The planet Solaris in the constellation of Alpha in Aquarius. The planet that had given rise to a new branch of science - solaristics. The planet on which a permanent watch was mounted. A space-station that hovered above the mysterious ocean of Solaris. An ocean apparently sentient, its substance unknown, an ocean possibly 'alive', although that all depended on how you defined 'life'. An ocean that definitely reacted on occasions to external stimuli.

And the 'others' that Kelvin discovered on the space-station? 'Others' that had driven a predecessor to suicide. Hallucinations? Projections of the scientists' imaginations? Or another manifestation of the ocean's powers?

© Stanislaw Lem 1961
This translation © F & F Walker & Co 1970
First published by Faber & Faber Ltd 1971
Arrow edition 1973

When Baines, a megalomaniac arms manufacturer, employs for a secret personal project the Black sorcerer Theron Ware, D.D., all Hell is let loose - literally!

One other man is fully aware of their evil machinations, Brother Domenico Garelli of the small, obscure order of Monte Albano, and because of the strict limitations placed on his powers he finds himself unable to stop the rising tide of horror.

'Each of the opposing sides in any war always predicts victory. They cannot both be right.'

(cover design by David Pelham)

First published by Faber & Faber 1968
Published in Penguin Books 1972
© James Blish, 1967, 1968

A short version of this novel was published under the title Faust Aleph-Null, © 1967 by Galaxy Publishing Corporation.