Brutals are told that when they die they will go to the vortex, where the Eternals live immortally. Zed, an Exterminator-class brutal who worships the stone head Zardoz, comes upon an old library where a mysterious stranger teaches him how to read. When he finds a copy of a well-known book, he sets out to learn the secret of the god he worships, and disrupts life in the vortex.—Scott Hutchins