Description: An aspiring biographer chronicles the rise and fall of the planet Peponi from its discovery and exploration by pioneers and big game hunters through its colonization and exploitation by humans and the bloody war of liberation that brings about its emergence as a struggling, independent world ruled by native dictators. Reminiscent of Western civilization's own cultural clash with Africa and India, Resnick attempts to understand the complex motives that underlie humanity's desire to impose its image on the universe.