A human explorer/anthropologist discovers indigenous bronze-age hominids on a planet he is surveying. He treats them with indulgent bemusement, until one of them manages to blow up his shuttlecraft. Now he must arrange for pickup by his orbital craft, but he is thousands of miles from the pickup point. So he enlists their aid. This novel is fondly known among science fiction fans because the native gods are based on well-known science fiction names (such as T'sturshin the god of love and the dwarf god Elcin) and the Earth explorer himself, Purple, is hinted to be a descendant of another famous SF figure...to say which one would be telling!