Miracle Visitors

by Ian Watson

An unusually brilliant and mind-stretching metaphysical quest from one of the most exciting talents in science fiction.
John Deacon uses hypnosis to help his patients reach altered states of consciousness. One of his subjects, Michael Peacocke, is unusually susceptible and in their first session together, Michael recalls a "close encounter"--in both senses of the term--with an alien. Deacon, skeptical of the story, dismisses it as an adolescent sexual fantasy. But then strange things begin to happen and Deacon is forced to reconsider. Could UFOs be symbols projected from the collective unconscious? Are they messages from the biomatrix? Does the mind have the ability to project objects and people that are physically real...yet somehow illusory?
A wonderfully fascinating, mind-bending voyage.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Aliens, Fantasy

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

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

Reviews

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

in order for a hard sf book to be successful, the author must ride a fine line between science and story. too much story with little or no science and you are left wondering "how is that possible"? too much science and not enough story gives you brain strain and renders the book just plain boring.

in this book, watson errs somewhat on the too much science side. he goes into a lot of detail explaining how the various happenings in the book could actually be possible. unfortunately, there just aren't enough happenings to maintain the level of interest that would make it an entertaining read.it's not all boring though, he does have people travelling to the moon in two hours in a highly adapted ford thunderbird!

an example of an sf novel with a perfect balance of science and story is the stars my destination by alfred bester, which i just read recently.watson could learn something from that book.

[Eddie Watkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book predicated on some of the more interesting speculations about what UFOs are and what they mean. I'm fairly fascinated with UFOs (an obsession that ebbs and flows to some mysterious tidal influence), but I have little patience with simplistic strictly materialist theories involving literal green aliens in literal metal ships. I'm much more interested in theories that take into account the inevitable deeply subjective nature of everyone's experience (though of course this puts up nothing but roadblocks in our path toward any ultimate blanket understanding). Miracle Visitors delves into psychological explanations (via Jung's UFO essay) and other more metaphysical approaches.

[Kent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome speculation as to the nature of UFOs. It goes underneath the issue with Freudian psychology and strange ritualistic genie-esque side commentary. It basically sums up all weirdness, or at least 90% of Coast to Coast AM's content, in one furious hypothesis. Everything but the nature of Bigfoot is wrapped up nice and tight in this theory masked as a story. For anyone who wants to discover a credible and thought-provoking thesis to the nature of UFOs, or the "UFO consciousness" as Watson puts it, this is a great read.

My professor went to a science fiction literature conference where the three top dogs in academic study of science fiction claimed that in twenty years no one will be talking so much about Philip K. Dick, but they will still be marveling at Watson's work. I will definitely read another of his crazy books.

[Nicholas Whyte · Rating 1 out of 5]

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1685020...

I thought this was a really silly book. Watson presents us with standard aliens out of UFO lore, combined with Jung's theory of UFO's (thus having his cake and eating it) and an Egyptian order of followers of Rūmī, and seems to take it all quite seriously and uncritically. None of the characters does anything remotely interesting, and there is a tremendously poor scene with an American cop. Really one to avoid.

[José Uría · Rating 5 out of 5]

Se trata de una de las mejores novelas de Watson. Como es habitual está llena de ideas sugerentes, combinación de conceptos metafísicos, científicos, y en este caso del folklore platillista, en una historia con buen ritmo y que se lee de un tirón. Pero en lo que destaca esta obra, y por lo que merece las cinco estrellas, es como uno de los mejores ensayos que se han escrito sobre los No Identificados. Juega con maestría con diversos paradigmas explicativos que estaban presentes en el momento de redacción de la novela, que además son los únicos interesantes entonces y ahora. Y con ello Watson consigue montar un entramado conceptual respetuoso con ellos a la vez que se aproxima a la ciencia ficción más clásica y a planteamientos próximos a los de otras obras suyas como "El Kit Jonás".

[Jimmer Hardy · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I read Miracle Visitors, Ian's voice echoed the best of John A. Keel's paranormal theories laid out in his tome, The Eighth Tower. But Watson took it further and more boldly that Keel's evidence had allowed him. Wildly imaginative, his twisted, circuitous prose can be a mindful, but in the end the trip is well worth it.

[Richard Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable explanation of UFOs, gets a little too philosophical.

[David Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember Watson as a very dark writer and was concerned. But this is hopeful. I was reminded of Colin Wilson’s Mind Matters. But this is very different. A touch of Jonathan Livingston Seagull maybe. Mysticism. In love with words, as though he can talk us into seeing what he sees; this is always a problem for mystics. I ended up liking most everyone in it, even those who were first painted unflatteringly.

