Quaid is an average guy who stumbles upon his ability to alter or meld matter. At first he thinks this is the end to all his worries, but soon finds himself running from the authorities. His escape leads into space, the Moon, Mars and beyond using his growing ability to make the difficult almost easy. But life is never easy and everything seems to conspire to control and direct his path. He surrounds himself with experts and technicians unsure who to trust, but eventually has to come out to the world. This just pushes him further away from the rest of humanity when all he really wants is a friend and a hug. The Melder describes the combination of technology and melding ability to establish bases on the moon, the colonisation of Mars and redirection of killer asteroids. Quaid is the reluctant hero who gets pushed along by circumstances mostly beyond his control.