Harusten-Jethrone is born into a world with total recall of all his former lives. He sees that the people of this planet are simple, naive and almost mindless. He soon discovers that he is in an "edenic" world, where no one has, as yet, partaken of the "forbidden fruit." Because everyone is still innocent, there is no death. As the world fills up with people, Harusten wonders where the tempter is, the proverbial "Devil," to introduce death into the world, and to teach them how to develop their mind-power. When the wily one doesn't show up, and the people continue to saturate the planet, Harusten begins to wonder if he should volunteer for the job, even though he had lived his last few lives as a benevolent man of high integrity. He risks his relationship with Teerliaka, a woman he has followed through many of his previous lives, as he considers his options. The subsequent decisions he makes takes him into incredible dimensions of emotion, heartaches, power and wonders he never thought possible.