In a world renowned even within a galaxy full of wonders, a crime within a war. For one brother it means a desperate flight, and a search for the one - maybe two - people who could clear his name. For his brother it means a life lived under constant threat of treachery and murder. And for their sister, even without knowing the full truth, it means returning to a place she’d thought abandoned forever.
Only the sister is not what she once was; Djan Seriy Anaplian has changed almost beyond recognition to become an agent of the Culture’s Special Circumstances section, charged with high-level interference in civilisations throughout the greater galaxy.
Concealing her new identity - and her particular set of abilities - might be a dangerous strategy, however. In the world to which Anaplian returns, nothing is quite as it seems; and determining the appropriate level of interference in someone else’s war is never a simple matter.
- 'There is now no British SF writer to whose work I look forward with greater keenness' The Times, 'Confirms Banks as the standard by which the rest of SF is judged' The Guardian, 'Explosive' Sunday Times, 'Gripping, touching and funny' T.L.S., 'A wild imagination' Mail on Sunday, 'Captivating’ Time Out, 'Spectacular … the field needs his energy' The Scotsman, 'One of the very best just got even better' Starburst, 'Banks is a phenomenon' William Gibson
Trade Paperback
Published 31/01/2008