X-Nico

Report on Probability A

A leitmotif added by Aldiss in the Faber edition of the novel is The Hireling Shepherd, a painting by the Pre-Raphaelite artist William Holman Hunt which is thought to have multiple interpretations and possibly a hidden meaning.

•

The novel is eloquently summarised by Paul Di Filippo who wrote that 'an infinite regress of cosmic voyeurs seems to center around an enigmatic painting, as the French nouveau roman movement invades science fiction'.

•

He is unaware that a framed photograph of his own wife, which sits on his desk, is a portal to a third world where he is being watched by four Distinguishers on a hillside, who in turn are unaware that a robot fly is transmitting a live feed to a large screen in a building in New York City where they are being watched by a group of men, who are likewise being watched by two young men and a boy in an empty warehouse who think they have discovered a time machine.

see also