"Little did Joannes Pretorius van der Camp Blieder, the runny-nosed tinkerer, envision the vast consequences of his discovery of a faster-than-light means of propulsion that could carry man to galaxies far away. One of the results was a huge migration - termed The Great Explosion - of dissidents, trouble-makers, minority groups, and just plain nuts to far-flung planets, where they cultivate their ways of life without interference." Book club edition. Minor damage and discoloration to dust jacket.