The Idiot Gods David Zindell 9780007174423

Quite simply the best book about a whale since Moby Dick.

The Idiot Gods is an epic tale of a quest for a new way of life on earth, told by an orca. David Zindell returns to the grand themes of Neverness in this uniquely moving book.

When Arjuna of the Blue Aria Family encounters three signs of cataclysm, he leaves his home in the Arctic Ocean to seek out the Idiot Gods and ask us why we are destroying the world. But the whales' ancient Song of Life is beyond our understanding, and we know nothing of the Great Covenant between our kinds. Arjuna is captured, starved, tortured and made to do tricks in a tiny pool at Sea Circus.

His love for a human linguist gives him hope, even as he despairs that other people twist his words and continue the worldwide slaughter. As the whales' beloved Ocean turns toward the Blood Solstice the fate of humanity hangs in the balance: for if Arjuna gains the Voice of Death he could destroy mankind. But if understanding can prevail, he may, through the whales' mysterious power of quenging, create a new Song of Life and enable human evolution to unfold.

After studying philosophy, anthropology, linguistics, and physics, David Zindell moved to the Rocky Mountains to devote himself to skiing, rock climbing, and writing. Writing won out and became the passion of his life. His story 'Shanidar' won the Writers of the Future contest, and he was nominated for a Hugo award for best new writer of the year. His internationally bestselling novel Neverness was shortlisted for the Arthur C Clark Award. His successive works include the Requiem For Homo Sapiens trilogy and epic Grail quest, The Ea Cycle. His most recent novels were The Idiot Gods, which tells of the orca Arjuna's quest to speak to the human race about the future of life on earth, and The Remembrancer's Tale, a return to the Neverness universe.

'David Zindell has placed himself at the forefront of literary SF' London Times Literary Supplement

'Zindell makes you think'
New Scientist

'One of the finest talents to appear since Kim Stanley Robinson and William Gibson - perhaps the finest'
GENE WOLFE