It begins in the realm of the Real where matter still matters. It begins with a murder. & it will not end until the Culture has gone to war with death itself. Lededje Ybreq is one of the Intagliated her marked body bearing witness to a family shame her life belonging to a man whose lust for power is without limit. Prepared to risk everything for her freedom her release when it comes is at a price & to put things right she will need the help of the Culture. Benevolent enlightened & almost infinitely resourceful though it may be the Culture can only do so much for any individual. With the assistance of one of its most powerful
- & arguably deranged
- warships Lededje finds herself heading into a combat zone not even sure which side the Culture is really on. A war
- brutal far-reaching
- is already raging within the digital realms that store the souls of the dead & its about to erupt into reality. It started in the realm of the Real & that is where it will end. It will touch countless lives & affect entire civilizations but at the centre of it all is a young woman whose need for revenge masks another motive altogether.