Foster is one of my favorite authors, in large part because of books like this. The book is about a man who is sent to Prism to investigate the problems an outpost is having. Prism is potentially a very profitable, but is very hard to work on, planet. The fact they have to keep what it is and where it is secret makes it all the more hard (partly because they are operating on a gray area legally, partly to stop competition).
To that end he is given the best mech/survival suit that money can buy. He does not know a lot about the situation, but he is a jack of all trades and is being sent because no one really knows what is going on. He is sure he can figure it out without too many problems.
I won’t spoil more, the book is one of the best optimistic (without stopping being realistic) exportation books I have read. Prism is a fully realized world with it’s own way of doing things and it’s own life.
