Water, water, everywhere, and not a drop to drink. Let’s get drunk on The Water of Thought, by Fred Saberhagen.
Synopsis:
IT DROVE MEN MAD
…but each in a different way. In one the effect was total, utter addiction. In another, a compulsion to absolute obedience. In a third, idealistic monomania. In a fourth, unending, all-consuming lust. Of all the enigmas surrounding the planet Kappa, none was more inscrutable than that mysterious liquid central to all the native rites.
There was, in fact, only one certainty about it: Now that it threatened to contaminate the worlds of Earth, its source would have to be destroyed – even though for the native Kappans the Water of Thought was as necessary as the Breath of Life itself.
Source: Goodreads
SPOILERS BELOW
Fred Saberhagen is a pretty prolific science fiction author. I’ve liked a lot of his series – Empire of the East, Book of Swords, Berserker – so I decided to give one of his stand-alone works a try.
The protagonist of this story is Boris Brazil, a Space Force planeteer stationed on the mostly undeveloped colony world of Kappa. The plot kicks off when he discovers that the native species possess a mysterious drug, called the Water of Thought, which produces bizarre and drastic mental changes in humans, and that a criminal organization of drug smugglers are planning to gain control of the source so they can sell it off-world for a profit.
This does not seem to be a well-thought out plan at all on the criminals’ part, given that the Water of Thought possesses a number of qualities that would seem to limit its profitability as a drug: first, that there is no way of knowing what effect it will have on any given person; second, that even a single small sip of the Water will have effects lasting five days, meaning that it is not likely to sell in large quantities; and third, that after the first dose wears off, the user is henceforth immune to any further exposure to the Water, meaning that there won’t be any repeat customers. Consider me dubious as to the actual commercial potential of the Water of Thought.
That does, however, end up getting an explanation: the crime syndicate’s knowledge of the Water of Thought comes from Magnuson, who despises them and takes pleasure at the idea that he’s giving them a worthless product in exchange for their money. Likewise, much of what the book says about evolution is mumbo-jumbo; but given that it comes from Magnuson, who is supposed to be deranged, it can be excused. As to the Water itself, I was actually satisfied by the eventual explanation of what it is, how it works, and why it has the effects that it does.
A more genuine problem can be found with the book’s female characters. I’ve noted in past reviews of Saberhagen’s work that he tends not to be very good at writing women, with the ones present in his books mostly being of the shallow love-interest and distressed damsel type or else the hellish nagging shrew type; here, he gets to have it both ways, due to temporary derangement brought on by the Water. Since I went into the book expecting no better, I was able to just sigh and move past it.
On the plus side, my copy of the book included some pretty striking black and white illustrations by Janet Aulisio depicting certain scenes from the story. Those were a pleasant treat to see.
On the whole, I found The Water of Thought to be a decently adequate story.
Final Rating: 3/5
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