Alqua Dreams

Earthman Cooper and the Lukai. A primitive tribe lives in the ruins of a magical city. The Lukai get their clothes and food from automated systems and live in their own special bizarre world. Bizarre as well are their sexual habits, not to speak of their mysterious ceremonies. They believe life is an illusion, they look like they are the living dead, and maybe that's just what they are, in a very strange and unexpected way. Cooper visits the planet of the Lukai to find minerals. According to galactic laws he has to offer the Lukai something in return. But they don't want anything: they have everything they need, and hey, what is it good for to possess anything, this is not a real life anyway, they are dead. The Lukai think he is crazy, an idiot who doesn't dare to accept that life is a lie. Cooper feels his common sense is slipping away, he falls in love with a Lukai girl, and the end of the story is even more bizarre as what leads up to it. I really love this book, read it several times, and I think it belongs to every collection that also contains Aldiss' Saliva Tree, Silverberg's Book of Skulls and LeGuin's Left Hand of Darkness.