The story takes place on a planet where humans have been transported from Earth and are struggling to survive due to the harsh environment and lack of resources. The protagonist is a scientist who has developed a device that can manipulate the probability of events, effectively allowing him to cheat death. He uses this device to prolong his own life and becomes increasingly obsessed with it, eventually using it to alter the course of history in ways that have catastrophic consequences for humanity.
By H. Beam Piper · First published 1951 · Genre: Science Fiction, Thriller, Dystopian