A dark mystery has been buried beneath the sands of the Sahara desert since the beginning of time. In a basement in New Mexico, four poker buddies find reason to believe that a startling secret is out there...

These four amateur adventurers are about to uncover the key that could unlock the vast reaches of the universe.

A sudden burst of curiosity propels mild-mannered English professor Will and his three friends to the Sahara to excavate a site where radar has evidently detected trilithic stones hidden beneath the sand. There they stumble upon an ancient artifact that will change their lives, and the world, forever...a gateway between planets, linking Earth to distant worlds where they will discover wonders and terrors beyond imagining.

Jack Williamson, the dean of science fiction writers, weaves an exciting tale that takes the friends to the far corners of the universe. One leads an oppressed people to freedom. Another uncovers clues that could identify a long-dormant civilization of immortal beings. Now each traveler must play a crucial role in unraveling an ancient mystery, the solution to which may reveal the true origins of the human race.

If they can just survive their journeys back to Earth...

"This trippy stand-alone from Hugo- and Nebula-winner Williamson reads like a novelization of Paul Verhoeven directing Jules Verne's combined rewrite of H.P. Lovecraft's The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath and C.S. Lewis's Perelandra. It follows the world-hopping adventures of four poker buddies: physicist Derek and archeologist Lupe, both so obsessed with exploration and getting grants that they have no sense of personal safety; Ram, a linguist descended from an extraterrestrial deity; and Will, a weak-willed English professor who just wants to go home. Williamson's artificial creatures are brilliant as always, so much so that the shape-shifting intelligent metal caretakers of these distant planets are more lovingly and intricately described than the people. Derek and Lupe's absence through most of the book renders them mere plot devices, and Ram and Will's search for their compatriots turns into a humorless parody of the clever dark-skinned native leading the stumbling white man through the jungle. Lush descriptions and a refreshingly brisk pace buoy the novel, but the characters are so uninteresting that disbelief soon becomes as hard to suspend as the space elevator that carries them between worlds. Agent, Eleanor Wood at the Spectrum Literary Agency." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"The amazingly durable Jack Williamson turn out another wild, old style adventure story....as effective as ever." Chronicle

"Williamson's combination of sf technological inventiveness and heroic quest is surprisingly successful, offering a neat origin story for humanity, to boot." Booklist

"One of Williamson's strongest and most entertaining..." SF Review

"As you might expect from an author who's been in print in nine decades now, it's a well-crafted...story." San Diego Union-Tribune

"Displaying a knack for writing compact stories with ever-expanding themes, the author of Terraforming Earth combines space adventure with science fantasy in a book that challenges the imagination at every turn." Library Journal

"Low-key but inventive adventure." Kirkus Reviews

"Excellent otherworldly but plausible SF." KLIATT

Dubbed the "dean of science fiction writers," Nebula Award-winning author Williamson masterfully weaves an exciting tale that takes four poker buddies to the far corners of the universe.

In a basement in New Mexico, four poker buddies and amateur adventurers who have discovered a dark mystery buried beneath the sands of the Sahara desert decide to do something about it.

In the deep Sahara, they find an ancient artifact that will change their lives and the world, forever — a gateway between planets that links Earth to distant worlds where they discover wonders and terrors beyond their wildest imagination.

Jack Williamson, the dean of science fiction writers, masterfully weaves an exciting tale that takes the friends to the far corners of the universe. While one leads an oppressed people towards freedom, another uncovers clues that could identify a long-dormant super-advanced civilization of immortal beings, and the key to the origin of life on Earth.

Jack Williamson published his first short story in 1928, and he's been producing entertaining, thought-provoking science fiction ever since. A Hugo and Nebula Award-winner, he was the second person named Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America. Williamson was the first to write fiction about genetic engineering and terraforming, terms he himself coined. A Renaissance man whose work spans SF, fantasy, and horror, Williamson lives in Portales, New Mexico.