Michael Bishop's And Strange at Ecbatan the Trees projects twelve thousand years into the future on the island of Ongladred, where mankind has survived two enigmatic, civilization-destroying setbacks.  Now a third holocaust is anticipated by the people of Ongladred.  They fear destruction from invading barbarians of the Angromain Archipelagoes, the reappearance of a semi-mythical sea creature, and the devious intervention of the neo-human Parfects

The imminent disaster is very much the concern of Ingram Marley, a government spy sent to keep surveillance over Stonelore, a secluded haven and the center of free thought on Ongladred, and Gabriel Elk, Stonelore's master and resident genius.  While panic and fear rage outside, deep inside Stonelore the mysteries of life are pursued -- reanimation of the dead, the invention of powerful laser weapons, and the secrets of "old earth" knowledge.  Amidst harrowing dangers of sea battles and land invasions, Bishop explores the transformation of Ingram Marley, a man caught in the middle.
[From the flyleaf of the Harper & Row edition]

Dedication:
To Jeri

Epigraph:
And strange at Ecbatan the trees
Take leaf by leaf the evening strange
Archibald MacLeish [from "You, Andrew Marvel"]