Events move fast in Umbalathorp, the capital city of the new African republic of Goya. When Soames Noyes, a young Englishman of the old school (public, of course) arrives, he finds himself caught in more than one stream of conflicting ideas - and more than one bed of conflicting women . . . . . This is Brian Aldiss' first straight novel for some years. It is as straight as a circular saw and as sharp, and is neither straight-laced nor straight-faced. Under its ironic and fantastic humour lies a keen perception of what gives human sex drives their pep. The answer would seem to be - the male response.