[Jack (Sci-Fi Finds) · Rating 2 out of 5]

A young man participates in a study by a hypnotherapist, which reveals that he experienced an alien abduction when he was a teenager. This repressed memory leads the therapist to theorise that UFO encounters are the result of 'Altered States of Consciousness' (ASCs) which can potentially manifest themselves in physical, tangible ways.

I was a bit worried at first that Watson was covering some clichéd UFO ground, but he tackles the phenomenon through a unique lens, which was much appreciated. Sadly, I think he gets the story a bit muddled up, taking detours into exposition-heavy sections and repeating points throughout.

There are some great ideas in here and the writing is good, despite the execution not being effective.

[Fabio R. Crespi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gli UFO sono un argomento equivoco, quando non ostico, da cui gli amanti della sf tendono a stare a debita distanza, ma occorre decisamente fare un'eccezione per Ian Watson e il suo "La doppia faccia degli UFO" ("Miracle Visitors", 1978; Urania Mondadori, 2018; trad. di Beata Della Frattina).

"Da una parte si viene a sapere qualcosa, dall’altra è impossibile dimostrarlo".
Il taglio che viene scelto non è quello del contatto alla "Incontri ravvicinati del terzo tipo" quanto una complessa teoria di stati mentali alterati, di realtà sovrapposte e di una Vita Totale Planetaria.
Ma bisogna andare sulla luna su una Ford Thunderbird per parlare con gli alieni di Eta Cassiopeiae e ritrovarsi improvvisamente in Egitto per ricevere un libro di magia da un Sufi per cominciare a mettere in prospettiva gli eventi-UFO e trovarsi viso a viso col Vuoto.
Ma solo diventando uno con Khidr, l'uomo Verde, si riuscirà a guardare nel Vuoto e afferrare la conoscenza, fuori dal campo delle cognizioni normali, verso livelli superiori di consapevolezza.
"Però, che tipi, quegli UFO!".

[Kevin Phyland · Rating 2 out of 5]

Michael was abducted at 13 and flown around by aliens over the moors near his home but had forgotten it until he participated in a hypnotism experiment as a twenty-something. The hypnotism researcher thinks he's discovered a new Altered State of Consciousness (ASC) and delves more deeply into UFOlogy with Michael his willing (and his girlfriend his unwilling) assistant. Written in the late 70s one can't help feeling that it was an attempt to bring more scientific scrutiny to UFOs in the wake of CE3K, or take advantage of the resurgence in popularity (which the publisher
quite clearly did with the cover blurb). Either way this book staggers across innumerable barely pseudoscientific theories from Adamski to solipsist zen in its attempt to explain Michael's experience. Are aliens among us or is it just a side-branch of our collective unconscious? Wildly, even outrageously apologist for all manner of UFO explanations one gets the slightest whiff of the author taking the piss. lan Watson has written much better books than this.

[Stephen Rowland · Rating 3 out of 5]

All the elements that make the novels of Ian Watson such singular experiences are here, his writing is at times more eloquent than ever, and his characters are much more memorable than those that inhabit his other works. Yet something is wrong. I didn't experience the intellectual exhilaration that I've felt while reading some of his other titles, though I can't claim "Miracle Visitors" any less philosophically challenging than usual. So maybe the problem here is ME. It's possible I've read too much Ian Watson, have been sort of chain-smoking his novels one after the other. It may be time for a break.

[Xabi1990 · Rating 2 out of 5]

3/10. Media de los 5 libros leídos del autor : 3/10

[Nick Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK

[Regine]

Striking.

[Ben Shakey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book really funny but I'm not sure if it was totally intentional.

[Chris Cowan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has some interesting ideas but I found the characters a bit flat and the plot rather meandering.

[Matteo Pellegrini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un romanzo che non è solo un romanzo, ma un serio tentativo di strappare agli UFO la loro maschera millenaria. L'incontro di un ragazzo in bicicletta con un disco e tre ufonauti, dà l'avvio a un'indagine i cui risultati si contraddicono ogni volta nel modo più assoluto. Da una parte, non c'è dubbio, gli UFO sono reali ed esistono da sempre. E d'altra parte, neanche su questo c'è dubbio, gli UFO sono "rappresentazioni che nascono dal puro Vuoto e nel puro Vuoto si risolvono" . Ma forse le due facce, i due opposti aspetti del fenomeno non sono così inconciliabili come sembrano. "Il più interessante, anzi il solo, scrittore di idee della fantascienza inglese" è stato definito lan Watson da J. G. Ballard.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

VOTO: 3,6
Interessante romanzo basato su una insolita chiave interpretativa del fenomeno UFO: ricco di risvolti filosofici e religiosi, questo romanzo non è assolutamente di facile lettura, richiede una buona dose di interpretazione da parte del lettore, ma letto con la giusta predisposizione d'animo non mancherà di sorprendere.
Consiglierei di dargli almeno una chance!

[D-day · Rating 2 out of 5]

About UFO's. Sort of...