The hero of the novel is Ed Doukas, who is the nephew of the scientist whom everyone blames for the destruction of the Moon (though it's never clear if the scientist is actually guilty); this uncle survived, because he had left the Moon the day before the experiment. Soon, the government learns of the survival of the uncle, and he goes underground. Ed soon finds himself a pariah due to his relation to his uncle.
SF writer and editor Harry Harrison explores a not too distant future where robots--particularly specialist robots who don't know their place--have quite a rough time of it. True, the Robot Equality Act had been passed--but so what?
Commander Greylorn leads humanity's last hope, one spaceship racing through the voids of the universe. The Red Tide has all but engulfed the Earth, just enough time to find planet Omega, colonized long ago and vanished. After four years, food stores are destroyed by meteor, crew set to mutiny, and alien ship with cargo of human bodies.