[The Poison Oracle is] a bit of Strange, rather bizarre. Set in Now, in the real world, in which an English psycholinguist is working with a "genius" chimp in animal/human communication while in the employ of an oil-rich Arab ruler at the unique "castle" of the ruler….

The plot—the "suspense"—is more the psycholinguist's survival in the swamp in the clutches of the sacrificial-minded natives than solving the puzzle of who killed the Sulton and how it was done….

What is superb in this book is Dickinson's creation of the marsh people, their complicated society, culture and customs, and their meticulously worked-out language and its effect/link on/with the marsh people. Dickinson's skill in this area should turn many sf writers green with envy and admiration. He makes the natives and their culture so real … I'm still not totally sure they don't really exist.

Richard...