A round-robin or collaborative novel with nineteen authors: from the United States, Frederik Pohl; from People's Republic of China, Ye Yonglie; from Canada, Spider Robinson; from Brazil, Andre Carneiro; from Thailand, Somtow P. Sucharitkul; from Italy, Lino Aldani; from Czechoslovakia, Joseph Nesvadba; from Ireland, Harry Harrison; from Australia, A. Bertram Chandler; from Norway, Jon Bing; from Bulgaria, Ljuben Dilov; from England, Brian W. Aldiss; from Uruguay, Carlos M. Federici; from Poland, Janusz A. Zajdel; from Sweden, Sam J. Lundwall; from People's Republic of China, Tong Enzheng (adapted by Elizabeth Anne Hull); from West Germany, Karl Michael Armer; from Japan, Tetsu Yano; and from Planet Earth, Frederik Pohl.