In the eleventh century, in the city of Regensburg, Othlo of St. Emmeram lies on his sickbed and takes a journey through Heaven and Hell

Spurning carnal desire and earthly temptations all his life, the mystic Othlo is now in the care of his brother monks including the odious and semen-filled Wolkbart. Despite the spare walls which surround him, he frolics with Holy Dionysius in the Garden of Head-bearers (each carries his own head for eternity), descends from the island of Heaven, visits a brothel patronized by fallen angels, and witnesses the souls of the once gluttoinous wealthy fighting over scraps of rotting crabmeat in a ditch in Hell.

The third and final book in a series about mankind's desire to conquer nature, Visions and Temptations follows Awake and Sublunar. In each novel, a great if imperfect mind facesis failed by the inevitable demise of the body.