War correspondent Matt Ellman is proposing to Jessie Machalan at a night spot in Singapore when a suicide bomber takes out the club with a massive explosion, killing both of them. Later, Matt regains consciousness submerged in water and with no apparent injuries. He comes to shore on Riverworld, an Earth-like planet created by a blue-skinned race of alien "caretakers". It is a hundred times larger than Earth, with a river extending over much of it surface. They have resurrected a number of humans from various past ages as pawns between two factions. The Salvationists want to destroy the planet, deeming it a failed experiment. Their main human proponents are 19th-century British explorer Sir Richard Burton and 16th-century Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro. The Second Chancers want Matt to save it. His team includes Mark Twain with his steamboat Not-for-Hire, Tomoe Gozen, a 12th-century Japanese female warrior, and Ludwig Dürr, the German aeronautical engineer with his dirigible, the Herumfurzeln. When people appear on Riverworld or are resurrected, it is in their natural form, without scars. You can be resurrected more than once.