DAW, New York, 1981, 1st pr.  ISBN 0-87997-660-8.  DAW’s SF Books No. 453.  MMPB, 188 pages.  Wraps show some edge and light cover wear, colour loss at upper left, faint corner creases; tight binding; very slight bow to book.  Interior clean and unmarked with tanning pages; black & white frontis.  ‘Vast, beautiful, untamed, Big Planet lay beyond the frontier of terrestrial law.  Its inhabitants were eccentric misfits, descended from the original refugees from Earth.  Those that ran the showboats up and down the rivers knew that each port of call hid its own sinister threat.  Apollon Zamp and Garth Ashgale were adept at dodging danger.  Two of the wiliest rascals in the business, they were deadly rivals to boot.  So when Zamp began his perilous journey to compete in the Grand Festival of Nornune, he knew only too well that Ashgale would try to sabotage his plans.  And he had the added complication of a mysterious blonde beauty on board…’ (from rear wrap)