Signet Q5097

Philip José Farmer

After an 800-year voyage through the galaxies, space commander Aeneas Stagg and his fellow astronauts return to an Earth transformed beyond recognition. The planet is a scorched, desolate world dominated by strange religions and unsettling social customs, where Stagg becomes an unwilling symbol in a powerful public ritual. As he is drawn through cycles of worship, desire, and torment, he must confront a civilization warped by time and the dangerous forces seeking to control him. Blending provocative science fiction with mythic imagery and social satire, the novel explores faith, power, sexuality, and humanity’s capacity for reinvention.