It is not like our world - or any world that can be imagined by anyone but Philip José Farmer. It is huge and mysterious. It has a central river, rimmed by mountains, with a hidden source and an unknown end. Reborn there is every last soul who ever lived on Earth - from prehistoric apemen to moondwelling future civilizations. Reborn there is Sir Richard Francis Burton, translator of The Arabian Nights, explorer, brawler, scholar, womanizer - adventurer. His quest to discover the end of the river, the meaning of this world's existence - and lovely Alice Hargreaves (the real-life model for Alice in Wonderland) form a science fiction adventure that is already recognized as a classic.