[1] It is about the life of the Cheela civilization, creatures who live on a neutron star named Dragon's Egg, struggling to recover from a disastrous starquake.

As the human scientists in the orbiting ship Dragon Slayer prepare to leave, the Cheela on the star below continue their rapid advance.

Cheela explorers in space survive but have lost the technology to land back on the surface of their world.

For a while, the surface Cheela struggle to keep the rudiments of civilization, but eventually a barbarian conqueror arises.

The Cheela in space and their human friends watch helplessly as a new dark age ensues.