In the distant future, humanity encounters a powerful conglomeration of alien civilizations known as the Consortium, ruled by the Calongi, arrogant and mostly benevolent dictators. Most of humanity joins the Consortium, and an unspecified distant time later in the present of this story, the only one of the groups that has been able to maintain self-sufficiency away from the Calongi is a group of planets called "Network", supported by a computer system also called Network joined together by a method of instantaneous travel that the Calongi believe fictitious.

This book follows the story of Marrach, a genetically engineered agent of the corrupt Council Governor Caragen, and the Healer Evjenial with a dark past of her own who lives on the isolated planet Siatha. Siatha's healers are said to possess amazing powers, and an ancient alien race of planet-destroyers called the Adraki, independent of both Network and Consortium, has taken an interest in it. Caragen, sensing a way to gain an advantage over the Calongi, sends Marrach to investigate under the guise of supporting a rebellion to overthrow the local governor- who is none other than Caragen himself.

This novel has a complex and twisting plot- it takes a while to get started, and like the other of Franklin's novels I've read is told in a variety of viewpoints- Marrach's personal logs, Evjenial in the first person, and other characters like Caragen in the third person. The style is surprisingly unobtrusive and works well.

Franklin has other novels that are related to this one, including the Tales of the Taormin composed of Fire Get, Fire Lord, and Fire Crossing which starts off a fantasy series but is gradually revealed to take place in the same universe. Fire Crossing brings together the characters from this book and the first two. Marrach shows up as a secondary in Fire Crossing, and this book takes place between the first and second halves of that book, and the story continues in Ghost Shadow, the last book published, which I have yet to read. There is also another book set in the Consortium, Inquisitor, which may or may not also tie into Ghost Shadow. ( )

This book defies classification in a way: a human civilization at odds with other elder civilizations, but standing toe to toe on the strength of sheer human ruthlessness and machination. And caught between the grindstones of ambition is a man who is a tool.
What held me was the description of technology that was deftly described, intricate and sharp-edged. Second, was the psychological machinations of the characters themselves. ( )