Harrison's most anthologised story, and the one which he had the most difficulty getting into print in the first instance, because it broke one of the current taboos of the SF publishing world: its hero was an atheist. The story was originally written for an anthology called The Thin Edge to be edited by Judith Merrill, who intended that contributors should ignore the usual pulp taboos. But the anthology never saw print, and when Harrison tried to sell the story it was rejected by all the usual markets, and didn't see publication until over a year after it was completed. Brian Aldiss agreed to buy the story for his anthology More Penguin Science Fiction in the UK, and on the strength of that acceptance it was sold to New Worlds, where it appeared first. The story did not see print in the USA until six years after it was originally written.

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