On the planet Spatterjay arrive three travellers: Janer, bringing the eyes of the hornet hive mind, on a mission not yet revealed to him; Erlin, searching for Ambel - the ancient sea captain who can teach her how to live; and Sable Keech, on a vendetta he cannot abandon, though he himself has been dead for 700 years.

Early in the 21st century, Joseph Peek turned into another person. Now, eighty years later, journalism student Aldo Frewin discovers who that person was - and why he's now living as Jarom Woodruff, aged sixteen, in a troubled Mormon cult in remote Tasmania. For members of this cult, the End of the World is imminent, and the Rapture awaits. For Aldo and his uncle, time is also running out. They need to know - will Jarom die as Joseph died before they uncover the truth? Has a genetic experiment changed the course of history?

Barbaric customs and bizarre human cults are preserved on the planet Elsewhere. The rest of the universe has been taken over by the Hobbs Land Gods, which means that everyone alive, except the people on Elsewhere, lives in perfect harmony with nature and with each other. But Elsewhere is ruled by computer-encrypted professors who have been dead for a thousand years. The professors were dedicated to maintaining human diversity. Their ancient analogs are dedicated to something infinitely more sinister. The time has come to consider whether enslavement by the Hobbs Land Gods is not preferable to the depravity being cultivated on Elsewhere.

The almost imperceptible beginnings and the cruelly terrifying consequences of this new threat to the world are seen through the eyes of a radio scriptwriter and his wife.