A renegade, a fugitive, a Son of the Wind, Nathu Sanderson managed to deceive highbrow experts and seasoned intelligence officers. The phenomenon took refuge in the phenomenon, the child of discord - in the Sarcophagus, the impregnable bastion of past times. Three mighty civilizations - Brahmin ascetics, the wolves of the Great Pompylia and the enlightened Largitas - lost their legs in search. Allies and enemies, they are looking for everything at once: the miracle boy, scapegoats, the slightest reason for war. The free Oikumene and the prison-Sarcophagus have in common the main thing: wherever you are, your life is not worth a damn. The Prodigal Son is the fifth novel in the Ecumene epic, which has long earned the interest and love of readers. Cosmic Symphony was written by H. L. Oldie ten years ago, and in "a galaxy far, far away" it's been two years - it's not for nothing that the new novel has the subtitle "Ecumene: Twenty Years Later." What's next? The universe will never be the same.