Read this way back in the day. It was good, for 70s sci-fi, but it was very 70s and I don't think it would hold up well today. But this is one of the originals in the genre of "persecuted misfit turns out to have super-powers and proceeds to kick ass while saving the society that hated and feared him." No wonder that so many sci-fi fans loved it, giving rise to the "fan as Slan" meme.