No.12 in the Millennium SF Masterworks series, a library of the finest science fiction ever written - The first winner of the International Fantasy Award - 'A profound, poetic, post-holocaust novel of immense stature: so special I wanted mine to be the only copy' - Garry Kilworth

In this profound ecological fable, a mysterious plague has destroyed the vast majority of the human race. Isherwood Williams, one of the few survivors, returns from a wilderness field trip to discover that civilization has vanished during his absence.

Eventually he returns to San Francisco and encounters a female survivor who becomes his wife. Around them and their children a small community develops, living like their pioneer ancestors, but rebuilding civilization is beyond their resources, and gradually they return to a simpler way of life.

A poignant novel about finding a new normal after the upheaval of a global crisis.