Caeli-Amur: an ancient city harbouring hidden mysteries, ruled by three warring Houses. Once, the gods used magic -- or thaumaturgy - to create reality. Now, under the oppression of the controlling classes, that magic seems like a dream. But things are changing in Caeli-Amur. Ancient minotaurs arrive for the traditional Festival of the Sun and New-Men bring wondrous technology from their homeland. Hideously disfigured Wastelanders stream into the city and strikes break out in the factory district. Three very different people may hold the key to the city's survival but only if they can put aside their own personal vendettas. The philosopher-assassin Kata has debts that need settling and will do anything to ensure they're met - but can she put a price on the ultimate betrayal? Meanwhile the ambitious bureaucrat Boris Autec rises through the ranks, turning his back on everything he once believed, and soon his private life turns to ashes. Elsewhere, the idealistic seditionist Maximilian resolves to overturn the tyranny dominating the city, and hatches a mad plot to unlock the secrets of the Great Library of Caeli Enas, drowned in the fabled city at the bottom of the sea. In a novel of startling originality and riveting suspense, these three individuals risk everything for a future they can only create by throwing off the shackles of tradition and superstition. As their destinies collide, the destruction will either transform the ancient city . . . or ruin it.