About the book (from Brian Aldiss’ website):
In the early months of war in 1996, the space capsule Leda is sabotaged on its return trip from the moon, killing one person on impact and leaving three to drift in a liferaft in the middle of the Pacific. Only one of these – U. S. Under-Secretary of State, Calvert Madle Roberts – survives to see the cliffs of an island dominated by a huge letter M.
The appearance of this island’s inhabitants comes a a considerable shock to Roberts – though human, they are disfigured by bizarre forms of bestiality so that it is almost impossible to say whether they are human or animal. The sinister genius responsible for their condition is Mortimer Dart, a thalidomide victim whose fascination for human deformity has led to a series of experiments duplicating those of H. G. Wells’s legendary Dr. Moreau. That, at least, is how they began.
About Brian Aldiss (from Wikipedia):
Brian Wilson Aldiss, OBE (born 18 August 1925) is an English writer and anthologies editor, best known for science fiction novels and short stories. His byline reads either Brian W. Aldiss or simply Brian Aldiss, except for occasional pseudonyms during the mid-1960s. Greatly influenced by science fiction pioneer H. G. Wells, Aldiss is a vice-president of the international H. G. Wells Society. He is also (with the late Harry Harrison) co-president of the Birmingham Science Fiction Group. Aldiss was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America in 2000 and inducted by the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2004. He has received two Hugo Awards, one Nebula Award, and one John W. Campbell Memorial Award. His influential works include the short story “Super-Toys Last All Summer Long”, the basis for the Stanley Kubrick-developed Steven Spielberg film A.I. Artificial Intelligence.
