The Drowned World

Introduction by Martin Amis

Set in the future, Ballard imagines a world in which global warming has melted the ice-caps and primordial jungles and swamps have returned to a tropical London.

As various members of an expedition to the city busy themselves with more or less futile schemes like draining Leicester Square in hope of loot, the central character Kerans moves to a strange acceptance of and assimilation by this lushly transformed world, vanishing into a final epiphany of heat and light.

The Drowned World is a potent, sensual mood-piece – jewelled and unforgettable.