Winner of the Locus Award for Best First Novel: With mankind spread thinly across the galaxy, two refugees must find humanity's home Eric Born knows his way around the universe. He's a quick-thinking merchant blessed with natural telekinetic skill. He's also that rarest of creatures, a human being. Humans have been scattered across the universe, powerless and oppressed, dispersed so widely that no one knows what planet they first came from. Eric survives by selling his talents to the mysterious galactic tyrants known as the Rhudolant Vitae, but has never forgotten he belongs to the human race, and the distant world, the Realm of the Nameless Powers. The Realm may be a backwater, but Eric will do anything to protect his home from the merciless and powerful Vitae. With the help of fellow refugee Arla Rengate, Eric embarks on a journey across the stars. To save the Realm, he will have to cross the Vitae, and discover a secret that holds the key to the origins of mankind.
"An exciting new talent . . . Ms. Zettel's confident treatment of her ambitious material shows just how entertaining the 'grand tradition of Heinlein and Asimov' can be in her sympathetic hands."
The New York Times Book Review
"In the grand tradition of Heinlein and Asimov . . . More than an exciting science fiction adventure story."
Analog Science Fiction & Fact
"This one has scope and sweep, intrigue and grandiose technologies, and grand adventure. Sarah Zettel is a writer to watch."
