The Rim of Space (#1)
Next: When the Dream Dies (#2)
Derek Calver touches down on Lorn and is determined to join the Rim Runners to explore desolate planets.
He joins the crew of Lorn Lady and sets forth for Mellise, inhabited by intelligent amphibians; for Groller, where the natives have just qualified as humanoids; for Stree with its tea loving lizards; and for Tharn, home of a pre-industrial civilization.