The Rediscovery of Cordwainer Smith
From thnidu via filkerdave comes a link to this comic-strip micro-review of The Rediscovery of Man by Cordwainer Smith. You'll probably also be looking for Norstrillia. These are the NESFA editions; they appear to have been recently republished by Baen Books in trade paperback form as When the People Fell and We the Underpeople.
You also want to look at these illustrations by Corby Waste. There's a reason why his first book of stories was called You Will Never Be the Same.