The Day of Creation
‘Classic Ballard. Mesmerising. No one writes with such haunting impact’ William Boyd
In parched, war-torn central Africa, Dr Mallory watches his clinic fail and dreams of discovering a third Nile to make the Sahara bloom. During his search for water, an ancient tree stump is uprooted by a bulldozer and water wells up, spreading until it becomes an enormous river. With the once arid land now abounding in birds and beasts, the obsessed Mallory forges up-river in an old car ferry, clashing with hostile factions as he tries to find the source of his own creation.
This edition is part of a new commemorative series of Ballard’s works, featuring introductions from a number of his admirers (including Ali Smith, Iain Sinclair, Martin Amis and Ned Beauman) and brand-new cover designs from the artist Stanley Donwood.
”'Classic Ballard. Mesmerising. No one writes with such haunting impact” - William Boyd
”'A unique writer with a distinctive vision unmatched by any other living novelist. In The Day of Creation Ballard is at the height of his powers … triumphant” - New Statesman
”'An exciting plot unfolded with a master’s cunning. Ballard has brought off something rare in this fine book. He has written an adventure story that constantly surprises and excites” - Guardian
”'Absolutely vintage Ballard … Compulsively absorbing: the white heat of its images seems to burn off the page, and the surreal landscapes linger on in the mind” - Independent
”'It could only have been imagined by a master of visionary realism … a country of the mind as vivid and viable as anything this extraordinary writer has ever produced” - Spectator
”'The terrifying thing about Ballard is his logic; is this science fiction or history written ahead of its time?” - Len Deighton