Gary Williams was a retired doctor, twice divorced, angry and embittered, with fewer days ahead than behind. With no children, and much of his life's work taken away, Gary finds solace in hunting and fishing. He resigns himself to ever-increasing discontent, followed by death. But when the moment comes and the darkness wraps around him, instead of dying he revives in another world. Gary finds himself renewed and invigorated, but alone in a strange world full of unknown wild animals, a multitude of alien races, and hostile natives who are technologically stagnate. Gary must use all his skills and wits to learn the rules of the new world, and carve out a place for himself in it.