Stepsons Of Terra: Robert Silverberg

It had been five hundred years since the Terran colony of Corwin had communicated with Earth. But now Corwin is threatened by the warriors of Klodni and the desperate planet needs help. Baird Ewing is chosen as ambassador to get that help and save Corwin. But Earth had changed. Ewing finds a decadent world of worthless pleasure seekers devoid of hope and incapable of help. The only vestige of the old world on Earth is found in the College of Abstract Science. It's Ewing's last hope. If he fails, it's the end for him, for Corwin - and the galaxy. Cover art by Peter Elson.