An alternate paperback title was First He Died; it was also serialized (with a different ending) as Time Quarry.

[1][2] The story is about a long-lost spaceman returning to Earth after 20 years from a planet in a distant star system, where he was affected by aliens with psychic abilities.

The story is about a lost space traveler who had voyaged to a distant star system who finds his way back to Earth after two decades.

Some of the inhabitants are androids that can reproduce who are fighting for their rights and robots work as slaves.

As well, "future folk insist [he] should be killed on sight as he will otherwise write a book that, because it tells a truth inconvenient to religious bigots, will cause the death of millions".