Destiny was colonized by humans in the 25th century. The two settlements, named Spiral Town and Destiny Town, were located on each side of a continent and connected by a single road. Our protagonist, Jemmy Bloocher, a farm kid from Spiral town decides to travel the road and this novel chronicles his adventures. Niven is really good at world building and biology and chemistry play a huge part in this novel, and he really made it all believable.