Frank Noon, reluctant revolutionary, finds himself at the centre of a critical time for the future of humanity. Experiment on planet Muta over, he is now back on Earth trying to head up a new parliament.The changes he wants to implement are slow to come to fruition, and an emotional inaugural address to the nation doesn't prove to be the turning point he had hoped for.His policies struggle to gather pace, and, increasingly desperate and with his life under threat, he relies on an interplanetary support network to try and secure his legacy.