A novel of dazzling wit and serious purpose. An extraordinary feat of
storytelling and breathtaking invention on a grand scale, it is a tour
de force from a writer who has turned science fiction on its head.
"Unexpectedly savage, emotionally powerful, and impossible to forget."
--The Times
In a world renowned even within a galaxy full of wonders, a crime within
a war. For one brother it means a desperate flight, and a search for the
one -- maybe two -- people who could clear his name. For his brother it
means a life lived under constant threat of treachery and murder. And
for their sister, even without knowing the full truth, it means
returning to a place she'd thought abandoned forever.
Only the sister is not what she once was; Djan Seriy Anaplian has
changed almost beyond recognition to become an agent of the Culture's
Special Circumstances section, charged with high-level interference in
civilizations throughout the greater galaxy.
Concealing her new identity -- and her particular set of abilities --
might be a dangerous strategy, however. In the world to which Anaplian
returns, nothing is quite as it seems; and determining the appropriate
level of interference in someone else's war is never a simple matter.
The Culture Series
Consider Phlebas
The Player of Games
Use of Weapons
The State of the Art
Excession
Inversions
Look to Windward
Matter
Surface Detail
The Hydrogen Sonata
