power. Communism looks inwards too, because it’s centralized—it bottles its people in. Yet it isn’t ‘inward’. It denies the inward soul of Man. Whereas naturally we head outward, towards Mars: then towards the Stars, the Heavens, the mysterious hidden things rather than the sunlit ‘facts’. It’s queer how long the Russians have been aiming inwards, towards Venus, the Sun..."

[Juan Arellano · Rating 3 out of 5]

English after the dotted line

Esperaba que la acción se diera en Marte y que fuera algo como Una Princesa de Marte, pero claro, es Watson, hay disquisiciones sobre la realidad y ese tipo de cosas. Al hablar de Incas imaginé que una parte de la acción se daría en Perú, pero está en Bolivia. Bueno, hasta que llegó el infame de Bolívar todo era lo mismo (recordar que a Bolivia se le conocía como El Alto Perú), así que ok. La idiosincrasia politica boliviana esta aceptablemente descrita, lo que me parece un logro, teniendo en cuenta que Watson nunca viajó a ese país, pero me imagino que se empapó bastante del tema. En resumen, no es un mal libro, pero tampoco es memorable. De hecho ya ni recuerdo como acaba...

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I was expecting the action to take place on Mars and be something like *A Princess of Mars*, but of course, it's Watson; there are digressions about reality, the mind and that sort of things. When they mentioned the Incas, I imagined part of the action would be in Peru, but it's in Bolivia. Well, until the infamous Bolívar arrived, everything was the same (remember that Bolivia was known as Upper Peru), so okay. The Bolivian political idiosyncrasies are acceptably described, which I think is an achievement, considering Mr. Watson never traveled to that country, but I imagine he immersed himself quite a bit in the subject. In short, it's not a bad book, but it's not memorable either. In fact, I don't even remember how it ends...

[Nicholas Whyte · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3069387.html

One of Ian Watson’s early books, with parallel narratives in which a virus in Martian soil causes spiritual transformation both among the inhabitants of the Bolivian village where a Soviet sample return mission crash lands, and among the crew of an American space mission to the planet. I felt that the message was rather heavily laid on; two decades later, KSR did a much better job of Mars as agent of spiritual transformation. I didn’t dislike it as much as Stanisław Lem, who wrote:

"It is a pity that even highly talented, well-read, and intelligent writers of the younger generation, such as Ian Watson, fail to recognize the difference between the delusion of mysticism and what is really the case. He has erroneously yoked his considerable erudition to the wrong purpose of passing off a shallow fairy-tale for the lost redemption of our civilization. His novel tells much more about the confusion that currently holds captive even the brightest young people than about the real state of things on Earth and in the heavens, from which Mars shines down upon us as a challenge. About the genuine mysteries of the universe that we have yet to solve in the years to come, Watson's novel tells us nothing."

[Ptjerónimo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uma mistura relativamente indigesta de "hard science" e veleidades místicas típicas dos anos 70, toda ela muito imbricada e palavrosa. O melhor (não sendo propriamente excepcional…) é a caracterização da envolvente política de guerra fria.

[Claire Dwyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of strangle tale of change and exploring the unknown.

[Graham · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really didn't enjoy this book.

[Adam Meek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ancient Aliens, Cold War intrigue in Latin America, and a mission to Mars combine in this exciting scifi adventure.

[Joel Saa'C · Rating 1 out of 5]

Empezó bien, luego el autor se fumó una de la buena. Y nada de nada.

1⭐

[Perry Whitford · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Martian Inca is a decent piece of Cold War sci-fi, with America and Russia racing to terraform Mars and Venus respectively, only by very different methods.

Before ceding Mars to the Americans, the Russians managed to land a probe that snaffled a soil sample. It crashes off course in Bolivia upon its return, the alien soil starting an epidemic amongst a small community of rural villagers, killing them off in swift and dramatic fashion.

However, a survivor becomes imbued with an enhanced consciousness and the hubristic belief that he has been touched with the spirit of an ancient Inca god, stirring the restless peasant population to overthrow the vulnerable Bolivian government.

I committed myself to read another novel by Ian Watson after being impressed with the intelligent mixture of original ideas and crisp, believable characterisation in The Jonah Kit.

The Martian Inca is more of the same, with fascinating research (this time principally from the work of the Dolphin scientist John Lilly) providing the backbone for a story both local and global in scope.

The representatives of both the smaller story and the larger story are given just enough individuality to be more than just ciphers subject to the ideas driving the action.

This is a frequent fault of sci-fi writers in my experience, but not seemingly so of Watson, which elevates him.

Interesting and well written.

[Ian Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A low key masterwork. The scenes in Bolivia are the most effective, in Andean atmosphere and dramatic narrative. The sometimes simplistic style conveys the thinking process of the peasant turned new Inca, after surviving an extraterrestrial infection. Not a particularly long novel, but science fiction and historical dreams of a marginalised people combined to make an outstanding work.

See Martian Inca on Facebook.

[Sbulf · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meriterebbe la sufficienza, tuttavia gli metto due stelle perché è un libro con grandi ambizioni che però non riesce nell'intento. Tanta carne al fuoco, tante frasi intelligenti e profonde che però risultano troppo sconclusionate e non si capisce cosa volesse dire, in sostanza, l'autore con la storia qui presentata. Un'occasione mancata (vedere il finale per credere). Peccato, peccato davvero.

[Kitap Yakıcı · Rating 2 out of 5]

As always, Watson's reach exceeds his grasp. Interesting ideas about alien infections, human consciousness, revolution.