Early in the twenty second century most of the Earth's billions of human inhabitants disappear. All that seem to remain are the guests who had gathered together for a famil birthday party at a country house location, and the members of a small Native American tribe. That and a planet-full of robots.

Not only this but the remaining population find their lifespan has dramatically increased. The Native Americans reverted to a traditional, in-harmony-with-nature, lifestyle, whilst the members of the Whitney family begin to develop some quite extraordinary powers, ones that allow them to explore the galaxy without requiring spacecraft, and most of the family slowly leave to drift among the stars.

Five centuries after the disappearance of the majority of Earth's peoples a traveller returns from the stars with some astonishing news.

Like a lot of Clifford Simak's books, this shows his wonderful imagination. This book is all about concept. The writing style is clear, precise and concise. There is more in this book's 158 pages than I've read in a book three times it's length. This said, though, Mr. Simak manages to tell his story without seeming to cram everything in, and in such a manner that I just want to read more of his work.