Description

Miguel de Ruyter is a man with a past.

Fleeing the ‘wolves’ – the xenocidal alien machines known as Inhibitors – he has protected his family and community from attack for forty years, sheltering in the caves of an airless, battered world called Michaelmas. The slightest hint of human activity could draw the wolves to their home, to destroy everything … utterly. Which is how Miguel finds himself on a one-way mission with his own destructive mandate: to eliminate a passing ship, before it can bring unwanted attention down on them.

Only something goes wrong.
There’s a lone survivor.
And she knows far more about Miguel than she’s letting on . . .

Ranging from the depths of space to the deeps of Pattern Juggler waters, from nervous, isolated communities to the ruins of empire, this is a stealthy space opera from an author at the top of his game.

Publisher Review

Pirates in space, full of peril and high-jinks... This is a novel that's elegantly plotted, full of surprises and, as first time round, rip-roaring fun. * SFX MAGAZINE * Reynolds is easily one of the modern masters of science fiction... addictive, page-turning stuff. * STARBURST * This is a story to break hearts and make you turn pages. It's great stuff; pick it up, you'll want to know what happens next. * SF AND F REVIEWS * Much of the fun of these books comes from the construction of a far, far-future space-opera... the mapping of Age of Sail tropes onto space travel is just the start... Nevertheless, at the centre of this baroque masquerade party resides a sober consideration of what it might mean to go off adventuring, what it might cost. * LOCUS MAGAZINE *