Set 15,000 years in the future, the book starts in the planet Norstrilia, originally called Old North Australia. It's the richest planet in the galaxy because it's the only place that can produce stroon, an immortality drug derived from sick, enormous sheep. Thanks to this immortality, Norstrilia must keep overpopulation down by making young people face a test; if you fail, you die.
Young Rod McBan is the immensely wealthy heir to an important ranch. Although he lacks reliable telepathic powers, he's finally able to pass the test with the help of higher-ups. A jealous friend tries to get McBan assassinated, so–following the advice of an ancient computer–he manipulates financial markets until he buys most of Old Earth. To protect his life, McBan must go to the original Earth, where he has a series of adventures while fending off thieves who want his enormous fortune.
On Earth, McBan's fate becomes intertwined with those of the "underpeople," genetically modified animals who possess intelligence and consciousness, but few rights. Especially significant is McBan's relationship with C'mell, most beautiful of the "girlygirls." (Underpeople's names have prefixes indicating their derivation, such as C'mell for cat or B'dank for bull.) McBan also gets help from a lord of the Instrumentality, an immensely powerful and often brutal body that protects and polices humankind.
It's hard to explain the beauty and appeal of Cordwainer Smith's works. Nearly all of them describe some kind of great suffering, but also great compassion. He's full of invention, but not for invention's sake. He's one of my favorite SF writers, and if you've not read him, he's very much worth seeking out. This is Smith's only SF novel, but he has many stories set in the same fictional universe. These are collected in The Rediscovery of Man, also excellent. FYI, Cordwainer Smith is a pseudonym for Paul Linebarger, an East Asia scholar and expert in psychological warfare.
by arrec