Starman's Quest

Starman's Quest is a science fiction novel by Robert Silverberg, first published in 1958.

The Lexman Spacedrive gave humanity the stars, but at a fantastic price. Interstellar exploration, colonization and trade became things of reality. The benefits to Earth were enormous.

But because of the Fitzgerald Contraction, a man who shipped out to space could never live a normal life on Earth again. A nine-year trip to Alpha Centauri and back seemed to take only six weeks to people on a spaceship. Travelling at speeds close to that of light, spacemen lived at an accelerated pace.

When one of the twin spacemen left the starship, he grew older while his twin in space barely aged. So the starship twin left the ship to find what happened to his brother who was aging away on earth. When he returned, his friends and relatives had aged enormously in comparison, old customs had changed, even the language was different…

Robert Silverberg (born 1935) is a prolific American author, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a Grand Master of SF.