Pavonis

After a friend dies in suspicious circumstances, John Vaux finds himself torn from his quiet life and thrown into an adventure that carries him across the huge planet Pavonis in search of an ancient artifact that will change the world.

As Vaux travels tens of thousands of kilometres following clues to the location of the artifact he's pursued for a murder he didn't commit, chased by fanatics who will destroy the artifact to protect the status quo and kill anyone who gets in their way, attacked by a 'dragon', robbed, gassed, captured, freed, and shot at. He rides (and crashes) monowheels, stows away on land trains and sea trains, steals (and crashes) a dragonfly, flies aboard a personal skyhouse and sneaks in and out of a city in a meteor crater through the sewers. Twice.