A Gift from Earth (The Tales of Known Space Series‪)‬

The world named Mount Lookitthat was never meant for humans—it was shrouded in lethal mists. Life existed only on one plateau, unreachable except from space. But the disastrous decision to colonize the planet could not be reversed. So the settlers survived somehow—under a ruthless dictatorship. Mount Lookitthat was rebellion proof. Then fate dealt the colonists a wild card named Matthew Keller, who had a talent that neither he nor anybody else knew about. At last the colonists had a glimmer of hope!