In the great tradition of A. E. van Vogt, here is a colorful, complex galactic adventure in which the fate of the universe depends on the reintegration of one man’s fragmented mind and in which a fictional comic-strip superhero becomes the real key to the galaxy’s fate.
Buddy Satvan, creator of a comic-strip superhero called Diamond Sutro, is institutionalized following an apparent psychotic eruption. He awakens suddenly on Sravasti, a mysterious artificial world at the center of the galaxy, populated by three ghostly beings who explain that the great computers have indicated that he is the only being in existence who may be able to stop the impending engulfment of the galaxy by chaotic forces which have already destroyed other universes. Buddy’s astonishment is exceeded only by his dismay.
Buddy is just an ordinary guy and, what’s more, has been told that he is very sick, a murderer. How is he supposed to save the universe? The answer lies somewhere in the great computers.
Meanwhile, on Earth, where the physical Buddy is institutionalized, Buddy’s personality splits into two. The second is a political fanatic utterly unlike Buddy. And back on Sravasti, a third personality emerges: Auburn Sutro, an engineer who suffers from spells of amnesia. To introduce a final complexity, a duplicate Buddy is sent back to Earth - “cured,” since only the emergent personality is duplicated. The authorities declare the new Buddy the original, and the original Buddy a confused, psychotic impostor.
In a stunning climax Diamond Sutro, the projection, is translated to Sravasti as a “real person,” there to confront the other “real” aspects of Buddy’s mind, to become one personality and wield the computer against the forces of chaos - which take on the personality of Buddy’s evil comic-strip character, Dr. Anubis! The comic strip superhero and supervillain have become the forces battling for humanity’s survival