isasciencefictionnovelpub lishedin1960. WillBarrentawakensonaprisonshipboundforOmega, stripped of his memories and convicted of murder. On this brutal planet, survival dependsoncommittingcrimes-the law itselfdemandsevil. Witha three-year life expectancy, Barrent must navigate this inverted society while uncovering the truth about his conviction. His quest leads him back to Earth, where he discovers shocking secrets about both worlds and their in terconnected systems of control.Therewere nearly five hundred of them. They were not yet men; they were enti ties whose true memories extended barely an hour in time. Sitting on their bunks, the newborns looked curiously at their bodies, examined with sharp interest their hands and feet. They stared at each other, and saw their form lessness mirrored in each other's eyes. They were not yetmen; buttheywere not children either. Certain abstractions remained, and the ghosts of mem ories. Maturation came quickly, born of old habit patterns and personality traits, retained in the broken threads of their former lives on Earth. Thenewmenclungtothevaguerecollectionsofconcepts,ideas,rules. Within a few hours, their phlegmatic blandness had begun to pass. They were be coming men now. Individuals. Out of a dazed and superficial conformity, sharp differences began to emerge. Character reasserted itself, and the five hundred began to discover what they wereWill Barrent stood in line for a look at himself in the barracksmirror. When his turn came, he sawthe reflection of a thin-faced, narrow-nosed, pleasant looking young man with straight brown hair. The young man had a reso lute, honest, unexceptional face, unmarked by any strong passion
