The dominon of the Tanu has been broken. In the aftermath of cataclysm, Aiken Drum seizes his hour to grasp control of the Pliocene world. There are those, human and Tanu, who rally to him – and those who fear and hate him. The Grand Master, Elizabeth, the mad Felice, the goblin hordes of the Firvulag all thrust into a violent and stormy struggle for irresistible power.